The 1 iron challenge

[CanuckHacker]

Thank for sharing this description. I have the same thoughts when i was cleaning my (forgotten) stash of club heads and found my old TaylorMade Tour Preferred 1 and 2 irons. Tried to play them for a while in my younger days. Horrible... the worst is that i was so happy to find those in my basement that for a minute I start thinking I should shaft them with HL graphite shaft. Nope not going there (again) - no confidence!

On a side note, i'm doing a club fitting and the only club beside the wedges the fitter advise on keeping as is, is my thrusty MP FliHi 4 iron. When hé saw my older Sonartec MD 2i hybrid, he advised that this one should be out. We are going 4 wood to 3 hybrid to bridge the gap.

 

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[fozcycle]

I use a Cobra Bio Cell 2-3 Hybrid, currently set at 17*. This works great for under trees or a 190 yard s*** from the fairway

 

 

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[chemclub]

I am currently only using 13, so if it replaces my 5 wood it would stay at 13 and I already use a 46, 50, 54, and 58*. I havent looked at getting lofts adjusted, here are my current yardages. I am not using a 3 wood or 2I anymore however.

 

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Ever consider dropping your 3 wood to close some of those yardage gaps. How often are you deciding between a 300 (your driver) vs a 280 (your 3 wood) yard club? At least for my game, when I reach for the 3 wood it's because I need a straight shot in a narrow lane. The distance of that shot is typically not that important because very few holes are both narrow and really long (depending on the tees and course design). So my 4 wood hits it about 250 on a rope. 

 

Based on the small 20 yard difference between those clubs I wonder what would happen if you played an entire round with your 3 wood. You would see a huge increase in accuracy off the tee with pretty minimal distance loss. Plus short and straight can play longer than long and off target (punch outs).

 

Can I ask other folks on here what the total yardage is for the tees they play? Undershooter? I typically try to find 6500, but that can vary greatly depending on who I am playing with. 

[Fireinthehole]

Ever consider dropping your 3 wood to close some of those yardage gaps. How often are you deciding between a 300 (your driver) vs a 280 (your 3 wood) yard club? At least for my game, when I reach for the 3 wood it's because I need a straight shot in a narrow lane. The distance of that shot is typically not that important because very few holes are both narrow and really long (depending on the tees and course design). So my 4 wood hits it about 250 on a rope. 

 

Based on the small 20 yard difference between those clubs I wonder what would happen if you played an entire round with your 3 wood. You would see a huge increase in accuracy off the tee with pretty minimal distance loss. Plus short and straight can play longer than long and off target (punch outs).

 

Can I ask other folks on here what the total yardage is for the tees they play? Undershooter? I typically try to find 6500, but that can vary greatly depending on who I am playing with. 

 

Thats a pretty good point. I would see a bigger change in accuracy with the 3 wood- barring any gun ho attitude to squeeze more yards out. The course I play extensively is 6572yds, none of the par 4s break 400yds, but all the par 5's are over 500, with one being 591. I use driver on the par 5's and on some of the par 4s, being 20+ yds further forward has been so enticing at times and continues to be the downfall of a round. 

This is why I have/ had a gap/ no clubs between Driver, 3w, 5w and 2i. because most of the approach shots were coming in from 190yds. Ive cleaned up the selection as you can see by my signature. Just figured a 1i or 2i might serve me better as a utility iron, and get used more, than say the 5w.

[Undershooter]

Ever consider dropping your 3 wood to close some of those yardage gaps. How often are you deciding between a 300 (your driver) vs a 280 (your 3 wood) yard club? At least for my game, when I reach for the 3 wood it's because I need a straight shot in a narrow lane. The distance of that shot is typically not that important because very few holes are both narrow and really long (depending on the tees and course design). So my 4 wood hits it about 250 on a rope. 

 

Based on the small 20 yard difference between those clubs I wonder what would happen if you played an entire round with your 3 wood. You would see a huge increase in accuracy off the tee with pretty minimal distance loss. Plus short and straight can play longer than long and off target (punch outs).

 

Can I ask other folks on here what the total yardage is for the tees they play? Undershooter? I typically try to find 6500, but that can vary greatly depending on who I am playing with.

 

Generally whatever the back box is. At my home courses, between 6800-7000. When I'm playing at the next box up then I'm only hitting driver 5-6 times and 3 of those are trying to drive short par 4s. From 6500 I would hit long iron off the box 8 times.

[Fireinthehole]

Generally whatever the back box is. At my home courses, between 6800-7000. When I'm playing at the next box up then I'm only hitting driver 5-6 times and 3 of those are trying to drive short par 4s. From 6500 I would hit long iron off the box 8 times.

 

My main goal is to minimize extra strokes/ penalties from using driver to try and draw/ hook/ fade/ slice, around dog legs and such. The 1 iron or 2i might be the ticket and get more use throughout the round. 

[Kor.A.Door]

At 6500 yards and your length I would not even carry a driver.

I regularly play with long ball guys, their bag is way different, I think you could consider something similar in your set up, Driver,( he uses about 2-3 times), 3h, 4h, 5h, 6-pw, 3 wedges and putter, that leaves 1 slot for something if needed. With your length, the 3 h should take you out to 270ish, which is plenty off of your tees. From what I've seen in the long guys bags is that they don't need help in the top end of the bag, they use 8i-60wedge on 90 percent of their shots. I wouldn't worry too much about a gap in the top of your bag. You will rarely find yourself in a spot where it affects your game.just a thought I guess.

[revkev]

Back to course yardages there are other factors than the overall total. Course conditons ( sea level, mountainous, wet, dry). Lots of older courses like you find in the Northeast have unusual yardages. You may have a 460 yard par 4 followed by a 107 par 3, 275 par 4 uphill par 4, 580 par 5 and a bunch of shortish par 4's sprinkled in. You'll need driver.

 

It's always a quandary whether to set a bag based on the course that you play or more generically. I used to always set it for the course. Now it's generic and I fit my game to the course I'm playing that day.

[Undershooter]

Back to course yardages there are other factors than the overall total. Course conditons ( sea level, mountainous, wet, dry). Lots of older courses like you find in the Northeast have unusual yardages. You may have a 460 yard par 4 followed by a 107 par 3, 275 par 4 uphill par 4, 580 par 5 and a bunch of shortish par 4's sprinkled in. You'll need driver.

 

It's always a quandary whether to set a bag based on the course that you play or more generically. I used to always set it for the course. Now it's generic and I fit my game to the course I'm playing that day.

Yea I'm with you there. I can't completely do away with driver. Its what gains me my advantage when I'm hitting it well. There was once I took it out of the bag for a tournament on an executive course but I think even that was a mistake. I need the driver on my course a handful of times and when I'm hitting it well that gives me a huge advantage over the field.  

[Fireinthehole]

At 6500 yards and your length I would not even carry a driver.

I regularly play with long ball guys, their bag is way different, I think you could consider something similar in your set up, Driver,( he uses about 2-3 times), 3h, 4h, 5h, 6-pw, 3 wedges and putter, that leaves 1 slot for something if needed. With your length, the 3 h should take you out to 270ish, which is plenty off of your tees. From what I've seen in the long guys bags is that they don't need help in the top end of the bag, they use 8i-60wedge on 90 percent of their shots. I wouldn't worry too much about a gap in the top of your bag. You will rarely find yourself in a spot where it affects your game.just a thought I guess.

 

That is some sound advice, Last month I was just driving the ball so poorly I ended up just using the 5 wood, but now that I am driving it a lot better and have seen my scores go down it has come back in. Its such an enticing scenario, hitting close to 300 yard drives. I will be taking out just the 2I and working with the given distance and not try to eek out more yardages. The first time I broke 80 was taking nothing but 8I- LW and playing from the white tees ( course has red-white-blue-black), good mental block to break.

[Jmikecpa]

Back to course yardages there are other factors than the overall total. Course conditons ( sea level, mountainous, wet, dry). Lots of older courses like you find in the Northeast have unusual yardages. You may have a 460 yard par 4 followed by a 107 par 3, 275 par 4 uphill par 4, 580 par 5 and a bunch of shortish par 4's sprinkled in. You'll need driver.

 

It's always a quandary whether to set a bag based on the course that you play or more generically. I used to always set it for the course. Now it's generic and I fit my game to the course I'm playing that day.

So you have played golf on Long Island. My club is 6,900 from the tips at sea level so add a few hundred yards.

 

 

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[Kor.A.Door]

I think as a long hitter finding a club that keeps you in play off the tee is best, whether it's driver, 2i, 3i 2h 3h, whatever it is, when you hit it far, 3 iron off the tee goes 250, or a good 3h can get you 270, no matter what club you use it will still be out there past 250 most likely, so if you hit 4h say 250, and hit it again 250 you just went 500, most of us need good drive, and good 3 or 5 wood to get it there, much easier with 4h, 4h. i think the problem with driver is there is a much larger margin for error the farther you hit, think about a drain pipe, if you have a 1/4 inch drop per foot then at 4 feet you are only off by 1 inch, but if you go 100 feet you are off by 25 inches. No turn that into yards, the same line that a guy hit it 230 to the right puts you in someone's back yard at 300, so hit he same line with 4h, and you are still in play. Rambling on I guess, it's going to be a long night.

[Undershooter]

I think as a long hitter finding a club that keeps you in play off the tee is best, whether it's driver, 2i, 3i 2h 3h, whatever it is, when you hit it far, 3 iron off the tee goes 250, or a good 3h can get you 270, no matter what club you use it will still be out there past 250 most likely, so if you hit 4h say 250, and hit it again 250 you just went 500, most of us need good drive, and good 3 or 5 wood to get it there, much easier with 4h, 4h. i think the problem with driver is there is a much larger margin for error the farther you hit, think about a drain pipe, if you have a 1/4 inch drop per foot then at 4 feet you are only off by 1 inch, but if you go 100 feet you are off by 25 inches. No turn that into yards, the same line that a guy hit it 230 to the right puts you in someone's back yard at 300, so hit he same line with 4h, and you are still in play. Rambling on I guess, it's going to be a long night.

While I definitely do this when I'm hitting my driver poorly, I would rather not. If I pipe a drive 320 on the same hole then I'm looking at 7i in vs 3i. I'll take 7i over a 3i any day.

 

For me it all depends if I'm hitting the driver well. If I'm not then I won't use it. But if I am... Then I'm playing a different golf course than everyone else. 

[Fireinthehole]

While I definitely do this when I'm hitting my driver poorly, I would rather not. If I pipe a drive 320 on the same hole then I'm looking at 7i in vs 3i. I'll take 7i over a 3i any day.

 

For me it all depends if I'm hitting the driver well. If I'm not then I won't use it. But if I am... Then I'm playing a different golf course than everyone else. 

 

I often find when on the range warming up that if I am hitting my driver well sometimes iron play suffers or vice versa, Have been doing a better job of adjusting to that with the limited practice my schedule has allowed recently. Seems to me that length has clouded judgment at times. A learning process for sure. I am with you though, the prospect of hitting 7I or even short iron over longer clubs is enticing. 

 

On a side note, friend of mine allowed me to use his Mizuno Fli hi 2I with a KBS tour S in it and spent the day hooking the snot out of it yesterday.

[revkev]

You can do what you want but it seems to me that if you are long that's an advantage that you should play to. I'm accurate, I take advantage of that attribute all the time be attacking with the driver whenever I'm able. Once upon a time I was stupid and thought, everyone else is laying up on this hole so I will too. Now I only lay up if it's bringing penalty strokes into play.

[Kor.A.Door]

While I definitely do this when I'm hitting my driver poorly, I would rather not. If I pipe a drive 320 on the same hole then I'm looking at 7i in vs 3i. I'll take 7i over a 3i any day.

 

For me it all depends if I'm hitting the driver well. If I'm not then I won't use it. But if I am... Then I'm playing a different golf course than everyone else.

That's right, but if your driver is struggling, knowing that you have another club that you are confident with and can also hit it 270, is nce to be able fall back on. When the long hitter plays from 6500 there are maybe 3 holes where driver is preferred, not necessarily needed just preferred over the hybrid or long iron. And yes, when the long hitter is striking his driver really well, they do play a much different golf course than everyone else. The long hitters that I play with are all around scratch, and for most of them driver is one of there mediocre clubs, I think mainly because they don't use it much, when you only use 2-3 times a round, you don't practice it much either. The other benefit to being a long hitter is that even when the driver is not working right, you can still play and score well. It all comes down to making sure you have a comfortable club from the tee if when the driver is acting up.

[Fireinthehole]

I think a 2i will be sufficient at this point's. bit of a windy day hit it 240-280, really need to use the mp h5 again vs this mp fli hi

 

 

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[Undershooter]

I think a 2i will be sufficient at this point's. bit of a windy day hit it 240-280, really need to use the mp h5 again vs this mp fli hi

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I've got one of both. They are both nice. Very similar to me. Fli hi may have a little smaller footprint.

[Fireinthehole]

I've got one of both. They are both nice. Very similar to me. Fli hi may have a little smaller footprint.

Which would you say is more forgiving? I'm leaning more towards the h5. Might try it again head to head, unfortunately the h5 has a c taper lite and the fli hi has a kbs tour, so at the moment not truly apples to apples

 

 

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[Undershooter]

Which would you say is more forgiving? I'm leaning more towards the h5. Might try it again head to head, unfortunately the h5 has a c taper lite and the fli hi has a kbs tour, so at the moment not truly apples to apples

 

 

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Mine isn't Apple's to Apple's either. H5 1i vs fli hi 3i and shafts are different. I find I rarely miss with the 3i. 1i is a little more miss prevalent. Wish I had the graphite in both instead of just the 3i.

 

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[mdumble21]

I have hit a 1-iron before. A mate of mine had given up on it, and let me have a hit with it. I tried it on the range, and it didn't jar my hand as much as I thought it would. I was hitting it about 230yd, which is about the same as my hybrid. I found it easier to hit off a small tee rather than off a fairway, and think of it as a slightly slimmer 3 iron, then smash the f&*king ball!

[Fireinthehole]

I have hit a 1-iron before. A mate of mine had given up on it, and let me have a hit with it. I tried it on the range, and it didn't jar my hand as much as I thought it would. I was hitting it about 230yd, which is about the same as my hybrid. I found it easier to hit off a small tee rather than off a fairway, and think of it as a slightly slimmer 3 iron, then smash the f&*king ball!

 

Im with ya on the tee vs fairway. Though this Mizuno mp h5s sole is pretty good from the fairway.

 

 

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[Fireinthehole]

It has arrived... Dun dun dun.

 

 

 

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[Mr_Theoo]

It has arrived... Dun dun dun.

 

ImageUploadedByMyGolfSpy1465950712.002173.jpg

 

 

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I'm jealous

[chemclub]

It has arrived... Dun dun dun.

 

ImageUploadedByMyGolfSpy1465950712.002173.jpg

 

 

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she is a beauty. What does it say on the "muscle"? Hitogami? Do all the H5 say that or is that a custom job?

 

I hit a TM 1-iron on the range at a demo day and really liked it off the tee. A lot of the same thoughts as folks talked about above. For some reason felt easier than a hybrid but not sure if I would feel comfortable of the deck much less the rough (exactly how mdumble21 felt). Although, I hate the hybrid out of the rough too so what the heck, maybe one day.

 

Undershooter, Fireinthehole, do you use the 1-iron off the tee the majority of the time or is it a go too club in the fairway too? In other words, is this a video of your swing?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJTNV3W0Vg

[Fireinthehole]

she is a beauty. What does it say on the "muscle"? Hitogami? Do all the H5 say that or is that a custom job?

 

I hit a TM 1-iron on the range at a demo day and really liked it off the tee. A lot of the same thoughts as folks talked about above. For some reason felt easier than a hybrid but not sure if I would feel comfortable of the deck much less the rough (exactly how mdumble21 felt). Although, I hate the hybrid out of the rough too so what the heck, maybe one day.

 

Undershooter, Fireinthehole, do you use the 1-iron off the tee the majority of the time or is it a go too club in the fairway too? In other words, is this a video of your swing?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJTNV3W0Vg

Only the 2 and 1 say it and they are both custom order only, not in stores.

 

I used it today off the tee and left driver at home. I averaged 267 off the tee and 253 off the deck, we had a sprinkle but the grounds not muddy. Perfect in the windy condition. It did well in the rough I'd say id prefer a smaller sole from the fairway though

 

 

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[Undershooter]

Only the 2 and 1 say it and they are both custom order only, not in stores.

 

I used it today off the tee and left driver at home. I averaged 267 off the tee and 253 off the deck, we had a sprinkle but the grounds not muddy. Perfect in the windy condition. It did well in the rough I'd say id prefer a smaller sole from the fairway though

 

 

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I'm fairly certain that only the 1 iron has hitogami stamped on it. At least that was originally the case. Bc it translated as either "only god" or "man god." I'm sure it goes back to the old saying only god can hit a 1 iron. Or according to Lee Travino, not even god can hit a 1i, but Jack Nicklaus can. 

 

And when its in the bag I use it off both the ground and tee. Usually more off the tee since the sole is a bit thick for my liking. It isn't bad out of the rough either as long as the ball isn't sitting down. And no that does not look anything like my swing. Mine looks like an unfolding lawn chair compared to Jason's. My swing speed is in the same ballpark but that's about where the similarities end. 

[Fireinthehole]

I'm fairly certain that only the 1 iron has hitogami stamped on it. At least that was originally the case. Bc it translated as either "only god" or "man god." I'm sure it goes back to the old saying only god can hit a 1 iron. Or according to Lee Travino, not even god can hit a 1i, but Jack Nicklaus can.

 

And when its in the bag I use it off both the ground and tee. Usually more off the tee since the sole is a bit thick for my liking. It isn't bad out of the rough either as long as the ball isn't sitting down. And no that does not look anything like my swing. Mine looks like an unfolding lawn chair compared to Jason's. My swing speed is in the same ballpark but that's about where the similarities end.

Man God is right. I saw it on a 2i as well which loses some luster, just kidding.

 

I liken my swing to the Tazmanian devil from the Looney toon cartoons, have not tried to hold a green with this yet though

 

 

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[Undershooter]

Man God is right. I saw it on a 2i as well which loses some luster, just kidding.

 

I liken my swing to the Tazmanian devil from the Looney toon cartoons, have not tried to hold a green with this yet though

 

 

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I guess they did start putting it on the 2i as well. I just saw one on ebay. Oh well.

 

And as for swing type, I have a very long swing with hands high and a high finish. Think more John Daly than Jason Day although he keeps the club high as well. I can hold greens with it but I don't suggest it. I usually have to play up in my stance to get it a little higher in the air and put a lot of cut on it so it comes in soft. 

[PlaidJacket]

Let's see how well Jason Day hits his 1i this weekend. For all you guys wanting a 1i.... you ain't no Jason Day.