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Bryan S

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About Bryan S

  • Birthday October 7

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Moseley, VA

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  • Handicap
    4.6

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  1. My stage 2 is up. Waiting on wife to return with camera and will import pictures. Better late than never.
  2. Ft. Worth Hi - Official Stage 2 Review - Bryan* *My wife took our camera on her business trip and it has my photos on it. She won't be back until 8/9 so I will get photos up as soon as she returns. Irons Currently in the Bag Ft. Worth Hi 20*, 24* & 27* Callaway Apex Pro 5-PW I love long irons and if I could hit them all day I would… I have a Cobra Gravity back 1 iron that I've had for what seems like forever that I hit like Kevin Costner hit the 7 in Tin Cup… its heaven. This is where the problem comes in… ball flight. I typically hit a high trajectory, medium spin shot with my irons so I was curious to see what I would get out of these beautiful irons. I'm picky I would in an ideal world like a medium penetrating flight that I can still put some spin on to check up. In the real world however I hit a higher ball and can put some decent spin on most shots. I love the look of blades and have moved away from “Game improvement” equipment due to the fat/chunky look many are going with. I loved the look of the Callaway Apexes and decided to go that way. Earlier this year I re-shafted my irons to C-Taper 120s after testing them and finding a more desirable ball flight. Let's see how these stack up. Performance Distance – I started using these at the range first to get a comfortable swing as the shafts seem so much different from my current shafts –C Taper 120 Stiff. The weight is taking some getting used to but the ball contact feels great. I don't have a launch monitor and the closest one is about an hour and a half away so I'm going to be using range and on course distances in this portion, but will get to the launch monitor in the next few weeks. I have kept the clubs grouped together and split the range and course. Performance Questions at the bottom of performance. I started off comparing my 21 degree 3 iron with the 20 degree Ft Worth Hi: -Range: We have a 215 yard pin that I normally hit my 3 iron to so I started with this. I warmed up with my Apex 3 iron and hit 12 balls towards the 215 green. 9/12 landed on the green with a pretty tight dispersion. I figured I was warmed up so I switched up to the Hogan 20 degree. Not going to lie the first 3 shots I hit with it were snap hooks left. The 4th shot I hit was what seemed like a moonshot but it landed about 5 yards short of the green and rolled up on the fringe. I proceeded to hit 11 more shots and disregarded the first 3. The more comfortable I got the more I noticed how high the shots were and it almost seemed like I was ballooning out and losing distance. I hit 7/12 onto the green but 5 of them landed short and rolled on. It had me curious so I moved on to the 4 iron at the range. -Course: At my home course we have 2 holes that the distance fits this club perfectly. I went out during the week a few days and spent some extra time when reaching these holes. The first is a 207 yard par 3 that has a slight elevation. Due to a slow day on the course I stopped and hit 5 balls trying to shape it a little and just see the overall performance on this hole. I hit 3/5 onto the green with 1 as another hook and one that came up about 10 yards short. Since then I have played this hole 11 additional times and am 7/11 on hitting it with the 20 degree. The high ball flight allows for a soft landing and I can put some spin on it if desired. Ball flight height still really has me baffled. The second hole is a 323 yard par 4 that has a hazard about 235 off the tee. Perfect opportunity for this club off the tee. There was no traffic so I sat here for a while. I hit 10 balls with the 20 degree and 2(yellow balls) with my 3 iron to have comparison. I normally have a slight left to right ball flight of 2-3 yards with my 3 iron and to a tee hit my two 3 irons exactly as expected. The 20 degree Ft Worth got me intrigued here, off of a tee I proceeded to hit 5 of 10 with a ~5 yard draw. I still had 2 hooks and a straight left pull, the other two shots were dead center straight. After this hole I knew I wanted some more range time to toy with the draw possibility. Since this day I have played this hole 11 more times and have actually been using the 24 degree Ft worth and hit my target area 10/11 times. Next up was my 23 degree 4 iron vs the 24 degree Ft Worth Hi: -Range: We have a 200 yard green so this was my target for this club. I used the same process starting with my Apex 4 iron and hit 12 balls. Hit 8/12 on the green with 3 of the other 4 going slightly long, last ball I got a bit handsy and sliced it immensely. Next up was the 24 degree Ft Worth, first shot I was hoping was a sign to come; I hit a smooth, solid shot to what looked like 6 inches from the range pin. The next 6 shots however were not as promising, each of them seemed incredibly high and landed 8-10 yards short of the green. I adjusted my alignment and ball position and worked to see if it was something I was doing or had changed, however I continued to hit crazy high shots and they would come up a little short. Hit 3/12 onto the green with 8 being 5+ yards short. Off to the course with this one. -Course: After the range, I decided this club should be my 195 club. I found a few holes (3) where I could tee off with the 24 degree and have a fairway shot with it also. The first hole is a 399 par 4 slightly downhill, my accuracy off the tee with this club is spot on. I hit 3 balls off the tee and they were all in a 2-3 yard cluster in the center. All of them had ball marks about 5-8 feet behind the balls so not getting much roll out of it(probably due to height of shots.) I then proceeded to use the 20 degree for 5 fairway shots from those 3 locations. Hit the green on 4/5 shots but got no release just a very soft landing and check on all 4 shots. The more I hit these the more I think the height of the shots is impacting distance, but I do like the soft landings and checks on the greens. The next is a 188 par 3 so I figured that I would take a nice and easy swing and see how it went. With these clubs I'm finding I need to take full swings if I ease up I tend to get handsy and push/pull. After 4 shots and 4 sprayed misses I decided this hole wasn't for this club, I grabbed my Apex 5 iron and put one on the green. The final hole is a downhill par 4 just over 400 yards, like the first hole I hit this club very well and very high off the tee on all 3 shots, leaving myself between 190-200 yards to the hole. I figured lets stick with it and hit it into the green. 2/3 I landed on the green in my target location. The last I hit right to left and put it in a green side bunker short. Overall I like the feel of the club and the result but the excess high flight doesn't leave me with the confidence I have with my Apexes, but they are very easy to hit and produce good results. Since then I have played 11 rounds and find myself using this club on 1 tee shot consistently and mainly for layups on par 5's. And finally my 26 degree 5 iron vs the 27 degree Ft Worth Hi -Range: The next green on our range is down to 175 yards which I figured would be a bit too short so I used it as a line and wanted to land it just on the back of the green or just over. I hit 12 shots with my 5 iron and like normal landed it just on the other side of the green and bounced a bit (8-10yds) over. Was spot on with line for 11/12 shots with one thick that came up short. On to the 27 degree, the first few swings I hit fat so I kept swinging until I hit a solid shot. This club feels a bit different to me and once I figured that out I hit it amazing. After 5-6 adjustment swings I hit 10/12 on the green and the other two right on line over the green by 3-5 yards. This club has the best feel of the 3 to me and it shows in my performance. Still produces a extra high flight and I can put some decent spin on it, across the board it is a little shorter than my 5 iron but with the consistency, soft landings and spin potential I really like the results. -Course: There were so many opportunities for this club on the course, I don't hit drive exceptionally far so I have a lot of 170-180 yard shots into mid-range par 4's and it's also a good layup club. I didn't stop on any particular holes and hit a bunch of balls as I found myself using this club on the majority of the holes I used it 11 times in the first round played and find it as one of my go to clubs when 170+ out. The ball flight here is like the others and that is something I will be working on and I plan to re-shaft the other two to see how it affects the results. Performance on the Range ● Accuracy – Line and direction of club has been spot on once I adjusted to the differences between the Ft Worth Hi and current clubs. ● Distance – Seemed approx. 8-10 yards shorter than Apexes. ● Trajectory Characteristics – Ball flight is extremely high. Significantly higher than my Apexes. ● Forgiveness – Seem to hook on mishits or straight left pull, this is different from my Apexes which a mishit seems to produce a left to right ball flight. Seems on par for forgiveness with Apexes as mishits are infrequent. ● Control – Clubs allow me to shape left and right however no matter how I try to impact trajectory I seem to hit them higher than desired. Range Score - 8/10 Performance on the Course Describe the following: ● Accuracy – Now have 12 rounds in and 11/12 in the fairway. Tend to be on left side as I have discovered I am comfortable hitting a baby draw with the 20 degree. Tend to be centered with 24,27. ● Distance – Distance seems to be a small percentage, maybe 3-5% less than my Apexes. ● Consistency – Distance is consistent and its +/- 5 yards on solid hits. High ball flight gets affected by winds more than desired. ● Shot Shaping – High ball flight allows me to hit draws/fades and even a hard cut. If I try to hit a hard draw I tend to hook it. ● Carry vs Roll – Everything I hit is high with soft landings. I have come to be used to this with the steep angle of attack of my swing. Off the tee if would be nice to get a little more roll when desired but I cannot seem to achieve that. Course Score - 25/30 Performance Notes: Consistency – The irons are very consistent accuracy wise but crazy high ball flight with some work-ability. I don't have the confidence in them yet that I do in my Apex irons but the more I play the more I know what to expect. Off the fairway has a high trajectory and is very soft when landing, I can spin when needed which is a necessity. Off the tee I find accuracy and consistency after discovering the feel and tendencies, would just like the distance I get from my Apex irons. Feel – The impact is amazing but I don't quite have the feel of exactly where I am hitting it on the face. With my Apexes I know clearly if I heel, toe, high/low a shot, it's why I like them so much. Don't get me wrong the solid feel here feels like a well hit shot should. Carry – I am unsure how to answer this one as the ball flight produces an appealing carry, but I achieve a more penetrating ball flight and get a similar landing with my Apex irons. I truly feel that this is due to the shaft difference and will test that in the upcoming weeks. I have little complaints about the Ft Worth Hi's and now that I know what to expect out of them I am enjoying having them in the bag. I like the impact and the soft landing of the clubs and I really find myself enjoying the 27 degree. I am going to re-shaft the 20 and 24 degree as I got two C Taper shafts on sale last week online. I will update the data with notes as I play more. I don't know that I will like them better than what I have/ am used to but this is a high quality product and I have enjoyed testing them. Looks The irons are beautiful, the sleek lines and shine make me want to buy a whole set of them. As for durability I have hit roughly 500+ balls at the driving range and played 12 rounds with them so far and they are still in great shape. I will continue to update but they look to be very durable thus far. I am not a fan of the Hogan grips and will be changing them when I re-shaft them. Comparably I feel these are as good looking a club as any on the market. Looks Score - 18/20 Sound and Feel I am going to say that for irons they have a very solid pop and the contact feels like its rocketing off the face. It's the sound I would expect out of a high quality iron. The feel is amazing, even on mishits or off center hits it still feels great, I don't have quite the ability to feel the mishits or off centers like I do with my Apexes, but the feel is great on all shots. I like the sound and the impact feel of these clubs but I wish I had a little more feel on the contact location/ impact point. Sound & Feel Score – 15/20 Likelihood of Purchase I have mixed feelings on this one. I love the look and the impact feel but the ball flight and feel doesn't match up with my Apex irons. Like I said in my earlier section I will be re-shafting these to match my Apex irons and will provide further info with the impact/ flight. Likelihood of purchase is depending on those results I would say this section is an incomplete, but since that's not an option I will assume the shaft change will fix the problems and score according to that. Likelihood of Purchase Score – 17/20 Questions & Answers. Any Questions?? Conclusion and Final Score I love the 27 degree the most and I love the look of these Irons, I don't know that I would have given them a shot had I not been selected to test them. I think/hope with the shaft switch that it gives me the small changes that I desire. I know I'm being picky but the Ft Worth Hi's are showing to be a high quality product and I would like to give them every chance to stay in the bag. The consistency I have learned with them and the soft landings on the majority of shots has given me great results, but ball flight is why I switched shafts in my current irons in the first place. Hopefully the small change will do the trick. I look forward to further testing the 20 & 24 after the change. Total Score – 83/100
  3. Sorry its a little late, been out of town on business. A big thank you to Hogan and MyGolfSpy for this opportunity. Here is a little bit about myself. I have been playing golf for about 25 years now, started when I was 10 and have been fully self taught. I played competitive golf through High school and 2 years of college at a MAC school. After college I got married and now have two kids 3 & 6 years old. These days I play whenever possible but with family and work commitments its not as much as I would like. When I cannot play I am a practice range junkie. My new handicap as of 7/8/16 is hovering at 3.2. I am not a long hitter but statistically I'm very accurate. So now onto the questions: Handicap/average score: Currently 3.2 and been lowering Strengths of your game: Ball Striking/Accuracy and Putting Weakness of your game: Distance Typical ball flight: High... Very High Typical miss: Pull Straight Left due to AoA Current comparable equipment: Callaway Apex Pro 15 Irons Swing tempo: Smooth with steep angle of attack. Driver swing speed: 96mph to 98mph What makes you love the game: The integrity of the game, the difficulty, and the serenity of being out there just you vs the course. How long have you been golfing: 25+ years What is in my bag: Current Driver: Taylormade R11s 9°, Shaft Rip Phoenom X Flex 60g -1.5" Current Fairway Wood: 2015 XR Deep 3 Wood 14* - Project X LZ 70 Red Irons: Callaway Apex Pro 15 Irons 6-PW KBS Tour V Steel Stiff- Up 2 Lie. Hogan FTW Hi 20,24,27 KBS Tour V Steel Stiff - Up 2 Lie Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 52 & 60 Putter: Rife Legend 2 bar 34" What region do you play out of: Moseley, VA (Just outside Richmond.) Are you a tinkerer or a set and forget it type: I would have to say I'm a set and forget with just a smidge of tinkering when something new comes my way. I'll get it figured out and fit properly then set and forget. What I am hoping to get out of these clubs: I have traditionally hit long irons exceptionally well. Prior to getting these I carried a Cobra 1 iron and down to a 3 iron in my Apex Pro's. Being shorter off the tee (avg about 235-240), I tend to hit a lot of long Irons. I often play as a single and always get the "You hit the ball so high" comment out of whomever I get paired up with. I'm hoping these provide the same consistency and accuracy with a more piercing flight and release. The last question is How does equipment get into my bag? I am normally a stick with what works but when an opportunity arises for me to test something, (Demo Days, New releases, Course events, An opportunity like this.) I am willing to give anything a chance with the pleasant hope that it performs. I do attend a lot of these events but unless I;m blown away I stick with what I have. If I don't have confidence in it I wont swap it for something in my bag. I'm one of those players who is confident with pretty much any lie as I am confident in my swing and equipment. Therefore this is probably why I have had 4 iron sets in 25+ years and only 5 drivers... I'm not going to switch without valid reason. I'm on vacation next week and the green light to give these beautiful clubs a thorough testing.
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