Iron Test by proxy... SGI, GI & Players

[Alex1975]

Hi all,


I have been without my usual irons the last two weekends and have ended up playing with borrowed irons. Last week(Jan 31) I used my friends Yonex VM-X irons, they are GI irons similar in size to something like a I15 or JPX Pro but with a little deeper cavity. They have a lovely shaft in them as stock, it is regular but it feels firm and usable.

http://www.golfbidder.co.uk/models/3686/Yonex_Iron_Set_VM-X.html


This weekend I was relegated to a set of Taylor Made RAC irons, they are Super GI clubs with a fat sole, large offset and thick top line. They have some rank regular non feeling shaft.

http://www.golfbidder.co.uk/models/2308/Taylor_Made_Iron_Set_RAC_LT2.html


I played OK on both occasions(I won) and I could have lived with the Yonex, they are a nice club despite the largish head size, The TMs are just nasty and I was glad to get them out of my bag.

I am a mid/high handicapper and my usual irons are Mizuno MP-53 and the bottom line here is I missed them like CRAZY!!

I truly believe that it really does not matter what clubs you use as long as you love them. If your eye likes something chunky and that gives you confidence, great, me, I like them slim and shiny and I believe that although both the Yonex and the TM were 5-10 yards longer they were not as reliable on dispersion.


There is a lot of noise made on here about who should be playing what clubs and more often than not there is a pretty reliable response from the main body of the forum with just a few advocating playing what you like the look of. I am firmly is the latter category, I have missed my "players" irons and I will not be counting out blades in the future... maybe not the near future but down the line.



Quantify forgiveness for me and I may rethink but play what turns you on people, there really is so little in it!!


Al

 

[bigslice]

you really missed them clubsne:

 

[Alex1975]

you really missed them clubsne:

When you pull a 9 iron or PW out and its as fat as a house it just feels wrong!!

But ye, it was like having a child away on holiday for the first time or whatever... Really though it was interesting to use other irons, how often does one get to do that....

 

[bigslice]

aye but you canny beat grain flow forged irons (mx200):whoo:

 

[Essex_Stu]

I started off with Ping I3 blades and wernt to hit the ball well with them because I certainly felt it if I didnt hit them right. With my Taylormades it feels like I have got lazy as I know the forgiveness is there and I seem to hit worse shots with them. I would love to game a Mizuno MP52/MX200 or Titleist AP2's but everyone says a high handicapper shouldnt be using them. Alex, out of intrest what is your handicap.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'm guessing a lot of bad shots came down to the negativity you had for the club in your hand. You are quite right though, as long as it is something you feel you can use to its fullest effect then it doesn't matter what make or model you choose. Personally I prefer the cavity and help the R11 give me and don't really like the look of the PW and 9 iron compared with my old TP's but performance wise they are a better set for me and so I'll put performance before looks everytime

 

[kid2]

here is my story and its still a work in motion....

Started playing 3 yrs ago with a 21 handicap and a set of wilsonstaff Di7's......
Got to 19 and fell in love with the wilsonstaff FG Tour irons.....I shot 2 of the lowest rounds iv ever played with these and nett 64 and a net 67......
Handicap came down to 16......

I went through a sticky patch the and of course blamed the clubs and the handicap was climbing and went back to 18.....

I decided then to sell the wilsons and get some "Forgiving G.I"s....Some Cobra S2's....
My handicap stayed where it was and i then sold those last september and bought my current Ping i10's......

I had these for about 8 rounds and i had 42 points in a stableford and im currently down to 15.7.......

Take from that what you will but for me its plain to see in black and white that i seem to play better and be more confident with players cavity backed clubs.....From my experience i was just as inconsistent with the players clubs as i was with the GI clubs...The only difference i could really see was the i never really got "hot shots" with the players clubs....They are the ones where you've struck the ball like you feel you did with any other shot but you airmail your target by about 15 or 20 yards.....

And guess what........Last friday i ordered the FG Tours again...Roll on the summer...

 

[Dave B]

I upgraded recently from TM R7's to TM Tour Preferred CB's. Prior to buying the TPCB's I'd had my eye on some Nike VR TW blades which looked to be a beautiful club however on trying them down the range, I hit some very good shots but also some not so good shots. In addition the buttery feeling associated with forged blades was strangely eluding me even when the ball was struck smack out of the middle.

On trying the TMCB's every shot was consistent and I instantly understood what the buttery feeling was all about.

I did consider the TM MC's however the CB's are all the club I will ever need to get down to single figures.

I still play an old set of Hippo AGV's and MacGreggor Steel Head Woods, (circa 2000), when I visit my family up north and they still do a good job although the irons look like muscle backed blades compared to todays game improvement irons.

It is what you are happy using however I know what suits me and would never suggest to a novice using anything other than GI irons.

 

[Alex1975]

here is my story and its still a work in motion....

Started playing 3 yrs ago with a 21 handicap and a set of wilsonstaff Di7's......
Got to 19 and fell in love with the wilsonstaff FG Tour irons.....I shot 2 of the lowest rounds iv ever played with these and nett 64 and a net 67......
Handicap came down to 16......

I went through a sticky patch the and of course blamed the clubs and the handicap was climbing and went back to 18.....

I decided then to sell the wilsons and get some "Forgiving G.I"s....Some Cobra S2's....
My handicap stayed where it was and i then sold those last september and bought my current Ping i10's......

I had these for about 8 rounds and i had 42 points in a stableford and im currently down to 15.7.......

Take from that what you will but for me its plain to see in black and white that i seem to play better and be more confident with players cavity backed clubs.....From my experience i was just as inconsistent with the players clubs as i was with the GI clubs...The only difference i could really see was the i never really got "hot shots" with the players clubs....They are the ones where you've struck the ball like you feel you did with any other shot but you airmail your target by about 15 or 20 yards.....

And guess what........Last friday i ordered the FG Tours again...Roll on the summer...

Hehe awesome mate, they are a pretty looking club! What shafts you got?