Thanks to Rob over at Sandbox8.com for his early reports from the Bridgestone Golf USA demo tent in Orlando Florida. Rob showed us some of the new items that Bridgestone will be releasing in the USA like the J38 driver, J38 Forged Cavity back irons and J38 dual pocket forged irons that will be coming in March.
Bridgestone J38 460 Driver features:
– Extended Crown Profile from shallow face promotes low and deep CG for high launch and low spin for longer carry and maximum distance
– 6-4 titanium construction with thin crown wall section allows discretionary weight to be moved to the perimeter for added foregiveness
– Fujikura® Motore F1 65 Shaft
Bridgestone J38 Forged Cavity Back Irons features:
– Midsize premium forged 1020 carbon steel
– Magnesium composite enhances perimiter weighting for more forgiveness on off-center hits and dampens vibration for better feel
– Tapered sole design for versatility in shot making
Bridgestone J38 Forged Dual Pocket Cavity Back Irons features:
– Midsize premium forged 1020 carbon steel
– Dual Pocket cavity benefits:
– Removes discretionary weight to the perimeter for more forgiveness
– Provides more mass directly behind the hitting area for better feel
Looks Like TourStage?
Thats right it does, for those not familiar with the TourStage brand its one of Japan’s best selling and biggest golf equipment manufacturers. The driver appears to be an adjusted or watered down version of the TourStage X-Drive 901. It’s missing the magnesium weight screw and ridges on the sole, has a slightly different profile, and is made of 6-4ti instead of the more expensive Ti811. Yet on a positive note it should cost a lot less than the TourStage version released over a year ago.
The J38 Forged Irons look to be a winner, I can only guess they are made by Endo using 1020 which means they are not mushy and not clicky simply a perfect blend in between. They apear to be an adjusted version of the 2008 model X-blade CB. Very similar in design in my opinion.
I find the driver looks a lot more like the X-Drive 701 than the limited 901. It would probably make more sense to have them produce something along the lines of the 701 as it has a wider target audience than the pro model 901.