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McGolfer

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TL;DR: I am moving to the reflective face Callaway Apex CF16 from the more traditional "players' cavity" Mizuno MP62. What downsides should I expect form this move? I am very concerned about the decreased playability due to the sole width, distance inconsistency on similarly hit shots, and trajectory control.

 

I think I've become a victim of the modern equipment marketing machine due to my desire to improve my game and unreasonable love of quantifiable results. I ordered a set of Callaway Apex CF16 irons, and, in my typical fashion, have started doing a lot of research after the fact. I am now concerned about going to a reflective face iron for the first time after a life of blades or forged "players' cavity" irons.

 

This all started when I got fitted for new irons. I've started playing a lot of golf and thought it may be time to see what type of equipment would fit me best. I was totally open to whatever clubs showed me the best results as the only thing I care about now is playing better. I wasn't going to be a delusional former-good-golfer who refused to move on with his golf life gracefully. I was going to look at the data and make the right decision objectively. I honestly had a great experience and felt really good about everything when I left, but this is a fairly big change for me.

 

The fitting began with a discussion about my game, my goals, and what I was looking for. Then we hit some shots with my 6 iron to get a baseline. My numbers looked about right to me as far as distance and direction were concerned. My smash factor (SF) was coming in between 1.38-1.42 with the average of 1.41. My fitter was concerned about my launch angle and spin rate, both of which he felt were a little high. He then fitted me for shaft with more tip stiffness and doing that brought those numbers down. I felt pretty good about everything, but my fitter told me that I was hitting the ball too close to the heal, and I definitely needed game improvements irons due to my low SF. I was skeptical, but I was there with an open mind and he was the expert.

 

Over the next hour or so, we went through several models of game improvement irons and compared the results. We looked almost exclusively at the SF, ball speed, launch angle, spin, and distance. Looking back, this was really unusual for me since I have almost zero desire to hit my 6 iron over 185. I am not long, but I hit it far enough. I am more concerned with my gaps than how far I hit my irons. Regardless, we kept coming back to the Apex CF165s, which were thick but not terrible and felt great. I consistently hit these the farthest and had an average SF of 1.49 with them. Finally, to humor me, my fitter measured a few swings with the MP5s and Miura CB501s (really wanted to try the MB 001s, but was sufficiently entrenched in my hacker-hole and ashamed even ask about them) but since the SFs were well under 1.5, I was lead to believe that I wasn't hitting them solid. At the end of the fitting, we ordered the Apex irons and I was on my way.

 

I texted some of my buddies and told them how bad of a ball striker I really was and how they were about to see big changes in my game soon. They laughed and called me a cheater and explained that my money and time would be better spent on the range. They are right, but that's not the way we went about it that day.

 

Later that evening, I got a trackman report and poured over the data. and eventually I noticed that while I added distance, the dispersion pattern was actually closer with my MP62s. I started thinking about how that could be so close if I wasn't hitting it solid. If I wasn't making good contact, I would think there would be more inconsistency but maybe I am just consistently bad. Then I looked into the physics of SF and discovered that my initial numbers weren't that bad at all, you just have less energy transfer with higher lofted clubs, resulting in a lower SF, which makes total sense when you actually think about it.

 

The clubs have been ordered, and I am still excited about them because I did enjoy them and numbers looked good, but I am worried that these benefits of the reflective face and higher energy transfer will come at a price. My biggest concerns are unexpected fliers from the fairway after a seemingly normal hit ball, not being able to flight the ball higher or lower as easily, and playing out of various lies with the thicker sole (also related to flighting the ball). I am hoping that I am just paranoid and these are antiquated or totally unfounded fears, but if nothing else, this may make for a good discussion.

 

I would appreciate any insight or thoughts you guys might have on the subject.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy mobile app

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I read the first paragraph and thought "wow, you are putting too much thought in to this"

 

Then I read the rest and thought "Holy crap you are putting too much thought into this"

 

Bottom line...Either trust the fitting or don't.  Either way you will be right.

 

Sorry it's men's league night and I just got home.  I've had more than a few adult beverages :)  All I can offer is that there is nothing wrong with a little more forgiveness and I've heard great thing about the Apex irons.  I hope they work out for you

Driver: :taylormade-small: SLDR w/ Fujikura Ventus Black

3w: :taylormade-small:'16 M2 hl w/ Diamana D+ 82

5w: :cleveland-small: Launcher HB w/ HZRDUS Yellow

Hybrid: :cleveland-small: 22 deg. Launcher HB w/ HZRDUS Black

Irons: :cleveland-small: 5i - gap Launcher CBX w/ Nippon Modus 3 125

Wedges: :cleveland-small: 54 CBX & 58 Zipcore w/ Nippon Modus 3 125

Putter: :odyssey-small: Red 7s

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McGolfer,  I do believe that you have over analyzed the situation.  The Apex irons will provide a great foundation to better your game.  Just go with it and build up some confidence in the clubs.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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Irons came in today. They look awesome. The company did excellent work. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm sure you guys are right, but the mind is a powerful thing.

 

Doing my research after the fact, the irons run strong so we may need to gap them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy mobile app

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