Bergtaur's Single Length Odyssey: A journey of self discovery, scientific thought, and good to great golf

[Berg Ryman]

Welcome to my first ever review thread. I apologize for it being it light on pictures, but I hope the content will inspire, educate, inform, and make you think a little bit. The real reason there aren't many picture is because I have no internet at my house and I'm posting this by staying late at work, perhaps pictures may follow when I get a chance.

 

Me, The Golfer

 

Male, Age 28, 5'11", a few extra pounds as my OK Cupid profile would say. I played golf in high school as was one of the better players in Central New York. Two time first team, one time second team all-league. Attempted to walk-on at D3 Oswego State, missed cut because my game left me and my brain was too weak to handle the pressure. Currently play once a week, practice a bit, won a club championship. Handicap back under single digits, but still a ways to go before I get back to where I was in High School, but I hope to get back to sub 5.

 

Why Single Length?

 

To me, I've always enjoyed hitting long irons, but like most I lacked the consistency to continually bag them. I attempted to go the hybrid route with my last iron set and found success, but they never really were my cup of tea. Too far going left on mishits (a common refrain). The single length set allowed me to add back my longer irons, while keeping consistency through the rest of the set. Plus, as someone who really embracing science the physics behind the idea made sense to me and gave me something I wanted to try. Lastly, I had never bought a set of major OEM irons, and when I heard Cobra was coming with this, I knew this was my chance.

 

Trusting The Process

 

First, I must state that without my working at Dick's Sporting Goods, this likely wasn't going to happen. When we got the demos of the F7 line, I was in there whenever I had a spare moment hitting the One Lenghts, getting comfortable with the idea of them. I took to the shorter irons and wedges very quickly, but the long irons were a touch tougher. Also, through working in the industry you are sometimes given the advantage to buy products at factory director pricing, and that was what happened here with Cobra. As a poor law school graduate it's a great way to get good stuff on the cheap. After hitting the irons for nearly 3 months I was ready to go forward.

 

Self Taught Fitting

 

Again, the advantage for working for a big box store, you learn how to do standard fittings. That was all I needed for this I was coming from a set of Nickent 6DX combos, not a bad set of irons, but I bought them off the rack after my original purchase fell through due to lack of stock. First, the irons needed to be +1 upright. Second was finding the right shaft. I had thought between the KBS Tours and the TT XP line. I wanted a good feeling shaft and the numbers on both these were close. However, the launch angle of the KBS Tour R+ combined with the slightly higher weight led to that being the choice. The other issue was at the high end of the bag on gapping. The 5 in the set is 23*, the 6 is 26*. With the steel shafts there were carrying too close and finishing too close to validate having them both. So, I did as any mad scientist would. I bent the 5 iron one degree strong, and put a graphite shaft in it to get more speed. It's more my 4.5 iron, but it works. Top it off with the sweet Ace Crossline Blue grips and we had a winner.

 

Playing Under Pressure

 

So, now to the meat of the issue, how did these bad boys perform? The answer would be like I expected. Now, I know no club is a cure all for any swing flaw or lack of practice, but there is little doubt that these clubs have aided my game. I've played 6 tournament rounds this season, my average score has been just over 79 and that's with minimum practice time and really only playing like once a week. The consistency of having to swing only one swing is something that I think would benefit most golfers. My weird 4.5 iron has been a great club for me off the tee. I use it on long par 3's and to lay up on short par fours and I get around 185-200 out of it, exactly the numbers I'm looking for. I will say though, it hasn't been great as a non driving iron. Luckily I don't have shots that I need to cover that distance at most courses because I'm long enough off the tee, but that's one of the few weaknesses.

 

The biggest surprise has been my wedge play. Full swing wedges are an absolute joy to play. It's almost like point and click with these things. That was the part of this I was not expecting. I've been able to open them up and play lengthy flop shots, hit good half and three quarter pitches, and full swings are fantastic as well. It has been such a revelation that I am removing my standard length 60* wedge this upcoming season for a One length wedge. Chipping with them is no problem and controlling ball flight is the same.

 

The other irons all perform as well, but as they are close enough to their regular lengths with only slight variation, I was expecting that to be honest. Across the board I would say that I'm around maybe a quarter to a half club longer through the bag, perhaps from achieving more optimum flight and better spin rates, or just because of my swing being more consistent. I've always been a good short iron player, but adding that consistency to my wedge game and seeing some better results from the long irons has really improved my game to the point where I've knocked two shotts off my handicap with limited play and practice this year. As time goes on I'm certain that I will be getting even better results as I continue to play and get more accustomed to these clubs.

 

Final Thoughts

 

In the end, I believe that the single length iron trend is more than a gimmick. Yes, I understand that they will not be for everyone, but what set of clubs is? I would say for someone looking for... say it with me... more consistency in your swing, they are a great choice, but you need to commit to the idea. This is not the way golf clubs were designed before and they are a fundamental shift, but if you can get on board and get comfortable with them, they can been an absolute boon to your game.

 

[STUDque]

Wow that was a really good write-up. I appreciate the time you spent describing the process. Here's some things I'm curious about:

 

 

 

1. What type of tournaments were you playing in?

2. Do you have a big yardage gap at the very top of the bag between your irons and big hitters?

3. Has your new swing affected your woods? (D, 3W, etc)

4. Can we see some pics?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Berg Ryman]

Wow that was a really good write-up. I appreciate the time you spent describing the process. Here's some things I'm curious about:

 

 

 

1. What type of tournaments were you playing in?

2. Do you have a big yardage gap at the very top of the bag between your irons and big hitters?

3. Has your new swing affected your woods? (D, 3W, etc)

4. Can we see some pics?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

Let's start with Q4, the answer there is eventually, perhaps later this week.

 

Q1: Club tournaments, and a local am qualifier. Did not qualify for the local am as you needed a one round score of 82, I shot 85. Balance that with the fun tournament at my home club where I went out in 74. Club championship round of 78-81, and then a members only where I went 79-80, works out to just over 79.5 so I guess an 80 would have been more like it.

 

Q2: Gapping is not a huge issue, but I do think that I may be adding a club in between my 4 wood and 4.5 iron just to have it in case. The 4 wood is my 215-225 club, Driver around 240-260. I don't play courses where I need that 205 distance, but playing with only 12 clubs is weird. I'm thinking either getting the 4 iron in One length and bending it to 19* with a graphite shaft or going to a hybrid (maybe King Utility?), a more players type one though that may be close in length.

 

Q3: No, not that I've seen. I've alway been a good fairway wood player and good driver of the ball, and the switch from lengths hasn't bugged me a bit.

 

Good questions Stud, if anyone else wants to know keep them coming, I'm happy to share.

[Peaksy68]

Thanks for putting this review up. I'm interested in the concept, but unfortunately the official review seems to have fallen over. I had a hit of the F7 in 5,7 and 9 iron, and the forged in the 7. I wasn't a fan of the F7 feel, and hitting only 7 in the forged didn't give me much to go on as far as single length! Very strange that Cobra didn't provide both options to the store I went to.

[cksurfdude]

Yeah, good write-up and good info .. especially from s better player's POV .. thx! Not interested in single length for myself, tho I do possibly see me eventually tending towards a three tier setup like EQUS.

[Kenny B]

Nice review.  Thanks for sharing.

As I have noted previously, I like the concept and if I were younger I would likely give single length a try.  However, based on what I have read about the various options, I would bite the bullet and go the Edel route.  Their approach just seems to make the most sense to me.  

[Berg Ryman]

Ok, back in front of a computer here so let me respond to some of these great comments!

 

Thanks for putting this review up. I'm interested in the concept, but unfortunately the official review seems to have fallen over. I had a hit of the F7 in 5,7 and 9 iron, and the forged in the 7. I wasn't a fan of the F7 feel, and hitting only 7 in the forged didn't give me much to go on as far as single length! Very strange that Cobra didn't provide both options to the store I went to.

 

So Peaksy, let me take you a little on the inside of how this works, at least here in the States, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar in Australia. Sports stores are tiered across the company based on the amount of goods we sell and then tiered among manufacturers. For example, the Dick's location I worked at was tier 4, the lowest, for golf sales. Being in the Northeast and having a Golf Galaxy only 1500 feet away kinda hinders that. Because of that and because we rarely sold any Cobra product, we would get limited options for Cobra. In this case we got full demo sets of the F7 line, but nothing forged at all. Even the Golf Galaxy next door, which gets everything (since Dick's owns Golf Galaxy and they put priority on them having bigger brand selection), they only got I believe heads of the 5, 7, and 9 in the forged for fitting purposes as I think that's all Cobra sent them. I may be wrong, but that's how it works and why some places don't have the full complement of options available to you.

 

Sadly, this won't change unless you see a marked change in the market and shifts in brand sale performance. I'd assume it's even worse internationally because of of these companies are US owned brands.

 

Nice review.  Thanks for sharing.

As I have noted previously, I like the concept and if I were younger I would likely give single length a try.  However, based on what I have read about the various options, I would bite the bullet and go the Edel route.  Their approach just seems to make the most sense to me.  

 

Kenny, thanks for the kind words. I would have loved to have tried to get my hands on either the Sterlings from Wishon or the SLS from Edel before I made the plunge. Sadly, the limited availability for those products, the manufacturers sale advantage from working at a big box, and the financial situation I found myself in led to my Cobra decision. I've heard nothing but good things though about the other products. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any of the three and you should pay to get exactly what you want, especially in this case with such a huge change.

 

Lastly, pictures may be coming to the thread this weekend. I've got to get my phone unbricked (power went off during and update and now it's screwed) and come down to work with my computer to get them up, but they are coming.

[revkev]

This is a great review! I really appreciate dit. Well thought out with plenty of helpful information.

 

28 and single? You aren't a Lutheran willing to relocate to Florida by any chance?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Berg Ryman]

This is a great review! I really appreciate dit. Well thought out with plenty of helpful information.

 

28 and single? You aren't a Lutheran willing to relocate to Florida by any chance?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

Sadly not yet. Give me the amout of time after I'm swore in by the bar after hopefully passing the bar exam for be eligible for reciprocity in Florida, then we'll talk, unless you can give me a reason...