Kamui and Kamui, Premium Japanese Drivers

That title probably doesn’t make much sense but what I’m talking about is Kamui Works, a very prestigious hand made golf club maker in Toyama City.  Kamui Works has been making premium drivers for over a decade and is a favorite among low handicap players  and those wanting a premium custom made driver with a focus on feel and distance. The big draw for many golfers is that Kamui will make their drivers to any spec including conforming or non-conforming. Just like the Kamui Silver 456 prototype I received in the above picture.

The popularity of Kamui Works grew as their premium drivers had premium demand. However with the companies growth, several workers from Kamui Works left to start another company called… yes you guessed it, Kamui. This second Kamui has also grown in popularity by producing performance oriented drivers including the Typhoon series which has recently gained favor with many long drive competitors in Japan. These Typhoon drivers are made for competition and thus are conforming to USGA rules.  Typhoon’s are being built as long as 48″ and with ultra 7 Star flex shafts (XXXXXSTIFFFFF!) for the fastest  swinging competitors in DRAKON (Driving Contest).  I showed the TP-05 from the newer Kamui above so people would realize that there are two Kamui brands but I will continue talking about the original Kamui Works below.

The original Kamui Works still produces high end hand made drivers and all of their models can be hand made with the following options:

• Conforming or Non Conforming head
• Specified real lofts
• Real face angles
• Custom head finish

While both Kamui brands sell different product lines and operate independently, they still share many of the same manufacturing techniques which makes Kamui unique. Kamui drivers are made using cold forged as roll titan faces utilizing DAT56,  a next generation titanium steel from Daido Industries.  The titanium is cold forged using pressure moulding with 400 tons of pressure.

The 456 Proto above also features a dimpled back face which creates variable thickness all across the face for feel and added ball speeds.

Premium club maker Kamui Works then uses TIG Welding (by hand) to attach the face to the driver body. Because this is all done carefully by the hands of top Kamui Works craftsmen, there is very little margin of error when it comes to loft and face angle. You order 9.3* and that’s what you get.

The driver heads spend a lot of time on the grinding belt and are worked thoroughly by hand to ensure uniform thickness all throughout the head. Kamui Works believes this is an important process in creating a maximum performance driver as uneven surface and walls of the driver would not only throw off the overall balance of the head but cause the performance to fall below optimal.

Moving from rougher belts to finer belts with many steps in between, Kamui Works ensures a perfect polish and shine with the final touch being done by hand and cloth buffing. This is pure hand made attention folks.

The head is then hand painted to color and finish of customers choice.  All specs are verified to exact measurements and Kamui Works then builds your club to exact finished CPM desired.

All very impressive but how does it perform?

I received a Kamui 456 Silver Driver today, shafted with the new Bassara Griffin G53. It is exactly 10* in loft and is a conforming model. You can choose the face angle of your Kamui Works driver anywhere from 1.0* open up to 2.0* closed. This driver has a closed face of 0.5*. I took the club over to the driving range here in Kiminomori and hit a few balls to get a feel of this combo.  Let me just say I was very impressed with this driver. I am very much into feel when it comes to golf clubs. A driver may look good and hit it long but if it feels like crap at impact I can’t play it.

I test and play lots of drivers and am very lucky to have access to all the top drivers in Japan. Feel wise the Kamui Works Silver 456 ranks right up there with the best of them. It has the soft feel of Epon and Yamaha but with the pop of a PRGR.  The Griffin matched with this head is a very smooth combo. No worries about timing here as the shaft loads and unloads square at impact. Even though it usually takes me a few balls to get used to a new driver and shaft combo and how it unloads, I was able to pure my first 4 balls right in the sweet spot and it felt awesome.  As expected with the Griffin, trajectory is a more piercing mid flight especially with the Kamui being a true 10* loft. This driver spins low as I still get very good run.

I’ve been gaming a Yamaha and PRGR lately because I love the feel of the Yamaha and the Pop of the PRGR at impact. This Kamui has both feel and pop and can be built to exact spec. I’m thinking of getting one made to 10.5* with a closed face, pearl black head and COR of 0.88 shafted with a Griffin G43.  The Kamui Siver 456 is one hot driver. We’ve decided to carry Kamui drivers so look for them in our pro shop in the next week or so or contact us for a custom spec driver! or Order yours in the Pro Shop Now!!

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