hartrick11

This is a fantastic thread to catch up on, even the PowerBI detour! I am a fortunate 2x tester and my experience echoes just about everything on here. I think I was first selected with less than 150 posts under my belt (and maybe even less than 100, but no way of knowing), so I can vouch for the fact that you don't need to post any/everywhere to get a chance. Just participate earnestly in whatever way works for you and be friendly! I especially love reading every stage 1 review (even on products that I really don't have an interest in) so I can get a feel for each tester's golf game and writing ability. Even if it's a thread I don't ultimately participate in, I will recognize the user names that I know will provide thoughtful commentary on any thread that they pop up on in the future. As for the testers who mail it in when they are selected, well...

I had someone do it. It cost me $4k and took 2.5 days. If I tried to do it solo, I would have taken months and done a middling job at best given my time constraints, lack of experience, and lack of specific tools

Finished! Now I roll putts while I grill, and my son loves running around on it and throwing golf balls in the cups (and his toys get 10% of the space haha). Just picked up an old Spaulding TP Mills 3 on eBay for $15 to keep next to the grill as my putting green wand. Super pumped.

Minor clarification lol! More importantly (well maybe not to those who are dealing with shipping delays...), have you gotten a sneak peak at the new Ping stuff yet??!! Or, if not, will you before it comes out? Can't wait to see the 525s and the i59s...

I agree with this 100%. The ability to buy the MIM 52C with a $taper to match my irons at no upcharge was a big factor in my purchase since it was an experiment to move to the 3 wedge setup. Vokey has more grinds that will fit more golfers, but if your swing/tastes align with what Cobra has to offer they can absolutely compete, and you can customize for less $ (for the most part).

I hit the MIM 7 iron again after seeing consistent positive feedback, and my opinion is changing to be more in line with @chisag. I think the issue with my initial demo may have been the Modus 120x which I have now tried a few times and just don't get along with. With the stock $ taper I was finding the true sweet spot more consistently and the feel was much more in line with what I am looking for. I also love the sole/turf interaction which is consistent with all the prior Cobra irons that seem to just get along with my swing. I would love to add the 4-6 to get more forgiveness than my CBs. The problem is I am in love with the CBs from 7-GW and they are black. How do I get my brain to be okay with a chrome (or copper) and black split set?! Maybe I just need to pony up and buy the full MIM set as they are plenty small enough to look down at, and then just keep the CBs around for the occasional round to shake things up... I am still planning on waiting until later this year to compare against the updated T100 & i59 (as well as zx7) before pulling the trigger on anything but I would say the MIMs are the leader in the clubhouse.

They look sweet! Love the all black/white, just a tick cleaner looking than gen1 IMO. Also they are listed on the TM website at the low low price of $1,399 just FYI, so no markup compared to the chrome version.

For me the tipping point would be how much straighter is one vs. the other. I got fitted at the Titleist Performance Institute as part of the MGS TSi driver testing and this was one of the main things I was interested in. Turns out the TSi3 with the adjustable weight out in the toe helps me keep the face square through impact better than the TSi2 (and therefore better minimizes my big left miss), so it was actually more forgiving despite not being billed that way. Basically the moral is to get fitted because the marketing speak consists of broad generalizations that may or may not apply to your swing.

I have a MIM 52* classic grind. It's well built with a good feel, just as soft feeling as any other wedge I have tried save for maybe Bridgestone's Tour B Forged that I tested for MGS a couple of years back. Lots of shaft options if you order on their website, and 3 grind options at the 56/60* range I think. Only thing to keep in mind from my perspective is that the soles on these seem a bit narrower than offerings from the other big OEMs (though maybe not on their widelow grind which I haven't seen in person). In Southern California we have pretty firm conditions and I'm not a huge digger so this isn't an issue for me but I could see it being an issue for some swings and/or in softer conditions.

Our 1 year old could use some space outside to play now that he is starting to run around and our house is v small; we have a 11'x26' section off the side of our house that is basically just pebbles/DG and would fit the bill. My wife suggested turf after initially pushing for pavers in the area (which we would need to put some sort of padding over anyway), to which I responded that "it would be a little strange to have just a section of turf adjacent to our small grass lawn (this is currently just my dog's bathroom :)), but if we made it look like a putting green maybe it would have a better flow and would "make sense" from a potential buyer's perspective down the line." Well, it... worked??!! So now I am sketching out putting greens while I watch the Masters work.

Got some heads for sale today. I am not really looking to move the shafts as I like tinkering, but if there is interest I will listen to offers for a full club and can send through additional pics - the Epic was paired with Atmos Black 7x at 42.5", Gapr & 818 both had Tensei white 90x at 40.5" Callaway Epic Flash SZ 15* Weight is 214g after swapping in a 10g OEM weight for the stock 6g, as I was playing it at 42.5". Good condition, not much sandy range time with this guy, but there is one small idiot mark at the top line that I tried to capture. $130 shipped lower 48. TaylorMade Gapr Lo 3 19* Stock, good condition but there is one pebble mark on the bottom. This thing launches; probably hotter than any DI I have played but the club was a bit too long for me and rather than cut the shaft I found a new crush. $80 shipped Titleist 818 H2 19* Stock, great condition across the board. Comes with headcover and I can include the fade/draw weight as well. I bought this last February right before my son came along so this didn't get a ton of use. SOLD shipped

I had the best results with the 130x C-tapers in my fitting but they were not enjoyable to swing; $ taper was a close second on performance (slightly higher launch and spin with a better descent angle but slightly larger side to side dispersion) and far and away better on feel, but if I didn't keep it in the KBS family it would have been the X100 (or the Modus 125x). Now my next set of irons is most likely to have MMT 125 tx (soft stepped 1x), but hopefully I can hold off until they are at least on an upcharge menu somewhere... For this DI experiment I was looking to maximize accuracy off the tee as I have been a disaster with my driver swing lately. While not maximizing distance per se, I do need to carry at least 220 to be able to use it consistently from the back tees at my home course, and so far so good. Good luck and keep us posted!

In my experience turf interaction varies substantially from brand to brand even when grinds and bounces are equivalent, but ymmv obviously.

I am 2 weeks into an experiment with the MMT 125tx utility shaft on a Ping i500 3 iron. Bought it blind on the classifieds because I have a golf spending problem and I couldn't find another way to try it out. I play $ Taper 130x in my irons for reference. For me at least, this thing lives up to the hype and then some. It plays more stout than the $ Taper, more like a C-taper, but feels fantastic like the $ taper (again, for me). I don't play DG shafts and haven't for over a decade, but FWIW it was designed to have a similar profile to the X100 and most forum feedback indicates similar experiences. It is still the honeymoon for sure, but as someone who fights left misses, I haven't had a *single* left miss in 3 range sessions or the 1 round where I used it 7 times off the tee. I know the MMT 105 is ~114g, so that would still be a drop off from your X100s and YMMV as always. But based on how hot these shafts are right now you can likely recoup most of your money if the experiment goes wrong.

In case there’s any doubt how the TSi test turned out for this tester six months later...

I went in blind on an i500 3i with the 125tx and it was love at first range session...

I don't have much to offer on all three, but I just have to chime in re: MMT. I recently picked up a Ping i500 3i with the MMT 125tx...disclaimer that it has only been 2 range sessions and one round but I am in one of the best honeymoon periods I've ever had with a club. For reference my driver ss is ~108, not exactly screaming for rebar-type shafts, but with a fast tempo and quick transition; my stock shot is a draw and my misses are a pull hook and an overcooked draw. The MMT feels more stout than my $ Taper 130 X iron shafts when you waggle it, kind of more like C-tapers, but when you swing it feels much more $ taper than C-taper, which for me is a massive plus. Despite the pleasant feel it performs like a very stout shaft. I was stepping on it and hitting nice tight fades at the range and in the round, and couldn't really turn it over. Seeing this ball flight without making a dedicated effort to change anything in my swing was a total revelation. I think I have my fairway finder off the tee for the foreseeable future, and while I won't be purchasing new irons until the end of this season I am 90% positive that they will be shafted with the MMT 125tx soft stepped once. YMMV

i500 3 iron with MMT 125 tx utility shaft. Holy santa claus **** this thing is a winner. The MMT is stout. I know it has a profile designed to mirror the x100 but I have much more KBS experience so would put it in those terms. It plays stout like the C-Taper, low spin, tough for me to turn over (I am 108 swing speed w/ driver, quick transition and big pull hook or overcooked hook misses), but the feel is more $ taper, i.e. much better for me. My transition necessitates the stiffer/heavier shafts more than the swing speed so I was worried about the tx being too much for me, but I seem to be able to hit baby fades at will. It is still the honeymoon period but I am PUMPED to have seemingly found a good fairway finder option off the tee.

Along the same lines as the hybrid/utility comparison that others mentioned, I think a 4i test between a GI/players distance, or players distance/players iron would be interesting to shed light on what is a common trouble spot in most amateur bags. I'd LOVE to see a test of the heavier MMT shafts since they are apparently all the rage but really hard to actually test even with many fitters, but I realize that is a small market. I'm sure the big names will continue to be well represented since they seem to be well aware of the impact MGS has on the market. I am ready to drool over any/all PD/players iron reviews. I am even more interested in whatever is in store for the DTC companies (assuming they continue to participate). The Sub 70 and Hogan reviews from last year were some of the most interesting to me since detailed information on those brands is a bit harder to find relative to the big 5. Maybe Haywood/New Level this year?

Nice to get a confirmation that what you have is working. I have the 818 H2 at 19 and am really getting along with it as well but like you it is the oldest club in my bag and I am restless. Was the TSi2 too large and/or left-prone to consider?

Anyone hit these yet?

Nice write up! My normal buying decision would probably be to buy the Cobra too given the price difference- and I would feel smart and more justified in buying a new club but being more fiscally responsible! Then I would pine over the TSi after every bad shot and end up buying a new driver again 12 months later . I am mentally weak like that...

I have the 54S and 58M in Slate Blue on the SM7s. Finish holds up really well - not quite DBM level of indestructible, but the best I have played outside of DBM. I picked up two of each when PGASS dropped the price to $119 about a year ago so I will be playing these bad boys for the next few years. The Modus 125 was a better premium shaft to make the stock offering than this version's S200 in my opinion, but still a great club (if not a great value)

Yeah, one of my absolute favorite courses, but definitely offers a big test for both the boom stick and the flat stick.

Nice! I am still enjoying mine. I think it checks every box that a driver can check, and the level of adjustability for the fitter to get me dialed in makes me feel confident that I have a club well-suited for me. That's not to say it's got any magic properties! I had a rough day this weekend off the tee on a tough course (Barona Creek), and I actually switched to 3w for the back nine because it was dry and rolling out plenty. I think it was more related to the margaritas I had on Friday night before the early Saturday round though .