Geotech Japan has long been know for making great components that perform without breaking the bank. This is a great thing in today’s economy where people are thinking twice about paying big bucks for some of the premium brands. Geotech knowing that there are those who want premium performance and design but can’t afford a big budget, has taken this a concept a step further and released their new SP line of clubs.
Geotech SP won’t break your wallet
The SP lineup features some quality designs made of premium materials. These good looking clubs are being promoted as low cost performers aimed at mid to higher handicap players. Being an average golfer I thought I would check out how these clubs stack up against some of the big name mainstream brands currently dominating the average golfer market in Japan including XXIO, ONOFF and PRGR, all clubs that I play and test on a regular basis. I dropped into the Geotech head office in Chiba last week and picked up the SP driver, fairway wood, utility and irons.
One thing that really appeals about Geotech is the fact that they are available as components. Heads only allows the player to use their shaft of choice to really maximize performance of the club rather than settling for a standard stock shaft. The test clubs I got were shafted though, since they are demos with standard Geotech test shafts. Still even with stock shafts I can still test the clubs for quality design, workmanship, feel and general performance.
SP Driver
First up is the SP Driver which has actually been out for a few months. The SP driver is geared at all levels of players wanting a budget all titanium driver. The SP has a traditional shaped head and mid height face. The sweet spot is located higher up on the face and but the CG is not extremely deep at 32.9mm back. This produces a mid ball fight with lower spin. The great thing is there is a back weight screw with interchangeable weights (the stock weight is a 4g). By changing the weight the CG is altered as well as the overall MOI of the head.
4g weight = 32.9mm CG Depth, 20.5mm CG Height, 3983 gcm2 MOI
10g weight = 35.6mm CG Depth, 21.7mm CG Height, 4214 gcm2 MOI
2g weight = 32.3mm CG Depth, 18.2 CG Height, 3871 gcm2 MOI
This conforming all titanium driver produces a solid feel at impact. More of a thwock than tink like many drivers today. The head is also available in a wide number of lofts with different face angles again showing its broad target audience. 8.5* with an open 0.5* face, 9.5* with a square face, 10.5* with a 0.5* closed face and 11.5* with a 1.0* closed face. The head is also standard at a lighter weight (194g which can be altered by changing the back weight) meaning that its meant to be built at longer lengths optimally at 45.5″ or longer. With the face not neither extremely open or closed, the driver performs neutrally with pretty much a straight ball flight. The face height us very comfortable as its not too shallow and not too deep, a good balance of forgiveness and control. It’s pretty much a no frills driver that is available in various lofts with a little bit of tweaking via the back weight port. Not bad for a 169.00 all Ti head. I uploaded a video of the driver in action to our Youtube account so you can get an idea of the sound it makes as well as trajectory (though please note testing was done on the 2nd floor of the driving range).
SP Fairway and Utility
The new SP Fairway and Utility will be released in mid October and both are very clean designs with very good value and performance. The SP FW features an all SUS630 stainless construction for a soft but solid feel. It features a shallower face which really helps launch the ball up in the air as it allows you to catch the ball high up on the face. This fairway wood is mid sized with the largest head being the 3 wood at 165cc. The head does not look large at all from the top view as the shape is very traditional. The FW is available in 15 18 21* lofts with square to 0.5* open faces as is usually the case with all Geotech fairway woods. This head produces a mid trajectory ball and had a very large sweet spot with impact towards the toe and heel not really losing any distance. I’ve always liked the feel of Geotech fairway woods as they produce a nice pop at impact. The SP is no different. Great value at 59.00 a head.
The utility is a performer with a Stainless SUS630 head and high maraging 455 face which produces feel and high ball speeds. It’s a mid sized utility with a head shape resembling the legendary Royal Collection Td and Td+ utilities except larger and with slight offset. The SP may have a hotter face than the B-Stream thanks to the maraging face which is stronger but thinner than the SUS630 face the B-Stream has. The utility produced a mid to higher ball flight and was very easy to hit as it is long from toe to heel. I was very impressed with this head especially at 59.00 a head. You could throw in a steel shaft or low end graphite and grip and have a built to spec maraging utility for under 100.00. The SP UT is available in 16.5 19 23 and 26* lofts for all range of players.
SP Cavity Back Irons
Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was the new Geotech SP Iron. This mid sized cavity back is slightly larger than say an ONOFF iron, GN502 or Epon AF-701. It has a similar topline width and sole width but is longer from toe to heel creating a big sweet spot and is very forgiving with its pocket/undercut cavity. I was impressed with its overal design and finish as well as feel and performance. This is one easy iron to hit and very forgiving. The pocket cavity is rather large and deep really minimizing off center hits.
The SP is a cast club made of stainless SUS431 steel but feel is reasonably good, close to my ONOFF iron. Lofts are not like typical Japanese market average golfer models which have very strong lofts. The SP features a 5 iron loft of 26* (vs 24* in most average golfer models). This produces a higher controllable ball flight. There is offset in this iron but no more than say you would find on an AF-701 or GN502 iron. Now here is the best part. These irons are cheap. At 49.00 a head you can get a set of 5-PW for 294.00 and have them shafted with high quality NS Pro steel and have a great performing set of irons for under 500.00. I think I will be building a set of these as back up to my ONOFF Roddio set as you can’t go wrong at this price.
A Welcome change in today’s Golf Market
So I came away reasonably impressed with Geotech’s SP lineup. In a Japanese market where clubs are higher priced than pretty much every other market in the world, the new SP lineup is a welcome change providing performance and good designs at a budget price. You could build a complete set of clubs from the SP lineup for what some sets of irons or even a driver would cost from other premium brands. And best of all you would be pretty satisfied with what you get for your money. If you want a clubs that can hold their own against some of Japan’s and America’s big brands and are tight on cash or looking to save for that pricey putter, the SP is a very promising option. Even better if you love to tweak and build your own clubs. The driver is in the shop already and the rest of the SP line will launch mid October so look for them soon in our pro shop!
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