Royal Collection has long dominated the fairway wood and utility market here in Japan especially for the better player and professional. Compact, wonderful feeling and top performing woods have been their for over a decade. This is no small feat for as compared to most brands, RC is a very small company with only 20 employees dedicated to designing and producing golf clubs that look great and perform great. Many golf enthusiasts in the West may be familiar with their Driving Cavity design which began in 1995 with the CV-1 head. Many of these designs were borrowed by the now defunct brand Sonartec. Sonartec has long been a popular choice of many PGA and LPGA professionals for their superbly designed and super performing fairway woods and utilities, most of which were passed down from Royal Collection years after their model release in Japan.

Twin Rail Cavity Design

The TRC design, or Twin Rail Cavity has been used by RC for many many years dating back to the first Super CV TRC in 2002.  The rails are designed to reduce friction with the turf to help maintain swing speed, and create more pure contact with the ball. This in fact is not a new design or technology and is used by many brands these days in golf. The TRC Utility is now in its second generation with the first TRC Utility having been released in early 2009 in Japan as the BBD’s TRC UT (this older model has been re-released as the JP104FH in the US).  The all New TRC Utility for 2011 like its predecessor is a cross between a fairway wood and a hybrid, with the distance and trajectory of an FW but the ease and versatility of a rescue/hybrid. The new model has improved its dual rail system along with a more rounded and blunt leading edge to produce even better contact and feel. The rails now actually look like a pair of rails which do a great job of minimizing friction with the ground at impact.

Great Feel and Versatility

The deeper face of the New TRC also make it a very popular option for those who want to tee off with a utility or hybrid on long par 3’s or on holes with tight fairways where accuracy and control are needed. Feel is superb with the New TRC with very nice pop at impact. The New TRC now uses 17-4 Stainless for the body vs SUS630 on the older model. The face utilizes a 455 stainless steel which matched with the new 17-4 body produces very soft but crisp feel.

Pleasing at address…

At address you can see why its called a cross between a fairway wood and utility. It’s rounded shape and square face angle provides a fairway like setup but its compact nature a more utility like presence. Another reason it has fairway wood like performance is that for a utility, its club length borders on the longer side.  The strongest lofted 17* UT is 41″ in length which is only slightly shorter than a 5 wood and similar to many short woods in length. This ranges all the way up to the 26* model which is 39.5″ in length.  This however, does not make the New TRC hard to hit and I think a lot of this can be attributed to the weight and balance of the club. The TRC head feels heavy and many better players will like this as you can feel the head through the swing and the weight helps bring the head down to the ball at impact with that added punch.

Utility of the Year…

I’ve talked about the TRC a few times in the past on the blog and those who know me will know that I gamed the 2009 BBD’s TRC for over a year. I decided to post again since this summer the 2011 New TRC UT was named utility of the year here in Japan, and for very good reason. Its simply performs and feels great.  The stock club already comes with a very good stock shaft and even choices of weight with the new Tour AD U-55, or U-65 or U-75 shafts. If a stock shaft is not enough, Royal Collection also offers the club custom built with many of Japan’s top aftermarket shafts including  the Tour AD DI and DJ Series as well as their SF and  UT series shafts.  Also available are Diamana’s ahina, Fubuki Alpha, Fubuki FW series and Fubuki Hybrid, as well as Fujikura’s Motore Speeder VC.1 and VC.2 and Motore FW. I decided to try a 20* with the ATTAS T2 6 in regular flex which is available along with the new ATTAS Hybrid shaft. At 40.5″, 340g and a D2 swing weight, the club has great feel in the hands. What the 20* TRC turns out to be is heavier and more versatile 7 wood.  I love this club and if I’m not hitting my fairway woods well or I end up in a tough spot and need distance I always feel confident pulling out the New TRC 20*.

While the TRC is typically aimed at the better player its more than forgiving enough for the average golfer. As a matter of a fact we still have many average golfers going to this club especially being available all the way up to 26* and with its ease of use and distance performance. On the other side of the scale, we have a lot of better players and faster swingers opting for the 17* as a fairway wood replacement thanks to its weight, feel and stable performance. In the end there is a TRC UT for everyone thanks to the variety of lofts and shaft choices. Its an all around great performer with great feel and I highly recommend it.  For more information on the TRC Specs please check out its pro shop listing.