My views on forged vs cast...

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ademac

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I have had a set of forged irons for about 3 months after only having cast clubs in the past.
I decided to get forged irons after reading a bit about them and seeing peoples views on here. I was using a set of cast clubs that I didnt really like and saw a set of forged irons for a good pricr so thought I would give them a go.
I was a bit sceptical to be honest about the "feel" that forged clubs were supposed to have over cast.
Now after having/playing with my clubs for 3 months I think I can make a decent evaluation of the difference between the two, obviously it is only my opinion.
I can honestly say that I dont think I would go back to a cast iron! Forged irons really do feel so much better to hit, its very hard o put into words how they actually "feel" when I hit them but they are so much more controllable, they feel soft and responsive and I get good feedback from the face, all things which I thought were just marketting mottos!
I dont get as much distance with them as I did with previous sets of cast irons but I wouldnt swap the feel of my forged clubs for the distance of my old cast clubs!
I compared my clubs against a taylormade cast club today (I cant remember the exact model, maybe burner 2.0?) on a launch monitor thingy and although I had more distance and better ball speed, the TM's just felt lifeless in comparison!
So,anyway, my views on forged vs cast.......forged are amazing and cast are pants!! :)
 
I have noticed improved control, distance and feel when changing from my power bilt cast irons to the mizuno mp57s

They were instrumental in changing me from a mid 90s golfer into a mid 80s over the early part of this year.
 
The differences of feel are far more likely to do with the shaft, dampening, the head construction, and other aspects, rather than the forge v cast of the heads. Get two comparable shape/design heads with the same construction and same shafts and do a blind test, you almost certainly wont be able to tell which is the forged and which cast.

Not saying anything aginst forged, if you enjoy them then thats the most important thing. But the only real benefit of forged is you can bend them more when altering loft/lie etc.
 
The differences of feel are far more likely to do with the shaft, dampening, the head construction, and other aspects, rather than the forge v cast of the heads. Get two comparable shape/design heads with the same construction and same shafts and do a blind test, you almost certainly wont be able to tell which is the forged and which cast.

Not saying anything aginst forged, if you enjoy them then thats the most important thing. But the only real benefit of forged is you can bend them more when altering loft/lie etc.
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I get why you would say this but I bet I would tell the difference in a blind test. I, like the OP have gone forged and would not go back for all the reasons he stated. I think there is a very obvious feel and feedback difference. I'll stop now as I could just end up carbon coppieing the OP.
 
The differences of feel are far more likely to do with the shaft, dampening, the head construction, and other aspects, rather than the forge v cast of the heads. Get two comparable shape/design heads with the same construction and same shafts and do a blind test, you almost certainly wont be able to tell which is the forged and which cast.

Not saying anything aginst forged, if you enjoy them then thats the most important thing. But the only real benefit of forged is you can bend them more when altering loft/lie etc.
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Surely the softer, more consistent head of a forged club feels a lot different to a cast head?
I guess we all have different opinions.
I'm not sure I could hit a ball blindfolded, I struggle with my eyes open! :D
 
I doubt very much that a lot of mid-high handicappers would really notice the difference hitting off grass as opposed to a mat in a blind test. Just my view. Having played with both cast and forged I don't really notice any lack of performance with a cast iron or anything significantly getting better from using a forged club. Even on the shorter irons and wedges, a well struck shot is still going to have back spin and stop if hit correctly irrespecitve of forged/cast
 
It's not about performance, that's not what we are saying, most of that is in the shaft.
 
It's not about performance, that's not what we are saying, most of that is in the shaft.
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Agreed, as I said, performance wise ie. Distance, ball speed etc. The TM cast iron was better than my forged iron, but I wouldnt swap!
I definitely have more control over my shots and the butter soft, effortless feeling shots are happening much more than they ever did before!
 
I would think most golfers could feel the difference between the heads.

Cast iron do feel harder and the ball jumps off the face. Granted if you have the wrong shaft in anything then it will feel poor but the same shaft in both heads will provide a noticable difference.

Performance wise forged should rank lower than cast due to the average head designs used with the processes. However the extra feel given by the forging process and the extra control or workability of the head designs should give the golfer a greater understanding of ball striking and an extra array of shots.

Forged irons are supposed to be more consistant in production however I seriously think that would depend on who baked the bread.

Pings will last you forever though.
 
I am going to be honest here....

I think you may just prefer the iron! I really dont think you can tell the diff between the two, you maybe think you can, but blindfolded up, i reckon you would be non the wiser.
I had a set of tm r9tp, the ball felt like butter when coming off the face and these are cast irons, I also tried the mp53, 63, ping 56, and they all were excellent, i couldnt say 100% that the 'feel' was any diff on any of these irons.
I would suggest a lot can depend on sound, if the sound diff, i would make you think the 'feel' diff?
 
I am going to be honest here....

I think you may just prefer the iron! I really dont think you can tell the diff between the two, you maybe think you can, but blindfolded up, i reckon you would be non the wiser.
I had a set of tm r9tp, the ball felt like butter when coming off the face and these are cast irons, I also tried the mp53, 63, ping 56, and they all were excellent, i couldnt say 100% that the 'feel' was any diff on any of these irons.
I would suggest a lot can depend on sound, if the sound diff, i would
make you think the 'feel' diff?
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possibly but how would YOU know what I can feell?
Not having a pop just trying to point out that everyone is different.
I personally cant see how someone wouldnt be abke to tell the dofference between hitting the cast clubs I have used and my forged
irons, unless they had lost all feeling in their hands??
 
January, wet and windy, 0 degrees, a knifed 7 iron, yip you will feel the difference alright!


Ooooooouch.
 
The only way to compare the two is if you have two heads of identical design but manufactured by the two different processes.

If you don't have this, you cannot make a comparison, as the differences in design will far out weigh the differences in material or manufacturing method.

You can say that you prefer one club to another in terms of feel, but are not equipped to say equivocally that cast feels worse than forged.
The OP is comparing a GI club, designed to get the ball airbourne, and give solid results to mishits with a players club, designed to be more workable, and give more feed back on mishits.

Vokey and Cleveland wedges are cast. Most are happy with the feel from these clubs. Mizuno forge wedges. If these feel so much better, and are more controlable, why are the most popular wedges on tour, and in normal golfers bags Vokeys?

I have read interviews with club designers from Ping, Titleist, Callaway and also independants such as Maltby and others. Most (not Mizuno or any of the other japanese forgers) say that they do not believe that if the design was the same that anyone could tell the difference.

There are still Pro's on tour who use forged clubs. Westwood being one of them. They can't be that bad.
 
There are still Pro's on tour who use forged clubs. Westwood being one of them. They can't be that bad.
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I thought that Westwood played forged Japanese clubs but with Ping printed on them.....at least that's what the prick from France said :D
 
If it is the case that Vokeys are cast then I may have to take back what I have said. I always thought they were forged as they feel soft and mark realy easily.

I just looked on the Titleist site and they do not talk about the materials, I would think if they were forged they would have make it a selling point so at this time I think you may be right.
 
Which forged clubs did you get ademac?

I read somewhere that feel is more to do with sound than what you actually have in your hands.
Maybe you are telling a difference between the two sets of clubs rather than forged v cast?
I guess you could say that 2 diff cast sets will be diff, as well as two diff forged sets also.
My point being it is more the diff clubs than the process by which they are made.

Westwood uses I10 irons, which are cast clubs, but as was said, sometimes the pros stck badges on whatever they like!

:)
 
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