revkev

They look and feel beautiful - Having hit a number of full shots with them on the range on Saturday I can tell you that I love the way they launch. It's a nice penetrating ball flight that is very stable in the wind.

Will try to do this - It's the only way to get accurate spin numbers with a ball that I might game. I have an iron fitting next week and will try to get the fitter to let me hit a few wedge shots for spin rates - we'll see.... if not I will look to book a session somewhere. I did get out to play with them yesterday - unfortunately it was not the time or group to drop balls and hit lots of extra shots like I'd want to test new wedges. I think I need to head to the local short course one afternoon - it's never crowded in the summer - I can hit wedges to my heat's content there. It's where I did my SCOR test when I was selected for that a number of years ago. Some good results yesterday although one spun way more than anticipated on a pitch out of the rough.

By the way I did play 9 walking yesterday afternoon. It was over 100 with the heat index so we weren't walking overly fast. We had one single digit handicapper, a 14, a 22 and I'm not sure what the other guy was but he's 75 and didn't start playing golf until he was 60 so I'm certain he didn't break 50. I shot 40, we weren't rushed by any stretch and we finished the 9 in 1:42 so on pace for a 3 1/2 18. And we'd had 3 different sets of tees in play on some holes. It's not that hard really if you have the mindset to move along - we play ready golf so if you get to the tee or your ball first, you hit, putt, chip, whatever. That would be the only thing out of the ordinary.

Let’s get back to this shaft choice - it’s a tour players. Aero tech stiffs even at that weight are x’s. You should start there before you concern yourself with 1 degree. Seriously - Beyond that does it fit the gap, launch window, carry distance and spin that you want? That’s what matters.

Well I'm glad that I came into this late so that things have moderated a bit. Carts? They most certainly don't slow down play and neither do walkers, you can play a brisk round of golf - under 3 1/2 hours for a foursome either way, assuming nothing else is slowing you down and you are on the proper set of tees.- I'm about to play walking 9 - the heat index is around 100 today - I'm certainly not going to be out in that for 2 hours. It's a combo of an inconsiderate or unknowing player or two that's out in an earlier group plus the course that is afraid to enforce pace of play or lacks the staff to enforce it. I get that 3 1/2 is too fast for most but 4 hours should not be even at the busiest times - if you warn upfront that falling behind for more than two consecutive holes will lead to being asked to pick up and skip a hole - people will play at the proper pace.

Honestly around 100 was the closest I could get safely - I had about a 40 foot high tree blocking my path to the green with a grove of trees around 20 feet high behind it - My normal ball flight is a draw and that tree was just right of the target, exactly where I needed to start the ball to reach the green. I could have tried to hit a cut around it but I don't cut the ball well and even had I pulled it off I could easily have caught one of those trees up by the green and been toast. I hit an 8 iron way right, far right part of the fairway - it went 140 according to shot scope - 5 yards farther and I was in the rough - I suppose I could have tried to hit a sling hook with 7 wood that could have gotten closer - I could also have over hooked it into a fairway trap 50 yards short of the green or blocked it right into the deeper rough. I did what csnoil or any one else would recommend and chose a shot that I had a 90 percent chance of pull off to the closest point that I could get to the green - the other 3 balls that were around the green in 2 ended up in tough places - one in a trap (I stink at traps - hit a reasonable shot but still have 20 feet) and the other two just in bad lies - it's way too small a sample size - I would have hit the same clubs if I had the same shots all over again. I'd hope to not hit the 4 wood a little chunky like the one that ended up in the trap.

Another discussion that could go here is player comfort level with scoring relative to par. I know guys who are aware that they need x on 9 or 18 to shoot x - they’ve even added scores up on the card waiting to put that last number in. My last two league scores were 37,38 75. I short a 77 at my club last Sunday afternoon. The 75 was a 8.4 differential. The 77 a 5.3. Which was the better round? Relative to par the 3 over 75. For handicap purposes it was the 77 by a long shot. It lowered my index from 8.5 to 8.0

Of course, modern touring pros ignore the pre-prescribed ways to play holes all the time - only in reverse - they try to drive par 4's and hit it on par 5's in 2. My current golf league assigns tees played strictly by age. Suddenly I have the chance to knock it on the green on two of the par 5's - I used to be able to do that from the tips and could do it from the whites (regular men's) up until 5 years ago or so. I bemoaned the fact that I couldn't do it anymore even though I could easily play both holes with a driver, a 7 wood and a wedge - that's really not that tough an ask. So far I haven't put it on either green but I've been around the green three of the four times I've played them - the other time I laid up because I was concerned that I couldn't hit my 4 wood high enough to get over a tree that was on my line - Left a very comfortable 103 yard gap wedge that I knocked to 6 feet and made birdie on - go figure.

I struggled with something similar in the Garsen Grip review - if I were doing my own review they would have scored a bit higher than they did, but the rubric was the rubric so I followed it. Perhaps Edel wants to know how the sets blend and what the issues might be for future iterations. You might be doing them a great service in that area even if it knocks their overall grade down a bit here. Plus a perspective buyer needs to know - for example I'd like to know what the issue is and what you might do differently in the ordering, fitting process to combat it. I once owned a set of Nicklaus irons that came "blended." I performed incredibly well with them too - I'm surprised that more manufacturers haven't tried that approach - Mizuno did once but it never gained any traction - if they are built "blended" I think it resolves the gapping issues. Your review will be of great interest to me regardless of how I go with irons - Thanks for taking it on!

As others have said already they are comparably priced to those of other OEMs. If you buy them online you could get all three, keep the max and the ultimate and sell the other one to a friend at a bargain price for him and pay less for the max and ultimate than you would for any other premium grip. I did get to the putting green a couple of times this week and worked through my issues - it doesn't help that when I watch on TV the guys seem to be standing much farther away from the ball than I do when I putt. I need to remember that regardless of what I see I need to feel as if my eyes are directly over the ball to putt well and I do best with a slightly open stance, like I'm shooting a free throw or playing darts. May not be the ideal technique but I don't have the time to change at this point and it works well enough for me.

I lived on Cape for 3 years in the early 80's. It's where I met my wife. There are lots of new courses since I left but I would recommend an Oldie but Goodie - Dennis Pines and or its sister course, Dennis Highlands - the Highlands course was being built when I left but I've played it since. What I don't know is the relative condition of the courses. I also don't know where you currently live, if it's in the central part of the country golf on the Cape is going to seem expensive, so be prepared. Enjoy - I used to love the Cape. It has changed though and not for the better IMO. It's very built up and crowded in the summer.

Perhaps our OP would weigh in - I think his point may be or at least may be evolving to we each should develop our own "par" for the course based upon our ability. This thread has really gotten some legs. My sister is in town for a visit and I wasn't online much yesterday so I've missed a lot. I'm still back on the Billy Casper laying up on a par 3 in the US Open comment. I had forgotten that but by the time I was cutting my teeth on the game in the 60's it was legendary. I just finished reading a book called "The Match." Great easy read if any of you are interested. It's a story about a match pitting two car salesman against Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson at Cypress Point. True story it went to the 18th hole with Hogan and Nelson winning 1 up. (Okay the "car salesman were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward who was the British Am champion at the time) At any rate when they got to 16 we learned that Hogan always laid up on that par 3 in tournament play. He also laid up on the par 4 11th at August. It was a very different era for sure, different technology, different course conditions, different everything and this book does a great job of chronicling it - for example Venturi was struggling with whether or not to turn pro because he was making so much in sales - Nelson and Hogan both had to work as club pros in the offseason where they earned their real living. The distances that they hit their shots and the length of the courses that they played were much more in keeping with what many of us face. We would do well to study how they tackled it. I've mentioned on numerous occasions that we'd be better off looking into the bags of LPGA players and follow their lead on equipment or even on how to play holes. However, the younger women on tour are now bombing it well past most of us, there games are evolving - no surprise I suppose. I agree with our new dad that the mental challenges of golf and other sports are a big part of what makes them fun. I've played baseball, chess and golf at somewhat competitive levels (played football and basketball in high school), they are all challenging mentally - there is something to stepping into the batters box against a guy who throws 90 plus miles and hour but at any moment may drop a curve ball in - there is a legitimate fear factor involved, but then there's the guy who can't top 81 or 82 but you can't seem to ever square him up. Sports are fun and made more so by the mental/emotional pressure that they bring. How do we think and act under pressure - golf has a great way of ferreting that out.

As mentioned in the equipment section I ordered these after a wedge fitting. They bill themselves as the king of spin. This is because they started with non conforming wedges that spin much more than anything conforming but was of course illegal for play. This is their conforming wedge that comes in a 3 different grinds. Mine is the FLX S grind which my fitter picked because it’s ideal for players with a shallow AoA who tend to be pickers. The Indi claim is that the launch lower, spin 10 percent more and are more forgiving than any other wedge they’ve tested against. The key to forgiveness is the scoop back shape seen above and spin the unusual full face groove pattern pictured below. I hit a few balls into the net this evening and will take them to the range and practice green tomorrow. I’m playing Sunday afternoon and will report back after that. They look and feel very nice. We shall see how they perform.

So what’s with the 6 degree gap between the PW and GW in the x5’s? I’m thinking I’d customize it to 5 or skip the GW altogether. Any experience with it?

Life is not a game of perfect either. It’s what makes golf and life delightful.

Isn't "don't foul up" one of golf's numerous nicknames? Clean ones that is.

I do think that the traps around 6 made it different from the par 3's - they may have all been close to the same length but the angle behind the tee allowed us to see that 6 was a completely blind shot and the green side views showed it was a blind shot with a trap that made it extremely difficult to hit the green where as the par 3's were open in front and you could certainly kick the ball on the green from the left side on one of them (I forget which now.) So there were shots that went into the trees/heavy rough left that looked terrible that were actually only 25 or 30 feet offline - had they hit the shorter grass on the hillside they would have kicked on. Also one of the par 5's was a 3 shot hole for the entire field and that was fun to watch - I love seeing pros play 3 shot par 5's because they manage the angles so well. It's a great reminder. My club has great par 5's that really require careful management because the greens are so well guarded - plus they require different placement based on where the pin is set - the first par 5 is incredible - because it's very difficult for a long player to fit a 200 yard shot onto that green and there is not a good bail out other than left if the pin is not in the back - if the pin is back you are nuts to go for that green in two but I see people do it all the time - its a 1/10 shot - I almost always win that hole in a match play against a big hitter - I can sometimes get it to where I could reach if it were a matter of straight distance but no way I'm stopping a 4 wood in a good spot.

It's fascinating to me that if you ask anyone about their course management they will tell you that it's great, always. I think you may be on to something here, they think it's great because it's so ingrained that we need to make par on a hole, whatever that par might be that we think we are making the correct choice when we pull the proper club to hit that 235 yard shot (I only have one club that hits it that far and then only from a tee in favorable conditions so maybe I should back down to 180 or 150 or 120 it doesn't really matter.) Generally speaking people play to their handicaps across the board - a touring pro is going to be better at course management than a plus handicap/scratch am who is better than a single digit handicapper who is better than a 12 who is better than an 18 who is better than a 24. Honestly I see it all the time when I play in league and get paired with higher handicap players, they fire straight at pins that I wouldn't dream of aiming at even though I have a much higher probability of executing the shot. But there are times when I make very poor choices from club selection, to shot avoidance, to God only knows what. What should be ingrained is that par is the anticipated score for an expert golfer on the course. Bogey is the anticipated score for an average golfer. It was really fun to watch the US Open with two par 3's approaching 300 yards and a par 4 the same length. Of course the hazards around the par 4 were radically different from those around the 3's so you couldn't make a 1 for 1 comparison but it really was interesting to watch the differing strategies based upon the differing capabilities - if 6 were a "bad" yardage guys chose to lay up even though they could easily hit it far enough. I doubt that many of us have that sort of discipline or the ability to interpret Brodie any other way than I should hit it as far as I'm capable of on every shot.

You guys are doing a really nice job - thanks! In the unofficial Srixon thread I commented that I do have an iron fitting scheduled for July 5th. The main reason was to get the chance to hit the Edels and compare them straight up to the Srixon's. I'm more than likely going with one of those two irons and more than likely the straight Players/Distance iron - so the SMS in the Edel rather than a combo with the players one. I love the idea of the combo but I'm the classic target for a Players Distance iron - an aging single digit handicap looking for some help. 6/7 iron is where I need to move to hybrids or woods or s GI of some sort so if I were to combo the Srixon it would be the X4 ii in the 5-7 - which is a possibility also. That sort of option isn't available with Edel but the platform, sole, looks like it would be helpful enough that I'd be okay at 6 iron anyway. How have you found changing the weights thus far? Does it make an impact? Have you tried it much? If you had a fit did they fit for that?

I know that I've played there - one of the courses at least - don't they have a Robert Trent Jones one? I remember it being really long - I always played the tips in those days and it seems like it was a 7,000 yarder - back when I had persimmon woods.

You're in CT? - Go Huskies - what course is this? I grew up there, have played lots of courses but I've been away since 1989 so obviously there are a lot of new ones.

You guys are killing me - I know this is going to be a dangerous comment - I've been fit for irons a number of times so there is not likely to be any surprises. I'm wondering if it's really worth the $150 to go for an iron fitting which is just an excuse to try Edels and these side by side. As appealing as the combo might be I believe my ZX 7 days are behind me. I can always look, long, lust and think that I should have gone with them whenever I pull a short iron - I do that all the time with the D7 forged irons - the reality is that Players/Distance irons are built for players like me and I hit them well. Right now I can get straight ZX 5ii's with the customization that I want for 1,100 - throw in a couple of trade in clubs and it's down to $800 which is in the report not ask category for weekly family budget meetings at this moment in time (Got to love Social Security retirement while still working) - I don't know if that arrangement will be in place in July nor do I know if I can get the Srixon's at that price - they may become and ask and I know what that answer will be. I'm completely torn on this. I came close to hitting the buy button last night so to have this thread pop up first think is maddening.

My cousin, Frankie, who lives in Arizona who could come up and take care of cracking those faces for you - after he gets out of prison. Living in Florida I normally play in wet conditions - we've had, emphasis on had as of today, exceptionally dry conditions this spring but dry for us is wet elsewhere - I thought we were getting lots of roll out until I played in Indiana last month.

Thanks for doing this review - I’m fixated on these or edels to replace my D7 forgeds - they are turning 4 this fall and 3-5 years is my iron cycle as opposed to 3-5 months for driver, almost never for fairway woods, 10 years for putter and I try every years but have 12 year old SCORs in the bag. I’m curious about the sole/turf interaction. I would probably go straight 5’s but will be anxious to hear your thoughts on the transition. I’m also wondering why there’s a 6 degree gap between the PW and AW in the straight 5’s - my gut would be to weaken one or strengthen the other in the preorder. My initial question for you is why did you go S in the aero tech? Those play a flex stronger so it’s very stout. Regardless enjoy- I’m going for an iron fitting July 5th - these are in the queue

Nice group of testers - our mods always do a great job of selections - except when I've applied and they don't choose me of course. Seriously I've learned when I'm not suited so I only apply for stuff that I could test and give good feedback on. Doesn't mean that the tests that I don't apply for aren't awesome. This is an awesome opportunity. Do us proud guys.