Driving iron?

[chrisd]

I'm thinking of buying a driving iron for a few shots round my place. I hit a rescue club on a few tee shots but too often tug it left off a tee and my course is tight and tree lined, and whilst I can hit ok off the deck would always peg it up on a tee shot.

I'm thinking of an 18° or 20° and have in mind a Srizon Z U85 if I can find one at a reasonable price.

My main question to anyone who has made this move is that my clubs are pretty well all stiff shafted but would it be sensible to go regular shaft for this sort of club as it will be a longer shaft than the rest of my irons?

 

[HeftyHacker]

It will essentially be a hybrid shaft in there anyway so I'd go with whatever they were ?

 

[hovis]

Longer clubs play softer anyway so don't go regular shaft. I have the zu range in a 2 and 4 iron. They are amazing clubs. Both are fitted with hybrid shafts

 

[hairball_89]

I've got an 18 deg Wilson staff driving iron. Hybrid shaft, as discussed above. It's fab. Love it. I've still got the 3hybrid it replaced in the shed, just incase. But it gives me 210 ish in the air pretty repetitively, lovely ball flight is a real "fairway finder".

If you hit a 4iron nicely, get a 3iron. Definitely. It's great!

 

[SimonC]

I've got a 2021 Taylormade P790 UDI 2 iron, I definitely wouldn't go to regular if you play stiff shafts in your irons. I have project X 6.0 in my irons and I've got an extra stiff Fujikura Ventus Velocore in my 2 iron. It's an incredible club, I bought it for the same reason as you are looking doing so and it's been brilliant, the left miss is now much less pronounced and I use it as my fairway finder on tighter holes.

 

[chrisd]

I've got a 2021 Taylormade P790 UDI 2 iron, I definitely wouldn't go to regular if you play stiff shafts in your irons. I have project X 6.0 in my irons and I've got an extra stiff Fujikura Ventus Velocore in my 2 iron. It's an incredible club, I bought it for the same reason as you are looking doing so and it's been brilliant, the left miss is now much less pronounced and I use it as my fairway finder on tighter holes.

Thanks Simon. I'm playing the original P790's so I'm not looking at anything really stiff shafted. I'd buy TM UDI but dont want to spend a fortune. The Srixon zu85 can be picked up now for about £100'ish and may just fit the bill

 

[Oddsocks]

I tried an mp5h 3i and although fun I found my hybrid more consistent. My irons are xp105 stiff, the mp5 was the same but I found my apex hybrid easier.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Chris, if you're not sorted before we next play you can try one of my Mizuno MP-H5's, although you might have to choke down a bit...

 

[MadAdey]

I got the mizuno MP18 MMC FliHi 19* and love it. I normally use a Project X 6.0 so a heavier shaft. But when I got fitted I ended up with the C-Taper Lite (105g) in it. THe lighter shaft just gave me a bit more clubhead speed and a higher launch making it easier to from the tee and fairway consistently. So easy to hit that low stinger shot from the tee or hit a high shot from the fairway. I even hit it from the light rough it is so easy to use.

I really would advise getting fitted properly and getting it in the right setup, as I would have never got it in this shaft otherwise.

 

[chrisd]

Chris, if you're not sorted before we next play you can try one of my Mizuno MP-H5's, although you might have to choke down a bit...

Cheers Richard, I might try and look at one, its been a few years since I played Mizuno

 

[chrisd]

I got the mizuno MP18 MMC FliHi 19* and love it. I normally use a Project X 6.0 so a heavier shaft. But when I got fitted I ended up with the C-Taper Lite (105g) in it. THe lighter shaft just gave me a bit more clubhead speed and a higher launch making it easier to from the tee and fairway consistently. So easy to hit that low stinger shot from the tee or hit a high shot from the fairway. I even hit it from the light rough it is so easy to use.

I really would advise getting fitted properly and getting it in the right setup, as I would have never got it in this shaft otherwise.

That's why I wondered about a going to a more regular shaft, but maybe regular or stiff is not the answer it maybe , as you found, the weight. Having said that, my P790 have Dynamic Gold 105 shafts

 

[tugglesf239]

I played a 718 TMB 17 degree 2 iron for years and it Had a nippon shaft in it. Forget the exact one but it was the one with the very small white lettering on it. Not the modus shafts with red lettering.

It was a stiff but was very light and very smooth.

I found it perfect in such a long shafted club and very Different from the stiff c-tapers I played in my then irons.

However as a few have mentioned the lighter shaft was excellent in such a specialist club.

Edit. Just remembered it was the NS pro shaft range from nippon.

Club was an absolute rocket and very Forgiving from the tee and fairway

They are also a godsend if you play at tree lined courses as punch shots are a breeze when needed to get under the branches

 

[HeftyHacker]

I was watching a James Wiltshire video where he talked about getting fitted for his clubs and said the one major outlier in his set was his driving iron.

Obviously he's quite a powerful guy and his swing speed is very fast but they noted that all of his swing weights were similar across his irons and then the same with his woods. But his driving iron was completely different and as a result he never felt comfortable with it.

The fitter suggested putting the same shaft as his irons in to almost make it a continuation of his iron set. Which makes complete sense when you think about it.

 

[Dando]

I’ve got a mizuno fli hi 2 iron that I paid £20 for off eBay and had a kbs $ taper shaft fitted to match my irons.

It’s a great club and it goes a fair distance (sometimes straight).

I am thinking about putting that shaft in my 4 iron and having that bent stronger as the 4 is a lot more forgiving

 

[chrisd]

I've booked a fitting for Monday, we'll see how that goes ??

 

[Blue in Munich]

I've booked a fitting for Monday, we'll see how that goes ??

Expensively at a guess.

 

[Hobbit]

I had the Titliest 718 tmb 3 iron with the project x LZ 5.5. A touch softer than the 6.0, considered to be stiff. I also had the 4 iron in the 6.0 but preferred the 5.5 in the 3 iron.

 

[MarkT]

Some of my happiest memories are with a driving/3 iron, mainly a Mizuno Fli Hi. For some reason went away from it and now just tug a 19 degree hybrid a lot. I had a stiffer shaft than standard (friend gave me it) which I used to quite like as it stopped me trying to poke it into position though sure a good fitter will sort you out

 

[MadAdey]

That's why I wondered about a going to a more regular shaft, but maybe regular or stiff is not the answer it maybe , as you found, the weight. Having said that, my P790 have Dynamic Gold 105 shafts

It was definitly a shaft profile thing as opposed to flex. As a lot of videos on YouTube prove, flex really isn't that bigger thing. The lighter shaft just made it more reliable from the fairway as I do not carry hybrids or lofted woods, so this had to gap the distance between 4i and 3w, along with being a fairway finder from the tee.

 

[chrisd]

So I did a fitting this afternoon

I tried Ping, Titleist, Taylormade and Srixon. I hated the Ping from the very first hit, the Taylormade was ok but didn't fly well for me, the Srixon z U85 was good but eclipsed by the Titleist u505. The Titleist 3 iron was just a great feel and went about 210 yards on the launch monitor.

We then took the Titleist and Srixon out, with my own P790 5 iron, on to the 1st tee and I hit the 5 iron to get a marker that we were looking to beat. I hit all three well, as expected both the Srixon and Titleist went further than the 5 iron but the Titleist went furthest and felt so good off the face, and this was repeated on the 3rd hole.

So the decision is the Titleist U505 3 iron with a Project X 5.5 shaft which should arrive in about a week