Toura Golf Irons Build Test: 2024 Forum Review

[Shrek74]

1 hour ago, azstu324 said:

Update:

Was able to get all of the club heads finished. I've got a bunch of videos covering the bluing process that I need to edit and combine. Some of the heads might need to be run through one or two more times as they just didn't get the deep black that I'm looking for. If I was going for something like a very dark bronze they would definitely look cool. This has been a very fun and educational process and definitely something I would encourage anyone to try out. I would even consider doing fewer runs through the process to go for a bronze look but in this case I want a pretty rich black. 

Hey Stu,
Do you think this could be done with steel shafts? They'd have to be stripped of their plating, but do you think this would work on them? I'd love that dark bronze look myself and think it'd be  with shafts, then a darker bronze for heads and some type of super killer ferrule. Just a thought.

[JRDuck40]

** UPDATE **

My OCD is kicking into overdrive today. I will be sanding and hitting the shafts again with paint. If we cannot get paint to stick, I'll be going with the shaft wraps from Shaftwraps.com. 

Thank you for the suggestions guys! Very much appreciated. 

JRD

 

[azstu324]

26 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

Hey Stu,
Do you think this could be done with steel shafts? They'd have to be stripped of their plating, but do you think this would work on them? I'd love that dark bronze look myself and think it'd be  with shafts, then a darker bronze for heads and some type of super killer ferrule. Just a thought.

I don't see why not. You're right about the coating needing to be stripped but I think it might work. The tricky part is coming up with a container to boil water I that is at least the length of the shaft. Gunsmiths have them for rifle barrels so they're out there. Get a couple of burner plates and you might have something. 

[Shrek74]

2 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

I don't see why not. You're right about the coating needing to be stripped but I think it might work. The tricky part is coming up with a container to boil water I that is at least the length of the shaft. Gunsmiths have them for rifle barrels so they're out there. Get a couple of burner plates and you might have something. 

If I was still living in S Denver, my old gunsmiths did a lot of bluing on old lever-action rifles and WW2 stuff. They'd probably have something to help get it done. I'll have to think on this one, but it would be super cool to do.

[Shrek74]

2 hours ago, TSauer said:

No problemo! I just checked their site for the plain colors, only $7 a pop. Of course, you may be able to just buy a big roll somewhere and trim it how you please. Here's a link in case you decide to ditch the paint. 

Shaft Wraps

Oh man, I see a Red/White/Blue build in my future! Even more so than just my current ferrules and grips, but adding in the RWB shaft wraps.

[TSauer]

2 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

Oh man, I see a Red/White/Blue build in my future! Even more so than just my current ferrules and grips, but adding in the RWB shaft wraps.

I like the way you think! If you end up pulling the trigger on them, you'll have to keep us posted. It's definitely a simple way to add some flair! 

[Shrek74]

2 minutes ago, TSauer said:

I like the way you think! If you end up pulling the trigger on them, you'll have to keep us posted. It's definitely a simple way to add some flair! 

Yeah, $8 per shaft for each RWB colors. It's not bad really. We'll see if I plan a TS3 build in the near future. I'd likely go OG DG shafts and wraps would be perfect.

[JRDuck40]

Update

Heads are back from www.golfwcgc.com. Head pro was nice enough to leave me some addition specs on the heads. Also some pretty big kudos to Toura as well. “I've never seen anything like this! Wow are they clean!” 
 

And this guy reps Titleist and TM in house. Pretty big accolades from a guy that customizes P770s and Scotty Cam all day! Well done Toura. Well done indeed. 
 

With heads in house. We can now get to stamping! Also, I will commence the re-paint work. Big thanks for all the members that gave their ideas. If needed, we will be going with shaft sleeves. But trying to avoid that.  I’ll have video loaded some time tomorrow. 
https://touragolf.com

Edited May 10 by JRDuck40
Added Toura site

[azstu324]

42 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update

Heads are back from www.golfwcgc.com. Head pro was nice enough to leave me some addition specs on the heads. Also some pretty big kudos to Toura as well. “I've never seen anything like this! Wow are they clean!” 
 

And this guy reps Titleist and TM in house. Pretty big accolades from a guy that customizes P770s and Scotty Cam all day! Well done Toura. Well done indeed. 
 

With heads in house. We can now get to stamping! Also, I will commence the re-paint work. Big thanks for all the members that gave their ideas. If needed, we will be going with shaft sleeves. But trying to avoid that.  I’ll have video loaded some time tomorrow. 
https://touragolf.com

Man you beat me to it! Only because I'm a procrastinate'n SOB and just haven't gotten to posting my specs. 

When I had my lofts/lies checked, everything was within about 1° of tolerance which is extremely tight! Good on Toura! 

 

Edited May 10 by azstu324

[JRDuck40]

18 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

Man you beat me to it! Only because I'm a procrastinat'n SOB and just haven't gotten to posting my specs. 

When I had my lofts/lies checked, everything was within about 1° of tolerance which is extremely tight! Good on Toura! 

 

Yeah all the heads were legit as advertised. The guys at Wash Co were quite impressed. 

[David Leighton Reid]

I just finished posting an update on my main page with a couple of videos on the installation of the ferrules and the heads.  

[TSauer]

19 minutes ago, David Leighton Reid said:

I just finished posting an update on my main page with a couple of videos on the installation of the ferrules and the heads.  

Nicely done, David! What I enjoy about club building is that there is no one way to do things, and we get to see everyone's methods and tricks. That redneck drying rack was right up my alley!

[ctg44]

11 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

Yeah all the heads were legit as advertised. The guys at Wash Co were quite impressed. 

To follow up on the specs topic for everyone's morning viewing pleasure, JB from Toura told me the following about the Toura CB Irons:

• Bounce angles 4-PW in degrees (°)    4 - 2° / 5 - 2° / 6 -3° / 7 -3° / 8 - 4° / 9 - 4° / PW- 5°
• For the average swing weight of the clubs at buildout with S300 shafts, JB said one should expect the CB heads to SW across the board at D2.5, with variance from D2-D3.
• By comparison, my 2020 P7MC originally had a SW from the factory of D3 as a pure stock club.  I'm sure at +5/8", they aren't quite the same SW now, but I have not done the calculations or had them checked.  I just know my iron game has been a lot better since putting them in the bag after snagging them randomly from FB Marketplace than it was with my fitted set of Mizuno's, so whom am I to argue with performance?

I have not gone the route of Stu and JR in having my clubs set pre-build because I tend not to have changes made to mine until I see them fly on the course.  If I hit the shaft / head combo and the ball flight isn't what I expect from a swing, then I try to repeat that.  If I'm still getting odd results, and can later repeat that on the simulator to get spin and launch data, I'll have the club adjusted.  I have pretty good biomechanical feel, but I also have a tendency to be inconsistent and change swing paths depending on how long I had to sit at my computer writing emergency plans or in meetings about safety systems or one of the other trillion things I'm responsible for, so I have tended over the last year or so to have my clubs be MORE neutral and it's paid off as I am less restricted by having had my heads adjusted like my fitted set of Mizunos were originally.

 

That said, I might have to get some tweaks done to adjust gapping once I settle in on things.  Still a lot of time to go in the process of getting comfortable with these irons.  I have worked like 30 extra hours the last 2 weeks combined, so I'm taking a half day off this afternoon and my son and I have a tee time at 1:30 PM.  The winds are going to be up around 12-15 MPH on a steady basis, with gusts up to 25 MPH.  The thing is they're predicting the wind out of the northeast, which is very odd for North Texas at this time of year, and makes the 1st 2 holes and last hole of our club's 1st course play really long, but makes most of the other 15 holes play oddly short sometimes.  I'm hoping I can get some SC300 launch monitor data on the Toura irons before I head onto the course, but I tend to forget to take that with me to the range more often than not.  Ballooning up into the wind was a key reason, along with a case of never going anywhere but hard left due to being set way too upright, that I sold my Mizuno irons and went with a more neutral iron like the P7MC with the X100 shafts.  Since I have the same shaft in these Toura CB irons, I'm hoping I get the same wind-fighting performance.

Edited May 10 by ctg44

[JRDuck40]

2 hours ago, ctg44 said:

To follow up on the specs topic for everyone's morning viewing pleasure, JB from Toura told me the following about the Toura CB Irons:

• Bounce angles 4-PW in degrees (°)    4 - 2° / 5 - 2° / 6 -3° / 7 -3° / 8 - 4° / 9 - 4° / PW- 5°
• For the average swing weight of the clubs at buildout with S300 shafts, JB said one should expect the CB heads to SW across the board at D2.5, with variance from D2-D3.
• By comparison, my 2020 P7MC originally had a SW from the factory of D3 as a pure stock club.  I'm sure at +5/8", they aren't quite the same SW now, but I have not done the calculations or had them checked.  I just know my iron game has been a lot better since putting them in the bag after snagging them randomly from FB Marketplace than it was with my fitted set of Mizuno's, so whom am I to argue with performance?

I have not gone the route of Stu and JR in having my clubs set pre-build because I tend not to have changes made to mine until I see them fly on the course.  If I hit the shaft / head combo and the ball flight isn't what I expect from a swing, then I try to repeat that.  If I'm still getting odd results, and can later repeat that on the simulator to get spin and launch data, I'll have the club adjusted.  I have pretty good biomechanical feel, but I also have a tendency to be inconsistent and change swing paths depending on how long I had to sit at my computer writing emergency plans or in meetings about safety systems or one of the other trillion things I'm responsible for, so I have tended over the last year or so to have my clubs be MORE neutral and it's paid off as I am less restricted by having had my heads adjusted like my fitted set of Mizunos were originally.

 

That said, I might have to get some tweaks done to adjust gapping once I settle in on things.  Still a lot of time to go in the process of getting comfortable with these irons.  I have worked like 30 extra hours the last 2 weeks combined, so I'm taking a half day off this afternoon and my son and I have a tee time at 1:30 PM.  The winds are going to be up around 12-15 MPH on a steady basis, with gusts up to 25 MPH.  The thing is they're predicting the wind out of the northeast, which is very odd for North Texas at this time of year, and makes the 1st 2 holes and last hole of our club's 1st course play really long, but makes most of the other 15 holes play oddly short sometimes.  I'm hoping I can get some SC300 launch monitor data on the Toura irons before I head onto the course, but I tend to forget to take that with me to the range more often than not.  Ballooning up into the wind was a key reason, along with a case of never going anywhere but hard left due to being set way too upright, that I sold my Mizuno irons and went with a more neutral iron like the P7MC with the X100 shafts.  Since I have the same shaft in these Toura CB irons, I'm hoping I get the same wind-fighting performance.

I am typically not the guy to put salt on my steak before trying it.... BUT, when it comes to my clubs, I know what I know. And I KNOW that I'm going to need them set upright 2 degrees. In all other facets in life, I will try before diving in. 
And I have not given them the full weight check. That is going to be upon install... which should be pretty soon. Just finished up stamping last night and did some of the paint fill. Need to hit a few more of the heads with paint again to lock it in but should have that complete sometime this weekend. 

JRD

[azstu324]

I've been asked by a few people to post instructions on the bluing process.. so I whipped this up real quick. 

My apologies though, I completely forgot to record in landscape

 

 

[TSauer]

20 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

I've been asked by a few people to post instructions on the bluing process.. so I whipped this up real quick. 

My apologies though, I completely forgot to record in landscape

 

 

Thanks for putting this together, Stu! I know now what my next project is going to be.

[azstu324]

Here's what we're looking at with the logo. I think maybe I can actually pull this off!

I plan to go over the entire logo part with a clear coat to help make it pop. Also I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a little bit of the copper paint into the ferrules. 

Edited May 10 by azstu324

[bens197]

You guys are absolutely killing this one…I can’t say I have a favorite setup quite yet.  The custom stamps…paint fill…ferrules.

10/10, would recommend this thread…

[KC Golf]

1 hour ago, azstu324 said:

I've been asked by a few people to post instructions on the bluing process.. so I whipped this up real quick. 

My apologies though, I completely forgot to record in landscape

 

 

Stu, these pics and videos of the process are amazing.  Never realized how this process is done,  it’s very cool to see.  Thank you for all the hard work! Can’t wait to see the final product from all of Testers!

[JRDuck40]

1 hour ago, azstu324 said:

Here's what we're looking at with the logo. I think maybe I can actually pull this off!

I plan to go over the entire logo part with a clear coat to help make it pop. Also I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a little bit of the copper paint into the ferrules. 

DUUUUUUUDE!!! I am about 2 minutes away from removing all the heads from my Takomo set and shipping to AZ to get you to do this for my set. This is some kind of next level stuff right here. Soooo sick! I think you officially  have a side hustle Stu. 

[azstu324]

17 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

DUUUUUUUDE!!! I am about 2 minutes away from removing all the heads from my Takomo set and shipping to AZ to get you to do this for my set. This is some kind of next level stuff right here. Soooo sick! I think you officially  have a side hustle Stu. 

As much as I'd love to take you up on that.. my wife would for sure pack up and leave with the kids . Our kitchen has since become my laboratory and that is not a favorable situation for my marital health .

Jokes aside, she's been very supportive of my "project" but not joking.. she'll leave me if I try to do this again. 

[JRDuck40]

10 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

As much as I'd love to take you up on that.. my wife would for sure pack up and leave with the kids . Our kitchen has since become my laboratory and that is not a favorable situation for my marital health .

Jokes aside, she's been very supportive of my "project" but not joking.. she'll leave me if I try to do this again. 

Ooooo I am very much in the same boat at the moment. I've been pounding away in the garage almost every night this past week getting caught up. I think the earliest I've went to sleep was around 12:30. I think tonight I might hit the pillow a little earlier than normal. Haha. 
Happy Wife = Happy Life. 

[TJ Hall]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Here's what we're looking at with the logo. I think maybe I can actually pull this off!

I plan to go over the entire logo part with a clear coat to help make it pop. Also I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a little bit of the copper paint into the ferrules. 

This is just gorgeous!  Awesome work!

[TJ Hall]

2 hours ago, azstu324 said:

As much as I'd love to take you up on that.. my wife would for sure pack up and leave with the kids . Our kitchen has since become my laboratory and that is not a favorable situation for my marital health .

Jokes aside, she's been very supportive of my "project" but not joking.. she'll leave me if I try to do this again. 

What if next time wasn’t exactly the same…different ferrules, different shafts???

[CFreddie]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Here's what we're looking at with the logo. I think maybe I can actually pull this off!

I plan to go over the entire logo part with a clear coat to help make it pop. Also I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a little bit of the copper paint into the ferrules. 

Wow - this looks INCREDIBLE!  Great job Stu!

[azstu324]

4 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

What if next time wasn’t exactly the same…different ferrules, different shafts???

All she sees is "golf project taking over the kitchen and my husband's life" 

The details are meaningless 

[TJ Hall]

Just now, azstu324 said:

All she sees is "golf project taking over the kitchen and my husband's life" 

The details are meaningless 

I hear ya!  The heads are amazing looking, can’t wait to see the final assembly.

[Josh Parker]

4 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Here's what we're looking at with the logo. I think maybe I can actually pull this off!

I plan to go over the entire logo part with a clear coat to help make it pop. Also I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a little bit of the copper paint into the ferrules. 

Awesome job!!

This group of builders are doing amazing work!

[David Leighton Reid]

I just added an update this evening with trimming and grips being installed.  My fellow builders are killing it with their ideas and customization.  

[ctg44]

Ok, got a little on-course time with the CB irons in today.  I definitely need to find some time next week to get into a shop and have some tweaks done, particularly to the lie angles.  I was really struggling with turf interaction...but then again, I was doing with the Taylormade wedges I've had for months too, so maybe it was as much of a function of a stiff, sore back as it was anything else.  I've got some simulator time booked tomorrow to do some more testing against the P7MCs.  The bounce angles and how they interact with the turf kind of remind me of how a friend's Srixon ZX7 (1st edition) played on our (surprisingly) hard ground here yesterday.  We had 10 inches of rain in the past 2 weeks, but both courses flooded, and the one we played had a layer of clay soil silt deposited over most of it that has left it hard as a rock now that it's dry.  At any rate, I had issues with the Srixon irons when I would get steep, and well, with a sore back from spending all week sitting at my desk, my swing might as well have been a seaside cliff...

For sure, I'm going to have a guy that's done some club tweaking for us in the past look at them with me during the week one day after work.  I normally leave about 3:30 PM on Tuesdays and try to get in 9 holes if the world hasn't come to an end (I run emergency management for a very large school district, so I accrue LOTS of flex time), but this week, that is probably going to be spent getting the Toura irons adjusted for me.

@azstu324 - When you mentioned earlier you'd forgotten to record your videos in landscape mode, I suddenly realized that I hadn't just forgotten to record ONE video that way, but ALL of mine.  Rookie move, I know.   Looking at conversion / editing options now...but I might just have to post them all as they are.

Incidentally, (free plug alert) if you love golf and live anywhere that doesn't have consistently dry and pleasant weather, you HAVE to get yourself a PGA Superstore Player's Club Plus membership...it's $149 a year, and just in this testing process alone, I've used their practice bays for at least 4-5 hours already, with another hour set for tomorrow.  The most you can book, even paying for it at the store, is 30 minutes, unless you're a PCP member, so it's great to get a full hour at one time.  Add in all the other the times I've used this since Christmas when our 2 boys and the older son's wife bought it for me, and I've far exceeded the per-hour rental rate many times over.  You also get a better points earning rate on purchases, so if you need to buy grips, balls, or clubs, etc., you earn rewards faster.