2006 will soon come to a close and it?s time for me to recap the year that was in Japanese golf and JDM equipment. It was a great year for golf in Japan. With Japan?s economy showing signs of life, the Japanese have begun spending more money on golf again. The Keizai index (an index in Japan that measure the price of golf memberships) is up 37% over the past 18 months, and new money is pouring into the sector. Golfers teeing off at Japan?s 2,400 golf courses had already increased by 2% through spring, a massive turn around from the up to 6% decline in 4 of the last 6 years. An growing number of golfers are now willing to pay membership fees in excess of $25,000USD, with some prestigious clubs demanding over half a million dollars.

The spike in golf memberships coupled with the continuing interest in Pro tours and Miyazato Ai on the LPGA tour helped sales among many of the big JDM equipment makers. Here?s a look back at what I thought were some of the highlights for some of the big name and not so big name brands this year:

TaylorMade Japan
It was a relatively quiet year of TM Japan. They did not push any breakthrough JDM only products through most of the year, opting instead to focus on their R7 425 and 460 clubs on the driver front. During the second half of the year they released their new R7 Forged irons. With a mix of good looks and design and a soft forged feel, they could very well be TM?s best set of irons ever.

Following in typical TM fashion they released a ?NEW? R7 XR line this December, a rehash of their successful JDM only XR line. I?m not particularly fond of the look of these new woods and irons but heck if they perform then kudos to TM. The gold pimp out look is not my style. They've got new RSI (Rossa Soft Insert) putters that had input from pros on how they wanted the insert to play and feel. The Japan Rossa line also comes in Black.

Bridgestone TourStage
A company who owns over 40% market share in Japan?s golf equipment sales has to work hard to maintain that success. There is no cruise control for TourStage in Japan where trends and fads in Japan can change in the blink of an eye. What that means is that TourStage must work to keep a fresh product offering out there. First they re-launched the ViQ line as the New ViQ. The 430cc driver became one of the most forgiving and popular drivers among mid to higher handicap players and was the most played driver on the JLPGA. Not forgetting low handicap players and Pros they came out with the X-Blade 2 CB and blade which was very warmly received. In November they released yet another new ViQ, the ViQ Deep driver, a deeper faced version of the ?New? ViQ geared towards lower handicap players. That was followed a ViQ MX, the first 460cc driver in the ViQ line.

The X-Drive has been one of the most popular drivers for nearly two years running however it?s technology and looks were getting dated. TourStage took care of that by overhauling it?s looks and offering 5 different models based on head size, shape and weighting characteristics. Almost all of TourStages pros have switched over to the new 410, 430, 430P, 460 or 460P. The new drivers have hit the market and so far the feedback has been great. There are also new X-Blades and X Wedges. Boy TourStage is working hard. They have no intention of letting their market share slip.

Dunlop Srixon
Srixon has had a lot of success over the past year. Their W-505, one of last years most highly rated drivers carried over into this season before it was replaced by the equally impressive ZR-600. Pros and low handicap players were quick to switch over to the ZR driver and irons, praising them for their amazing performance.

Srixon is one of the most dominant forces in Japan when it comes to sales and marketing and they?ve taken it a step further by increasing their presence in the US. Jim Furyk helped grow Srixon?s name by having a career year on the PGA tour. There is always talk among many golf enthusiasts in the West that Srixon could very well be the most underrated equipment maker. Not so in Japan though where it trails only TourStage in market share and is ranked right up there in quality and performance. Interestingly, with their ZR line still going strong, they have been a little quiet in promoting their new WR line so we?ll have to see in the new year how that goes.

G-Field
G-Field had a banner year. Their GFT line of woods, utilites, and wedges were some of the best looking, best performing clubs out there. It didn?t hurt to have YE Yang win the HSBC Championship in Shanghai over Tiger using G-Field. GFT line aside, the real talk of the town has been G-Field putters. Their heavy heads, pefect balance and soft inserts have won over many. It wasn?t uncommon for me to see many players trade in their Scottys for a G-Field Premium Zone putter.

As a test, I recently left my Premium Zone #0 at my indoor practice facility with my clubmaker for 2 weeks. He let other golfers demo the putter, most of whom had no idea what a G-Field was. I dropped by this morning to talk and he said that the feedback was unanimously positive. Everyone wanted to know what it was and how could they get one, and yes even one Scotty guy was ready to convert. 2007 will be an interesting year as G-Field tries to create an image outside of Japan in the West. With the right marketing and business model, I think they can do it.

Graphite Design Japan
What?s to say that already hasn?t been said. GD continued it?s domination of the Japanese shaft market and held its reign as the shaft of choice on the JPGA tour. Their Tour AD PT series shaft was a monster seller. Regardless of what head players were using, whether it be TourStage, Srixon, Kasco, Royal Collection etc, you could always find a GD shaft.

They?re hoping their new Quattro Tech will repeat that success in 2007. Rumour has it that we may see more GD presence here in the West which is definitely a good thing. The GD USA shafts have long been models 2-3 years old or US only shafts that don't compare to many of the Tour AD shafts.

Epon
The undiscovered gem of JDM equipment could very well be the best. Epon, still pretty much unknown to most, continued to put out equipment unmatched in quality, feel and performance. Even a lack of marketing could not stop many golf enthusiasts from realizing how good Epon equipment really is. Epon is the brand Endo created to push their own line of golf equipment. As most people know, Endo is one of if not the premier iron forging house in the golf world. They forge all TourStage irons plus many OEM?s in the west making up nearly 70% of the forged club market.

In the end they decided to save the best steel for themselves and the quality and feel is evident when you play any of their irons, Type J or X or Technica Pro?s. That said it?s quite possible that the best club that Epon has put out has been their Technity 460 driver. I have not once heard anything bad about this driver. Everyone who owns one says it is the best feeling and performing driver they have ever hit. I have to agree. It is the 9th driver I?ve owned this year and it will be my gamer for 2007. Look forward to some more cool stuff from Epon in 2007!