Tour issued same as off the rack ?

Saw a couple of so called tour issued TM and Titleists (w/o serial #) commanding higher price on ebay. Anyone tried b4? Any difference ?

In my case, the tour-issued drivers I get my hands on have

1. hot melt, so impact is more solid and muted
2. open face (between 1.5* and 2.1*), which I prefer

My current game driver here in Dubai used to have what was supposed to be a tour-issued Grafalloy Epic 75X shaft in TM graphics, which I had swopped out for a tour-issued Diamana whiteboard 63 X shaft in TM graphics by DGman. I owe him a huge round of thanks for his work, because I'm getting some pretty good yardage (around 260 yds average, peaking at 295 yds on good days) and accuracy out of this setup now, with only 75% to 80% effort.

The tour issued irons that I have also have less offset, and many of them have little to do with the production models, e.g. the set of TM RAC MBs I have at my place in Singapore were forged by Miura and has less offset than standard production models. The Miura forgings feel a little softer, and with the right shaft combination, feel exquisite when struck well. I have a retail set of TM TP MBs, and I pulled a blind test once on my coaches at BHSG and they definitely noticed the difference.

The tour-issued wedges that I have (TM RAC Black, in 52,56,60) are also heavier than standard retail stock, have milling marks on the faces for extra spin, and were grooved in such a way that they are no longer allowed under the new groove rules for PGA tournaments.


Oh, and there's also the heowness factor, but hey

Thanks....but how to tell whether they are miura forged ?

The TM RAC MBs forged by Miura are satin, there are swirls in the rear cavity pockets, and the club face has milling marks, not flat/plain.

For TM drivers, you can tell the tour-issued ones from retail ones from the serial number. Tour-issued drivers have serial numbers on the hosel starting with T, followed by 5 numbers, and there is a B marking, indicating that the driver is tested and approved for use on tour. DGman can explain more.

R9 drivers have the '+' stamp instead of 'B'

Also, I tend to buy my stuff from people who have good feedback and standing in the WRX community. You'll see a lot of tour-issued wedges on eBay these days because professionals have to switch to wedges with conforming grooves