Toura Golf Irons Build Test: 2024 Forum Review

[GolfSpy_APH]

Calling all club builders! We have a very special testing opportunity for you! For many, it is more than just getting on the course and playing, but honing a craft and taking pride in installing and building each club in your bag. Those who want to customize each part of their golf clubs and make their bag stand out for the efforts they put into the build of their golf clubs.

About Toura Golf

Toura Golf was created out of the passion for golf club building. In search of a blank head with no logo, founder Jon found little to no options. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He created Toura Golf for those like him who love to build their own golf clubs and have an appreciation for a pure forged product that stands out by not standing out. 

The Canadian company is known for their minimalist designs and producing limited quantities of heads as well as some one of a kind models. With wedges, putters, and full iron heads all available for purchase, Toura Golf is a club builder's dream. 

For those who prefer their clubs pre-built, Toura does offer a selection of shafts and grips in which a complete set can be purchased.

Please welcome and congratulate our testers/builders!

@azstu324 

@David Leighton Reid 

@ctg44 

@JRDuck40

We will also have a community vote for best build with a special badge for the winner! Stay tuned and no you cannot vote for @Josh Parker! haha

[azstu324]

INTRO

Well hello everybody! As is customary, but quite necessary, I’d like to extend an immense thank you to both MyGolfspy, the forum Mods, and Toura golf. When this testing opportunity was announced, I immediately began envisioning what my custom-built set of beautiful Japanese forged irons might look like. The idea of this test immediately captured me entirely. Of course, we all know that these testing opportunities are open game to all active forum members, but honestly, who hasn’t seen the announcement of their favorite (insert equipment here) and thought, “Oh I’d be the perfect candidate for this one”? Well as soon as the announcement was made for the Toura Golf custom iron build test, I couldn’t help myself but send out my most powerful signals to the universe. Just like “The Secret” I manifested that this needed to happen. Apparently frequencies were aligned, signals received, and here we are! Ok, all of the universe mumbo jumbo and corniness aside, I really feel like this opportunity had my name all over it.

Clearly my forum name is about as telling as anything can be. My name’s Stu and I’m from Arizona. 324 is my birth date 3/24. Not a lot of originality there but it flows and is easy to remember. I’ve lived in the state of Arizona for most of my life (30 years). I live here with my little family. We have 2 ridiculously fun and awesome kids, Logan (6) and Kaylen (11), and our oldest child is our cat named Gabby (13) that my wife and I got when we first got married.

I met my wife Amber about 15 years ago and we will be married for 14 years in June. I just turned 45 in March and have worked in the banking industry in sales and finance underwriting for nearly 20 years. I won’t say that it’s a very exciting career, but it pays the bills and allows me to support my addiction (golf).

Speaking of golf, I started playing when I was about 12 years old. I never really took it all that seriously when I was a kid or teenager. I had other hobbies growing up like snowboarding/wakeboarding/skateboarding, dirt bike/quad racing, playing guitar and singing in various bands, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, and various artistic endeavors, that occupied my time and mind space. Quite honestly, up until about 10 years ago, golf was just something that I did when I couldn't do any of those other things. Also, golf equipment up until this time was just something that I either inherited or borrowed. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon MGS and the forum that I really started to find the game and equipment something that actually excited me. To be honest, I was just unaware and quite uninformed of how intricate this sport can be until you peel back the layers and actually start to study. Once I found my way here, my eyes were opened to how complex and diverse the game and equipment are. So many forum members played pivotal parts in my transition into who I am as a golfer, student, and in some instances, a teacher now. That’s an evolution that I’m actually quite proud of. For the past few years, I haven't played a set of clubs, wedges, and even driver that I haven't built and sourced all of the pieces myself. It's extremely gratifying and I don't think I can ever do it any other way. 

A little about my golf game: Like I mentioned, I really haven’t been playing any kind of serious golf prior to about 8 years ago. There’s still a part of me that probably doesn’t take it seriously enough. For instance, I don’t have an established GHIN handicap. I play with a few guys that are low single digits and there’s never a time that I don’t get crap for not being registered.. especially when I beat them. “Well you know technically you didn’t beat us because you’re not official”. This huevo busting has been going on for many years and I’m yet to break down and register. If I were to claim some kind of handicap, I’d say I’m probably about a 7 or 8. Good enough to be dangerous but lots of room left to stay humble and know I can always improve. I wouldn’t say that I have any serious weaknesses on the golf course, but my strengths are far from perfect. That’s about what you’d come to expect from a 7-8 index golfer. Off the tee box, distance has always been on my side but with accuracy at an even 70%. I would say that the main thing keeping me from really having a tight game is that I just can’t play as much as I’d like. I might get out once per week and maybe practice once per week. In 2024 one of my goals is to improve my average score per round and play smarter golf. I need to be OK with the idea that not every par 5 needs to be on the green in 2, and not every par 4 requires a driver. Shot placement needs to be a constant in my mind instead of just crushing the ball. One of the best lessons I ever received was from my grandfather. He told me “It’s not what you do, it’s what you do with it”. Meaning, it doesn’t matter if you can hit a 325 yd drive if you can’t hit your approach within a puttable distance.

Testing Toura Golf clubs

This test definitely has its share of unique challenges. We’re not just testing a set of clubs. We’re giving a perspective of both player and builder. It's easy to receive a club or set of clubs that are pre-built from the factory and then start swinging them. In this review, there are definitely layers. As a club builder, we need to be mindful of specs and tolerances. If components come in and they are out of tolerance from what the manufacturer states, that can impact the build and performance. It makes things more difficult from a build perspective. Things like hosel bore depth and width, lofts, lie angles, head weights, etc, all need to be taken into account and can impact how friendly or difficult the clubs are to build.  

Then there’s the actual playability factor. How do the clubs look, sound, and feel? One of the main things I’ve experienced in past reviews is fit and finish of a club as it came from the factory. This is the X factor in this review because fit and finish is going to rely greatly on our abilities as builders to successfully complete a fully functional and accurately constructed set of clubs. Swing weights, club lengths, final grip playing sizes, etc, are entirely in our hands. What’s completely exciting, but also with a dash of terrifying is that we’ll be demonstrating our proficiency and understanding of these subjects in front of a live audience (you guys).

The clubs that I’ve chosen to review are definitely not foreign territory for me and in fact, historically I’ve performed better with some form of muscle back over any other type of club. I’ve decided to build and review the Muscle Back Version KCM-Cut. I’ve played a good number of blade-style MB’s and am quite comfortable with this profile of club. Is it a club that I should be playing. probably not LOL. But there’s really nothing sexier and more rewarding than flushing a forged blade and sticking the landing. As for the grading component, I definitely want to address both the build and performance aspects. These clubs have absolutely no markings or emblems so they literally are a blank canvas to impose our best skills and most creative work. I’m really expecting great things from these clubs. From the description on the Toura website, these are both forged and finished in Japan from S25C steel. My understanding is that what makes “S25C” is the unique forging and heat treating process that is unique to Japan. Currently I play a set of Maltby TS4 MB’s AND TS3 CB’s made from forged 1025C steel. They feel superb!. Supposedly the S25C is supposed to feel even better and that’s what I’ll definitely be looking for.

Maltby TS3 and TS4 

Ultimately do I think that these clubs are going to improve my game? Absolutely not.. there’s no auto pilot built into these kind of clubs. What I do hope to find is an improved experience in ball striking and playability. Perhaps an extra level of satisfaction and performance when a ball is well-struck. A benefit that I do have that will allow me to become acquainted with the clubs very quickly, is having a home launch monitor setup. It’s a Garmin R10 so not necessarily the best there is, but definitely adequate to get in a good few hundred shots in a very short period of time. Ultimately, what is going to count the most is how these perform on the course. Shot shaping, turf interaction, spin stats on the green, consistent distances, feel, sound, and inspiration at address. My Maltby clubs have all of these boxes checked so Toura definitely has a lot to live up to in order to earn a spot I the rotation.

 

Lets go!!!!!!

 

Unboxing Video

Unboxing photos and write up on the way! 

 

TOURA GOLF UNBOXING EXPERIENCE

So if you found that 12 minutes and 49 seconds of your life could somehow be benefitted by watching my unboxing video, you saw how absolute class their packaging and presentation is. Every iron was not just wrapped, or double wrapped, but triple wrapped in a bubble wrap sleeve, a nice Toura branded pouch, and then finally a black sealed bubble wrap bag. Each pouch came with a drawstring and a Toura branded card attached. The shafts were also wrapped in the standard plastic sheath but with a Toura logo screened on. Even the ferrules traveled first class in their own sealed bubble wrap baggie. Some others in the group unfortunately received their boxes hoping that the inside didn’t look like the outside. My boxes on the other hand were apparently more lucky in their journey from the Great White North. They showed up in perfect condition.

With all of the precautions that Toura takes in ensuring that your clubs reach their destination without a scratch, it definitely pays off in the end. Every club head arrived in pristine shape. One thing that I really appreciate from an artisan and artistic standpoint is that while each club is perfectly finished, you can tell that these are finished by hand. You don’t notice until you really look closely but you can actually see some light buffing marks in certain areas of the club. I appreciate this aspect so much.

One thing that really stands out to me besides how stunning these are, is that these are BLADES in every sense of the world. I’ve played some small heads before in the Callaway RAZR X MB’s and the Cleveland Tour TA1 irons and I might have to say that these make them look like shovels. It’s not often that I feel intimidated by any golf equipment and I might have to admit that these things scare me just a little.. The only other club that I might be able to reference for comparison is the Cobra RF MB’s. Yeah.. they’re that kind of intimidating.

Overall I really want to commend Toura on providing a world class presentation and unboxing experience. Especially during a time when companies are trying to cut every corner imaginable. Honestly these heads could have showed up in a shoebox with tissue paper and I would say that based on craftsmanship alone, they’d be worth the price.. but they showed up in a way as to say “thank you for admiring and honoring our craftsmanship”. That’s pretty dang cool.

Over the next week or so, we’ll all be embarking on our individual build journeys. We’re all just so freaking excited to do this and also to present a review in a way that I don’t think MGS has done in the past. Each of us will be presenting our own versions of how a club is built. Many more videos and pics are on the way so stay tuned!

 

Rust Oxide Bluing 

Here's an update of my progress so far

I was able to get all of the heads "blued". In reality the color is more of a dark copper bronze. In certain light they look black and other light, you can definitely see a hue of brown or bronze. Definitely not hating the outcome. 

I'm contemplating if I should keep the theme of copper paint fill or go with silver for the club # to tie in with the ferrule. I do plan to add just a touch of copper to the ferrules and then gloss coat them for protection. How and what I'll be adding .. That's yet to be determined. 

I have decided to keep the Spy loft # unpainted. I think it would add too much extra paint and also gives a more sealth undertone to that homage part. Kind of like a serial # or secret code name kind of vibe. 

Hopefully I'll have the badges and club #s painted and ready to start the build by Monday. 

Checking in Wed May 15th

I've gotten most of the set built out. As you will see, I've opted not to go with the copper paint fill for the MGS badge. I've settled on a little more subtle look that I think looks pretty killer. It's more of a bronze patina vibe. I think it still makes the badge pop but without saying "I need extra attention" . 

I do still need to paint in the Spy loft #'s and I'm also doing that in gloss black. I hope to have those all finished in the next day or so. I can't hit the clubs until Saturday evening at the latest due to my less than favorable work schedule so I've got time to make sure all of the paint is cured to its max. 

Here's the video covering the complete build of the PW

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:47 PM by azstu324

[ctg44]

Introduction:

Good morning everyone:

 

To say I am excited to be a part of this test build and review process is indeed an understatement.  I am married to a very amazing and patient woman who tolerates me being a golf and hockey nut and still plays on a coed adult rec ice hockey team herself.  We are parents of 2 grown young men:  A 24-year-old who graduated college early and is approaching his 2nd anniversary of working in the cybersecurity field after joining the Army National Guard, and a 19-year-old who is doing what is most easily described as a paid internship / trade school program through USA Hockey to become a professional ice hockey official.  After years mostly concentrating on playing, coaching, and (eventually) officiating ice hockey (crazy how much of it there is here in the Dallas area), I got back into golf hardcore when our younger son joined the junior high team in 7th grade (about 7 years ago now), and have gone from shooting in the 90s back to shooting in the low 80s (and on a few occasions, even in the 70s when I've been playing and practicing often enough).  We belong to the local country club where my son's high school team practiced before he graduated last year.  While he had taken the year off of competitive golf because he was too busy as the captain of his varsity hockey team and working a ton every week as a hockey official, we still tried to get out and play when we could together.  I try to play at least twice a week, once for at least 9 holes on my own after work and once for 18 on the weekend with my wife and, if he's in town, our younger son.  I work in an environment that can go from boring to very stressful in a heartbeat, and all things golf help with relieving that stress, whether it's building out a set of irons, practicing in a simulator because it's rained 4 out of the last 5 days, or actually getting to play on the course.

 

When my kids were growing up, I was known as their teams' "equipment manager" because if something broke or someone needed a skate sharpened or fixed, I was the person to at least ask what needed to be done so their parent (who generally had no idea at all about gear) could properly get it fixed.  I was also the "go-to" for helping my kids' teammates, along with teammates on the adult team my wife and I played on find the right size skates and other gear.  Thus, it's not surprising that when I started playing golf again, tinkering with my gear came naturally.  I started by replacing my own grips a few times, and once that became second nature, I'm not sure I've had a shop change a grip out in 4-5 years.  I graduated into using secondhand marketplaces like eBay, etc., to find good used gear as I had with hockey to be able to fill out our bags for less than going to retail, but sometimes, those clubs would need a reshaft, or a ferrule would have crept up, and I eventually started to experiment with pulling those steel shafts and rebuilding the clubs myself to save money.  I bought a shaft extractor and now have rebuilt several sets of irons for my wife and me. While I know I don't have the same skill sets that some of the other builders in this review group might have, my club builds have been durable and performed well for us over the past couple of years. I hope to show that building your own clubs can be an economical way for golfers to get better gear and very reasonable prices if you are willing to take the time and put in the effort.  

 

I am really looking forward to having the MGS family along for the ride in this build process, and to that end, I'm incorporating everyone into my build process.  Since I can't decide exactly which ferrules I want to use, I'm running a poll to get your feedback on what you think would look the best.  I chose the Toura Golf (Blank) JCB-Cut Japan Forged CB in the pure raw finish because I'm kind of a nut for raw finishes and can't wait to see how these patina over the testing period.  I created a Google Form to collect your votes.  Please share your MGS Forum username in the first answer and if you decide to share a different option, please ensure the link is safe for viewing at work.

https://bit.ly/MGSTCBCTG44FerrulePoll

 

 

First Impressions and "Unboxing" Video (10/10):

 

So, I used the camera you can see in the video there, and it was recording, and I walked over to start doing my unboxing, thinking I was good because I'd just done a test video on prepping an iron head for a rebuild:

Well, as mentioned in the video, the SLR did not record, so I had to adjust my plans and use my phone.  Here are a few key takeaways from my unboxing that were not captured on the actual video:

• The 5 iron has a tiny little tool mark on it that is a sign of hand finishing.  It's not anything that would affect playability, but it's noticeable in the right light.  I can't find it in any of the pictures of the club, so it's not THAT noticeable, and I'll likely never see it once it's at address.
• Speaking of address...these have more offset than I would have guess from the page online, but Toura says they have 1.3 mm of offset in the PW, which is less than the 2020 P7MCs (1.5 mm - See here:  https://www.taylormadegolf.com/P7MC-Irons/DW-TA156.html?lang=en_US) I'm currently gaming, so maybe it's an optical illusion.
• The clubs are SO clean.  I thought there was a little imperfection in the 4 iron's grooves, but it was really a piece of packaging that had gotten stuck in there.  
• I am coming back and adding in the specs on these irons from the Toura Site here:
  • Process: Forged and finished in Japan

  • Material: S25C (soft carbon steel)

  • Finish: Pure Raw (what I ordered - but now out of stock, so I presume that's what I got --->) or Satin Polish Chrome (what I received).   <-- I started to finally notice some patina happening the other day, and the Toura team confirmed the following about how the Pure Raw irons are shipped so that customers get the irons in an unblemished and perfect condition upon arrival.  This almost makes me want to break the scoring rubric and give these guys an 11 / 10!  Here's the details on their process:

    "The raw heads are buffed/polished when finished and we then store them in an anti-rusting powder on our end to keep them in perfect condition before they are ordered. So, they should arrive nearly flawless but of course over time you will see them patina."

  • Loft: 4 - 24° / 5 - 27° / 6 - 30° / 7 - 34° / 8 - 38° / 9 - 42° / PW - 46°

  • Lie: 4 - 60° / 5 - 60.5° / 6 - 61° / 7 - 61.5° / 8 - 62° / 9 - 62.5° / PW - 63°

• Overall score on packing, first impressions, and the parts Toura sent = 10 / 10.  These are outrageously beautiful CB irons! 

 

I'm making it available now for your viewing pleasure, but I will sort through this huge gallery of pictures tonight after I return from working a couple of games as an ice hockey official.  I have to support my golf addiction somehow because my main job pays the regular bills, and my amazing wife tolerates my golf spending because I work hard for the extra cash.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/f2LnqsSqQd2hZABYA

 

I know that's a little bit overkill, but I tried to capture every possible angle of the clubs, and used an old shaft to give a good perspective of the offset and view looking down at the top line.  I'll obviously take a lot more pictures and some better video during the build process that will start tomorrow.

PS:  My build site (AKA garage) security guard, Jager, says "HI EVERYONE!!!!" Anyone with a GSD / Husky (and he's exactly 50/50 of high-level purebred versions of each) knows you don't go anywhere without a shadow.  Mine just happens to be white and very well-behaved most of the time, fortunately.

Some additional Saturday morning thoughts on the Toura irons from the Unboxing / First Impressions point of view before I begin the build process:

• While I was pretty effusive in my praise for the packaging process used by Toura, I can't help but restate in writing how much it meant that the irons got here in absolutely perfect condition.  The box was given the typical USPS horror show treatment that makes Spirit airlines baggage handlers looking like they're taking care of the crown jewels.  I'm not sure if Jager had gotten a hold of the box for an hour he could have done more damage to it than the USPS did during shipping, and yet the irons were...perfect.  Yes, at $800 for heads only the Toura irons are not "cheap," but as first impressions go, this is a "get what you paid for" type situation.  
• My original request was for the Raw Carbon Steel version of these irons.  I see they are out of stock on the Toura shopping site, which is likely why Toura shipped me the Chrome Satin versions.  You can trust me when I say there is zero disappointment when looking at these iron heads.  While I am a raw club junky and even "rawed" some wedges a while back that my son is now fully in love with being in his bag, these are just too beautiful to complain about!  See above for an update from Toura on the Pure Raw process and why I was wrong on this so any future consumers aren't confused when receiving their CB irons!
• I guess if I did have any complaint, it would be that if I were buying these from Toura and wanting them to build them, the shaft option is the regular True Temper DG X100 shaft, rather than the premium option of the Tour Issue X100 shaft.  I know that's a $25-30 upcharge item and wouldn't expect that as part of test build, but I'd like that option if I were buying a set of premium custom irons.
• I obviously won't be able to really compare the offset, and how the clubs play until after I build them, but in direct head to head (no pun intended) comparisons with the spare 6 iron and PW heads from my 2020 P7MC set, these look to be right around the same or maybe a little less than the Taylormades, which tracks based on listed specs.
• I don't know if the Toura Grips will stay on the clubs long term, especially if the clubs stay in my bag, but I am fully committed to trying them despite not normally being a Lamkin Crossline grip fan (which these very closely resemble in style and feel from first looks / touches). 
  • Update (05-12-2024):  After more investigating (i.e. looking at every grip in the store the other day), I have confirmed the stock Toura grips are 100% for sure custom versions of the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 (also Standard) grips.  These are simply too slick for my hands to keep a grip on them when I start to get sweaty in the high heat and humidity here in North Texas.  I am updating the post to show I was incorrect at first and that the Toura grips are not the Lamkin Crossline grips.  However, to be fair, both those and the GP Tour Velvet 360 options are almost identical.  I'm including links to Golf Galaxy not as a promotion of them over any other particular retailer, but rather because they seem to be the only ones selling the ZGRIP Plus2s with any reliable amount of stock that I can find.
• The one area of club building I've never really explored is "turning" of ferrules, and it appears that might be necessary from my initial dry fit test of these irons with the BB&F Albatross ferrules I sourced to be able to have enough to make my irons and wedges match.  The hosels on the irons are <just> slightly smaller than the ferrule, so I will have to figure out a solution to that without having access to a belt sander.  More research will definitely be necessary, and that might be a "post-build" scenario where I get the clubs all built and grips installed to get through the launch monitor testing this weekend and come back next weekend and make the ferrule improvements.  Lots to think about, but if anyone has any ideas on how I can best do this part without a belt sander and without a ton of experience in doing anything with ferrules post installation, I'm open to links to posts / videos for ideas.
• That's all for now.  I'm going to head out and finish rebuilding my MG4 wedges that I'd initially reshafted upon arrival, but did so in a massive hurry because I wanted them cured for the next morning before I played and for the following week when I was traveling for work and taking my clubs.  They were done decently, but 1 shaft wasn't in all the way straight, and 1 ferrule was not seated all the way, so I am taking this opportunity to rebuild them with the same BB&F Ferrules that will be going on my Toura build.

MUCH more to come!!! 

Here's a recap of what I've done with the Toura Build so far (just 1 club), and what my plans are for the upcoming week.

05-04-2024: 

• Part 1 of the build process was to get the Toura CB PW put together tonight so I could use that in the Simulator at the local PGA Superstore tomorrow and test it against my normal PW, which is a 48° Taylormade MG4 wedge and the PW from my 2020 P7MC iron set.  I have the X100 Tour Issue shaft from my iron set in the 48° MG4, and the DG X100 Toura sent me in their Toura CB PW. 
• I did not have another x-stiff (or 6.5 flex in Project X) steel shaft here, but I did have an MMT125 TX shaft left over that was in an Edison 45° wedge that I pulled apart and used to rebuild the set PW from the P7MCs to have for testing.  I wasn't a huge fan of the MMT125TX shafts when I had them in my Mizuno Pro 223 irons, but maybe that was because I was REALLY tired of the MP223s at that point being impossible to hit anywhere but hard left without leaving myself susceptible to the shanks...long story for another day folks! I built the P7MC PW with one of the Toura Black / White / Silver ferrules they shipped me and it was just as nice as the BB&F ferrules I have used so far on my other wedges.  I mentioned in my first impressions video I thought the Toura ferrules felt like they were very high quality, and that's borne out in using one to build out a club.
• Here are some pictures of the P7MC, MG4 48°, and the Toura CB PW side by side:
  • https://photos.app.goo.gl/qn8tJkoyuV2sF6WJ8
  • https://photos.app.goo.gl/EwPjmFtctfxid4WF9
  • https://photos.app.goo.gl/yw4kp5LhnQ6TuvhS7 <-- I can already tell I'm not going to be a fan of the Toura grips for the same reason I don't like the Lamkin Crossline...I simply can NOT get them to go on straight and line up properly...look at how wavy those lines are...uggh!
  •  
• I'll get the video of the Toura CB PW and the bonus footage of the rebuild of the P7MC onto the MMT125TX uploaded to YouTube and shared here as soon as possible.  That's probably going to be tomorrow morning, though (which is actually today since it's already 12:05 AM CDT here in Texas).  I'm not sure when the video will be available (it will probably be after 02:00 AM CDT), but here's the link for when it is:   https://youtu.be/DPDy1RenvRc

05-05-2024:

• My plans were to take my wife to try out some women-oriented irons in the late morning at a golf store in the Dallas area that has a ton of good options for her. 
• After hitting everything they had that was long enough for her, we decided to take advantage of Club Champion's iron fitting discount ($50) and schedule one for her next week (05-11). 

I figure after my initial testing of the Toura irons, the P7MCs are probably going to get resold.  Along with those, her irons, and a few other things already on eBay, I should get pretty close to enough for some new sticks for a late Mother's Day present.  Keeping her happier when she's on the course means she'll play more on the weekends, which means I get to play more without worrying about her being grumpy because I'm either gone officiating hockey games or playing golf all weekend...

• I then booked an hour of simulator time to get some testing done in the early afternoon at the local PGA Superstore while my wife did school work to prepare for her upcoming week of reviews and testing.  She's an advanced academics teacher at a local HS and is at the end of her 27th school year with most of that spent teaching an AP tested subject.
• I built out the rest of the irons in the morning, and once everything had cured, I put the grips on in the evening. Later in the week, I'll work on the videos and some step-by-step documentation of the processes I use.
• I spent about 80 minutes in the afternoon testing the Toura PW against my 48° MG4 wedge and the set PW from my P7MCs, which I rebuilt using a spare MMT125TX shaft I had.
  •  Here's a link to my later post in this thread with the data from this testing session (to avoid cluttering up this thread with the same information): 

A quick preview for those who have not made it to page 6 of this thread yet (listed above as a link): The Toura PW can be deadly accurate! 

• While it's only an artificial surface, the "turf" interaction feels significantly better than the MG4 or the stock PW from my P7MC set.  I can't wait to put this on real grass, though since it won't stop raining here in Dallas / Fort Worth, that could be a while.
• Feel....Mizuno says nothing feels like one.  Well, I owned a set of Mizuno Pro 223 irons, have hit a couple of different people's 221s and prior year Mizuno blade and CB options, and I am sorry to report to all of the Mizuno fans that crown is not yours.  A low to zero technology (i.e. no tungsten or hollow-cavities) hand-forged CB iron that A) wasn't fitted to me, B) I built myself in my garage with my own 2 hands, C) has not been adjusted for loft or lie even though I'm 6'4" and 220, and D) has a grip on it that I'm not really a fan of feels like it was made for me by the world's best club-fitter.  
• I will go ahead and rate the 1st impression of the clubs for performance on the numbers as a 10/10. 
  • I hit plenty of PW shots on this occasion, and all of them were AT LEAST as good with/ the Toura as anything I hit with the P7MC (on an MMT125TX shaft, so not a perfect comparison). Most were noticeably better than the ones I hit with my 48° MG4 wedge. 
  • I've been playing with the 48° MG4 wedge for about 1.5 months.  It's been in the bag for 1 practice session and 1 round longer than the P7MC irons I have.  I actually had never hit the stock P7MC PW before yesterday because it was pulled from the head for me to use the X100 shaft that it came with for the 48° MG4 wedge immediately upon the arrival of the set of 2020 P7MC irons to my house.
  • Now, the Toura is a 46° PW compared to the 48° MG4 wedge, so it was interesting to see the launch, spin, and ball speed numbers be what they were.  I will say that I've not had the 48° MG4 wedge checked for loft / lie since receiving it VERY slightly used, so maybe it's off a little from its original specs as well.
  • Future club plans:
    • No, I haven't gone through the full set of irons yet, but I'm pretty well-versed in playing around with sets of clubs at Golf Galaxy, PGA Superstore, etc., and knowing when I do or don't like something.  In fact, that's exactly how I knew that I'd absolutely love a set of the P7MCs riding on a set of X100 Tour Issue shafts after less than 30 minutes of simulator time hitting a used set at GG one Friday night when my wife was out of town.  I found an even cheaper used set on Facebook Marketplace in better condition and have loved the effect on my game compared to the shank-fest my approach game was trending towards with the Mizunos...I got really tired of yelling, "Fore left!!!" with those.
    • Thus, I fully expect the Toura irons to be my main set going forward, the P7MCs to be resold to fund my wife's new set of irons, and lots of looks to be coming my way as people see these beauties in my bag at the country club...if you know, it ever stops raining so the range can reopen!
    • However, I do expect that I'm going to need to run a gap analysis, maybe with a pro / fitter, on my bag once I move to the Toura irons.  It will remain to be seen where the gaps end up at the bottom of the bag with the current wedges I have (MG4:  52.09SB / 56.12SB / 60.07LBV on Tour Issue X100 Onyx shafts) and at the top of the bag with my hybrid (Titleist TS2) and 3W (Callaway Triple Diamond 15°).
    • Most likely, I'm betting I find the Toura Irons will be 2-5 yards shorter than the P7MCs, but if the testing w/ the PW is any indication, my accuracy will be improved.  I will give up a few yards for better dispersion / control.  However, at the top of the bag, that's probably going to require swapping that balky hybrid I don't hit well for something I do.  So far, I'm trending towards a P790 UDI 2 iron or 3 iron, probably w/ an X100 steel shaft. 
    • Let's just say that if Toura made a driving iron, it would already be on order...

05-06-2024:  

• I have another hour of simulator time booked to get some testing done after work at the local PGA Superstore, this time with the remainder of the Toura CB irons versus my P7MC irons.  I hope to have my 18-year-old son hit both sets of clubs as well.  For reference, his clubs are Callaway Apex TCBs with Nippon Modus 130X shafts. 
• My son is basically a full-time ice hockey official, even in the off-season from his assigned primary league, the North American Hockey League, so he picked up games to help pay for the Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond 5W he bought Sunday that he was hitting a mere 265+.  Totally not fair, right?  Oh, to be young and have 115 ball speed with a 5W, right?!?!
• I hit a LOT of shots tonight, so there's a lot to parse from this session.  
• The collection of all of this data and putting it into a useful format will take a couple of days, so I would expect that my next update after tomorrow will not come until Wednesday or Thursday of this week unless I get rained out of my normal Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon post-work 9 hole round.  If that's the case, I'll come home and finish up the documentation on the simulator testing and make sure I'm ready for some on-course testing in the coming weeks.
• Quick Summary:
  • I made it from the PW through the 7 iron, testing against my P7MC irons.  As I ran out of time, I skipped the 6 and 5 irons and hit the 4 iron in both the Toura CB and my 2020 P7MC.
  • I used the PW as a warmup, but wasn't as clean with it as I was on Saturday.
  • I really struggled with the 9 iron, so much so I knew something wasn't right with the build.  I was NOT at all surprised to find out I'd built it a little bit too long.  Once I get a chance to edit that build video and upload it, you'll understand why there's always a chance for error when comparing to pre-built clubs w/ installed grips.  In short, it's very hard to account for possible loft, lie, and grip cap thickness differences, even though I thought I'd been VERY careful to eliminate all of those variables.
  • Stats were better and compared more favorably to the P7MC with the 8 iron, but the 7 iron was again an issue.  
  • Of all of the praise I have for everything else Toura so far, I hate to say it, but I am very much NOT a fan of the Toura grips
  • I, however, have being very much a fan of the Golf Pride ZGRIP Plus2 grips I found a couple of months ago at Golf Galaxy.  They come on the 2024 Taylormade clubs, and are a really nice size for my hands.  They're a little larger than standard, and with a 2nd wrap of tape, they're perfect for me.  I was struggling with having to grip too tightly with the Lamkin ST Hybrid midsize grips I had previously used for almost 2 years.  It was causing an overcorrection and making me swing MORE left instead of less left as a slightly bigger grip would have because I was using way too much left hand in my swing and pulling the heck out of the ball too often.  
  • More on the Toura grips:  I'm finding that if I get any "turf" resistance at all, I lose the club and it twists.  I'm worried that when I get outside in the ridiculous Texas heat and humidity (slated to be in the 80s w/ 50%+ humidity tomorrow afternoon), I'll lose it almost every time I take any divot.  I think this is why I struggled for consistency with the 7 and 9 irons, both of which were a little longer than their P7MC counterparts.  I am leaning towards replacing these grips and have a set of the ZGROP Plus2s in my Golf Galaxy cart to add to the Toura irons.  I don't think I'm going to get a true "apples to apples" comparison without this.
  • I am posting the data to my testing as a link, instead of as pictures, since I can't post a PDF:  https://bit.ly/TBTvP7MC05062024

05-08-2024:  

• I uploaded a few pictures of my completed build separately from the other folder: https://bit.ly/TBTF-Photos (I had a special guest appearance during the photography session!).
• I need to spend some time practicing turning ferrules and then get after turning these ferrules.  If @azstu324, @JRDuck40, and @David Leighton Reid are going to keep putting out such fire-breathing work, and I intend to keep my build simple and clean, I need to come through with professional-looking results!!!

05-11-2024:

I am going to work on editing these to try and get them to be a little less annoyingly "portrait-mode" videos (because I'm a rookie and video recording apparently despite way too many years of doing that for hockey teams) and re-uploading them next week, but I'm going to go ahead and post them now.  In order, I am posting a quick "plug" video for my favorite epoxy, the 3M DP810NS, the build video for the Toura PW, and then the Toura 9-4 (in that order) buildout.

3M Epoxy:

 

Toura PW:

 

Toura 4-9 irons:

 

Update 05-12-2024:

• I spent another hour on a simulator at a different PGA Superstore because, you guessed it, DFW got pounded with massive amounts of rain again this weekend.
• I am more convinced than ever that the stock lie on these irons is slightly upright for me based on their CG placement being so bottom-weighted.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I am finding that thin shots still go relatively close to forever compared to some other CB-type irons I've hit in the past, with most of all of the mass in the base of the iron.
• There is a decent distance penalty for any shots missed medium toe to high toe, but it isn't as far offline as it was on the Mizuno Pro 223, where I'd lose those all hard right, while a low toe would be a hard left pull.  If anyone out there wants to try and explain the physics of that, you can go buy my clubs from the guy to whom I sold them (they're back up for sale on eBay).
• I do think I have the 6 iron slightly too short (like a tiny fraction of an inch...not even 1/8" but still enough to notice), as it continues to be an issue for me.
• I finally tried turning the ferrule on the PW using acetone.  I think I did a pretty good job and will take some pictures tomorrow.  It was easier on the ferrule Toura sent me on which I practiced than on the BB&F ferrule, as the BB&F got sticky VERY fast.  I'm going to have to use an old microfiber on future ferrules rather than paper towels, as those started getting sticky really soon with the BB&F, whereas they didn't do that at all with the Toura ferrule.

 

Update 05-13-2024:

• I have booked a gap analysis "lesson" with PGA Superstore on Thursday, 05-16, since I won't be able to play this week because (drumroll) it's going to rain again on the day I normally would get out of the office early to go play 9 holes with my wife. 
• The plan is to start w/ my MG4 60° and work my way up to the Toura 4 iron to see where I'm at with my gaps and any loft / lie angle adjustments that might be needed.  
  • While I think there's a chance I would want to add a little more distance by bending the irons a degree or 2 stronger, I'm not sure the increased offset (I already tend towards a hard pull) would be worth the risk.
  • I also worry that I'd be increasingly prone to "digging" if I bent these stronger, so I may leave them as is.  
  • The current thought is these will end up being bent 1-2° flat from where they are.  I'm having a ____ of a time getting any fade on the ball unless I really overdo the setup to accentuate the swing for that, and I lose too much distance doing that.
  • I have zero issues getting the ball up in the air, even using lower flight balls, so I can afford to drop the lofts a bit.  I mean, my driver is turned down to 7.5° and I still hit it fairly high...
• Once the session is over, I'll have the fitter mark the clubs, take them to the repair shop, and have them adjusted.  Unfortunately, I don't have access to a loft / lie machine myself and don't have any experience with one anyway, so I am going to leave this to the professionals.  It's a coin toss whether to trust them or Golf Galaxy here in this area, so I'll see what happens when I get them back.  I'll book some more simulator time and try to get on the course this weekend...if it ever stops raining.  Most of the creeks / ponds on the course are at max fill levels right now, so the courses will flood again if it doesn't stop soon.
• On a sort of unrelated to the Toura CB Build and Review note, I found a cheap P790 UDI to buy and decided to pair it with a new True Temper DG Tour Issue X100 shaft from Golf Works.  While I was there, I also ordered their economy swingweight device, as I am very interested in seeing the data.  This is related to the build process because I plan to test my P7MC irons.  I was hitting VERY well leading up to the start of this testing process against the Toura irons, which are proving to take much more work to hit well right now.  I think that a combination of swingweight and lie angle difference between the 2 sets are throwing me off.
• Update #2 for today can be found at the following post later in the Toura Build thread:  

I turned the ferrules tonight...and I guess having finally played with them on a real course instead of a simulator has led to an amazing revelation...they REALLY are pure raw irons!!! 
 

     
 

    Check out the video here:
 

    
        
    

     
 

    Check out my Google Photos build folder here to see the raw Toura CB irons in their early stages of glory (with a teaser photo below...yes, that's rust, not dirt or anything else, I promise!):
 

   https://photos.app.goo.gl/f2LnqsSqQd2hZABYA
 

     
 

    

    
 

Update - 05-15-2024:

• I bought the GolfWorks Economy Swingweight Tester and it arrived today. 
• I checked the Toura CB irons from PW through my new P790UDI 2 iron I just built tonight.
• Across the board, the clubs were mostly in the D7-D9 range. 
• The 4 iron was the odd club out at all the way at D9, but since I'm hitting that really well, maybe that's not a bad thing?
• You can see the exact readings by reviewing the pictures of the swingweight check of each club here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/5k3aFmP9MzeVZKtr9

 

Update - 05-16-2024 - Loft and Lie / Gap Analysis Fitting Session:

See the separate post below to read about a loft / lie / gap analysis fitting session I did yesterday (Thursday, 05-16).
 

 

 

Edited Friday at 12:23 PM by ctg44
05-16 -2023 Update 8 with Loft / Lie Info / Update

[David Leighton Reid]

Introduction

I am extremely fortunate to have been selected as a builder and tester of the Toura irons.   A great big "Thank You" to Toura Golf and our MyGolfSpy staff.  You can find these great looking irons at touragolf.com.

Bio

I am 64 years old; been married for almost 43 years; and have 3 children and 10 grandkids.  I retired last August from an Anheuser-Busch distributorship where I worked 32 years, with 10 years as General Manager.  I am obsessed with golf and trying to get better.  I began building and repairing clubs approximately 15 years ago and was fortunate to be mentored by a gentleman who completed courses provided by Golfsmith.   

Photo 1:  Most recent picture of my wife and I, who is the current bread winner in our family.  I also refer to her on the forum as SWMBO, but she is unaware of that title.  *It was not our 50th Anniversary, just a photo op at a party we attended. 

Photo 2:  Golfing in Florida with the Sandhill Cranes.

Photo 3:  This is how my grandkids see me.

Photo 4:  Me, hitting a tee shot on hole #17 at Sawgrass in 2005.  And yes, I hit the green on my first try, but splashed the second after the photo. 

The other testers in our group have come up with some exceptional ideas for unique and personalized builds for the Toura irons.  To accompany the blank non-logo heads, I purchased a set of UST Recoil graphite shafts that I plan to paint, so the shafts will be non-logo as well.  

I encourage you to follow along with our builds and testing; I believe you will be impressed with the builds the testers have planned.  I'm impressed and I have only read about some of their ideas so far.  

Update 5/4/24

I have received my packages from Toura Golf!!!  The first package, which included the heads, was delivered to the wrong house on the wrong street.  And to top that off, USPS tracking shows I signed for the package.  Thankfully, an honest stranger brought the package to my house yesterday afternoon.  I will be posting an unboxing video this afternoon.  

Unboxing completed.

The Toura CB iron set has been unboxed and videoed.  My first video attempt ran over 20 minutes so I did take #2 for a condensed version.  Currently, youtube is showing 1 hour 13 minutes to upload my video.  Good thing I cut down!  I tried to have a little fun with the video reflecting on how we as golfers have a special affinity and passion for our clubs, especially gorgeous irons like Toura.   

Toura Golf does an exceptional job packaging their high quality components.  The iron heads were shipped separate with a plastic cover, a bubble wrap cover, a soft bag, and another bubble wrap package.  With a thin top line and a compact head, the CB irons are not only pleasing to the eye, they are just down-right sexy. 
https://touragolf.com/shop-all/ols/products/blank-tg-japan-mb-irons-black-bln-tg-mb-rns1

Okay....here is my first ever youtube video.

 

 

 

Photo 1 & 2:  The gorgeous iron heads and components.

Photo 3:  Toura Crossline grips

Photo 4:  Toura Golf towel

Photo 5:  TrueTemper S300 steel shafts

Photos 6 - 8:  Toura Golf CB polished chrome 8 iron

Update May 8, 2023

The weatherman said today is a high alert day for severe storms, so I decided to forgo my round of golf and work on my Toura irons build.  As I mentioned above, Toura Golf generously provided TrueTemper S300 steel shafts for the build, but with my slower swing speed, I need a regular flex shaft to provide an accurate testing.  I purchased a set of UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F3 shafts for my build and decided the shafts need to be blank to match the heads. For my painting project, I purchased a Hammered Steel color spray paint and a can of Gloss Clear.  To prep the shafts, I sanded by hand with 220 sandpaper and wiped clean with a rag and water.  

I suspended the shafts between two sawhorses and proceeded to spray paint by applying 1 coat from both sides.  After the paint dried, I rotated the shafts 180 degrees and repeated the process to complete the first coat.  The worst part of painting is waiting patiently for the paint or clear coat to dry.  I completed 3 coats of paint and moved on to applying the clear coat.  For this step, I hold a shaft at the butt end and rotate it as I apply thin layer of clear coat.  Then the shaft is placed in a redneck drying rack, also known as my Weber grill.

 

In between coats of paint and clear coat, I was able to complete some household chores as well as paint fill the iron heads.  From Wal-Mart, I purchased a red fingernail polish to use as paint fill.  Using the nail polish brush, I filled the number on each head and the "Made in Japan" on each hosel.  I used a hot air gun to help dry the polish and then removed the excess paint with a cotton ball and acetone.  

So, it was a very productive day for both housework and club building.  Unforturnately, my cinematographer was at work today, but I did get her to video the last application of clear coat.

The shafts are done, the paint fill is completed, so it is time to start assembly.  To be continued.....

Update 5/9/24

Last night I continued the build process by installing the ferrules and heads.  My first step was to sand approximately 1 3/4 inches of the tips with a belt sander and finishing by hand with sandpaper.  I then used a ferrule installation tool and a rubber mallet to tap the ferrule to 1 1/8 inch from the tip. 

Once all the ferrules were in place, I mixed up Brampton’s Pro-Fix Quick Cure epoxy and added shafting beads.  The Toura heads were installed and left to dry.  

My next steps will be shaft trimming, grip installation, loft and lie adjustment, and swing weight check.  Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or comments.  Thanks for following along. 

Update Stardate May 10, 2024

Okay, I am not Captain Kirk!  However, I do have some progress to share with you on the Toura Golf CB irons build.  This evening, I trimmed the butt of the shafts to my personal specifications, using a chop saw.  The chop saw is a must have for your home golf shop; it is so much easier and faster to use than a manual pipe cutter.  

Then it was time for the Toura Golf grips to be installed.  I use an air compressor with a nozzle attachment, which makes installing and removing grips much easier.  Also, I do not use 2 sided gripping tape.  Instead, I use 2" masking tape which makes removing the grips a simple process.  And I am sure someone is wondering about slippage, but the grips will not slip or turn after the solvent has dried.  

 

Next, I will be checking the loft and lies and also, the swingweights.  

Update 5/11/24

Here's a video I made through iMovie with pictures of the finished clubs.  I plan on adjusting the loft and lies to my specs and checking the swingweights prior to taking the Toura CB irons to the course on Wednesday.

Here's the photos I used in the video.

 

Update May 13, 2024

This morning I adjusted the loft and lies on the CB irons.  Most of the heads were spot on according to my Golfsmith machine and if there was a variance, it was within 1°.  Well done Toura!  I have seen new sets of clubs with considerable differences in actual loft and lie versus factory specs. 

My current gamers are PXG Gen 3 0311XP irons, which have much stronger lofts than the more traditional lofting of the CB heads.  So for a starting point, I bent the iron heads 4° stronger to make them close to my PXG irons.  When you are almost 65 and losing distance, the stronger lofts are priceless.  The factory lies were a couple of degrees flat for me, so I adjusted the lies +2°.  

The swing weights were as expected....heavy; compared to my 0311XP irons, which are a hollow body distance iron.  And this was using the same weight shaft.  If I find the need to lower the swing weights, I will remove the grips and add some weight to the butt end with lead tape.  The 52° wedge is a beast at D9!

So now the CB irons are officially ready for their first round of golf on Wednesday.  If it stops raining today, I may have to hit a few balls out of the yard.  

Update May 15, 2024

On the course performance testing began today as I walked 18 holes and played 2 balls.  For many years, I have played Mizuno forged irons and PXG forged irons, so I know what it feels like to play top shelf forged clubs.  Simply stated, Toura Golf has got it right in their forged clubs.  When struck in the sweet spot, the feel is melted butter smooth.  Shots struck outside the sweet spot were not harsh, but I knew immediately that I didn't flush the shot.  I hit every iron multiple times and was completely impressed with the Toura CB heads.  I completed full swings, 3/4 swings, knock down shots, draws, hooks, fades, pitch shots, chip shots, and sadly, also a couple of shanks.  The Toura CB irons performed amazingly with all the different shots.  Any poor shots were strictly operator error. 

Shot of the day.  

An errant drive left me behind a tree, but I could see the left edge of the green.  I grabbed the 7 iron, set up for a cut, and hit a beautiful high fade that started left of the tree and finished approximately 10 feet from the hole.  And, the shot felt amazing.  In case you are wondering, I did not make the birdie putt.  

The greens at my course are very firm due to less rainfall than normal for this time of year.  Plus, the course superintendent told me the greens need to plugged and sanded.  My approach shots did not balloon from too much spin, but they did hold the firm greens with a couple of hops and stop.  

So after one outing, I am extremely impressed with the Toura CB irons.  Hopefully, another field test on Friday.

Photo 1:  The kids are anxious to play!

Photo 2:  Gap wedge 52° bent to 48°

Photo 3:  9 iron

Photo 4:  7 iron

Photo 5:  5 iron

Oh, I almost forgot.....I love the Gap Wedge.  The Toura GW may find a permanent spot in my bag, replacing the PXG GW.  

Update May 19, 2024

I took my bucket of practice balls to youth soccer fields behind our Middle School and hit 35 shots with the wind and 35 shots into the wind with the Toura CB 7 - 9 irons.  What was impressive was the shots into the 10-15 mph wind did not balloon up from too much spin, but just bored right through.  It was easy to work the ball with the CB irons, both draws and fades.  Once again I am impressed with the marshmallow soft feel of balls struck in the sweet spot.  Tomorrow I get to take the Toura CB irons to Highland Springs Golf Course in Springfield, MO, which is the home of the Pricecutter Open on the Korn Ferry Tour.  

Edited 8 hours ago by David Leighton Reid

[JRDuck40]

First off, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to Toura Golf and MGS for this opportunity to not only build a set of Toura Irons from scratch, but to also game them! This is legitimately one of the coolest opportunities to test I’ve ever heard of. Let alone being able to participate.

My name is Jim Duckett, 41 and live just outside of Milwaukee, WI with my amazing wife, Diana, two boys Ray & Ben and of course our pup, Ella.

Our boys keep us busy with a ton of activities throughout the year. Summer is filled with chasing them around to multiple camps, practices, events, etc… But if you are going to get golf in, you need to get up early. I’m a dew sweeper for sure with an OK handicap, currently 6.1 and going to enter my 3rd attempt at WI State Amateur qualifying this July.

Outside of golf and family time, I also love to fish / spend time on our boat, take in Brewers baseball games and have a little bourbon collection as well. Up to 50+ bottles. (If you need a bourbon recommendation, feel free to DM me.)

During the ‘non-golf’ season in the frozen north, I stay loose with indoor sim league (shameless plug for www.stixgolfbar.com) and tinker with club building / customizations. Some of my more recent builds were making drivers for my boys. Sourced the heads, adapters / ferrules off of eBay. Shafts purchased from Golf Galaxy with grips pulled from my prior set of irons. Of course, one of them is a lefty…

A custom pain fill / oil can finish on a set of Callaway X Series wedges. A beat up old Ping Anser that I shined up and did a USA themed pain fill on.

Various hybrids / a new to me Titleist TS2 5 wood that is quickly becoming my favorite club in the bag. And this GEM of a Scotty that I traded one of my old bags for via FB Marketplace. The buyer knew what he had, but didn’t have the time or cash to bring it back to life. Smoke show of a putter. (And no, I did not do the full restoration. Sent it off to bosgolf.com. They do amazing work!)

Before BOS..... 

After... OOOOOO baby! 

But with any build, there can be challenges. For instance, trying to find a good source for adapters online. Thankfully quite a few that I source online are via eBay. The majority  do come in as advertised. But one in every few have been shipped incorrectly. Many of the shops do allow returns and are quick to act. Another FAIL was this old Vokey wedge that I attempted to do another Oil Can finish but neglected to remove the chrome finish first…. Ugh. When it comes to club making, quick is never the way. Take your time and do things right.

For the testing / build from Toura, I picked the Japan Forged CB blanks in chrome finish. I’ll be using True Temper S300 shafts. But from there on out, it is all custom baby! Over the course of the build, I’ll be sure to give shout outs to the companies / retailers that I’m sourcing. I’m a grip snob and as of late, fell in love with the UTx cords from Lamkin. A little sneak peek into the build, these are the grips I purchased from www.grips4less.com.

Best of luck to the other builders for this project.

@azstu324, @david leighton reid, @ctg44

They have all have some great ideas for customization that I am super jacked to see what they are all cooking up. I know @azstu324 has something up his sleeve that is going to turn some heads.

I cannot wait to see what you all come up with!

Thank you again to MGS and Toura for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Cannot wait to get the heads in house and get this build going.

STICKS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED!!!! Hoot hoot!!!! The self proclaimed "King of the Clubs" has a decree that all irons shall be released to the world and let golf rein! 

Haha. The boys really wanted to assist. Can't say no to that.

 

So Toura did an amazing job of packaging. Everything was bubble wrapped, with tissue paper and encased in plastic wrapping. Shafts individually wrapped and capped on both ends in tissue paper. I have purchased multiple shafts at times from many other online MAJOR retailers, and this type of kind touch is defiantly not the norm. Tip of the cap Toura! 

The heads. Oh my oh my the heads! This is just over packaging that I can get behind. Toura gives these beauties a plastic bag wrap with hosel plug. Then bubble wrap. Then it’s own individual Toura baggie. ON TOP OF THAT the heads are then wrapped in another bubble wrap package. WOW! If these things get damaged in transit, it is 100% on the carrier. Great work!

Also, who doesn't like a clean looking towel? Ummm I don't know. Not this guy. I love another golf towel! The wife, not so much. Haha.

Overall, they shipped everything very, very fast, packaged well. The cherry on top, each package has it’s own hyper cool Toura business card with QR code that states the package is 100% Toura. Kudos to this. In the world where many golf items are faked, this is nicely reassuring to the buyer. I like the idea. Please keep it up!

All in all, very happy with the delivery. The ONLY thing I would say as a criticism would be that they shipped via CPS / USPS. I am not a fan of the US Postal Service. Any time I ship anything, anywhere, anytime, my automatic fall back has been UPS. I have had many, many items “lost in transit” via USPS and have not been compensated even though insurance was purchased. This is my opinion, that’s it. I know many sellers / businesses that use USPS exclusively with almost zero issue. I cannot.

Overall boxing / shipment 9 / 10

 

NEXT UP….. Building time! Ooooo yeah!

Still waiting on ferrules to come in... Again, USPS, let's get it together... Just saying.

Exciting things coming up. Stay tuned spies! 

 

Build prep - getting ready! 

 

Sanding shafts - Day 1 

If you haven't been following, I'm going for a complete custom build. White painted shafts. Custom stamping on heads. Paint fill... etc. Sanding down the shafts is our first step. Next up..... PRIME TIME. 

Primer to the shafts to ensure that we have a good base coat for our white pear finish. After paint, we will be trimming shafts to length and really get things moving on the build. 

Stay tuned fellow spies. 

**** UPDATE *****

5-10-24

UGH!!!! Back to prepping the shafts.. yet again! Video update below. 

So with yet another hiccup in the build, we will be using ANOTHER vendor for the build. We are now up to; 

Tour Golf - https://touragolf.com/

3-2 Customs (custom ferrules) - https://www.32customs.com/

Washington County GC (bent heads to swing specs) - https://www.golfwcgc.com/

And NOW Shaft Wraps... to cover up the hot mess I made. Haha. BIG thank you to @TSauer for the suggestion! 

https://shaftwraps.com/

While we wait on the wraps to come in...

I have heads stamped and some of the paint fill done. Will take care of the remaining paint fill ASAP. 

The stamps that I used were... well best way to describe them are "seasoned". Each needed to be cleaned up quite a bit before using. But they did turn out pretty nice. 

I'll be sanding off all paint and getting back to the base layer for the shafts. I promise not to post yet another video of me just sanding shafts. 

After the shaft wraps are delivered, I will be able to finalize the build and do what we do best, TEST! 

Stay tuned spies! 

Update 5-15-24

WE HAVE WHITE SHAFTS FINALLY! 

With shafts now set, all we need to do is build! Unfortunately, this week, life / work / everything is getting in the way. Will HOPEFULLY find time to get this complete on Friday night / Saturday if possible. I have a dew sweeping tee time set for Brown Deer Park GC (the host of the GMO - IE Tigers first ever pro tourney) on Sunday AM and would love to play the www.touragolf.com CB's if at all possible. 

Onward. 

JRD

Edited Wednesday at 03:54 PM by JRDuck40
Update on shafts 5-15

[Northern Monkey]

Congratulations

[GolferXY]

Good luck to the testers!   I expect a ton of videos, should be fun!  Some have all the tools, some have a more barebones technique.  Cool.

Edited April 30 by GolferXY

[sirchunksalot]

Congratulations everyone! This should be a fun test and it'll be interesting to dive into how y'all build your clubs. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products!

[IndyBonzo]

What a unique test.  Congrats to all the testers!  This very novice tinkerer will be watching this one closely. 

[Jean D]

Congratulations to all of you!

[88Buster]

This will be an interesting one to follow.

[Rob Person]

5 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Calling all club builders! We have a very special testing opportunity for you! For many, it is more than just getting on the course and playing, but honing a craft and taking pride in installing and building each club in your bag. Those who want to customize each part of their golf clubs and make their bag stand out for the efforts they put into the build of their golf clubs.

About Toura Golf

Toura Golf was created out of the passion for golf club building. In search of a blank head with no logo, founder Jon found little to no options. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He created Toura Golf for those like him who love to build their own golf clubs and have an appreciation for a pure forged product that stands out by not standing out. 

The Canadian company is known for their minimalist designs and producing limited quantities of heads as well as some one of a kind models. With wedges, putters, and full iron heads all available for purchase, Toura Golf is a club builder's dream. 

For those who prefer their clubs pre-built, Toura does offer a selection of shafts and grips in which a complete set can be purchased.

Please welcome and congratulate our testers/builders!

@azstu324 

@David Leighton Reid 

@ctg44 

@JRDuck40

We will also have a community vote for best build with a special badge for the winner! Stay tuned and no you cannot vote for @Josh Parker! haha

Congratulations all! Excited to see your creations in progress!

 

2 hours ago, GolferXY said:

Good luck to the testers!   I expect a ton of videos, should be fun!  Some have all the tools, some have a more barebones technique.  Cool.

Me too!

[ParFore74x]

Congratulations testers! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the testers do this one. 

[Josh Parker]

I'm looking forward to following along on this one!  I had a great time building mine!

[Willie T]

5 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Calling all club builders! We have a very special testing opportunity for you! For many, it is more than just getting on the course and playing, but honing a craft and taking pride in installing and building each club in your bag. Those who want to customize each part of their golf clubs and make their bag stand out for the efforts they put into the build of their golf clubs.

About Toura Golf

Toura Golf was created out of the passion for golf club building. In search of a blank head with no logo, founder Jon found little to no options. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He created Toura Golf for those like him who love to build their own golf clubs and have an appreciation for a pure forged product that stands out by not standing out. 

The Canadian company is known for their minimalist designs and producing limited quantities of heads as well as some one of a kind models. With wedges, putters, and full iron heads all available for purchase, Toura Golf is a club builder's dream. 

For those who prefer their clubs pre-built, Toura does offer a selection of shafts and grips in which a complete set can be purchased.

Please welcome and congratulate our testers/builders!

@azstu324 

@David Leighton Reid 

@ctg44 

@JRDuck40

We will also have a community vote for best build with a special badge for the winner! Stay tuned and no you cannot vote for @Josh Parker! haha

As a tinkerer of all things, including golf clubs, this club builder’s test is one I will enjoy following.  Who knows this may be how my next set of clubs happen….

[TJ Hall]

Congratulations testers…looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Bubba1985]

Congrats.. This is a very interesting test..almost like testing a golfers knowledge against an engineers knowledge..can't wait for the results..rooting for the home team!

[Preeway]

Congrats, testers. One of the most unique tests by far. This should be really interesting to follow along with and see how you all choose to customize your clubs.

[bens197]

Love this testing and I am excited to follow along. This one may rank as one of the best opportunities ever offered. Good luck fellas!

[golfinnut]

Congrats everyone!  This is going to be fun.  Sure wish I had this opportunity, as I'm a huge club builder.  But I'll be following along your progress for sure.  

[russtopherb]

Congrats all! This is definitely one of the more unique opportunities here on MGS, I'm excited to see everyone's sets and hearing about how they perform.

[JRDuck40]

To say that we are all excited for this opp is an understatement! 

@azstu324 

@David Leighton Reid 

@ctg44 

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with. This is going to be a fun one. 

[TSauer]

Congrats, y'all! This is going to be a very fun one to follow. Cannot wait to see what you all whip up!

[azstu324]

Thanks MGS, mods, Toura Golf,  and everybody else!!! Intro will be up this evening. In the meantime, in the "greenroom" we've been having a ton of great discussions about customization and build ideas. This is going to be fun! 

Here's a little sneak peek of something I'm working on behind the scenes...

[Shrek74]

10 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Please welcome and congratulate our testers/builders!

@azstu324 

@David Leighton Reid 

@ctg44 

@JRDuck40

We will also have a community vote for best build with a special badge for the winner! Stay tuned and no you cannot vote for @Josh Parker! haha

Congrats testers!! I can't wait to see what you all come up with for builds. As a new builder, I'm also curious to hear your trials and tribulations during the process so hopefully I'll have a few things I'll know ahead of time to avoid. Good luck all!

[GolfSpy SAM]

Hear me now (and believe me later, to quote the great Hanz & Franz) : 

  You WILL want to be following this thread.  These guys are UNBELIEVABLY excited about building these out, and each person has a unique twist that will make your head swim.  I cannot WAIT to see the final results, but  more than that, to follow along and see the process unfold. 

  Trust me on this: it's going to be epic.

Congrats again, team!

[JRDuck40]

First off, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to Toura Golf and MGS for this opportunity to not only build a set of Toura Irons from scratch, but to also game them! This is legitimately one of the coolest opportunities to test I’ve ever heard of. Let alone being able to participate.

My name is Jim Duckett, 41 and live just outside of Milwaukee, WI with my amazing wife, Diana, two boys Ray & Ben and of course our pup, Ella.

Our boys keep us busy with a ton of activities throughout the year. Summer is filled with chasing them around to multiple camps, practices, events, etc… But if you are going to get golf in, you need to get up early. I’m a dew sweeper for sure with an OK handicap, currently 6.1 and going to enter my 3rd attempt at WI State Amateur qualifying this July.

Outside of golf and family time, I also love to fish / spend time on our boat, take in Brewers baseball games and have a little bourbon collection as well. Up to 50+ bottles. (If you need a bourbon recommendation, feel free to DM me.)

During the ‘non-golf’ season in the frozen north, I stay loose with indoor sim league (shameless plug for www.stixgolfbar.com) and tinker with club building / customizations. Some of my more recent builds were making drivers for my boys. Sourced the heads, adapters / ferrules off of eBay. Shafts purchased from Golf Galaxy with grips pulled from my prior set of irons. Of course, one of them is a lefty…  

A custom pain fill / oil can finish on a set of Callaway X Series wedges. A beat up old Ping Anser that I shined up and did a USA themed pain fill on.

Various hybrids / a new to me Titleist TS2 5 wood that is quickly becoming my favorite club in the bag. And this GEM of a Scotty that I traded one of my old bags for via FB Marketplace. The buyer knew what he had, but didn’t have the time or cash to bring it back to life. Smoke show of a putter. (And no, I did not do the full restoration. Sent it off to bosgolf.com. They do amazing work!)

Before BOS..... 

After... OOOOOO baby! 

But with any build, there can be challenges. For instance, trying to find a good source for adapters online. Thankfully quite a few that I source online are via eBay. The majority  do come in as advertised. But one in every few have been shipped incorrectly. Many of the shops do allow returns and are quick to act. Another FAIL was this old Vokey wedge that I attempted to do another Oil Can finish but neglected to remove the chrome finish first…. Ugh. When it comes to club making, quick is never the way. Take your time and do things right.

For the testing / build from Toura, I picked the Japan Forged CB blanks in chrome finish. I’ll be using True Temper S300 shafts. But from there on out, it is all custom baby! Over the course of the build, I’ll be sure to give shout outs to the companies / retailers that I’m sourcing. I’m a grip snob and as of late, fell in love with the UTx cords from Lamkin. A little sneak peek into the build, these are the grips I purchased from www.grips4less.com.

Best of luck to the other builders for this project.

@azstu324, @david leighton reid, @ctg44

They have all have some great ideas for customization that I am super jacked to see what they are all cooking up. I know @azstu324 has something up his sleeve that is going to turn some heads.

I cannot wait to see what you all come up with!

Thank you again to MGS and Toura for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Cannot wait to get the heads in house and get this build going.

 

 

Edited April 30 by JRDuck40
Removal of 2 extra photos at end of post.

[Rob Person]

11 hours ago, ctg44 said:

Introduction:

Good morning everyone:

 

To say I am excited to be a part of this test build and review process is indeed an understatement.  I am married to a very amazing and patient woman who tolerates me being a golf and hockey nut and still plays on a coed adult rec ice hockey team herself.  We are parents of 2 grown young men:  A 24-year-old who graduated college early and is approaching his 2nd anniversary of working in the cybersecurity field after joining the Army National Guard, and a 19-year-old who is doing what is most easily described as a paid internship / trade school program through USA Hockey to become a professional ice hockey official.  After years mostly concentrating on playing, coaching, and (eventually) officiating ice hockey (crazy how much of it there is here in the Dallas area), I got back into golf hardcore when our younger son joined the junior high team in 7th grade (about 7 years ago now), and have gone from shooting in the 90s back to shooting in the low 80s (and on a few occasions, even in the 70s when I've been playing and practicing often enough).  We belong to the local country club where my son's high school team practiced before he graduated last year.  While he had taken the year off of competitive golf because he was too busy as the captain of his varsity hockey team and working a ton every week as a hockey official, we still tried to get out and play when we could together.  I try to play at least twice a week, once for at least 9 holes on my own after work and once for 18 on the weekend with my wife and, if he's in town, our younger son.  I work in an environment that can go from boring to very stressful in a heartbeat, and all things golf help with relieving that stress, whether it's building out a set of irons, practicing in a simulator because it's rained 4 out of the last 5 days, or actually getting to play on the course.

 

When my kids were growing up, I was known as their teams' "equipment manager" because if something broke or someone needed a skate sharpened or fixed, I was the person to at least ask what needed to be done so their parent (who generally had no idea at all about gear) could properly get it fixed.  I was also the "go-to" for helping my kids' teammates, along with teammates on the adult team my wife and I played on find the right size skates and other gear.  Thus, it's not surprising that when I started playing golf again, tinkering with my gear came naturally.  I started by replacing my own grips a few times, and once that became second nature, I'm not sure I've had a shop change a grip out in 4-5 years.  I graduated into using secondhand marketplaces like eBay, etc., to find good used gear as I had with hockey to be able to fill out our bags for less than going to retail, but sometimes, those clubs would need a reshaft, or a ferrule would have crept up, and I eventually started to experiment with pulling those steel shafts and rebuilding the clubs myself to save money.  I bought a shaft extractor and now have rebuilt several sets of irons for my wife and me. While I know I don't have the same skill sets that some of the other builders in this review group might have, my club builds have been durable and performed well for us over the past couple of years. I hope to show that building your own clubs can be an economical way for golfers to get better gear and very reasonable prices if you are willing to take the time and put in the effort.  

 

I am really looking forward to having the MGS family along for the ride in this build process, and to that end, I'm incorporating everyone into my build process.  Since I can't decide exactly which ferrules I want to use, I'm running a poll to get your feedback on what you think would look the best.  I chose the Toura Golf (Blank) JCB-Cut Japan Forged CB in the pure raw finish because I'm kind of a nut for raw finishes and can't wait to see how these patina over the testing period.  I created a Google Form to collect your votes.  Please share your MGS Forum username in the first answer and if you decide to share a different option, please ensure the link is safe for viewing at work.

https://bit.ly/MGSTCBCTG44FerrulePoll

 

More to come soon!

I put my suggestion in the form, also, have you decided on shafts and grips?

[ctg44]

3 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I put my suggestion in the form, also, have you decided on shafts and grips?

I am going to use the X100 shafts and the stock grips (supposed to be similar to a Lamkin Crossline) that Toura is supplying for us.  I want to give the Toura kit products as much of a shot at making it into the bag long term as possible, though admittedly, the grips have a long way to go to beat out the current leader in the clubhouse, the Golf Pride ZGRIP Plus2, or my previous groups, the Lamkin ST Hybrids.

Thanks for your input.  I seriously can't wait.  Lunchtime is going to be a busy time for the next couple of days as I try to keep up with everything in my inbox and catch up on messages!

[MuniGolfer]

This is a great group for this!