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Titleist VG3

kurisu

By kurisu,
in Clubs, Grips, Shafts, Fitting

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kurisu Well Established Member

kurisu

I've seen this featured on titleist.co.jp and started googling for it.
Apparently there was some kind of press event yesterday (19th). Found an article here (with a picture) : http://www.alba.co.jp/news/gear/topics/10603

I believe it's a Japan-only release. The new driver targets the Japanese single handicappers and the senior crowd here.
The basis is apparently that there is a gap in head speed between US single handicappers (44 to 45 meter / second) and their Japanese counterparts (41 to 42 m/s). Acushnet has created this VG3 head for people who want to play Titleist but felt it was above their abilities. (at least that's what is said in the article linked above)

With the AP1s, and now the VG3, it looks like Titleist wants to cater to the players that ought to be playing Cobra gear but would actually love to use Titleist gear because of the "better player" image. (but hey, who am I to talk ! I have the 710 AP1s after all )

Haven't found any detailed specs yet, except marketing talk of "Variable Gravity Design" and the fact that the head will be available in 9º, 10º and 11º lofts.

I'm surprised that the 909D Comp is not available here in Japan (short of grey market imports) and yet there are some "Japan only" items such as the "Gran-Z" premium balls and now this VG3 driver…


update :
found this page with more pics : http://www.golfdigest.co.jp/magazine...001690001.html

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kurisu Well Established Member

kurisu

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Just a correction to my post above:

The new driver targets the Japanese senior single handicapper crowd. The difference in speed is between Japanese and US senior single handicappers.

sorry about my sloppy translation, should know better than doing 4 different things at once at work….
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jamo Incredible Member

jamo

It's sorta ugly. I don't know if that would even sell in America.

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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McIlroy_man Member

McIlroy_man

It's sorta ugly. I don't know if that would even sell in America.

I totally agree! looks really cheap compared to the 909's. It would certainly put me off buying it!

In my :mizuno: Staff Bag
Driver: :ping: i15 S-flex USTMamiya Tour Red
Fairway: :titleist: 909F2 15.5 X-flex UST Proforce V2 85
Hybrid: :mizuno: MP-FliHi 21* S300 +2 deg, +1/2"
Irons: :mizuno: MP-67 4-PW DG S300 +2 deg, +1/2"

Wedges: :vokey: Spin Milled 52.08 56.08 60.04

Putter: :cameron: Newport Beach customised by Kevin Colbert

Ball: :callaway: HX Black

GPS: :skycaddie: SGX

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kpaulhus Great Member

kpaulhus

It kinda reminds me of a pair of Old man shoes with velcro straps. lol

Kyle Paulhus

If you really want to get better, check out Evolvr

:callaway: Rogue ST 10.5* | :callaway: Epic Sub Zero 15* | :tmade: P790 3 Driving Iron |:titleist: 716 AP2 |  :edel: Wedges 50/54/68 | :edel: Deschutes 36"

Career Low Round: 67 (18 holes), 32 (9 holes)

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Gioguy21 Great Member

Gioguy21

It kinda reminds me of a pair of Old man shoes with velcro straps. lol

witha diaper

In my Titleist 2014 9.5" Staff bag:

Cobra Bio+ 9* Matrix White Tie X  - Taylormade SLDR 15* ATTAS 80X - Titleist 910H 19* ATTAS 100X - Taylormade '13 TP MC 4-PW PX 6.5 - Vokey TVD M 50* DG TI X100 - Vokey SM4 55 / Vokey SM5 60* DG TI S400 - Piretti Potenza II 365g

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iammpspeer Well Established Member

iammpspeer

And overalls.

9.5º TaylorMade R9 TP VooDoo XNV6 | TaylorMade R9 TP 13º 3W & 19º 5W Both with Fujikura Motore F1 85 | Mizuno MP-57 DG X-100 (3-PW) | Titleist Vokey 52º, 56º, 60º | 34'' Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 | The Cardinal Club [73.9/135]

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kurisu Well Established Member

kurisu

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Point taken

Not exactly how I thought the comments would go though :)

I am just very surprised that Titleist, whose presence in Japan is much, much smaller than say, Callaway (heck, Titleist has no fitting centers AT ALL here, whereas Taylormade, Callaway and even Ping have facilities in major cities) would invest R&D; and marketing money for products specific to Japan (as pointed out above, the "Gran-Z" balls as well as this VG3 thing) but not sell the 909D Comp, or establish a network of fitting facilites, and leverage this in selling a single global product line worldwide.

I mean this is backwards as far as business goes...

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kpaulhus Great Member

kpaulhus

I wish this site had a "like" button like Facebook lol. Didnt want to write a whole "good post" post, but it was a good post

Kyle Paulhus

If you really want to get better, check out Evolvr

:callaway: Rogue ST 10.5* | :callaway: Epic Sub Zero 15* | :tmade: P790 3 Driving Iron |:titleist: 716 AP2 |  :edel: Wedges 50/54/68 | :edel: Deschutes 36"

Career Low Round: 67 (18 holes), 32 (9 holes)

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Big_M Great Member

Big_M

I honestly don't see what you guys dislike so much. As far as looks go... it's not too bad. Looks fairly traditional and doesn't have a ton of graphics or anything.

anyway... interesting post.

My Clubs: Callaway FT-i Tour LCG 9.5° w/ Matrix Ozik Xcon 6 stiff; Sonartec GS Tour 14° w/ Graphite Design Red Ice 70 stiff; Adams Idea Pro 2h(18°) & 3h(20°) w/ Aldila VS Proto 80 stiff; Adams Idea Pro Forged 4-PW w/ TT Black Gold stiff; Cleveland CG12 DSG RTG 52°-10° & 58°-10°; Odyssey...
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sean_miller Incredible Member

sean_miller

You guys are kind of harsh. It's a different club for a different market. I think this new Titleist Launcher is okay.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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Bastid Well Established Member

Bastid

The one thing I've noticed in my days, senior golfers seem to care little about aesthetics. Think about it, how many times do you see an older person playing the weirdest looking thing? They will play anything to add an extra 10 yards!

Driver: R11s 9 with a Fubuki Tour 63 X-Stiff
Fairway Wood: R11s 15.5 with Miyazaki Kusala Black 83 X-Stiff

Hybrid: taylormade.gif 4 with Fubuki 515 X-Stiff
Irons: titleist.gif Forged 660 3-PW with Dynamic Gold X-100

Wedges: callaway.gif CC Jaws 52 and 58 Degree
Putter: ping.gif In Anser 2

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-BAMA- Well Established Member

-BAMA-

I wish this site had a "like" button like Facebook lol. Didnt want to write a whole "good post" post, but it was a good post

i agree....

this board needs to be more facebook-like...

RBZ stage 2 driver & 3 wood

Original AP1 4-GW

Vokey 54.10 & 58.04

Scotty Newport 2

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kurisu Well Established Member

kurisu

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Not sure if you guys are inclined to at least look at the specs, but the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei published more details with exactly what Titleist means by "Variable Gravity Design".

http://release.nikkei.co.jp/attach_file/0241522_03.pdf

It's in Japanese but I believe there's no need to translate as the pictures speak for themselves. If someone needs me to translate something, just let me know.

In a jiffy, the higher the loft of the face, the further back the center of gravity.
Also note how the "sweet spot" has been located off center, a tad closer to the heel…

It's really interesting to me that Titleist's investing so much money in creating niche market items and yet has such a poor network here when it comes to real fitting.
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jamo Incredible Member

jamo

I honestly don't see what you guys dislike so much. As far as looks go... it's not too bad. Looks fairly traditional and doesn't have a ton of graphics or anything.

At least the headcover looks good

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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iacas Hall of Fame Member

iacas

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The Japanese market varies greatly from the U.S. market for every advertiser. Lots of clubs come out there that don't come out here and vice versa.

Here's an article from 2005: http://thesandtrap.com/bag_drop/japa...usive_products

Erik J. Barzeski — ⛳ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • Author, Lowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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kurisu Well Established Member

kurisu

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The Japanese market varies greatly from the U.S. market for every advertiser. Lots of clubs come out there that don't come out here and vice versa.

With my 10 years here, yes, I agree with you. And the article from 2005 is quite right and interesting!

However, I can't help but think it would be more efficient for Titleist (and Acushnet in general) to have, like every other foreign manufacturer that has a presence here in Japan, some fitting facilities, which would allow them to sell more of the global product line, and cut some of the expenses related to R&D; of Japan specific products. Not all, mind you, but *some*. Of course, Japan specific marketing would still be necessary. But again, this is just armchair opinion and I don't pretend to know better than Acushnet! My comments are mostly the result of the frustration of not being able to get properly fitted by Titleist here
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