Navart

I've spent a couple short sessions on the mat and net in the backyard but was able to take the Caley 01s out to the range last night and hit a bucket and a half. 
I had already felt that the balance was super smooth, but my biggest takeaway was how effortlessly these irons cut through the turf when hit a bit fat. It was very impressive considering the leading edge does not look like they've aggressively trimmed or grinded it as one might expect to offer that characteristic. 
The other impression that just pops right out at you is that on thin and toey strikes there's hardly any drop off in carry. A hot face is perhaps to be expected for a hollow-body but I've demo'd a few other hollow bodies like the Paradym and Mizuno 225 Pros. All of them are hot but the Caley 01s retained more responsiveness than the Paradyms and were on par with the 225 Pros, in my opinion. Don't know what more you can ask for with a hot face on every strike AND still getting a feel on how you've mishit to get back on track throughout a session or round.
The 4 and 5 irons were still a bit of a challenge to consistently get a good flight and trajectory but all operator error. We'll keep working at it and the smooth turf interaction will only make it easy to get more reps in before tiring out in the hands and back.
It's off to the simulator tomorrow evening now that I've gotten more acclimated to the irons! Really looking forward to getting a clearer picture of stock yardages across the set and comparing the numbers and dispersion to my gamers.

Hitting Minneapolis GC again this afternoon for a round with the 01 iron set! 
Don't know if I will be able to get in a full 18 again but I'm itching to get back out there. I think playing the same course a few times in a testing context can be a great aspect.
What do y'all think?
I will certainly play some other courses to test their versatility (but let's be real, more like my compatibility). Minneapolis GC is open, with rolling fairways, bunkers GALORE, perched greens and pillowy soft fairways. Getting out to a firmer course with more water and trees will help me get a more rounded grasp of these clubs performance even though the latter course type is not my preference.

Hitting Minneapolis GC again this afternoon for a round with the 01 iron set! 
Don't know if I will be able to get in a full 18 again but I'm itching to get back out there. I think playing the same course a few times in a testing context can be a great aspect.
What do y'all think?
I will certainly play some other courses to test their versatility (but let's be real, more like my compatibility). Minneapolis GC is open, with rolling fairways, bunkers GALORE, perched greens and pillowy soft fairways. Getting out to a firmer course with more water and trees will help me get a more rounded grasp of these clubs performance even though the latter course type is not my preference.

Hitting Minneapolis GC again this afternoon for a round with the 01 iron set! 
Don't know if I will be able to get in a full 18 again but I'm itching to get back out there. I think playing the same course a few times in a testing context can be a great aspect.
What do y'all think?
I will certainly play some other courses to test their versatility (but let's be real, more like my compatibility). Minneapolis GC is open, with rolling fairways, bunkers GALORE, perched greens and pillowy soft fairways. Getting out to a firmer course with more water and trees will help me get a more rounded grasp of these clubs performance even though the latter course type is not my preference.

This can happen with any club from every manufacturer. It’s due to grass getting between the club and ball. It’s something one needs to evaluate when evaluating their lie and choose club accordingly 

Did you realize your unboxing video (or at least part of it) is being used by Caley on their FB ads? I just saw it in my feed. 🤣

Could your fliers from the rough have been due to grass between the ball and clubface at impact causing lower spin and thus more distance? I know the pros (and talking heads) mention that a lot when looking at shots out of the rough and if it's a "flier lie" or not. If the fliers were from the fairway, I'd be more concerned. Just a thought.

Played a quick round after work and managed to finish all 18 holes by sunset (the last two holes were pushing it, but it went well).
This round was the first real test for the Caley 01CB irons. My final score (89) is not representative of the performance of these irons (see link in How’d You Play for some venting and commentary about my round).
Ball flight: At the risk of repeating myself, I love the ball flight with the 01CBs and the x-stiff KBS Tour shaft. It is penetrating yet quite spinny so I can still hold greens (and the greens at tonight’s course were hard in preparation for a tournament this Friday. Hard greens are a rare thing in my neck of the woods). Distance: I had suspicions that the Caley 01CBs were slightly longer than my gamers. Well, it has been confirmed today. They appear to be roughly 5 or 6 yds longer than my Srixon Z785 despite being 0.5“ shorter. All things being equal, it can now safely say that these irons offer more distance than my current set (most likely due to the different shafts in both sets). Worth noting: I had 3 flyers today: All from the rough and with the 6, the 7 and the 4-iron. These 3 shots carried roughly 20 yds over their expected carry distance, which is very unsettling to say the least. For indicative purposes, I have only had a single flyer shot that comes to mind in the time that I have had my Srixon Z785s. I hope that this sort of thing will not happen routinely as it’s not viable to go at greens from the rough and not know what to expect from the club. Feel: The Caley 01CB irons are forged cavity backs. Therefore, you can expect a smooth, effortless and uniform impact on center strikes. That being said, I would like to mention that the feel is not that of the flagship Srixons or Mizunos irons that I have tried. While still good, it’s just not the same; simply isn’t. I would liken it to having a modified car that has as much horsepower and racing parts as a Ferrari: While both cars might lap around the track in a similar time, being in the Italian supercar is just a different experience altogether (not that I know what I’m talking about, unfortunately, but I thought that it was a good analogy). Looks: In the bag, they look great. One golfer with whom I was paired initially thought that they were this year’s TaylorMade P7MCs (I’ll let you decide if the mix up is understandable😅). The 4, 5 and 6 irons are simply stunning. They all have what I expect from any prototypical players’ iron in the narrow sole, thin topline, short blade length, low profile, etc. The 7 and 8 irons are also good looking clubs. Once we get up to the 9-iron, things start to get a bit bulkier in my opinion. The sole appears strikingly wider in the bag and the face’s height also appears larger, especially in the heel section. As for the PW, well, it’s not a nice club to look at at address. It sort of stands gigantically behind the ball in comparison to the other irons and the topline, especially in the heel section, gives the impression that there is massive offset even if it’s basically non-existent. Now, I am more than pleased with the Caley 01CBs’ performance. If it wasn’t for the 0.5“ shorter length, I would most likely overlook my impressions about the PW’s looks and the slightly less smooth/premium feel and put them in the bag instead of my Srixon Z785s right now. Performance appears to be there and in the end, that’s what matters most. I will still wait a little while for now though😉.
However, hear this: If you are in the market for brand new forged players’ irons that perform great in terms of distance, control and forgiveness, are way more affordable than products from OEMs, you do not care about not having a recognizable brand (yet) in your bag and want to be able to customize loft, lie and shaft length, then I would happily recommend the Caley 01CB irons! They are that good.

Sorry I'm a little late here but very interesting, @GolfSpy SAM. I also got into a bay (trackman doppler RCT balls) to get some baselines in and came away with strange numbers as compared to my gamers that DID NOT end up being what I saw on the course just yesterday. I went the opposite route as you did and decided not to post the full results because honestly I could not make heads or tails of it. When looking back, all of the spin rates were italicized so I am fairly convinced that the person prior to me was using their own balls and left them unbeknownst to me.
One example below are the 9i gamer (purple) vs Caley 01 (yellow). I toggled this to total distance and this suggests 119yd and 126yd totals, respectively. The Trackman was giving me 1.5 club difference to my real life gamer stock yardages...

I intend to go back to the bay and troubleshoot. I cite the total yardage above because I am  definitely getting 15yd further CARRIES out of my 9i than these totals with the Caley 01s in my on course experience.

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

Sorry I'm a little late here but very interesting, @GolfSpy SAM. I also got into a bay (trackman doppler RCT balls) to get some baselines in and came away with strange numbers as compared to my gamers that DID NOT end up being what I saw on the course just yesterday. I went the opposite route as you did and decided not to post the full results because honestly I could not make heads or tails of it. When looking back, all of the spin rates were italicized so I am fairly convinced that the person prior to me was using their own balls and left them unbeknownst to me.
One example below are the 9i gamer (purple) vs Caley 01 (yellow). I toggled this to total distance and this suggests 119yd and 126yd totals, respectively. The Trackman was giving me 1.5 club difference to my real life gamer stock yardages...

I intend to go back to the bay and troubleshoot. I cite the total yardage above because I am  definitely getting 15yd further CARRIES out of my 9i than these totals with the Caley 01s in my on course experience.

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

@Vegan_Golfer_PNW want to hear your thoughts on this. As a higher handicap with a very high swing speed do you think working to dial back would help your game? 
Of course we all want to hit the ball far, but maybe taking the mindset of I want this to be a safe 230 club off the tee (just guessing on distance) vs a potential hit this hard and see how far it goes off the tee club would help? 
Now a little personal background. I have a Ping Crossover 2 and 4 iron. I have had one of my best ever rounds with the 2 as my sole tee club, however I was thinking more positional vs driver like get it as far down as possible.
Of course weight and feel will have an impact, but just curious if a slight shift in mindset may return greater results ?
 

I think this is something a lot golfers including myself can look at changing in their approach. Many of us swing near full speed on every swing especially in the top end of the bag where we want max distance. This leads to our swing flaws coming out and making longer swing and swinging harder and increasing mishit and wider dispersion.
 

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

Sorry I'm a little late here but very interesting, @GolfSpy SAM. I also got into a bay (trackman doppler RCT balls) to get some baselines in and came away with strange numbers as compared to my gamers that DID NOT end up being what I saw on the course just yesterday. I went the opposite route as you did and decided not to post the full results because honestly I could not make heads or tails of it. When looking back, all of the spin rates were italicized so I am fairly convinced that the person prior to me was using their own balls and left them unbeknownst to me.
One example below are the 9i gamer (purple) vs Caley 01 (yellow). I toggled this to total distance and this suggests 119yd and 126yd totals, respectively. The Trackman was giving me 1.5 club difference to my real life gamer stock yardages...

I intend to go back to the bay and troubleshoot. I cite the total yardage above because I am  definitely getting 15yd further CARRIES out of my 9i than these totals with the Caley 01s in my on course experience.

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

yup. exactly. Luckily, I have the opportunity to swap the shaft out but will do so after the final review goes up even though the data is fully there that as is, the weight is an issue for more than just me. Now, curious how @GolfSpy SAM is doing with it as his irons are KBS light? This likely would work better for someone playing 90g shafts in their irons already.

Okay, folks!  Exciting news...
Played my first full 18 holes with the 01s and it was the lowest of the season. I remarked earlier how these puppies just pop off the face, well they hold onto greens pretty damn well too. Almost have me wondering if I can get away with a little lower spin ball too. Heavens knows it'll help me off the tee...
Check out a few screenshots from our pal  Arccos 

 
I'm a higher handicapper as noted in the intro for this test so the stretch of three straight pars felt fantastic. And if anyone in the Twin Cities area hasnt played Minneapolis GC it is a treat! Here's some commentary on two of these holes:
Hole 11 - This nine iron flew for me out of the light rough. Unless the green is really sloped or large, I typically opt for the middle and our goal was achieved here. The pin was front so it left me a long putt but I had a nice lag to seal the par.

Hole 12 - The prior hole maybe pumped my tires a little bit and I decided to get outside of my comfort zone and give the mid-long irons a rep. With a slight curve left and trees about 260yd out on the right side I also thought my driver's big fade could leave me a tough line to the hole. Tee shot with the 4i felt fantastic. Definitely left it a little open but good contact. The following shot left me with options I didn't love and really I probably should've hit a 5i or 6i here with that bunker. The ball was a little above my feet and did not make as good of contact as the prior stroke but in the end probably for the best and helped me with a nice, cruise-y wedge. The 4i might be here to stay folks...

- Introduction: 
First, I want to send out a huge thank you to MGS Forum staff and @Caley for giving me the opportunity to test out and review this set of irons. I never thought I would get to be a part of these reviews, so when the staff reached out, there was no way that I could turn them down. I am very excited about the opportunity to try out the Caley 01 irons, I not sure without this opportunity, I’d ever get a chance to test out one of these direct to consumer golf sets. Not sure I could pull the trigger on a set of clubs that I can’t at least hit in a bay before deciding to purchase. 

- Who am I? 

Hello spies, my name is Jeff Ross. I live in Radford, VA along with my beautiful wife Jill and my 7-year-old son Liam. I am a bingo supply salesman in Virginia and West Virginia. I enjoy spending time traveling with my family, fishing, golf, working out and the outdoors. I'm a die hard UNC Tarheels fan, this where my screenname uncross derives from. I’ve lived in a golf course community for the last 3 years but unfortunately, I have never played the course, but plan on playing it soon, its a beautiful course.
Pete Dye River Course -

 
 
I started playing golf when I was in college in the late 90’s. Although I played a lot, I never really improved very much. I just enjoyed playing with my buddies and never took the game too seriously. I gave up about a dozen years or so after getting married and moving back to Southwest Virginia. I started fishing more and more, and really got into bass fishing tournaments for several years. 

- My current game. 

A few months ago, I decided to take my son on a round of golf with my dad for some quality grandpa time! Liam only made about 7 holes, but in those 7 holes I found the passion for the sport that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I decided to give golf another try. It is also awesome playing with my dad and spending so much more time with him that I probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to without being together on the course. 

I'm joining the golf course in my hometown and planning on playing a lot of golf in 2024.
Blue Ridge Country Club-

My game is definitely a work in progress! I have around a 20 handicap, but don’t think I’ve played a round yet since starting back without at least a few mulligans. Driver is my biggest struggle on the course. My only confident club is my 56-degree wedge.  My struggles with my irons are a push fade to the right or topping the ball

 
 
- Testing Plans 
I hope to get a chance to test these irons out as much as possible. I plan on renting a trackman bay a couple times to get as much data as I can with it being winter and the holidays. I hope to get out on the course a couple times or more during this testing process. I will be focused mainly on seeing how they compare to my 20-year-old TaylorMade RAC OS irons. 
1) Consistency- especially on distance for each club.  Making sure that the ball goes relatively the same distance on every shot  and not once in a while there is a ball that goes 15-20 yards farther than the previous 10 shots or so with the same club.
2) Ball Flight- I really like a high ball flight with my irons. 
3) Feel and Sound 
4) Forgiveness – How bad are my mishits.  

- What will it take to earn a spot in my bag 
If the Caley 01 are more consistent and forgiving than my current TaylorMade irons, they will definitely get a shot at staying in my bag. The biggest factors will be how forgiving they are on mishits and how many more greens I can hit. The bottom line is that if they help me lower my scores, they will be in my bag. I also have a set of Ping G430’s on the way for Christmas, so I will get to do all this testing again after the Holidays! 
- Unboxing and First Impressions - (16/20)
 
I've been waiting like a kid at Christmas for the Caley 01's to arrive!  Unfortunately the day I arrived I was swamped with youth sports and licensing forms for an upcoming merger.  So the unboxing had to wait until the following day.

When finally getting a chance to tear into the box, I was stunned at the aesthetics of these irons.  They are stunning! I love the minimalist design and appearance.  I was truly impressed with how these looked out of the box.

Even thought these irons had been previously test, and I didn't get pull all the plastic wrappings off of them, I felt like Christmas had come early!  


These irons truly look stunning in hand, at address, and in the bag!


First Impressions -
When the MySpy forum guys contacted me about testing some Caley irons, it couldn't have been a worse time for me to do a test and review, but I was taught at a young age to never let an opportunity pass you by, you never know what it might lead to, so I said yes I would love to do it.  This was my first testing opportunity as well as my fist interaction with any DTC golf clubs.
Honestly I had never heard of Caley golf or the 01 irons, but did as much research as I could after excepting the review.  I watched several YouTube videos and read what reviews I could find.  Everything I read and watched  were really positive. 

First Impressions
When I opened the box, my first thoughts were wow!, these are nice looking clubs.  They are just smooth, a very clean look.  Much nicer that I would have ever expected at this price point.  To me they look much more expensive and look closer to a players irons that most of the game improvement irons that I have been looking at in stores.  I really think they would sell a lot more of these if the average person could put their hands and eyes on them before they purchased them.  I posted pictures on Facebook and had several people asking about them.






Initial Thoughts
So far after a few testing opportunities, I'm not sure that I could be too much more impressed with these irons so far.  The looks are amazing! The feel is very soft with a low click sound, dispersions have been better that my current gamers, Distance for most clubs is a little farther than my TaylorMade Rac Os irons.  Here are some of the statements made by Caley golf on their website and social medial and how well those statements have held up with my testing so far.

 
- Super Easy To Hit
So far in limited testing, I have found the irons easy to hit, especially 7 iron through pw.  I am really struggling with with 4, 5, and 6 irons right now. 
- Lightning Fast Ball Speeds
I'm not sure how to calculate lightning fast ball speeds but for the most part, I have found higher speeds with the Caley 01 irons than with my current irons

- Pin Point Accuracy 
With my golf swing, no club will have pin point accuracy, but so far I have been more than impressed with the accuracy of these Caley 01 irons.  Most of the trackman dispersion charts were much better with the Caley's. Below are the 8 iron and 9 iron comparison between the Rac Os and the Caley 01 irons.  The 1 round of nine holes that I have played on the course with the Caley irons was very impressive for me.  I hit 3 greens in regulation and scored 4 strokes below my average on the front 9 at my home course since starting back into golf several months ago.
8 Iron dispersion Caley Blue Rac Yellow

9 iron dispersion Caley Green, Rac Blue

- Explosive distance
On most clubs so far, the Caley 01's have carried a tad farther than the Rac OS, but I'm not quite sure I would consider it explosive.

- Extreme Forgiveness
I would say that so far I agree with the forgiveness on irons 7-pw.  They are by far the most forgiving irons that I have ever hit.  Still having trouble with the long irons.
- High Launch
Trackman data was pretty similar to my Rac os irons.
-Soft Feel
Very soft feel with a quiet click sound on contact
 
Few Concerns. (Where I subtracted points) 
My first concern is ho badly I am hitting the long irons.  Worse than I normally hit my RAC 5 and 6 irons.  This could be me and my swing and just limited swings with these irons, but at this point its a little concerning.
Number 2 could be me being a little picky, but I do worry a little about the durability of the irons.  I was not the first tester of this set of clubs, and when they arrived they had a few dings and scratches on them that looked deeper that anything on my 20 year old Rac's.  Also just cosmetic but the paint is coming off of several of the numbers on the irons


Overall, I am really impressed with these irons so far, especially the value at only $549 
- AESTHETICS (9/10)
These clubs are stunning to look at! The best descriptive I can come up with is just very clean appearance.  I really like the minimalist approach to these irons.  They look great in the bag, in my hands and at address during shots.  I prefer the appearance of the Caley 01 irons over my TaylorMade Rac Os irons and my Ping g430's.


The Caley 01 irons have an appearance of a players iron to me.  They are similar in appearance to some of the other popular direct to consumer iron sets out on the market.  The Caley 01 irons are a tad smaller than my TaylorMade irons, but with an equally thick top line.


 


The Caley 01 irons have a very soft feel off the face.  Definitely notice a difference if the feel of a center struck ball compared to one off the heel or toe.  Sound off the club is a nice quiet click. 
-The Numbers (9/10)
I was blown away by the performance of the Caley 01 irons during the simulator sessions.  The irons were easy to hit and performed much better that I expected. 
-Accuracy
The Caley irons made it easy, even for a golfer like myself to hit the target, or at least in the area of the target.  The dispersion charts with the Caley 01 irons were some of the best that I have ever had.  
Caley 01 8 iron

Caley 01 9 iron

-Distance
Distance for me with the Caley 01 irons was on Par with my TaylorMade Rac irons.  I didn't notice much of a difference in the two.  Distances were consistent, There were not any flyers that went 20 + yards farther than the other shots.
9 iron dispersion chart Rac os vs Caley 01
 
-Trajectory 
I would rate the Caley irons as Mid trajectory.  I did not seem to hit them quite as high as my current irons.
PW Trajectory Chart (Caley blue - TaylorMade red)

 
- Forgiveness and Control
Forgiveness and control are the areas where these clubs shine.  Miss hits off the heel or toe didn't end up far off target and the distance didn't seem to drop off.  I found these iron very easy to hit.  Point and shoot, make a good swing and hit your target.
The only point I took off was for the 4 and 5 irons.  I struggled to hit them at all in the simulator.  Very poor strikes, no distance and far right dispersion.
-On-Course (18 out of 20)
Performance in the simulator sessions carried over nicely on the course.  The forgiveness of the irons were the best that I have ever hit.  I hit far more greens than I did with my previous gamer irons.  My misses were much closer to the green also .  Still had lots of fat chunks and tops, but that is just bad swings on my part.
I played rounds hitting multiple shots from the same distance with both the Caley 01 irons and my current gamer irons.  The forgiveness and  accuracy of the Caley 01 irons would have saved me several shots a round compared to my current games.
One again the only negative is the trouble with the long irons carried over to on course issues also.  I really struggled to hit the 4 and 5 irons at all.  Dead right or thin and short .
-The Good, the bad, the in-between (20 out of 20)
Caley's website describes the 01 series of irons as the perfect blend of precision, power and feel for golfers of all levels. Performance benefits: explosive distance, extreme forgiveness, 

The good-
Priced at only $549, the Caley 01 irons are an exceptional value in my opinion.  They are a stunning set of irons, I posted pictures of them on Facebook and had several people inquiring about them.  I found them them extremely easy to hit. In terms of the OEM claims on the good side:
- Extreme forgiveness.  I found this to be one of the best qualities so far with the irons.  They have been much more forgiving than my current gamers.  Miss hits are near the the target and no where near as far right.
- Soft Feel.  I really like the feel of these irons.  In my opinion they are very soft for a game improvement iron.  They have a nice soft feel on contact with a light click sound.
- Spin Control.  Not sure if a player of my abilities controls the spin or not, but these irons seem to have a lot of spin.  I landed one shot on the green 10-15 yards and spun it back completely off the green from 150 yards out.  I've never put that kind of back spin on the ball before.
The in-between- 
- Explosive distance.  I found the distance good with the Caley irons but I wouldn't quite call it explosive.  Distance was very similar to my current gamer irons.
- High launch.  Once again I think the launch is ok, but ball flight doesn't seem to be quite as high as my current gamer irons.  
The Bad- 
The only thing I can really say that could possibly be bad about the irons is that mine had some paint coming off of some of the numbers and some of the dings and scratches from the previous tester makes me a little concerned about the durability of the Caley 01 irons.
 
- Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20)
The Caley 01 irons are definitely a play it for me.  With the forgiveness and ease of hitting, that have brought confidence to myself at address for iron shots.  These irons are the easiest irons that I have ever had in my hands.  The forgiveness of them makes me a better golfer and is helping me lower my scores.   They are a great value at only $549 for the set.  I can't speak for any other kind of golfer other than myself, but they are a great set for a high handicapper or beginner.
 
-Conclusion
When I received the opportunity to review these irons, I thought to myself, who really wants to read a review from someone who is just getting back into golf after a dozen years or so and is a pretty bad golfer.  I hope people who are similar high handicappers like myself.  The Caley 01 irons are a perfect set for someone starting out, someone just getting back into the game like myself or anyone else who needs a very forgiving set of irons. The Caley 01 irons checked every box for me.  Aesthetically they are clean and stunning to look at.  Performance wise, these irons have me playing better.  They are extremely forgiving and easy to hit.  The irons produce good distance with lots of spin and a soft feel.  I wasn't sure what to expect from a direct to consumer product that I hadn't previously heard of, but for a game improvement set of irons, I feel Caley has knocked it out of the park.  They are also an extremely good value at $549.
 -Final Score (92 out of 100)
-Posts, Reviews, Updates-
First Testing on Trackman - Dec 21
First on the Course testing - Dec 23
Update Dec 25
Initial Thoughts - Jan 1
Simulator Jan 10
On the Course - Jan 27
On the Course - Feb 2
Final Decision- April 11
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I've spent a couple short sessions on the mat and net in the backyard but was able to take the Caley 01s out to the range last night and hit a bucket and a half. 
I had already felt that the balance was super smooth, but my biggest takeaway was how effortlessly these irons cut through the turf when hit a bit fat. It was very impressive considering the leading edge does not look like they've aggressively trimmed or grinded it as one might expect to offer that characteristic. 
The other impression that just pops right out at you is that on thin and toey strikes there's hardly any drop off in carry. A hot face is perhaps to be expected for a hollow-body but I've demo'd a few other hollow bodies like the Paradym and Mizuno 225 Pros. All of them are hot but the Caley 01s retained more responsiveness than the Paradyms and were on par with the 225 Pros, in my opinion. Don't know what more you can ask for with a hot face on every strike AND still getting a feel on how you've mishit to get back on track throughout a session or round.
The 4 and 5 irons were still a bit of a challenge to consistently get a good flight and trajectory but all operator error. We'll keep working at it and the smooth turf interaction will only make it easy to get more reps in before tiring out in the hands and back.
It's off to the simulator tomorrow evening now that I've gotten more acclimated to the irons! Really looking forward to getting a clearer picture of stock yardages across the set and comparing the numbers and dispersion to my gamers.

I've spent a couple short sessions on the mat and net in the backyard but was able to take the Caley 01s out to the range last night and hit a bucket and a half. 
I had already felt that the balance was super smooth, but my biggest takeaway was how effortlessly these irons cut through the turf when hit a bit fat. It was very impressive considering the leading edge does not look like they've aggressively trimmed or grinded it as one might expect to offer that characteristic. 
The other impression that just pops right out at you is that on thin and toey strikes there's hardly any drop off in carry. A hot face is perhaps to be expected for a hollow-body but I've demo'd a few other hollow bodies like the Paradym and Mizuno 225 Pros. All of them are hot but the Caley 01s retained more responsiveness than the Paradyms and were on par with the 225 Pros, in my opinion. Don't know what more you can ask for with a hot face on every strike AND still getting a feel on how you've mishit to get back on track throughout a session or round.
The 4 and 5 irons were still a bit of a challenge to consistently get a good flight and trajectory but all operator error. We'll keep working at it and the smooth turf interaction will only make it easy to get more reps in before tiring out in the hands and back.
It's off to the simulator tomorrow evening now that I've gotten more acclimated to the irons! Really looking forward to getting a clearer picture of stock yardages across the set and comparing the numbers and dispersion to my gamers.

I've spent a couple short sessions on the mat and net in the backyard but was able to take the Caley 01s out to the range last night and hit a bucket and a half. 
I had already felt that the balance was super smooth, but my biggest takeaway was how effortlessly these irons cut through the turf when hit a bit fat. It was very impressive considering the leading edge does not look like they've aggressively trimmed or grinded it as one might expect to offer that characteristic. 
The other impression that just pops right out at you is that on thin and toey strikes there's hardly any drop off in carry. A hot face is perhaps to be expected for a hollow-body but I've demo'd a few other hollow bodies like the Paradym and Mizuno 225 Pros. All of them are hot but the Caley 01s retained more responsiveness than the Paradyms and were on par with the 225 Pros, in my opinion. Don't know what more you can ask for with a hot face on every strike AND still getting a feel on how you've mishit to get back on track throughout a session or round.
The 4 and 5 irons were still a bit of a challenge to consistently get a good flight and trajectory but all operator error. We'll keep working at it and the smooth turf interaction will only make it easy to get more reps in before tiring out in the hands and back.
It's off to the simulator tomorrow evening now that I've gotten more acclimated to the irons! Really looking forward to getting a clearer picture of stock yardages across the set and comparing the numbers and dispersion to my gamers.

- Introduction: 
First, I want to send out a huge thank you to MGS Forum staff and @Caley for giving me the opportunity to test out and review this set of irons. I never thought I would get to be a part of these reviews, so when the staff reached out, there was no way that I could turn them down. I am very excited about the opportunity to try out the Caley 01 irons, I not sure without this opportunity, I’d ever get a chance to test out one of these direct to consumer golf sets. Not sure I could pull the trigger on a set of clubs that I can’t at least hit in a bay before deciding to purchase. 

- Who am I? 

Hello spies, my name is Jeff Ross. I live in Radford, VA along with my beautiful wife Jill and my 7-year-old son Liam. I am a bingo supply salesman in Virginia and West Virginia. I enjoy spending time traveling with my family, fishing, golf, working out and the outdoors. I'm a die hard UNC Tarheels fan, this where my screenname uncross derives from. I’ve lived in a golf course community for the last 3 years but unfortunately, I have never played the course, but plan on playing it soon, its a beautiful course.
Pete Dye River Course -

 
 
I started playing golf when I was in college in the late 90’s. Although I played a lot, I never really improved very much. I just enjoyed playing with my buddies and never took the game too seriously. I gave up about a dozen years or so after getting married and moving back to Southwest Virginia. I started fishing more and more, and really got into bass fishing tournaments for several years. 

- My current game. 

A few months ago, I decided to take my son on a round of golf with my dad for some quality grandpa time! Liam only made about 7 holes, but in those 7 holes I found the passion for the sport that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I decided to give golf another try. It is also awesome playing with my dad and spending so much more time with him that I probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to without being together on the course. 

I'm joining the golf course in my hometown and planning on playing a lot of golf in 2024.
Blue Ridge Country Club-

My game is definitely a work in progress! I have around a 20 handicap, but don’t think I’ve played a round yet since starting back without at least a few mulligans. Driver is my biggest struggle on the course. My only confident club is my 56-degree wedge.  My struggles with my irons are a push fade to the right or topping the ball

 
 
- Testing Plans 
I hope to get a chance to test these irons out as much as possible. I plan on renting a trackman bay a couple times to get as much data as I can with it being winter and the holidays. I hope to get out on the course a couple times or more during this testing process. I will be focused mainly on seeing how they compare to my 20-year-old TaylorMade RAC OS irons. 
1) Consistency- especially on distance for each club.  Making sure that the ball goes relatively the same distance on every shot  and not once in a while there is a ball that goes 15-20 yards farther than the previous 10 shots or so with the same club.
2) Ball Flight- I really like a high ball flight with my irons. 
3) Feel and Sound 
4) Forgiveness – How bad are my mishits.  

- What will it take to earn a spot in my bag 
If the Caley 01 are more consistent and forgiving than my current TaylorMade irons, they will definitely get a shot at staying in my bag. The biggest factors will be how forgiving they are on mishits and how many more greens I can hit. The bottom line is that if they help me lower my scores, they will be in my bag. I also have a set of Ping G430’s on the way for Christmas, so I will get to do all this testing again after the Holidays! 
- Unboxing and First Impressions - (16/20)
 
I've been waiting like a kid at Christmas for the Caley 01's to arrive!  Unfortunately the day I arrived I was swamped with youth sports and licensing forms for an upcoming merger.  So the unboxing had to wait until the following day.

When finally getting a chance to tear into the box, I was stunned at the aesthetics of these irons.  They are stunning! I love the minimalist design and appearance.  I was truly impressed with how these looked out of the box.

Even thought these irons had been previously test, and I didn't get pull all the plastic wrappings off of them, I felt like Christmas had come early!  


These irons truly look stunning in hand, at address, and in the bag!


First Impressions -
When the MySpy forum guys contacted me about testing some Caley irons, it couldn't have been a worse time for me to do a test and review, but I was taught at a young age to never let an opportunity pass you by, you never know what it might lead to, so I said yes I would love to do it.  This was my first testing opportunity as well as my fist interaction with any DTC golf clubs.
Honestly I had never heard of Caley golf or the 01 irons, but did as much research as I could after excepting the review.  I watched several YouTube videos and read what reviews I could find.  Everything I read and watched  were really positive. 

First Impressions
When I opened the box, my first thoughts were wow!, these are nice looking clubs.  They are just smooth, a very clean look.  Much nicer that I would have ever expected at this price point.  To me they look much more expensive and look closer to a players irons that most of the game improvement irons that I have been looking at in stores.  I really think they would sell a lot more of these if the average person could put their hands and eyes on them before they purchased them.  I posted pictures on Facebook and had several people asking about them.






Initial Thoughts
So far after a few testing opportunities, I'm not sure that I could be too much more impressed with these irons so far.  The looks are amazing! The feel is very soft with a low click sound, dispersions have been better that my current gamers, Distance for most clubs is a little farther than my TaylorMade Rac Os irons.  Here are some of the statements made by Caley golf on their website and social medial and how well those statements have held up with my testing so far.

 
- Super Easy To Hit
So far in limited testing, I have found the irons easy to hit, especially 7 iron through pw.  I am really struggling with with 4, 5, and 6 irons right now. 
- Lightning Fast Ball Speeds
I'm not sure how to calculate lightning fast ball speeds but for the most part, I have found higher speeds with the Caley 01 irons than with my current irons

- Pin Point Accuracy 
With my golf swing, no club will have pin point accuracy, but so far I have been more than impressed with the accuracy of these Caley 01 irons.  Most of the trackman dispersion charts were much better with the Caley's. Below are the 8 iron and 9 iron comparison between the Rac Os and the Caley 01 irons.  The 1 round of nine holes that I have played on the course with the Caley irons was very impressive for me.  I hit 3 greens in regulation and scored 4 strokes below my average on the front 9 at my home course since starting back into golf several months ago.
8 Iron dispersion Caley Blue Rac Yellow

9 iron dispersion Caley Green, Rac Blue

- Explosive distance
On most clubs so far, the Caley 01's have carried a tad farther than the Rac OS, but I'm not quite sure I would consider it explosive.

- Extreme Forgiveness
I would say that so far I agree with the forgiveness on irons 7-pw.  They are by far the most forgiving irons that I have ever hit.  Still having trouble with the long irons.
- High Launch
Trackman data was pretty similar to my Rac os irons.
-Soft Feel
Very soft feel with a quiet click sound on contact
 
Few Concerns. (Where I subtracted points) 
My first concern is ho badly I am hitting the long irons.  Worse than I normally hit my RAC 5 and 6 irons.  This could be me and my swing and just limited swings with these irons, but at this point its a little concerning.
Number 2 could be me being a little picky, but I do worry a little about the durability of the irons.  I was not the first tester of this set of clubs, and when they arrived they had a few dings and scratches on them that looked deeper that anything on my 20 year old Rac's.  Also just cosmetic but the paint is coming off of several of the numbers on the irons


Overall, I am really impressed with these irons so far, especially the value at only $549 
- AESTHETICS (9/10)
These clubs are stunning to look at! The best descriptive I can come up with is just very clean appearance.  I really like the minimalist approach to these irons.  They look great in the bag, in my hands and at address during shots.  I prefer the appearance of the Caley 01 irons over my TaylorMade Rac Os irons and my Ping g430's.


The Caley 01 irons have an appearance of a players iron to me.  They are similar in appearance to some of the other popular direct to consumer iron sets out on the market.  The Caley 01 irons are a tad smaller than my TaylorMade irons, but with an equally thick top line.


 


The Caley 01 irons have a very soft feel off the face.  Definitely notice a difference if the feel of a center struck ball compared to one off the heel or toe.  Sound off the club is a nice quiet click. 
-The Numbers (9/10)
I was blown away by the performance of the Caley 01 irons during the simulator sessions.  The irons were easy to hit and performed much better that I expected. 
-Accuracy
The Caley irons made it easy, even for a golfer like myself to hit the target, or at least in the area of the target.  The dispersion charts with the Caley 01 irons were some of the best that I have ever had.  
Caley 01 8 iron

Caley 01 9 iron

-Distance
Distance for me with the Caley 01 irons was on Par with my TaylorMade Rac irons.  I didn't notice much of a difference in the two.  Distances were consistent, There were not any flyers that went 20 + yards farther than the other shots.
9 iron dispersion chart Rac os vs Caley 01
 
-Trajectory 
I would rate the Caley irons as Mid trajectory.  I did not seem to hit them quite as high as my current irons.
PW Trajectory Chart (Caley blue - TaylorMade red)

 
- Forgiveness and Control
Forgiveness and control are the areas where these clubs shine.  Miss hits off the heel or toe didn't end up far off target and the distance didn't seem to drop off.  I found these iron very easy to hit.  Point and shoot, make a good swing and hit your target.
The only point I took off was for the 4 and 5 irons.  I struggled to hit them at all in the simulator.  Very poor strikes, no distance and far right dispersion.
-On-Course (18 out of 20)
Performance in the simulator sessions carried over nicely on the course.  The forgiveness of the irons were the best that I have ever hit.  I hit far more greens than I did with my previous gamer irons.  My misses were much closer to the green also .  Still had lots of fat chunks and tops, but that is just bad swings on my part.
I played rounds hitting multiple shots from the same distance with both the Caley 01 irons and my current gamer irons.  The forgiveness and  accuracy of the Caley 01 irons would have saved me several shots a round compared to my current games.
One again the only negative is the trouble with the long irons carried over to on course issues also.  I really struggled to hit the 4 and 5 irons at all.  Dead right or thin and short .
-The Good, the bad, the in-between (20 out of 20)
Caley's website describes the 01 series of irons as the perfect blend of precision, power and feel for golfers of all levels. Performance benefits: explosive distance, extreme forgiveness, 

The good-
Priced at only $549, the Caley 01 irons are an exceptional value in my opinion.  They are a stunning set of irons, I posted pictures of them on Facebook and had several people inquiring about them.  I found them them extremely easy to hit. In terms of the OEM claims on the good side:
- Extreme forgiveness.  I found this to be one of the best qualities so far with the irons.  They have been much more forgiving than my current gamers.  Miss hits are near the the target and no where near as far right.
- Soft Feel.  I really like the feel of these irons.  In my opinion they are very soft for a game improvement iron.  They have a nice soft feel on contact with a light click sound.
- Spin Control.  Not sure if a player of my abilities controls the spin or not, but these irons seem to have a lot of spin.  I landed one shot on the green 10-15 yards and spun it back completely off the green from 150 yards out.  I've never put that kind of back spin on the ball before.
The in-between- 
- Explosive distance.  I found the distance good with the Caley irons but I wouldn't quite call it explosive.  Distance was very similar to my current gamer irons.
- High launch.  Once again I think the launch is ok, but ball flight doesn't seem to be quite as high as my current gamer irons.  
The Bad- 
The only thing I can really say that could possibly be bad about the irons is that mine had some paint coming off of some of the numbers and some of the dings and scratches from the previous tester makes me a little concerned about the durability of the Caley 01 irons.
 
- Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20)
The Caley 01 irons are definitely a play it for me.  With the forgiveness and ease of hitting, that have brought confidence to myself at address for iron shots.  These irons are the easiest irons that I have ever had in my hands.  The forgiveness of them makes me a better golfer and is helping me lower my scores.   They are a great value at only $549 for the set.  I can't speak for any other kind of golfer other than myself, but they are a great set for a high handicapper or beginner.
 
-Conclusion
When I received the opportunity to review these irons, I thought to myself, who really wants to read a review from someone who is just getting back into golf after a dozen years or so and is a pretty bad golfer.  I hope people who are similar high handicappers like myself.  The Caley 01 irons are a perfect set for someone starting out, someone just getting back into the game like myself or anyone else who needs a very forgiving set of irons. The Caley 01 irons checked every box for me.  Aesthetically they are clean and stunning to look at.  Performance wise, these irons have me playing better.  They are extremely forgiving and easy to hit.  The irons produce good distance with lots of spin and a soft feel.  I wasn't sure what to expect from a direct to consumer product that I hadn't previously heard of, but for a game improvement set of irons, I feel Caley has knocked it out of the park.  They are also an extremely good value at $549.
 -Final Score (92 out of 100)
-Posts, Reviews, Updates-
First Testing on Trackman - Dec 21
First on the Course testing - Dec 23
Update Dec 25
Initial Thoughts - Jan 1
Simulator Jan 10
On the Course - Jan 27
On the Course - Feb 2
Final Decision- April 11