Iron Fitting

Khamelion

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Jul 11, 2011
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Hi All,

Been a while since I last posted, but winters over, the birds are singing, spring is on the way and us fair weather golfers will be back in our droves :)

Twas my birthday recently and to start the year off I've bought myself a new set of irons, before I write what they are, I'll add that before the fitting I had no preconceptions of what I was after. I'd seen the adverts for the Taylormade R11's and RBZ, the PING G20's, Nike and Wilson.

So I took my circa 1968 Wilson X31 6 and 7 iron and hit a few balls, the pro doing the fitting took the results and passed my a Cleveland CG16 7 iron, with a shaft that he thought was best for my swing style, speed etc, hit a few shots, felt good, way way better than my 1968 clubs, but that was always going to be the case, then came the new Wilson Ci11 7 iron, nice club felt good if a little heavier than the CG16's, then I was handed the Ping G20 7iron, followed by the Mizuno JPX900, the Taylormade R11 and finally a Nike 6 iron though I didn't look at the model.

The results were in, needless to say my X31 was last, followed by the Mizuno, Ping, Wilson, the top three being TaylorMade, Cleveland and top was Nike.

The order of merit being based purely on distance acheived.

The Nike came out top as it was the 6 Iron with a 185yd carry for 193 total distance, the R11 and CG16 were very similar with 170yd carry and 177yd total carry.

We then looked at amending the shaft weight for the R11 and CG16 as the nike on my first try was a lighter shaft than the R11 and CG16 had been at.

We then looked at the shaft distortion and with the lighter shaft in the CG16 the shaft was perfoming better than the R11, though that said, when I did hit the R11 flush I launched the 7 iron out to 203yds, but as was pointed out that was one shot out of half a dozen or more, where as with the CG16 there was more consistency.

We then looked at dispertion and again it was close between the R11 and CG16, with the CG16 giving me a better dispertion.

So, I've bit the bullet and even though I have Taylormade R11 Driver, 3, 5 and 4hybrid I opted for the Cleveland CG16 5 to Sandwedge, standard lie, standard grip 120gm stiff shaft.

Looking forward to getting the clubs and putting into practice the tips I was given at the fitting.

What ruled out the other makes was for the Mizuno, shaft choice I was hand a 7 iron with a project x shaft, but with this shaft the launch angle, back spin was just way to low, with the Ping G20, I simply couldn't get a consist hit, for me they didn't feel right, the same could be said for the Mizuno's as well. The Wilson felt good I could get some consistent hits, but overall it didn't make the top three as with the Wilson I was 10 to 15yds shorter than the models that made my top 3.

I dare say I could've gone through all the models again trying different shafts for each, but ultimatley in my hands the Nike, Taylormade and Cleveland felt the best.

Cheers
Dave
 
We then looked at the shaft distortion and with the lighter shaft in the CG16 the shaft was perfoming better than the R11, though that said, when I did hit the R11 flush I launched the 7 iron out to 203yds, but as was pointed out that was one shot out of half a dozen or more, where as with the CG16 there was more consistency.

203 yards with a 7 iron?

That should have been your queue to walk away Dave.
 
R11 flush I launched the 7 iron out to 2R11 flush I launched the 7 iron out to 203yds

Thats about 7 yards less than my 3 wood carry.

God I hate being such a pathetic single figure golfer. I must get to the gym and see if I can keep up with these golfing monsters on here!


:rolleyes:
 
Sounds like you had a blast trying them! Some real good reviews for the cg16's! What nikes did you try? Was it the vr pro? Hope they serve you well!
 
Funny how we are all clearly different, I went through a similar exercise at the end of last season and settled on the Taylor Made Cavity Back TP on a project X shaft, 2.5 degrees up, 1.5" longer on the shaft and more back spin than Pot Black. I love the irons and now have a real grip on club yardage, after numerous range sessions, which is delivering shot saving benefits every time I go out. I couldn't get on with the cleveland or ping irons at all, Nike came in second and it was probably the marginally better consistency on the day that swung it. A lot of fun over 3 months but trying every combo and taking professional advice was worth every penny; even if I had to disappont myself that I am not ready for blades yet!
 
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