This weekend I’ll be lucky enough to test 4 great drivers side by side, the Tourstage X-drive 703 Limited, Titleist VG3, Taylormade Superdeep TP and Burner Superfast TP Black. I did however have a quick session with the Tourstage 703 Limited before hand for some pictures and brief hitting so I thought I would give some impressions.
The all forged 703 Limited feels great. It has a soft feel at impact that is meant to feel even better if your swing speed is above 98mph, a target audience where the driver really excels performance wise. Like the X-Drive 703 standard model, this limited version features a forged CUP face with variable thickness design. The head itself is a seven piece structure with an advanced chemical milling process done behind the new crown. This is the thinnest crown TourStage has ever released at 0.3mm which helped get the center of gravity low and keeping spin low and the trajectory piercing against strong winds. The 435cc design and compact pear shaped head which is indeed smaller looking than the standard 703 at address really creates great workability and feel.
The tester I have is a 9.5* with Tour AD DI-6 shaft in Stiff Flex. This combo produces a penetrating trajectory with very good run out. I really love the looks of the 703 Limited, it is high tech and powerful looking and sets up wonderfully at address. I’ll get more into its performance this weekend when it goes head to head against the Titleist and Taylormade drivers so for now we can all admire its good looks from the pictures I took below!
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I enjoy reading your articles received via RSS feeds. Am curious though, are the clubs you test fitted to your swing? shaft flex, loft, and assorted other variables will effect your feel
Hi Rick, you are absolutely right, feel is subjective and many factors including the specs of the shaft and head will definitely affect feel. I try my best to request specs matched with my swing but unfortunately it isn’t always the case when brands send me their gear. Because of this, I am sometimes forced to only give my subjective opinion in things like feel and I try and refrain from too many “performance specific” oriented comments as I know the club is not giving me optimal performance if it doesn’t have my specs. In most cases I try and stick with general design observations as well as personal feel. Definitely a club with a shaft to stiff will not feel nearly as soft or nice as one with a shaft that fits me but I feel I have tried enough stiff shafts to at least have a point of reference. This is why I note for the 703, both feel and performance are improved for the faster, above 98mph swing (which i am not) player.
In other cases where the clubs do fit my swing I try and give more feedback on performance ie actual distance, fairways hit, feel and kick of the shaft etc. otherwise feedback is much more general.