What does Japan get all the good stuff??

[kurisu]

Bridgestone has extensive American distribution; the latest generation of irons (J38) doesn't have a blade sold here. The J36 blades can probably still be found in some places.

Fair enough. But I doubt Honma or Daiwa (who is selling under the name "OnOff" around these parts), or PRGR have the same financial muscle as Bridgestone. We got a Honma shop next to our offices. Price of an iron set is, get ready for this, 800,000 yen. I'll let you guys convert that in dollars because my head is already spinning...

They have trouble selling here, they only can reach the retired salarymen with money under their mattress.

[kennay92]

I can vouch for that. Playing golf here on an ok course is a minimum of 13,000 yen, about 150 bucks. Add the fact that you have to drive a minimum of 1 hour to/from the course, wake up at 4 in the morning to avoid traffic and pay a ridiculous amount of money for the compulsory lunch between the two halves and you get the explanation to my empty pockets.

dont think ive seen any yamaha clubs hahh **edit, i stand corrected. http://www.golftoimpress.com/2010/05...c-the-new-grx/

[newtogolf]

I work with some Japanese businesses, and was shocked at how expensive golf is there. I was told most courses are $300 to play, and tee times are tough to come by. I do like those clubs in the OP, probably couldn't hit them to save my life, but they look very cool.

[motteler621]

these are some nice irons, I tend to like forged irons much better than cast. Il stick with mizuno though but wouldnt mind hitting some weird ones, like the nike machspeed forged.

[CPT]

Japanese are passionate about everything they do, and that includes golf.

I learned a while ago that golf is not for everyone in Japan, since it is still very expensive and most courses require some sort of memberships for you to be able to play in. People have to book the tee time for months in advance.

Comes to golf clubs, Japan is probably the only place in Asia to have all these exclusive stuffs. However, I'm sure very few Japanese are into these clubs, since they have tons of premium golf clubs with probably the highest quality any where in the World (ie. MIURA). Even Tiger plays them.

[Shanks A Million]

I know that's true! I saw someone selling some limited edition Daiwa driver the other day for like $1100. I started looking into them and their cheapest driver is around $600 I believe. Heck, until I saw that, I didn't even know Daiwa made golf clubs! I've been fishing Daiwa rods and reels for years, but never thought a company would make such an odd combination of things.

Fishing and golf go hand in hand, as both require the services of graphite shafts. For example, Fenwick makes golf shafts and fishing rods.

However, I'm sure very few Japanese are into these clubs, since they have tons of premium golf clubs with probably the highest quality any where in the World (ie. MIURA). Even Tiger plays them.

Uh, Tiger plays Nike clubs, and American brand.

[Chilli Dipper]

I know that I like the looks of the Burner and Machspeed forged much more than their American counterparts. (It's probably because I don't like irons with wide soles.) I have to believe there would be a market for clubs like that here in the States. Then again, I already have a forged mid-handicap GI iron set in my bag, and my opinion therefore may be skewed.

[CPT]

Fishing and golf go hand in hand, as both require the services of graphite shafts. For example, Fenwick makes golf shafts and fishing rods.

Yes, sir. But his iron sets were made and forged by Miura, which I supposed gives him the best feel. Swoosh logos are on his club for marketing. Don't let them fool you.

Those irons are premium and therefore, super-expensive. They're supposed to be excellent in quality, though. I've heard somewhere that their forging process is way better than Mizuno. Would love to get one, if I could hit blades. Check their blades out for yourself.

[Shanks A Million]

Yes, sir. But his iron sets were made and forged by Miura, which I supposed gives him the best feel. Swoosh logos are on his club for marketing. Don't let them fool you.

Uh... I... Just... Where to start...

No. What's the deal with the Miura forged fetish? Why do so many people just need to believe Tiger secretly plays mystical forged irons made in the fires of Mordor? Seriously... They're friggin Nike clubs. I play Nike irons, and they are just as good as any other forged blade on the market. The little swoosh logo is the only thing that throws people off. Yeah, ok, it's a big, bad company, but that doesn't mean they make crap. Nike, Titleist, Mizuno, Miura, Hogan, Callaway... Forged 1025 carbon steel is forged 1025 carbon steel. The process, no matter how advanced or wonderful, is not enough to detect a difference. I'm autistic, and trust me, I have a sense of touch extremely well developed. One crumb in my bed and I'm not going to sleep. Bottom line, it's all hype. A golf club hits a ball. Forged clubs are nice, but many pros use cast clubs, and they could still whoop our asses. And, by the way, Tiger played cast Ping Eye 2s for most of his amatuer career. He's human. Live with it.

[jamo]

Yes, sir. But his iron sets were made and forged by Miura, which I supposed gives him the best feel. Swoosh logos are on his club for marketing. Don't let them fool you.

Originally he did use Miura forged clubs. But as far as I have heard he is full Nike now.

[motteler621]

Originally he did use Miura forged clubs. But as far as I have heard he is full Nike now.

yea thats true, I think he should go back to the miura's though

[motteler621]

I know that I like the looks of the Burner and Machspeed forged much more than their American counterparts. (It's probably because I don't like irons with wide soles.) I have to believe there would be a market for clubs like that here in the States. Then again, I already have a forged mid-handicap GI iron set in my bag, and my opinion therefore may be skewed.

It seems most of the american public are weekend golfers and love huge cast irons, although there definitly is a market for the forged ones here. Dont know why they dont offer them here?

[CPT]

Uh... I... Just... Where to start...

Okay. Calm down.

1. Nike doesn't make crap. They are a big brand and they are probably the fastest growing golf brand in the World. Makes no mistake; I never said they offer bad products. I've been through a nike iron set myself, just to let you know. 2. Many pros prefer cast clubs. I believed that many people don't even notice the different in feel between forged and cast clubs anyway. They can whoop our asses with their umbrellas, if they wanted to. 3. A golf club hits a ball. Okay, okay ..... 4. Tiger Woods is human. Alright, alright .... As for Tiger's iron set, some people say it's true that he's using Miura and some say it's a big hype, but I'm not going to get into an argument with an angry, Nike-lover guy over it. I wouldn't lose my sleep over what he's playing with, but you should know that while you think your senses are good, more than a few people have it better than you. They can detect differences a lot better than you. When it comes to forging process, it's a selling point of all these manufacturers. Pretty much like anything else, each brand has different process to create golf clubs, so it's false when you said forging is forging and everything is the same. Why do people review irons or other golf equipments if everything is the same based on the material-basis? It's okay for you to be in love with the Nike and all, but read my post carefully and you'd know that I didn't bash you. I'm just here to talk equipment.

[The Road Dog]

Uh... I... Just... Where to start...

Well damn, I find myself agreeing with Shanks. The forging process uses a standard forge probably made 40 years ago, they all use steel provided to industry specs. If one were to develop a proprietary steel mixture the other manufacturers would find out and introduce their version. I didn't notice any makers advertising a special steel. Anyway banging a steel ingot into a shape requires heavy pressure. That process is under control of hydraulics, the grinding is either by hand or cnc. No matter what advertising tells you about skilled craftsmen it requires a computer to control a grinding operation to .0000001" in dimension or the same precision in weight. How precise you want it is just a matter of cost, but a man's hands cannot match the precision of a computer.

[kurisu]

And back to the topic at hand, while yes, some stuff available here could find a market in the US with the Sand Trap crowd (i.e. not your average golfer), the majority of "Japan only" clubs would certainly not please your eyes or your swing.
The Titleist VG3 driver comes to mind.
Or the Tourstage V-iQ woods series, which marketing concept is "Feel you can do a nice shot already at setup, the driver does the work for you" (not so loose translation of the description on their site : http://www.tourstage.com/v/v-iq/products/viq_driver/ )
Tourstage's "exe" irons is following the same marketing concept "Strong. High. Beautiful. Premium flight" ( http://www.tourstage.com/exe/exe-series/products/iron/ ) I am not making that stuff up.

It goes the same way USA->Japan. I really wanted to try a Titleist 909D Comp. Well, it's not sold here. Cannot find Srixon Trispeed Tour balls here either. Or a decent fitting center unless you want to pay 200 bucks to Taylormade that are not put forth the purchase of clubs.

[Chilli Dipper]

At one time, Tiger probably did play Miura irons, but so did a lot of other staff players for companies that didn't have the resources to develop forged irons. Advances in manufacturing have allowed all major OEMs the capability to make forged designs. In any case, Nike essentially absorbed most of the Hogan R&D; team when Callaway deemed them redundant several years ago; it begs the question why Tiger would circumvent his equipment contract when many of the best in the business are already on his side.

In any case, we've veered well off topic.

[CrazyXGolfer]

Uh... I... Just... Where to start...

This just may be the first, only and last time I will ever agree with Shanks :P

[CPT]

All big clubs manufacturers provide different version of clubs for players with different sizes and other important factors. It's a must because let's face it, one spec can never fit all, no matter how good the clubs were made.

It seems like Japan is the Headquarter for golf clubs in Asia. They have good technology, great facilities, and development. Most players in Asia can get Nike or Taylor Made clubs from both version; US or Japan. Prices would be different, though. Japan spec would set you up at least around 15% more, since the shaft is lighter to suit Asian people sizes. US clubs are mostly stocked with minimal to no modification over them, so we can get those at cheaper prices.

This is not to mention that premium clubs are doing very good in Japan because they have huge market there. Golf is very expensive there and therefore, most players can afford and will not think twice before spending $600 for a driver, or $1300 on an iron set, if they'd like.