R7TP FW with a very deep hosel

Grum · October 19, 2008

What is it?

Just built a tour issue R7TP 5 Wood for a customer, it had a hosel depth of 2 inches. I've never seen a TM wood with a hosel depth of over 1.5", normally 1.25".

What do we have here? Any ideas or clues to look for that'd help ID it?

Grum · October 20, 2008

Anyone?

NPVWhiz · October 20, 2008

I don't have any information on that one, but I did run across an interesting r510 head once that was unusual. I've had several 300 Tours, a 510DF and a very solid 320 head that had the smooth "320 Tour" top but didn't have the "tour" designation on the sole.

Years ago my old boss wanted a new driver, so I trolled Ebay for a nice but cheap r510, not a tp, but just a regular head. I picked up one that cropped up with a cheap BIN, and when it came, the shaft had been cracked by one of the delivery companies. It was an Apache/Matrix shaft, which was a clue, but when I pulled it, I found a 335 tip shaft and a hosel depth that was really deep....1.75 inches. I shafted it with an R flex HTD CB 70, and every time I hit that old club I'm amazed at how solid it feels...very much like the 510 DF, which for me is the pinnacle of "feel" for TM heads.

That 510 had to be an early prototype of some type, but it wasn't a TP prototype. It had a different shape and was smaller.

The only thing I can think of is that the hosel plug might have been removed and then the bottom of the hosel might have been bored open. Can you see hosel wall all the way down?

I've always thought the trend toward shorter hosels has compromised the feel of many shafts. My old Mizuno irons have 1.75" hosel bores, and I swear I can't find a replacement that feels the same. I'm convinced it's the hosel depth that makes the DG shafts feel more stable.

Grum · October 21, 2008

Hosel wall was intact all the way down. It was a brand new head, untouched.

ifixclubs · October 21, 2008

they had "deep bore" versions of the v-steel and the r7 fairway woods...

Grum · October 21, 2008

So whats the reasoning behind the deep bore?

ifixclubs · October 21, 2008

main reason for the deep bore was so that they could get the fairway wood to feel the same as the driver...for example a player has a taylormade driver and 3 wood and likes the 757 in both clubs but if you were to install the 757 in a 3 wood most people would tip it amd thus creating a boardier feeling 3 wood when compared to the driver...so instead of tipping they just installed the shaft into the hosel deeper and trimmed the butt to length...but then why not just tip it less right? well the balance point kinda changed and it didnt feel the same...hence the deep bore hosel kinda fixed this problem...and it also allowed the head to be fine tuned a little easier...

Shaftology · October 21, 2008

Deep bore allowed the CG to come up so it produces a lower ball flight, especially for higher ball speeds.

mat562 · October 21, 2008

I had a R7 TP 15 degree 3 wood for a while that was donated by a friend who plays on the Euro Tour. Same story - deeper hosel bore. Coincidentally, it came with a 757 in it and, as the above poster stated, it was apparently to give a consistent feel when used with a driver with a deeper bore.

Presumably it's a tweak on some of the tour issued stuff. As far as I remember the head was identical in every other respect to a retail R7.