Utility iron for mid handicapper

[Voyager EMH]

If you can look at it without feeling bad this will be easier to hit than most other old long irons, although probably not as easy as the modern hollow driving irons - but they might launch too high.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22488296...NH2JTxdTIm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

At some point in the 1980s, it is estimated (I can't confirm) that there were more people playing with Ping Eye (or Eye 2) golf clubs than any other one type of golf clubs.

 

[RichA]

I recently bought a Ping ISI 1-iron as an off the tee alternative to driver. Waiting for warmer weather to test it out properly.

 

[Jason.H]

I don’t have swing speed to get the best out of the long irons hence I have 2 rescue clubs. 22 degree I can hit low.

 

[HeftyHacker]

Hi, I am after some recommendations for a utility type iron, probably a 2 iron equivalent.

I strike irons pretty well, but hit everything with a higher than normal launch angle. Having now joined a links course, I am after a club to hit off the tee (and maybe occasionally fairways) to keep low under the wind.
I have a 3 hybrid but that goes high and is affected by crosswinds. I used to have a 3 Ping Crossover and hit that well but again it was higher than desired (worked ok when I was at a parkland course).

Don't want to go for a lower lofted hybrid as I prefer the look of an iron for such shots, so am thinking about something like a 2 crossover, or a utility iron like a Titleist TMB, Srixon UZ or Wilson Staff utility.

Know I will miss hit some shots with such clubs but the wind can be brutal at Fleetwood so I need to have something to deal with those days.

I am really looking at 2nd hand, given it is a bit of an experiment, so don't have the luxury of custom fit or trying loads of different ones at a fitter. YouTube reviews suggest the TMB has a lower flight than some others but I know the Ping would be a less risky purchase as I have used one before, albeit a 3 rather than a 2.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks in advance.

I had the Wilson Staff Model (which I've actually just moved on, a shame as I'm local to you - you could have had a bash with it) and I struggled with it tbh. However, I have a low ball flight anyway and I struggled to consistently get the most from it. I was the same across all my long irons but a recent lesson seems to have solved that somewhat.

What I will say is that my mate used mine and now has the cobra utility iron and he plays a high cut with all his clubs and it was no different with mine or his utility irons. I can't get my head around how he manages it tbh.

I guess what I'm saying is that the club might not automatically solve it, especially the more modern ones designed to launch it.

 

[Jason.H]

I had the Wilson Staff Model (which I've actually just moved on, a shame as I'm local to you - you could have had a bash with it) and I struggled with it tbh. However, I have a low ball flight anyway and I struggled to consistently get the most from it. I was the same across all my long irons but a recent lesson seems to have solved that somewhat.

What I will say is that my mate used mine and now has the cobra utility iron and he plays a high cut with all his clubs and it was no different with mine or his utility irons. I can't get my head around how he manages it tbh.

I guess what I'm saying is that the club might not automatically solve it, especially the more modern ones designed to launch it.

The Wilson staff model comes in a 15 degree option I doubt that would launch high.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I have a 16d Cobra baffler hybrid that I find very useful. Bought it second hand off the club pro in 2010 for £25. Gives me a low-ish trajectory and I can play it out of the rough.
I bought the matching 20d hybrid in January for £14 off ebay. I find them to be an alternative to what might be a 4-wood and a 6-wood rather than alternatives to long irons.
But a good 1 or 2 iron, in the summer, has no such comparison. When there is run on the fairways, I like to make that work for me.
Our 3rd hole is our longest par-4 at 453yds and into a SW wind. I like having that Powerbilt Oversize 2-iron in the bag for the second shot in the summer sometimes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I get the OP's opinion about wanting an iron v hybrid but as a mid-handicapper as he states I think a 2 iron is making it harder. I'd look at a hybrid, ideally an adjustable model. I simply think it will do what he likes and can be adjusted according to conditions and gives far more margin for error. Sorry that buck the trend but why make it harder?

 

[SteveJay]

I had the Wilson Staff Model (which I've actually just moved on, a shame as I'm local to you - you could have had a bash with it) and I struggled with it tbh. However, I have a low ball flight anyway and I struggled to consistently get the most from it. I was the same across all my long irons but a recent lesson seems to have solved that somewhat.

What I will say is that my mate used mine and now has the cobra utility iron and he plays a high cut with all his clubs and it was no different with mine or his utility irons. I can't get my head around how he manages it tbh.

I guess what I'm saying is that the club might not automatically solve it, especially the more modern ones designed to launch it.

Cheers Hefty. Yes, I know the club isn't the be all and end all. I generally hit a gentle draw with my irons, but launch it higher than many. I am happy with that and don't want a fundamental swing change really, just a club that can get under the wind.

I am going to try a utility from our pro shop out on the course in the week. Hit it indoors a couple times and liked it, although not sure yet if it is much longer than my 3 iron, so that might just go back in the bag (especially tomorrow as 30 mph winds are forecast an I am at St Annes Old Links!)

 

[SteveJay]

I get the OP's opinion about wanting an iron v hybrid but as a mid-handicapper as he states I think a 2 iron is making it harder. I'd look at a hybrid, ideally an adjustable model. I simply think it will do what he likes and can be adjusted according to conditions and gives far more margin for error. Sorry that buck the trend but why make it harder?

Cheers Homer but I have a Ping G410 hybrid and even if I de loft it to 18 degrees, it can still climb high enough to be badly affected by a strong crosswind, especially off the tee. Might be easier to hit but isn't making my game easier as I can't control the flight.

 

[SteveJay]

I don’t have swing speed to get the best out of the long irons hence I have 2 rescue clubs. 22 degree I can hit low.

I envy you! I have a 19 degree and can't hit it low enough. Saying that there is low for inland golf and low low for links golf! I really want stinger style low

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Cheers Homer but I have a Ping G410 hybrid and even if I de loft it to 18 degrees, it can still climb high enough to be badly affected by a strong crosswind, especially off the tee. Might be easier to hit but isn't making my game easier as I can't control the flight.

I get what your saying and understand it completely. I am worried that the off hits will cost you more in terms of lost distance and bringing trouble into play. I guess the more you improve and if you put the work in you'll find a way to play it and only you know your game. The way I tinker I am probably the last one to say anything

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Not often I agree with Homer, but here I do.
Unless you’re a mid-handicapper because you always 3 putt every green. I’d imagine a 2 iron or lower might be to difficult for you to hit well, consistently.

Especially the old 1 irons earlier in the thread.

 

[garyinderry]

I have an Adam's dhy super hybrid. Its essentially a hybrid but looks very much like an iron.

I've never been a strong long iron player. This club seems to be a good compromise for me.

I've a fairly rare 16 degree. My mate bought an 18 degree one. He doesnt have a great relationship with woods or hybrids but he loves this club.

 

[garyinderry]

I envy you! I have a 19 degree and can't hit it low enough. Saying that there is low for inland golf and low low for links golf! I really want stinger style low

If you want low low then you have to learn to hit it low low

 

[Region3]

Whenever I’ve tried old 1 and 2 irons, yes they are difficult to hit but the bad shots are usually thin. That would produce the perfect flight for your situation

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Whenever I’ve tried old 1 and 2 irons, yes they are difficult to hit but the bad shots are usually thin. That would produce the perfect flight for your situation

Bad for the hands though ?

 

[Voyager EMH]

Its a myth and nonsense.
Over several decades of paying golf I've thinned more 8-iron shots than 2-iron shots, though done plenty with both.
The resulting feeling in the hands or fingers is no different.
The concept that hitting these long irons is "harder" than short irons is also a myth.
Hitting it longer is harder than hitting it shorter is obvious.
Hitting it 40 yards is easier than hitting it 125 yards, but so what?
Marketing has produced some very quirky "utility" long irons based on the myth that there is a dividing line somewhere where long irons become "difficult" clubs to use.

 

[Ethan]

Its a myth and nonsense.
Over several decades of paying golf I've thinned more 8-iron shots than 2-iron shots, though done plenty with both.
The resulting feeling in the hands or fingers is no different.
The concept that hitting these long irons is "harder" than short irons is also a myth.
Hitting it longer is harder than hitting it shorter is obvious.
Hitting it 40 yards is easier than hitting it 125 yards, but so what?
Marketing has produced some very quirky "utility" long irons based on the myth that there is a dividing line somewhere where long irons become "difficult" clubs to use.

Really? It is a myth that hitting the ball accurately with a longer club is no more difficult than with a shorter club? You should alert almost all of the rest of the golfing world, which has had that wrong for generations.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I can hit it fat and leave it short of the green with an 8-iron, thin it, miss a green left or right. Same thing with a 3-iron. With the longer shot the margins of error become increased, whether that be short, left or right. So the mistakes look more severe, but they are the same mistakes with the same causes.
I think the difference in my perception stems from the way I learned the game to start with at a young age and I was not influenced by any consensus of popular public opinion. I tried to do pretty much the same thing with all clubs and developed no fear of any particular clubs.
Whether any one person or group of people "have it wrong" or "have it right" is irrelevant. Every single person has their perception based on their experience and based on what they have been influenced by. No one person or group of people can be said to have it right or wrong.
I have expressed my view.

 

[Ethan]

I can hit it fat and leave it short of the green with an 8-iron, thin it, miss a green left or right. Same thing with a 3-iron. With the longer shot the margins of error become increased, whether that be short, left or right. So the mistakes look more severe, but they are the same mistakes with the same causes.
I think the difference in my perception stems from the way I learned the game to start with at a young age and I was not influenced by any consensus of popular public opinion. I tried to do pretty much the same thing with all clubs and developed no fear of any particular clubs.
Whether any one person or group of people "have it wrong" or "have it right" is irrelevant. Every single person has their perception based on their experience and based on what they have been influenced by. No one person or group of people can be said to have it right or wrong.
I have expressed my view.

I am old enough to remember "proper" 1 and 2 irons. I used to have a set of MacGregor persimmons and the first good set of clubs I got were Mizuno blades. A 1 or 2 iron was part of every respectable golf bag. But it defies logic that a shorter club is not easier to hit than a longer one. The length of club reduces the tolerance for accurately applying the centre of the club to the ball, for a start, and the loft of the club forgives, to a certain extent, errors in the strike.

The modern golf ball is also different, and shafts have changed,. The old low shot which then climbed in a parabola before falling out of the sky has been replaced by a medium height launch which flies on a flatter trajectory.