Yururi Tour or Seida Rupas Wedge Builds – Part 1

Keigekiku Yururi was kind enough to send me some wedges for a start to finish build and some testing. They sent me two of their new 2010 models, the Yururi Tour Wedge and the Seida RuPaS. Both Premium Japan forged wedges are popular choices for any player looking for feel and spin in a great designed wedge.  I decided to document a start to finish build since Yururi is typically purchased as heads only by many of our customers.

Yururi has come a long way over the years. As a small company it has of course had its ups and downs but all the time worked hard to improve its designs and product quality. The past year has seen Yurui grow more than ever as its reputation grew with the usage of its wedges and irons by several top Japan tour pros.  The best part is, these pros chose to play Yururi even though Yururi is a small company and does not sponsor these pros.  So in other words, top pros like So Hee Kim, Eun A Lim and Jae Hee Bae all play Yururi for its feel and performance, not because they are paid to do so.

For part 1 I will do a basic overview of both wedges and their features while I wait for shafts to arrive next week for the part 2 actual build. A first look both heads have very straight necks, and after checking the specs, the Tour and RupaS have almost exact face progression numbers pointing at little to no offset at all.  This is a bit plus for many players. The neck however is where the similarities end.

The Tour model is aimed at the pro player and top amateur looking for maximum feel and spin control around the greens. The flat black finish and compact head feature a narrow sole and thin top line which blends in well with that very straight neck I mentioned.  The grind features a flatter sole and a slightly blunt leading edge and as well as trailing edge relief however the part that really stands out is the heel trailing edge which is very much ground away for easy heel clearance in any lie. The ground down heel allows for the wedge to be opened up and loft increased while still maintaining a straight line at the target. This trailing edge reduces heel friction minimizing quick swings that may pull the ball with too much heel contact. The head is very tear drop shaped which suits the pro player.

The Seida RuPaS on the other hand has a slightly larger head that is rounder in overall shape, the higher heel and rounder head provide more forgiveness in deep rough for those who cannot make the right swing to get pure contact. The taller rounder face still allows the wedge to catch the ball on the face even if a player is coming too far under the ball in very tall grass. The sole of the RuPas is also wider and rounder providing more forgiveness for the mid capper and average golfer.  The raw face really stands out and should frame the ball well.

I should note that the Tour is available in both conforming and non conforming grooves while the new RuPaS does have conforming grooves. I actually got the Tour model in non conforming so that I could compare how much the raw face helps the RuPaS spin against a non conforming grooves counterpart.  Once the shafts for these wedge builds come in I’ll document the build including look at the wedges and their head weights, swing weights and optimal lengths.