J's Professional Weapon

[BIG STU]

I think I mentioned this before but I have one that I found in a Salvation Army store for $1--- Original grip and shaft looked like it had never been hit and it had several different price stickers where it was in a golf store and reduced several times. I think it is 8*. With that ultra stiff shaft combined with a modern ball all I could hit was modified worm burners with it. I think it is across the road in the big building now.

[freedomtogolf]

Anyone who has the Tour model with the burgundy shaft want to let go of one?

[carmelgolfpro]

I was one of the original US sales reps for Bridgestone Golf in 1990, right after they made their move into the American market.

the Precept golf ball family included the 2 piece surlyn covered ball made at the new ball factory in the Covington, GA suburb of Atlanta. The wound, 3-piece balata Precept was imported from Japan. The balls were the products intended to introduce Bridgestone to the US. Good golf balls, and were favorably received.

However, the 1990 Masters upset the apple cart. Nicklaus had previously played with Jumbo Ozaki, and was intrigued by Jumbo’s distance with his new, J’s Professional Weapon driver. Jack was likely also drawn to the driver’s profile, which strongly favored a MacGregor driver from years earlier (the 693, as I recall).

Nicklaus, Ozaki, and Raymond Floyd, a Bridgestone staff player, made serious noise with the club at Augusta in 1990.

the good news for me as a sales rep, was the demand for J’s Professional Weapon by US golfers was immediate and fierce- even with the then unheard of price tag $400 each. This was the first of the super premium priced drivers, and likely the first to include a matching headcover. The headcover was also novel in that it featured an embroidered logo, and a full zip side opening.

the bad news was these clubs had never been envisioned to be mass marketed and sold in the United States. It took weeks for the first batch of J’s drivers to be delivered to Pro Shops.

Adding to the agony was the difficult playability of the club for the average amateur player. Following the media sensation created by the Masters, expectations were extremely high. The golfer who could afford the $400 was keenly anticipating outdriving his buddies by large margins. As the club had been designed for Tour Pros (Japanese), the specs were not suitable for most amateurs. Huge disappointment, particularly given the lengthy wait for the clubs to be built and shipped in from Japan.

the lofts of the J’s driver were misleading. Although metal woods, their loft was calibrated in a manner similar to classic persimmon woods (like the 693). One method measures the angle of the face against a perpendicular when soled. The other measures the face angle versus the shaft angle. An 11.5° J’s is similar to a 9.5° US metal driver. Similarly, a J’s marked as 8.5° is really 6.5°, maybe 7° max.

the driver head was unique in its casting. The face was deep (á la the 693), and was thicker at the top of the face, tapering to thinner at the bottom. The design was intended to drive the ball on a very low trajectory, with a decreased rated of backspin. This would allow for a huge amount of roll and runout.

The J’s graphite shaft was likewise designed to accommodate for this low ball flight and low spin rate. The original J’s, designed for Tour Pros, featured a very low rate of torque. It was described as being akin to swinging a telephone pole with its rigidity. Finally, the high kick point of the shaft also promoted the desired low ball flight.

Finally, in response to the initial amateur disappointment of difficult playability, the ensuing shipments of J’s were outfitted with shafts much more user-friendly for average player. These shaft bands indicated the usual R, S and (rarely) X for flex. It took an extremely strong player to be fit to a Stiff shaft. A Regular shaft was more than enough for even the most accomplished player. These next wave shafts were also marked as LT (low torque), and LK (low kick).. players found these much more adaptive to their games. I personally played the 3-wood, 5-wood, and driver. Loved that 3-wood !

Naturally, knockoffs were quick hit the off-course shops. Even though they featured a soleplate with a gold J inside a gold triangle, bona fidé J’s were not stamped “Augusta “.

By 1991, the market had been introduced to large driver heads, most noticeably Ely Callaway’s Big Bertha. Equally expensive, Big Berthas were novel, easy to hit, and also featured an embroidered headcover. We never went back to “standard” sized metalwoods like the J’s, or TaylorMade’s Pittsburgh Persimmon.

[RobotDoctor]

I was able to get a J's Professional Weapon back in 1991 and dabbled with it. I had a stiff shafted 8.5 degree driver. I had some buddies working at a Golf Store in Dover, DE. One was a Class A PGA Professional and the other was the assistant manager of the store. A father and son owned the store and had more money than they knew what to do with. I knew them pretty well also. It was not uncommon for one of us to "demo" or perform a "field test" of a new product. The owner was in his early 60s and couldn't hit that driver at all. His son was a decent golfer but could not generate the clubhead speed to use it. I tried it and hit it pretty well. At the time my clubhead speed was measured to be about 119mph. My regular driver was a Cleveland Classic DG43, modified with a R/W/R paper fiber insert and 9 degrees loft. I also had an X-100 shaft installed, full bore. I tried to game that J's Professional Weapon for about a month or two but gave up on it because of the crazy amount of roll it produced. My home course at the time was a course in Smyrna, DE called Garrison Lakes Golf Club and that was a tightly wooded course stretching just over 7,000 yards at sea level. Fairways were narrow and the roll got me into quite a bit of trouble. I wish I still had my "demo" but I returned it back to the store since I was done "field testing" it. I continued to play a persimmon driver until 1997 when I got a Titleist 975D. I believe the J's Professional Weapon was a driver ahead of its time.