by Daryl Symonds
I’m currently staring out of my hotel window at the torrential rain. This would be fine in the UK…but I’m in Turkey. On average, the popular all-year-round golf destination will see 6 days of rain throughout November – all of which appear to have arrived the week I decide to visit.
Anyway, why am I here? Two reasons. One – to get some sun on my back and play some golf and secondly to test out the Yonex EZONE GT Woods, due to hit shelves on December 7th at Golfgeardirect.co.uk
You may have seen in a previous blog that I covered the Yonex GT Type X Driver – and I will be testing this too…once the torrential rain stops.
The positive news is, on Saturday it was dry and I managed to squeeze in an afternoon practice and 18 holes on the Pasha Course, at Antalya Golf Club.
Yonex were kind enough to send me some EZONE GT clubs to test before I made my trip. I left my usual Fairway Wood in the UK and brought with me an EZONE GT 5 Wood 18 degree (adjusted to 16.5). These adjustments were to suit my bag for the trip. The 5 wood at 16.5 replaced my 15 degree 3-Wood.
When it comes to playing, I’m just a normal club golfer playing off a 7 handicap.
I’ve always struggled with low lofted fairway woods and to a point, sometimes hybrids. For me, a shorter shaft with a slightly higher loft gives me more confidence over the ball and I feel if you strike any club well enough – you’ll achieve the distance required.
I dropped the loft to what is known as a ‘weak 3 Wood’ loft (higher loft than standard) or you could call it 4 Wood or even strong lofted 5 Wood. This is one of the reasons some players talk in ‘lofts’ rather than club numbers, there’s just so much variation nowadays on fairway woods and hybrids.
My usual 3-Wood is 15 degrees and although fantastic off the tee for distance – it’s difficult to use off the fairway…especially if you don’t practice this shot very often…like me.
The EZONE GT has a shallower face than my own which instantly gave me confidence over the ball. The head is constructed with the same technology as the driver. A new lightweight composite crown, along with the Japanese designed EX-320 shaft helps promote higher club head speeds for more distance.
Overall, keeping the ball in play is most important to me on the golf course. With the GT Fairway that’s exactly what I did. Having researched the technology that’s gone into the GT range, I was interested to see how it actually performed.
The new Diagonal Face Technology was what I found most interesting about the range,, and proved to be a major factor in the overall performance. The feel and sound off the club face was honestly like nothing I’ve felt before (and I’ve hit a lot of golf clubs) You will have to try it yourself to fully appreciate it, but the feedback from a feel perspective was really impressive.
As I’ve said, I’m no pro, and although I know my golf clubs, I couldn’t tell you before hitting this whether a diagonal or horizontal club-face would be better. Now I’ve tested this club and its’ technology, I’m wondering why other manufacturers are not doing the same. Watch this space….
The diagonal grooves and the polish of the face helps the GT Woods to stabilise spin and also improve accuracy.
Further new technology in the GT Woods has allowed Yonex to place the CG (centre of gravity) way back in the club head than ever before, promoting better flight and accuracy.
Strangely, the 16.5 loft gave me a lower trajectory than my 15 degree 3-wood, and on low club face strikes…well if I kept quiet about the strike…no one would ever know, let’s put it that way.
The most fascinating and pleasing thing about the GT Fairway was it’s accuracy. Considering my striking on the day, I was looking up ready to be disappointed at most shots I hit with this club. To my amazement, each shot I hit came back to target.
I’ve honestly never hit a fairway wood that is this forgiving and that also provides good feel and sound on off centre hits.
During the round and practice beforehand, I had been struggling with a ‘toe’y’ draw (mostly strikes towards the toe end of the face) and although this was due to my swing on the day – EZONE GT was doing a great job to put me in play out on the course.
When this club is hit (well or not) – the feel, flight and accuracy is really something to witness.
As mentioned above, one of my major weaknesses in golf is a Wood off the short stuff.
The EZONE GT Fairway sat so nicely behind the ball and with the shallow face, it gave me the feeling that I could attack the ball with confidence. With a deeper face, I’ve always felt awkward over the shot and never been 100% sure on how to execute it – which can lead to topping the ball or to come out very low off the club face.
A major factor in confidence gained by this club, will of course be down to the loft and the length of shaft – and there’s the beauty of this range.
Yonex EZONE GT features a Quick Adjustment System on the hosel of each wood that allows you to adjust the loft (1.5 degrees up or down) with a total of 8 settings per club. This allows you to play around with the club and find a match that best suits your golf game.
In conclusion, this is a clean looking fairway wood that will appeal to a wide range of golfers. It offers distance, accuracy and bundles of technology to help improve its’ overall performance. I really like the look, feel and of course – the results.
Yonex will have to work hard to get it back from me anytime soon. It’s a club that can be used in many places on the course. I used it to good effect to stay in play off the tee, try it yourself and see what it can do to help your game going into 2018.
Try EZONE GT yourself!
The Yonex EZONE GT range is due to hit our warehouse and stores on the 7th December and demonstration clubs will be available to trial on course and in our fitting centres.
To demonstrate the New Yonex GT range please contact our fitting centres:
Rainham, Kent: 01634 262002
Headcorn, Kent: 01622 891675
For more on the entire GT range at Yonex.com
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