BIG STU 7,401 Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 I've played a 1 or 2 iron with my Wilson blades for as long as I can remember. The 1 iron was a 260 yard club off the tee, but practically useless out of the fairway (unless you want to hit it 230 yds about 5 feet off the ground) and the 2 iron just didn't have as much carry as my newer blades. Then I started using a swing tracker on course (I use GolfPadGPS for the record) and saw a startling number - I only hit 20% of my approach shots well with a 3 iron and 27% of the 4 irons... At the 5 iron, the percentage jumped to about 50%. To make things worse, 3 out of 5 of my longer irons were classified as "mishits" by the app - that means they went nowhere near where they should have.) So, this winter I tested the idea of replacing the 1-3-4 irons in my bag with a 17°, 20° and 23° hybrid. My big concern was how they would gap into my set, which basically runs 135 PW, 150 9 iron, 165 8 iron, 180 7 iron, 195 6 iron and 210 5 iron. Well, the 23° was a wash hitting about even with my 5, but the 20° was a great find at 215-220 and the 17° is the perfect replacement for my 1 iron as it goes about 260 off the tee and 230-235 out of the fairway. For the record, I HATE FAIRWAY WOODS.... I've never been able to hit them, and I have tried getting fitted and even had a professional check things out who was baffled that I could hit a solid drive, gorgeous 1 iron off the turf and had zero distance issues, but I couldn't get a 16° fairway wood to go normal. I guess it's just me? Anyways, I was never a fan of the replacement of long irons with hybrids, but after making the plunge this off-season, I can see the move helping a ton of players. That said, the "new tech" long irons offer basically the same concept as a hybrid, so it may not be necessary to make that move from the stock irons over. I know for my blades, it did make a huge difference for me. Shoot I like that little 5 foot high stinger off the fairway. Runs like it stole something even with a cut. I can actually control that stinger 1 2 or 3 iron better than I can a FW wood 1 Quote Driver --- TM M-6 Evenflow 5.5 R 45 gr--- 4W Adams Tight Lies 16* Bassara 55g R flex-- Hybrid 20* Adams Tour Proto Boxer Ozik Altus R flex---- Hybrid Adams A-12-OS-- Pro Launch Blue R flex 23*--- Irons 5 thru PW Taylor Made TP CB ( 2018) Steelfiber I 95 R Flex--- GW Callaway X Jaws CC 52* stock steel shaft--- SW Callaway PM Grind 56* 10* Modified bounce KBS Tour Wedge--- Putter Scotty Santa Fe Bulls Eye Fluted shaft "Rusty" Link to post Share on other sites
yaksta 9 Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Handy club in a lot of situations. I need to practice more around the greens with it. We have a few shorter par 4's on my home course and I can get this inside 100m for my approach. Also find it handy bumping balls back to fairways from under trees. I have an old Callaway XHot 21degree . 1 Quote Mizuno JPX 825 4-G Ping G25 Driver Ping G400 Crossover 19* Seemore Putter Link to post Share on other sites
RoverRick 1,545 Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 I may have finally found the proper hybrid/shaft combination for me. I have search for many years. The Hogan CFT's were great, but after 15 years and numerous shaft changes, these finally weren't keeping up. All the others would hook left. The Mizzie FLI HI irons that I wrote about earlier were my go to clubs, but these only worked great when I was having a good day. Ironically, when I was swinging great with other hybrids, I did not get good results, but a poorer swing would give better results. The R11 Rescue was also one that I could hit straight, but while the 4H was awesome, the 3H was a lower ball flight that I never really liked, but I did not fear it, like some other hybrids. Finally, I swapped to the SLDR's and after putting a PXv in the 4H and Tour AD-DI in the 3H I finally have 2 hybrids I can hit consistently with the right amount of forgiveness but not too much bias and the ball flight that I want. 1 Quote Driver: ST190G on Fujikura ATMOS Black Fairway: ST190TS 15° on Fujikura ATMOS Black Hybrids CLK 22 & 25 (set to 20° & 23°) on Fujikura SPEEDER Irons: MP5 5-P on True Temper Dynamic Gold Wedges: MP-T5 52*, 56* & 60* on True Temper Dynamic Gold Wedge Putter: 2018 Select Newport 2 Balls: Pro V1X Shoes: Range Finder: Precision Pro NX7 Pro All grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Link to post Share on other sites
azstu324 2,961 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I have no 5w and I replaced my 3 hybrid with an ironwood, which actually works much better for me. If the new 4 iron works out the hybrids will go away. IMG_10.jpg Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk oh the old Giga TRX! Played those for a couple seasons. Great club. Also tried the single length set for a season. Another really solid component company to check out is Maltby. They offer more along the lines of forged/player style clubs. Quote SIM Max 7°/ Fujikura MotoreX F1 6X 917F2 3 Wood / UST ProForce V2 Black F4S++ Epic Flash Hybrid 18* / Mitsubishi Tensei Silver 70g TS-1 3 - P / TT DG 105 (S+) / GP Microsuede TSW 50/6 + 56/12 Wedge O-Works #7 / Superstroke Ultra Slim 1.0 Link to post Share on other sites
300UpTheMiddle 2 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I think hybrids are better from out of the rough, helping you escape easier and giving you distance out of there. I do use my hybrid on the fairway sometimes, but I prefer to use a low iron if I can. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tehuti 553 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Duplicate. Quote Gen1 0811X 12° driver w/Project X Evenflow Blue 55g shaft KE4 TC 16° 4 wood w/Kuro Kage Black 60g shaft Z355 22° 7 wood w/Miyazaki Jinsoku shaft KE4 TC 19° 3 hybrid w/UST Proforce V2 Black shaft KE4 TC 22° 4 hybrid w/UST Proforce V2 Black shaft HL E521 25° 5 hybrid w/Fubuki HD55 shaft Sti2 6 iron w/UST Recoil 660 graphite shaft KE4 Tour+ irons 7-PW w/UST Competition Series graphite shafts CBX2 50° wedge w/Rotex shaft M-Series+ 56° wedge w/UST Recoil 660 graphite shaft Huntington Beach Soft Premier 10.5 Link to post Share on other sites
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