GB13

Well, that certainly wasn’t my best effort... my full swing and chipping was a total mess. On the plus side, a putter change had me rolling the ball much better. But when you aren’t hitting greens, you are not getting birdie putts! I guess if you had to pick any “highlights” these would be it.

Hmm, that’d be very interesting. I’m playing a round from my regular tees today, but next time I’m out this week, I may try that...

Ha! I almost feel sorry for you that you think you have a chance... Almost!! Driver - wedge is just a normal round of golf for me. My plan is to bunt a hybrid, and try to leave a really easy up and down if I (inevitably) screw it up.

Ohh, this is so my week!! Bomb and Gouge baby!!!

Very consistent distances for me as well! No hotspots to report!

I’d agree with this assessment. I’d put the handicap limit at about 15 though. I’d agree that they are similar in forgiveness to GI clubs, just in a nicer package. Yesterday, in our skins game I completely chunked a 5 iron off of the 10th tee (195 yd par 3) that ended up only 10 feet short of the green, and all my playing partners couldn’t believe how far it flew for such a bad strike. Turns out that anti-divot sole I was complaining about came in handy. These things are certainly very forgiving, huge difference compared to my I200s for sure.

No, my I200’s sole was definitely wider, I’m guessing they have a higher bounce. I’ll post a pic comparing soles tonight.

Interesting on the P790s... I never would’ve expected that to be a trait of this iron style. Oh well, as long as the results are there, I won’t worry about it. It’s certainly a lesson on the importance of course management. I’ll definitely be taking driver on less holes.

Official Forged Tec Irons Review - GB13 Player’s distance is one of the fastest growing irons categories. The Forged Tec are Cobra’s first serious offering to compete with clubs like the P790 and I500. How do they compare? Let’s find out!! I was lucky enough to receive a Forged Tec set in 4-PW with Stiff KBS $Taper Lites. I was originally fit into Modus3 105s, however these were unavailable at the time and Cobra advised me that these were the next closest shaft option. Previously, I gamed PING I200 irons which are more player’s irons as opposed to player’s distance. I was looking for more forgiveness without compromising workability. Looks - 5/5 Stars These irons are drop dead gorgeous. They maintain a classic look, with not too much offset, and a reasonably thin top line. The matte and chrome color play is simply perfect. For a company known to be a bit flashy these will absolutely appeal to any traditionalist. There isn’t a whole lot to say here, which is a testament to the classic appearance of these clubs. Sound and Feel - 3/5 Stars Solid strikes offer a pretty good thwack, and feel pretty much like a player’s distance iron. Minor mishits sound and feel pretty good as well, but major toe shots sound and feel terrible. Even though the Forged Tec faces are forged (obviously), I still prefer the sound and feel of my cast PINGs. Don’t get me wrong, these are still quite satisfying, they just don’t offer the same crunch my PINGs did. Basic Characteristics - 4/5 Stars I usually need a lot of creativity to recover from my tee shots, so having an iron that is workable is very important to me. The Forged Tec irons certainly are workable left and right, however it takes some effort. For the most part, these things was to fly straight, and it’ll take something significant to stop them from doing that. That said, I’ve not had any trouble hitting the shots I need to. My biggest complaint about the Forged Tec so far is the inability to take a decent divot. I know @B.Boston has referenced this as helping fat shots, however I feel my fat shots are almost just as bad, and I’m unsure if my good swings are actually good. I like seeing a decent sized divot, especially with the scoring irons, and the lack of divots keeps making me question if the strike was descending or not. Hopefully I’ll get used to this, because the results have been pretty good. On-Course Performace - 5/5 Stars Performance wise, these have been outstanding. They are forgiving, easy to hit, workable, and pretty darn long. Well struck shots stop on a dime, and while you shouldn’t expect muscleback spin rates, and 7 iron seems to get about 6000RPM of backspin, which is very respectable for a player’s distance iron. I do recall some complaints of “hotspots” with other players distance irons like the P790, and I’m happy to report, that I haven’t found them. And trust me, I’ve tested every square millimeter of the club face. My scoring seems to have gotten more consistently low since changing to the Forged Tec. I’ve posted my lowest round of the season, and my irons only round was quite spectacular. These are long off the tee, and precise with approaches. I couldn’t be happier with the on course results. Play it or Trade it - 5/5 Stars I miss the sound and feel of my PINGs, I really do, but I couldn’t justify putting them back into play with the way the Forged Tec have performed. I would like to see some divots start flying, but overall the performance has just been amazing, so they’re in the bag! Overall - 5/5 Stars Overall, these irons perform wonderfully. If you’re in the market for players distance irons, or even just players irons, you’d be remiss to not try these. I’m looking forward to putting more time in with my new sticks as the challenge progresses, and hopefully they can keep dropping my approach handicap further. (Spoiler )

Okay, so my irons only attempt is in! Ended up shooting a 72 (+3), on a course of 68.6/128. This round very closely mimicked last week’s fairways and greens challenge. My biggest takeaway was how much I missed my wedges. I short sided myself a few times and failed to get up and down each time. Here are a few highlights, and then my total round breakdown.

I would absolutely love a 46° MIM wedge. I’m not saying I dislike my set wedge for full swings, but that extra versatility would be awesome. So far, I’m loving the MIM wedges overall! Yeah, I could still beat @edingc even with that thing.

Good luck!! Hitting off of mats always produces funky/terrible numbers for my swing. I’m pretty sure it’s a mental issue for me.

Naw, of course you aren’t scared, you are the only one so far with the guts to challenge me! #respect Attaboy!! Keeping this Pats fan from cheating again! That sucks the hybrid isn’t working out for you, but at least the 5 iron doesn’t give up too much distance. This is accurate. However, there really is a window there...

I’m in again!

If that is what the scallop is meant to do, I definitely think it works. I’ve found it much easier to hit open face shots off of tight-ish lies. Much less fear of hitting it thin.

Oh heck yeah!! I thought everyone was too scared!

First off, great review @edingc, the honesty and detail was outstanding! Right now, I’m liking the 4 iron the most, but that’s mainly an off the tee thing. I’m royally struggling with my ball striking/tempo right now (more on that in my iron review) so it’s been a bit difficult to pick any favorite clubs. Shut up, you live in Hawaii, jackass. Let the guy from Indiana (true paradise) have his fun. That poor ball... The wedges have been both the biggest surprise, and my most favorite clubs so far. Not to spoil the wedge review too much, but the sound and feel on them is ! They sound so solid, and crisp compared to my PINGs. As for the scallop, I have no earthly idea as to its purpose, although these wedges are much better out of deep rough around the green than my PINGs ever we’re.

Not yet, however, I’ve never been able to cut the entire corner off this dogleg, but I’m going to try it in my next round, and hopefully the added speed with the driver will make it possible.

Hey all y’all #venomspitters I remembered how to strike a ball today! 4 iron and 3 wood off the tee was a deadly combination. I’ve never played this conservatively in my life, it was way more stress free than usual. The driver never even left the bag. FIR 9/11 GIR 12/18 Burgers: 6

Fat shots definitely perform better, it keeps me from digging too much. Those are some seriously nice numbers! Happy to hear the Xtreme is really working well for you! That said... what is wrong with the rest of your game?

I concur with this as well, I’ve noticed it both on the irons and woods. I almost exclusively use wood tees, and can say there is definitely more, at least on my irons. They do come off pretty easily and it helps me determine my swing path... LOL My previous driver had a glossy underside and the same thing happened. Haha, I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t put that much thought into it! But since I have a membership at my course, most of my rounds will be played there.

That’s a good question, coming from a utility iron, I’m happy I tried the hybrid and fairly happy with the results. That said I hit 50% of fairway with the hybrid as opposed to 65% with the iron. However, the hybrid is much more forgiving and less of a specialized tee club. I lose a lot less distance on mishits than I did with the iron. I think they really both have a very realistic role in the bag. I don’t see it being a one or the other type thing.

As long as you wipe it down, it seems to hold up fine. When it gets a bit dirty, a wet towel easily does the trick.

I’ve not really had any issue out of the rough, I do really like the rails on both the 3W and hybrid, it’s nice to have a little bit of a “chunk guard”. Obviously they won’t help extremely bad shots, but with shots that are a little bit fat, it really still saves some good distance.

Yeah, that sounds pretty similar to my results, some minor errors here and there, but I correct those once I get home, and we all correct them before we submit our scores for the week.