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PRGR has begun teasing the public with ads for their new egg lineup including 3 new models for 2011 Summer. PRGR will release a new eggbrid driver, egg i+ hybrid and New egg irons. The eggbird (yes the name is odd!) stands for egg hybrid driver which will be designed for those who want an ultralight distance driver - fly like a bird. Unlike the former egg Impact driver which was 43.5", the new eggbird will be 46 and 46.5" and ULTRA light at around 260g.  They seem to have broken up the egg iron line and released the longer irons in a redesigned form as the new i+ hybrids which will be a very shallow faced iron like hybrid made from maraging and stainless steel. The New egg iron replaces the egg II irons and will once again feature ultra strong lofts and maximum ease of use in its continuing reign as the longest hitting irons in golf. As always the PRGR egg is leading the class in ease of use and distance and we don't expect any different from the new models.

The new egg lineup is released on August 6th so please look for the pre order in the pro shop soon!

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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In the last 2 years, PRGR's EGG irons have garnered tons of press as being the easiest and most forgiving average golfer irons on the market. Maruman Golf released the Mega Shuttle i3000x Iron, a similar hybrid style iron boasting similar performance and ease of use. So far magazines have chosen both as being the easiest, highest launching, longest distance irons in Japan.

So how does this new Mega Shuttle iron feel and perform? Let's take a look first at some of the features of the i3000x before getting on to my testing with a demo 7 iron.

Click here to Read More of the Maruman Shuttle i3000x Review!

All Maraging and tungsten design...

The i3000x is plasma welded from 2 kinds of maraging steel, Maraging 200 for the body and Maruman's Toughest Maraging  771 for the face. The hybrid style i3000x has a wide sole and boasts the highest MOI of any iron in golf at over 3000g/cm2 and the largest gravity angle of any iron at 19.6* (the larger the gravity angle, the faster the face squares up at impact avoiding an open face and pushes and slices). The huge and deep cavity back (as you can see from the picture on the top right) and wide all tungsten sole allow the CG to be placed at 8.93mm deep, 218% deeper than a conventional iron making it unbelievably easy to get the ball in the air for high launch and max carry.

Lightweight and strong lofts for distance...

The i3000x is also features lighter weight and longer club lengths with very strong lofts (25* 6 iron) meaning a regular flex player who swings 90mph or less can hit their i3000x 7 iron 160+ yards!  These are very similar specs and numbers to PRGR's EGG II irons.  The wide tungsten sole is supposed to reduce digging and fat shots and the gravity angle and offset make this iron very hard to slice. The Mega Shuttle are available only with graphite shafts specifically designed for the i3000x providing smooth feel and kick. Maruman touts the i3000x as the ultimate average golfer iron for those looking for distance and ease of use.

Modern looks and design....

So what did I think of the i3000x? At first glance, it is easily mistaken for a hybrid. It is bigger, thicker, wider than any iron in the Japanese market save the PRGR EGG II and even at that, the i3000x seems bigger than the EGG because it sports a larger face. It is true to it's Shuttle name in that it is like a space shuttle, sleek and advanced looking. Yes sleek even for a bigger iron as the black IP finish and subtle design points make the iron look very high tech.  This iron is definitely not for every one visually. Some may find it simply too large, but others will find comfort in it's ability to imposingly frame a golf ball, with that can't miss aura.

You can't hit this fat....

The Shuttle i3000x is very easy to hit. I have a steep downswing and I can occasionally hit fat shots so my first inclination was to see how this iron would react to digging and a steep down blow. I am happy to say these irons are very difficult to hit fat or dig,  they slice through the grass easily even with a steep angle of attack thanks to the wide sole, blunt leading edge. The sole is in fact a dual level sole meaning the front half or about 60% of the sole is lower than the back of the sole creating essentially a huge amount of trailing edge relief for easy ground clearance. A forgiving grind allows a player to make more pure contact with the ball and that's exactly what the i3000x sole does. Another thing to note is that unlike the PRGR EGG irons the i3000x sole gets wider as the irons get shorter.

Unique feel and very forgiving....

The face area of the i3000x is on the large side and due to its huge under cut cavity is very forgiving all across the face.  If you look at the picture on the right you can see it has an interesting non traditional shape unlike other irons (it's actually more egg shaped than the EGG!). It is shallow and long from toe to heel and rounded. An all maraging iron as quite an interesting feel to it. It's almost a cross between forged and titanium faced irons,  soft but with a click or tink to it almost at impact. Purists and traditionalists may not like it as its definitely a feel and sound that takes getting used to. Average golfers probably won't care as the amount of forgiveness and the distance achieved will easily out weigh the different feel. Please note I'm not saying it is bad feeling. I'm saying it is different feeling. I play all kinds of irons, and I kind of liked the feel.

High launch - big carry...

Now here is the good part (besides being ultra easy to hit), these irons launch high and long easily. With the strong lofts, graphite shafts and hot maraging face, thes i3000x creates tremendous distance.  Using Stiff/Regular graphite I could hit the 7 iron 165 - 170 yards (more than a full club longer than my XXIO).  The i3000x is meant to launch high and carry so it will excel for those with slower swing speeds or have trouble getting a ball in the air. Because of the strong lofts and strong distance the i3000x actually feature a 10 iron between the 9 iron and PW to properly fill the gap (otherwise the PW would be a 130-135y 41* club for most average golfers but instead that is the 10 iron)

It has it's niche...

So for the average to beginner golfer looking for the easiest set of irons to use and maximum distance, the i3000x is a great non traditional choice. Along with the PRGR EGG II, there are probably no easier irons to hit high and far. The Shuttle i3000x features modern looks, interesting feel and top notch materials. However, because of the materials and design the negative is the price which is quite a bit higher than typical cast or forged irons. For me its a toss up between the PRGR and Maruman, you can't go wrong with either if you want high launch distance in a very easy to use hybrid style package.

The i3000x are in the pro shop here and you can check out the pics I took below.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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PRGR is about to launch the new EGG II hybrid iron set in Japan at the end of August. We got a set last week to check out and here's my review. The original EGG was a favorite of many average and senior golfers in Japan looking for distance and forgiveness in a very very easy to hit package. The EGG iron was essentially a complete set of over-sized hybrids all the way down to the wedges. The scooped out cavity and wide sole made every iron easy to hit. The shaft lengths featured a 38.5" 5 iron with a 23* loft which meant added distance overall. The first generation EGG though was not without its flaws.

PRGR went back to the drawing board for the EGG II and took the best features of the original EGG and improved on its overall design and performance. When I first took out the EGG II, the first thing I noticed compared to the previous generation was that the irons seemed more stubby from toe to heel in the longer irons. The sole of the longer irons resemble traditional hybrids much more  now, wide and deep center of gravity making it very easy to hit in any lie and to get the ball up in the air.  As you can see in the first two pictures on the right, the sole gets progressively narrower and the face deeper as the irons get shorter. While the long irons resemble hybrids, the short irons look much more like traditional irons. This is a good thing as we all want easy long irons to hit but turn our focus to more accuracy with the shorter irons.

The scooped out back is much more prominent on the long irons and this is to push CG much further back to help you get the launch you need for distance.  With accuracy the key, the short EGG II irons do not have as deep a CG in order to provide a more stable trajectory. PRGR also worked on the weighting and coupled with the change in the overall shape of the iron by decreasing its heel to toe length and increasing its sole width creates a much easier to hit and hit straight model than the previous EGG. The previous generation EGG had a very long face which sometimes cause the player to go right with the ball. I found the the new EGG II much easier to hit straight and draw lightly. Its almost as if the smaller face area makes it easier to hit the center.

As an average golfer I can say these are very easy to hit. The feel has changed slightly from the original EGG which had a bit of a deadened feel to it. The EGG II is more lively thanks to its custom 450 Maraging steel material. Maraging steel is a very popular choice in irons these days. It is stronger than forged and stainless steel so can be made very thin. This creates feel and a very hot face. The difference here is that while most manufacturers use Maraging steel on the face, the entire EGG II is made of high strength Maraging steel. The 5 iron launches high for maximum carry and it gives very good distance with its longer shaft and deep CG and tunsgen weight in the sole.  It is very easy to square up and hit straight. The stronger loft and longer length of the EGG II 5 iron out hit my GN502 5 iron by an average of 10-15 yards!

The short irons look and feel much more like traditional irons with a bit if a pop at impact. At address you don't see any cavity which is a good thing as you can focus on attacking the pin without being distracted by an overly large head.  The EGG II does have offset to help the player square the head. I am not a fan of overly large goose necks but with the subtle black PVD finish, any offset is almost not noticeable. The sole design of all the EGG II irons feature a blunt leading edge. This really helps prevent digging as the sole will deflect and glide over the turf.

I am a fan of lightweight irons. We slower swinger befit tremendously from less weight both when it comes to creating club head speed and forgiveness. I can swing the EGG II very freely and strike the ball very well because of its lighter weight and overall head design. The new EGG shaft is in the 50g range and features a HIGH kickpoint. The high kick point prevents the iron from ballooning and is a perfect match with the high launch design of the head. So what was considered Japan's best hybrid iron set just got better. If you are looking for the ultimate in easy irons to hit, the EGG II is your choice.

Look for the PRGR  EGG II to be added to the pro shop later this week.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.

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If you liked the previous videos featuring the Yamaha drivers for 2009, you'll love this one featuring the 2009 Inpres X fariway woods and utility. Both these clubs feature Yamaha's new Fric Off Sole, a concave sole and bounce on the leading edge. The problem with many players and fairway woods is that they make too much contact with the ground before impact and this friction slows the clubhead and decreases distance and creates a far less desirable impact.

Fric Off minimizes the amount of the club that makes contact with the ground by only allowing the leading edge of the club to glance off the ground right before impact. This creates far better contact and increases club head speed through the impact zone. Because of the Fric Off design and the fact that Yamaha clubs have always been know to be great feeling and cutting edge design clubs, the Yamaha Inpres X line of fariway woods has been the number one selling FW for the average golfer in Japan for 2009. Check out Yamaha's woods and utility in the pro shop and this awesome 5 min and 34 sec video featuring the clubs and Fric Off.

Tario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets and walking the dog.