AndySP

Finally arrived! Very psyched to start testing!

Likewise! It seems possible that they all used a similar blank, but yeah, I’m also not going to move from anecdote to truth based on some similar pics just yet. The changes to the cavity might be significant for performance, too. In any case, I’ve no complaints. Mine look good, feel great out of the center and have held up well too. I’m excited to hear how they work for you as testing continues.

I can’t help but notice how similar they look to my New Level 902s, which I currently play as my 6 and 5 iron and very much like. The milling pattern inside is different, but I wonder about the other specs too. Same manufacturer?

I’m late to the party, but I received a shipping notice this morning. So excited!

Great unboxing! Impressed that a box looking like that delivered the irons in such good shape. I’m excited to hear what you think about them. I love the compact-ness and the shape. I’m so jealous already. I can’t wait to see the driving iron in person!

Ouch… Well I’m a (happy) mediocre golfer, so the moniker fits. Even so, I think @Mr Orange came out with more data than he had, which is a useful to get in the ballpark. Whether it’s good enough for your game is a personal question.

I get that. I just think you don’t have to let “the best” be the enemy of “the good.” After spending the $ I would want to explore all the options and see what they point to. Personally, I can afford to test some golf balls, but cannot afford a new driver. I’d want to see what the ball changes for my game. Anecdotally, Marty Jertson (of ping) uses several different balls during his rounds depending on the circumstances, and he has plenty of club options.

Driver numbers will be decent though. If I had already bought the ‘fitting’ I’d consider getting a few options that are based on actual ballflight while I’m at it.

I would consider using the numbers to plug into the Ballnamic software. Next best thing to going outside I think.

With regard to the original question. This is how irons work, as was said above, there is no standard. 50 years ago they were all a little shorter, but they also went PW-1 iron. The reason i cut all my clubs short…is that I’m short and I have long arms. It matters at the ends of the set. A “normal” length wedge would have to be 6* flat or more to sit right, so I cut them down and flatten them only 2-3*. Likewise a “normal” length driver or 3 wood is unwieldy at my height and they can’t really be adjusted enough besides cutting them down. The only thing that matters is the gapping between them. a huge loft gap to get to my hybrid. I imagine a lot of people cutting down their irons do the same.

I think it’s no big deal as long as you are comfortable and consistant. I also use a weaker grip around the greens and in sometimes will reverse overlap (putting style grip). With the driver I’m using the same grip as my irons though. I like the grips with reminders or the “align” to keep me on track. That could be worth experimenting with.

I have had the older 902 irons in my bag for my 6 and 5 irons for a few years. I have them with TT x100 120s, which have been fine, but I don’t have much advice to offer with shafts. I really like them for the feel and the look. I can’t say that they are especially forgiving irons though. They aren’t blades, but the forgiveness in them comes from their shape, not any special materials like tungsten or ‘speed foam’. I love them for the consistency, but not necessarily the distance or off-center forgiveness. Have you thought about getting a used version of something to save money?

So, if you knew before you even pulled you bag from the car what each shot would be be that day, would you still play? On the one hand, you get to ‘relive’ every great shot you’ll hit but, also, every topped fairway wood, missed 3 footer, and chunked wedge. Im thinking it’s the difference between enjoying golf as a movie that you love to watch again, the performance of golf, versus golf as an exciting first-time viewing…discovery golf? Would knowing the result ruin the game for you?

I like the white wood tees because they leave a mark on the driver that helps me get an idea for strike location. They don’t break on me that often, but New Jersey has pretty soft turf.

I agree with @Vegan_Golfer_PNW that is a little hard to say before it’s here, but I wished that it would have more options for the price. Some extra choices to compete with sub70, New Level and others would make a big difference for people who are more plugged in to their wants/needs. Personally, I would have considered an x-flex option if they offered it, though I’m not that sensitive to flex.

I use a tee all the time. Partly because it’s also my tool to fix ball marks, and I seem to never have coins around anymore. No one’s ever said anything to me yet, but I only play on muni courses.

@mikeanthony looking forward to your review. As another z-grip user, I have been very interested in how they compare. I found the utx to feel slippery in the shop, but that could be just because they get dirt from people grabbing them. They look so good in blue!

My only hope is that my guess is so bad that it’s good… cut: -2 high round: 82

Hey everyone, I’m so excited to test this driving iron from Caley. I’ve been on the MyGolfSpy forum for a few years now and have gained so much from it. So, I’m honored to have been selected from among the responders to give my opinions and pay it forward. By way of background, I’m 35 years old and learned how to play golf with my dad starting around age 6 or 7. While I’m originally from Chicago and learned to play on the public courses on the north shore, I now live a play in north central New Jersey. I am now an attorney and live with my beautiful wife who is a college professor in microbiology and by far the smartest person I know. I have a 4 year old daughter and our hope is that the three of us will soon all play golf together one day. I also am a pretty active rock climber, and used to set routes and climb professionally. Because I don’t have any golf photos, here’s two pics of me bouldering in the gunks, New York: My Golf Game: I played golf on my high school team, and while I wasn’t very good compared to my peers I maintained low single digit handicap. Being only 5’4” and 120 lbs (at best), I had to (and still need to) swing outta my shoes to keep up. All that effort seems to have paid off and I have maintained decent speed for my size. (I have posted about my speed training in the Stack System discussion). The Grint app tells me I play off 7-10. While I don’t track shots with arcos or shot scope, it’s obvious that the strongest part of my game is off the tee and short irons. My putting is atrocious, but I manage to get around ok with decent GIR averages: Even so, I don’t have a good second option off the tee and get myself into trouble on narrow holes and windy days. Testing Plan: There are only limited choices with the driving iron right now, but I chose the stiff shaft, and asked it to be cut down one inch and bent 2 degrees flat to match the specs on my irons, which I was happy to find out they would do. I am not sure if I will need to add some weight to the club head to re balance it, but as you can see further down, it is an art that I have become pretty familiar with. My goal in testing this driving iron is to find out if it’s an option off the tee that doesn’t get me into as much trouble as my driver. I have a new-for-me Titleist TS2 3 hybrid that I’m struggling with. I would love to find a driving iron that flights low when it’s windy, and allows me to feel comfortable on narrow par 4s. If I can have a club that gets 220-240 yards out with less stress than my driver, it will definitely stay in the bag. Long approaches are less important for me with this club, but it will also be a consideration. I also do appreciate how my clubs look. I don’t like lugging clubs around that I don’t enjoy hitting. I have tested the Taylormade UDI and DHY, as well as a PXG 0311 and a few others on a simulator. I gave up on the DHY because it flew too high, sounded hollow, and looked bulky. The sound and feel will be a deciding factor if the performance is borderline. I like a driving iron to sound more ironey than driverey. That said, the UDI was like a mini driver, but was a little too erratic to consider buying. If the Caley driving iron can keep up with the UDI, add some forgiveness, and sound solid, it will replace this fairway wood. Hopefully this intro will help you guys get a feel for who I am, and how I play golf. I can’t wait to get the club on the course for a proper test! UNBOXING! Well I think I’m the last person to get my delivery… I was beginning to worry y’ll would think I was skirting my duties. Alas. I couldn’t be happier to see this box when I opened the door: A little beat up, but nothing to be too concerned about. Maybe not the most careful packaging, but it kept the club alive for its long journey from China to New Jersey. I asked for my driving iron to be 2 degrees flat, 1 inch short and for some extra head weight to try and balance it back out. Really happy to see the 2 flat sticker and it also seems to be just an inch bigger than my 5 iron, which is perfect. I’ll have to go to the range and check the swingweight to see about the balance point. Initially it’s hard to tell because of the lightweight shaft in it. One thing that I noticed right away is that they installed the shaft with the logo facing up. It’s a little off-putting, to be honest. I don’t know what to think about it…I can’t be alone in preferring graphics to be on the bottom. Guess I’ll have to learn to focus a little better, haha. Ok, even given all the, the club head really is stunning. It’s a great shape, has a nice minimalistic vibe and the finish is immaculate. I think the images kinda speak for themselves. I also took some pictures next to my 5 iron (new level 902) and 19* hybrid (titleist ts2) to help give some size perspective. I’m writing this after work so I won’t be able to test it out until the weekend. But I’m very excited to get going. I have my prgr monitor, and some time at the course to get my first feels. As a bonus, this couldn’t have come at a better time as I just cracked the crown of my g400lst on Sunday. I have a g430 coming, but it’s still a funny coincidence. Maybe the ping got scared because he knew why was arriving. I guess we’ll see. Very excited to add my thoughts to the mix. Sad picture: ———————————————————————————————- FINAL REVIEW SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 First Impressions (20 out of 20) Caley says the 01X “combines the forgiveness of a hybrid with the control of an iron.” As a headline, I’d say that’s a good place to start. As for how they get there, the 01x has a hollow body with an ultra thin face, injected with lightweight foam, an internal groove on the face to increase launch, and heel and toe tungsten weights to optimize cg. This tech is not new-new, but it’s tried and true. I’ve seen similar tech in the marketing for other OEM utility irons. I’m confident that the tech is sufficient to put the 01x in the same ballpark as the big guys. With regard to price, something that is pretty important for me, I tried to put this club into context in the table below. Initially the price was listed as $249, but as of yesterday, it’s listed at a more reasonable $119, putting it in the same category as the other popular DTCs and about $100 less than the major OEMs. Here’s a quick chart of what I found. The stock shaft listed is what I saw being sold at PGA Superstore. Aesthetics (8 out of 10) The driving iron has a classy and understated look in the bag even now after I put some lead tape on it to try and balance out the feel. (I obviously look like I have some kind of addiction to lead tape, but I promise it’s really because I cut down my clubs 1” short, and because I’m no club builder, I use it to get the swingweights more manageable on the cheap.) I love the minimalist branding and traditional blade-y shaping. It really hides the fact that it’s a DI until you set it down behind the ball. I also own a Sub 70 699 pro DI which is slightly smaller than the Caley, though because of the design, the Caley looks better in my opinion. At address, the over-size shape of the club is much more evident and provides much needed confidence required for 18* of loft. Seeing the back of the club bothered me at first, but not anymore. I’m only taking off points for the alignment of the shaft. For whatever reason it really bothers me that it’s installed logo up. It’s a busy design and because it’s the only club in my bag set up that way, it’s distracting. It also conflicts with the rest of the clubs own minimalistic branding by looking tacky at address. I also asked a few people about the look of club while playing. Everyone really liked the look and a few even thought it was a normal 3 iron until I compared it to my other irons. Sound/feel— The club has a tweener sound—something between a solid iron “thwack” and an empty hybrid ting a (thwing?). It sounds hollow out of the center, but more muted away from the sweet spot. I posted some video of the sound in this thread that gives some idea for the curious. In comparison to some other DI’s sound it’s in the middle. Some, like the Ping are very hollow and loud, where others, like the PXG (forgot the model) and the TM UDI, sounded very iron-like. The Caley has a bit of each. It’s closer to the solid sound of the UDI than the ping of the Ping. I like it and I think there will be very few people who won’t enjoy hitting it. The Numbers (7 out of 10) Accuracy – I struggled a lot here. My first two or three range sessions with the iron resulted in a whole lot of soft push fades and very few good shots. I could have put a laundry basket out on the range about 30 yards right and 30 yards short of my target and caught quite a few. I fought hard to get the pattern back left, but could only replace it with a hook. It was honestly a bit discouraging. Around the fourth day I started getting a better feel for timing it up and was hitting a much stronger, straighter ball flight. My standard shot does not have much curve, and the DI eventually started behaving. However even now more than a month in, I’m still mostly hitting push fades when I’m on the course. Distance— I was getting a good distance out of the club when I hit it straight. Even though I had mine cut down 10, and adjusted the lie 2* flat, it is definitely 20-25 yards longer than my 4 iron, and just a few yards shorter on the carry to my 3 hybrid which is pretty impressive. I was getting somewhere between 220-240 depending on whether it was teed up and the lie. It’s a bomber that creeps up on the distance I get out of my 4 wood. Forgiveness— It’s not the most forgiving club in itself, which shouldn’t be too surprising, it’s basically a big 2 iron. That said, compared to my other irons, including my Sub 70 22 Utility, I am getting much better results particularly with low and toe strikes. I looked up many times expecting to see a worm-burner, and amazingly saw some pretty manageable flights. I practice a lot with foot spray and saw some embarrassing low strikes turn out good. Maybe it’s the cavity in the face plus the tungsten? Either way, it was impressive. If that tech is the reason, then I applaud the designers, because it works great. In that respect, the club lives up to the marketing. Sadly, left and right dispersion is hard to quantify given some of my struggles, so I don’t feel comfortable saying too much. Control— All that said, I secretly had only one special desire with the club— to hit mean low rockets to impress my instagram friends…I mean to stay under the wind. Perhaps surprisingly, it can get windy where I play in Jersey, so having a reliable lowball is very nice. I had no problem putting this a little back in the stance and keeping it low on the range. Addicting, but still a little scary on the course for me. I did hit one or two real beauties though. On-Course (10 out of 20) I used this club in three situations: (1) short par 4s where driver puts me into trouble, (2) long 2nd shots into par 5s, and predictably, (3) punching out of the trees. Sadly, I do not have Arccos or Shott Scope to give y’all more legit data, (I’m too cheap), but I did keep notes. With regard to number (1), as I alluded to above, I did not have as much success as I hoped. I had difficulty tapping into the feel that I needed to straighten out the flight on course. Out of about 25 first attempts in the weeks I’ve tested this, I probably only hit 5 or 6 good ones off the tee, and many of them were on hole number 1 where I had just walked over from the range. I hit many good second attempts, but it was rare to hit the first one good. With regard to (2) I had even less success, for similar reasons. I hit so many balls 20 yards right and 20 yards short. It started to get to me a little and I think I lost a bit of confidence in it towards the end. That said, I do believe that part of my issues are fitting related, so I don’t feel comfortable taking off too many points. Right now I’m more comfortable off the tee with a stinger driver than the Utility, and with a firm 4 iron from 215-230 rather than risking a weak right one or a hook. I did hit some great punch outs though, haha. Pretty casual to keep it low with only 18* of loft. Plus I don’t have to do any trickery with the setup. Probably the best punch out club I’ve ever hit, lol. Unfortunately, I don’t think the 01x helped my scores much over hitting driver. I put myself into more trouble than I hoped, and often used it twice in a row (if you catch my drift). My game is heavily reliant on my tee to green game, so when I’m missing greens in regulation, I start to suffer a lot. I’m only a 7 or 8 handicap, but I average 55% GIR, so as you can imagine, I’m not so great at scrambling to save par or bogey from the trees. The Good, the bad, the in-between (14 out of 20) Unquestionably, the club head is good. It it gorgeous, has a great feel off the face, makes a powerful sound at impact, and sends the ball on a towering trajectory. All the other parts, however, have given me some pause. As I noted above, I don’t like that the shaft is logo up, that there were only two options for flex, and that there were no options for weight like Sub70, Haywood and New Level. One of the biggest disappointments was when some odd metal flakes came out of the grooves in the club while I was cleaning it early on. Here are some of the pictures I posed when I first uncovered them. I only use a boars hair brush and dish soap to clean it, so I know it’s not me being reckless. I have never seen this before and it threw me off a little. I used a tee to get the bigger pieces out. I can’t say I noticed any difference before and after removing the material, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it could have compromised the performance or compliance with the rules. Play it or Trade it? (13 out of 20) While I’m not going to keep it in the bag as it it is currently set up, I’ve not lost all hope. I’ve seen enough good shots to believe it can work. I still think I am a good candidate for a driving iron and want to put on in my bag. This version was just not quite right for my swing. It may be painfully obvious by now, but my hunch is that the shaft is too light, and too soft. The stock shaft is only 65g, which is a gram lighter than my driver’s shaft (ping tour 2.0 black x) and a lot lighter than the shafts in my irons (120g) and hybrid (90g). I haven’t done a survey, but I think I have a pretty generic shaft weight setup. I also think that lot of people looking for Utility irons will use similar, if not heavier weights to me. I honestly think Caley made a mistake to use this shaft. UST makes a 90g version, which I think would fit more people in this category. If choosing the shaft online I think the options would have put me off and I would have reached to to get something different if I knew more about it at the time I did not know what “65 F3” meant. Because of this, I’m a little disappointed in the brand at least compared to my experiences buying from New Level and Sub70, where I had an easier time getting set up to my specs. My guess is that it would be perfect for someone who is using graphite irons and has a little less speed than I do. I’m not a fitter, but I imagine that for the folks who swing driver under 100mph, but don’t like hybrids, and are playing 80-90g iron shafts will enjoy this club. Perhaps someone who loves their super-game- improvement G430s or Stealth irons, and wants to extend their reach without getting a hybrid or 5 wood would love it as it is. Right now I am looking to swap out the current shaft. I think something 30-40g heavier will fit me better. It’s interesting that Caley went with 65g but that other companies chose 80-95g as stock. I will update my experience in the thread after I make the change for anyone who remains interested. Also if anyone has any insight into what shaft I should look to replace it with, I’m all ears. Conclusion The performance of this club for me has been like eating delicious ice cream with chopsticks. I got a good idea of what it had to offer, but I couldn’t dig in. When I got it all timed up, o could really see how forgiving it is on low strikes, how easy it is to flight up and down, and the impressive distance. Sadly, though, it was all a little fleeting. I’ve never felt particularly sensitive to shafts, but I think this club crossed that line. As a result, I’m confident that there are many people out there who will love it, I just think that there are also many like me who will need more customizations to make it work. Lastly, I’m definitely left a little concerned about the club making and QC. The fact that I found pretty big pieces of metal come out of the grooves, and the odd shaft alignment give me pause when considering buying more product from Caley. Granted, I did not reach out to them, so I am not sure what their response would have been. My hope is that they would be as accommodating as I have seen the other DTC brands and offer either a replacement or a reassuring explanation. I have no reason to assume anything other than that. When I add up the final score it seems a little low, but I tried to be honest here. Obviously attaching numbers to qualitative findings is never perfect, but hopefully the explanations adequately describe how I got to here. TLDR bullet points: + gorgeous club + great sound and feel + impressive height on thin shots + easy to manipulate trajectory + solid distance - unconventional shaft weight - shaft installed upside down - excess metal found in grooves - limited customization available Final Score ( 72 out of 100)

A few feet of 1 inch rope for tempo and swing plane is a great tool.

Durability is my guess. Cast steel wedges already wear out pretty fast. I can’t imagine how a composite material would last longer, but I could be wrong.

In central New Jersey there are a few ranges near me. Generally, it’s $6-10 for a small, about 30 balls, and $15-17 for a large which is 110ish. Some use generic range balls and others use branded versions, but they are all about the same cost.

I think you just need to play a little bit more. It takes some time to come back from a long break. The new drivers are for sure easier to hit and I think you’ll appreciate them more as you find your swing.

At least for my own interest, I found a 63 that started with a double (followed by two eagles) by rookie Matt Hendrix in his fourth event in 2005. Adam Scott shot 62 with a double at the RBC this year. The mental fortitude required for these types of rounds is impressive to me.

I remember that both Rahm and AK shot 65 with doubles at the masters, but I can’t figure out if anyone has gone lower.