Absolutely one of the best players Hybrids I have ever laid by hands on, The A-Grind UT PROTO. Currently A-Grind has 2 Hybrid Wood style clubs and 1 driving iron design and personally I think this is the better option of the three if your looking for a more traditional hybrid. For those of you who don’t know much about A-Grind Follow the Jump we will dive a bit into his history and then my Review…
Let’s start with the man himself Yusuke Ako-san who was the lead designer for Royal Collection from 2004 to 2013 for all their clubs including woods, irons, wedges, and utilities. He is the man! after years working for someone else he decided to branch off focusing his efforts and years of knowledge on A-Grind Golf. The result has been a brand that creates some of the best players fairway woods and utilities clubs today, not to mention unreal performing wedges, blades, and cavity backs.
As you can see in the above photo this thing just sets up like a gem, I’ve been hitting a demo club Ako-san sent me recently and can suggest it with confidence for any player that prefers a compact, square setup at address.
Let’s talk about feel while you look at it’s perfectly shaped face profile, it’s soft with a dense crunch to it, the ball pops off the face well it’s got a 455 Stainless Face with a 17-4 stainless body which is what the better player wants for the best combo of feel, spin, and workability. I found it very easy to pick clean off the ground and no problems getting it in the air, its slightly shallow but not too much I would rank this as the most beautiful face profile of any Hybrid I’ve seen.. ever!
It’s for sure designed around feel & workability, distance is average, you really shouldn’t be focused on distance with a hybrid like this. I consider this a purists club.
Forgiveness is very good I would attribute that to its face depth & shape, it being slightly shorter heel to toe and a sole design that just flat out works. I also think the slight cut up or cut away near the rear keeps this as a mid trajectory lower spin more workable format.
Now comparing it to other woods I have hit, lets start with my specs, I’m playing the 22* with a Fujikura MCH 70 Stiff Flex and it’s fantastic. My main gamer is the Modart MA01H 19* with the old school Crazy Black UT wedge shaft my absolute favorite UT shaft unfortunately no longer available, Due to the shaft I am still more accurate with the Modart so that is what I play but this A-Grind head is so good it has made me on multiple occasions want to tear apart my beloved Modart combo to test the CB UT shaft in it. In feel it wins, forgivness it wins, even distance but what I value most in a UT no matter the loft is how close I can get it to the pin. It’s not a good comparison but the best one I have for you right now. Loft vs Loft with the same shaft at the same specs is the only way to truly know which I prefer.
The A-Grind UT PROTO is comes in 3 lofts 17/19.5/22* my recommended shafts are Fujikura MCH and TRPX UT although nearly any shaft that fits your swing should work perfectly with this head. If you need a custom build or are interested with questions please contact [email protected] ( this head used in the photo shoot is also available as well )
Waiting for mine :)