Recently, I tested this golf club.
The test club was the EPON AF-257 3-wood.
The shaft is the DEAD OR ALIVE Gekko G55.
The loft is 16 degrees, the club length is 43.5 inches, the shaft flex is S, the shaft weight is 59g,
the torque is 4.7, the balance is D0.5, the kick point is mid, and the total club weight is 316g.
This is EPON’s new fairway wood.
The beauty and quality of the finish are exceptional… absolutely stunning.
The design is consistent with the driver and utility clubs I tested earlier, clearly showing they are part of the same series.
Although the lofts differ, each club is likely designed under the same concept while maintaining its own unique characteristics.
This club has a shallow profile, but it also features a curved sole instead of being overly flat.
In the past, super-shallow, flat-soled fairway woods were common, but it seems rounded soles like this are becoming more popular.
While both designs have their merits, I personally prefer this type of rounded, slightly thicker club.
Like the driver and utility clubs I tested earlier, this fairway wood has a single large weight placed at the rear of the head.
I believe it’s the same tungsten weight as before. Interestingly, \”tungsten\” is derived from the Swedish words \”tung\” (heavy) and \”sten\” (stone).
I had assumed it was an English word and never questioned it—this was a learning moment for me! It’s fascinating how similar \”sten\” sounds to the English word \”stone.\”
The heel-side indentation resembles the design of the driver, appearing to be a scaled-down version.
The neck has a decent length, which I appreciate.
From my experience, having some neck length makes face control easier, preventing the face from pointing upward excessively during and after impact. This helps me feel more confident when hitting shots.
Short necks are not inherently bad, but perhaps my preference stems from positive experiences with long-necked clubs.
When hitting off the ground, keeping the face from pointing up too much can help the ball launch higher—a lesson I learned during my beginner days with my trusty HiroHonma PP-727.
The neck features an adjustable system, identical to that found in the driver and utility clubs.
I tested the club in the “1” position.
“3”
“5”
“7”
Other positions include 3, 5, and 7, and they are consistent with the rest of the series.
Although it’s a shallow-profile club, it avoids being excessively thin, which I find appealing.
It’s a \”calculated shallow design\”—delicate yet beautiful, without a bulky feel.
It has a compact and good face.
I think it is a little small among recent spoons.
For a moment, I thought it was a creek (5-wood).
The bulge is more straight than rounded.
Unlike persimmon, with metals that release the ball quickly, there may not be much point in making the bulge rounded.
The rounded bulge is effective because of the “material that sticks to the ball” and “gear effect” like persimmon, but with today’s materials that release the ball quickly, perhaps a straight one is better…? I thought.
Some people may think that a straight bulge will fly straighter and a round one will curve, but at least with persimmon, the bulge makes it easier to adjust, which was helpful… Maybe it’s because of this experience that the rounded bulge gives me a sense of security and brings back good memories from the past.
A certain degree of bulge is more forgiving on mishits, but this may not be true for metals.
The face features milling exclusively in the hitting area, similar to the drivers and utility clubs.
While many drivers, irons, and wedges have milling across the entire face, limiting it to the hitting area feels like a subtle suggestion from the manufacturer: \”This is where you should strike.\”
The AF-101 shares this characteristic, and there are also clubs with no score lines in the hitting area. These unique designs make every club interesting.
The familiar EPON original grip is included.
The grip end features the stylish \”e\” logo.
It adds a touch of sophistication.
The swing feel was excellent.
For a 3-wood, it felt slightly lightweight. However, compared to many modern fairway woods with even lighter and more flexible shafts, this club offered \”unmatched stability.\”
While many current fairway woods feel difficult to control due to their specs, this club seems to keep everything together.
Some light and flexible shafts manage to maintain a sense of \”spring\” and structure, but many feel overly soft and lack substance. This shaft, however, has a noticeable \”backbone.\”
The name \”Gekko\” (Moonlight) is undeniably cool.
It reminds me of Beethoven’s \”Moonlight Sonata.\” As a child, I took piano lessons and was told I might one day play \”Moonlight,\” but I never got comfortable with piano and eventually quit.
Looking back, it feels like a wasted opportunity. If I had continued, I might now be able to play pieces like Chopin’s \”Heroic Polonaise\” or Liszt’s \”La Campanella.\”
I particularly love Nobuyuki Tsujii’s renditions of these works and often listen to his CDs. His interpretations resonate with me more than any other pianist’s.
Hearing the same piece played by different performers highlights how much individuality matters. Similarly, the craftsmanship behind a golf club deeply affects its character and performance.
The club is easy to address, with no awkward quirks.
It has a clean and pure appearance—true to EPON’s renowned aesthetics. The sight reminded me of the first EPON fairway wood I tested, the AF-201.
The head is slightly compact but maintains a shallow profile, making it look forgiving and easy to launch the ball.
I appreciated the lack of an aggressive \”lip\” (leading edge), which can make fairway woods challenging to use. However, this is a 3-wood, so a club with more loft, like a 5-wood, might feel slightly different. I look forward to exploring that.
The design feels player-focused, allowing for full control without unnecessary intervention.
Modern clubs with high-tech features are impressive but can sometimes feel overwhelming. This club strikes a perfect balance.
Test Drive Begins
The “feel” of the impact was soft and incredibly satisfying.
The sensation of the ball’s weight lingered briefly after impact. As expected from EPON, which consistently delivers great feel across their drivers and utility clubs, the feel here was fantastic.
The ‘sound’ was favorable, with a slightly high, quality metallic sound.
It is a sound that makes the player want to listen to it over and over again, calming the player’s mind while making it enjoyable.
A golf club is a tool for hitting a ball, but when you hear a good sound like this, it is once again similar to a “musical instrument”…. I thought.
The quality of Epon’s sound left a strong impression on me when I first tried the AF-101.
Does this sound quality come from the “quality of the material”?
It delights not only the eyes but also the ears.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
The “ball elevation” is normal.
It raises the ball more than enough to hit it straight, but it may not have the helping features of today’s high-performance spoons.
This club has a loft of 16 degrees, which made me think of Buffy, but we don’t see Buffy anymore, and like irons, the loft setting for each number seems to have changed since the old days.
I feel that this is largely due to changes in materials.
Aside from the driver, the terms “brassie,” “spoon,” “buffy,” and “creek” are no longer used, and the terms “3-wood” and “5-wood” may have become more common.
However, since it is not actually a “wood,” I have a feeling that the terms “metal” and “titanium” will gradually take root in the future.
The ‘maneuverability’ is quite good.
On the first ball, I hit it normally and got a draw type ball.
Next, I tried to bend the ball to the right and hit a slice with an open stance, but the ball did not bend as it was and flew straight.
This was clearly my mistake.
It was due to my lack of skill.
It is not enough if the ball flies straight, but it is no good if you cannot bend the ball when you try to bend it.
It was my mistake that my intention was not completely conveyed to the club.
I found that the club had a better grip on the ball than I had expected, so I took off the club once and started over.
Next time I was able to hit a slice, but it was only a small bend, not a big turn to the right.
The ball has a good grip and does not bend easily to the right, so I think it is best to hit the ball naturally and hit a draw type ball as this club “claims”.
If you are a slicer and do not like a strong hook face, but are looking for a small spoon that will grab the ball well, I think you should definitely give it a try.
The face is compact, but when I looked at it this way, it looked a little long in the face, so I wondered if it was a slow-reacting type. In fact, the ball was easy to catch and did not go out to the right.
The ‘distance performance’ is high.
I have thought that Epon’s FWs fly well since I tried AF-201…. I had thought that Epon’s FWs flew well, and it seems that the good tradition is still being carried on.
The ball bounced very well and let me hit a strong ball with low spin.
It looked mature and not the type to be assertive, but it actually has a lot of potential and is good at flying.
I believe that 15 degrees is standard for a spoon, but I wondered if the reason why the loft was daringly set at 16 degrees had something to do with the balance between this strong trajectory and the spoon. I thought that the loft of 16 degrees may have something to do with the balance with the strong trajectory.
The ball rises firmly, but it rises high and ends up…. It is a strong and efficient trajectory.
I think it will be a reliable partner, especially for those who want to hit the ball hard.
Golf is a sport where you are competing for the fewest number of shots.
Directionality is, of course, important, but so is the sense of distance.
But of the 14 clubs, I believe that the driver and spoon are the clubs for distance, so in that sense, I found this spoon attractive.
However, when I realized this high distance performance, I thought ・・・・ that it is probably the type of club that can be used with a different number (No. 5) to achieve distance.
試打後の感想
As I have written several times before, a club must be beautiful.
Of course, beauty is a vague term, and it varies from person to person, but at least the beauty of the Epon club will attract a lot of support, don’t you think?
First of all, the appearance makes people fall in love with it….I think this is a prerequisite for a good club.
Epon clubs are so beautiful and luxurious that many people wonder if they are not the right clubs for beginners to use. I think there are many people who think that Epon clubs are very beautiful and luxurious and should not be used by beginners.
However, I don’t think so.
Because I am an advanced player, I use expensive clubs.
I think it is nonsense to use inexpensive clubs because you are a beginner.
Even advanced players can use reasonably priced clubs with excellent cost performance, and even beginners can use expensive, solid clubs for a long time, which makes a lot of sense.
And in the early stages of golf, that is, not to say “strike while the iron is hot,” but isn’t it a very good thing in the long run to continue using clubs that feel good from the early stages and refine your sensibility?
No matter how many clubs you buy and change, in the end, the player’s own senses are the ones you will ultimately be relying on.
In the extreme, it would be ‘the best to use the clubs you like’….
When I started playing golf, the first thing I purchased was a homma.
I am the type of person who is particular about tools first and foremost, and even though I am a terrible skier, baseball player, billiards player, etc., I bought and used good equipment.
For example, when it came to skiing, my boards were Rossignol and my boots were Nordica.
The clothes were Salomon with excellent water-repellent treatment.
Even though I was not very good at skiing and often fell down, I was good with my equipment.
Even in golf, he often bent the ball and made mistakes, but he had a full set of clubs….
My part time job and salary were blown away at once.
The people I went around with said, “The clubs are good…” or “It’s a waste of clubs…. or “What a waste of clubs…” “Cheaper clubs would have been fine…” or “The clubs are really good…”
“You could have gotten a cheaper club.” But I resolutely refused to accept their suggestions and continued to use Homma’s clubs.
Homma clubs are still great today, but they used to be even more brilliant and were the dream of many golfers.
I was once told, “A beginner can’t suddenly start playing with a muscleback…. But I was in love with Homma’s clubs and continued to use them no matter how difficult they were.
I still do, but I am not particular about the shape of the back face of my irons.
I am more concerned about the face and the feel of the hit.
There are many cavities with good faces, but when it comes to good hitting feel, I think MBs inevitably have the advantage….
I make mistakes with manly and cool clubs, all because of my lack of skill…. I have always thought that I am not good enough and I have been practicing to improve my skills.
I found Homma’s clubs and I still have only good memories of them. If I were a beginner now and I had found Epon’s clubs, I would have saved my money and got them from Epon.
Epon is a rather expensive club, so it would give me a little chill down my spine if I had to get them all….
I have recommended them to a friend of mine, who is the head of a company and seems to have quite a bit of money to spare, because although they are expensive, they are excellent clubs…clubs from driver to putter.
And all of his caps and caddie bags are also all Epon.
He still loves Epon, and it makes me happy to see him practicing with them.
He continues to use Epon clubs and has greatly reduced his HDCP and is now a low handicapper.
When a player continues to use the clubs that he loves, he enjoys playing golf and his scores inevitably improve as he puts more effort into his practice.
But if a club is just easy, or easy to hit, or popular…. But, if the clubs are just easy to use, easy to get up and down, or popular, they will not be able to catch players’ hearts, will they?
Thanks to this club, I had a very enjoyable and luxurious time.
Even now, as I write this article at home after returning from the driving range, I cannot contain my excitement.
When you encounter a good club, it can be a bit of a drag, but the aftertaste is a good one.
I hope to encounter Epon clubs many more times in the future.
☆
Ease of setting up… ☆☆☆☆
Feel of hitting… ・・・・・・☆☆☆☆☆
Sound・・・・・・☆☆☆☆☆
Ease of getting up…☆☆☆☆☆☆
Stability: ・・・・・☆☆☆☆
Distance performance: ☆☆☆☆☆
Operability・・・・・☆☆☆☆
Thank you for reading to the end.
EPON AF-257: Unleash Your Power Off the Tee
Elevate Your Game with Precision and Power
The EPON AF-257 fairway wood is engineered to deliver exceptional performance and distance. Crafted with precision and innovation, this club is designed to help you conquer the course.
Key Features:
High Launch, Low Spin: The AF-257’s strategic weight distribution and low center of gravity promote high launch angles and low spin rates, resulting in maximum carry distance and optimal trajectory.
Forged Titanium Construction: The clubhead is meticulously forged from premium titanium, providing a perfect balance of strength, flexibility, and feel.
Adjustable Weighting: Customize your launch conditions with adjustable weights, allowing you to fine-tune your ball flight to suit your specific needs.
Precision-Milled Face: The precision-milled face ensures consistent ball speeds and a hot off-center hit, maximizing distance and forgiveness.
Stunning Aesthetics: The sleek design and premium materials of the AF-257 make it as visually appealing as it is performant.
Experience the Difference
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a weekend golfer, the EPON AF-257 can help you improve your game. Its combination of power, precision, and forgiveness makes it a must-have for any golfer seeking to elevate their performance.
Key Benefits:
Increased Distance: Achieve maximum carry distance with the AF-257’s high launch and low spin characteristics.
Improved Accuracy: The club’s adjustable weight system allows you to fine-tune your ball flight for greater accuracy.
Enhanced Feel: The forged titanium construction provides a soft and responsive feel at impact.
Versatility: The AF-257 is suitable for a wide range of golfers and course conditions.
Upgrade Your Bag Today
Don’t settle for anything less than the best. The EPON AF-257 is the ultimate fairway wood for golfers who demand the highest level of performance.
Visit your local authorized dealer or our online store to learn more and experience the difference for yourself.
Looking for the original Japanese review? Click here to read in Japanese 🇯🇵
