Maltby TS1 Irons

[Sparkey67]

BTW, just nabbed a TS1 7 iron on ebay. 1 degree upright which is what I was fitted to 8 years ago.

If I like it, then I'll order a new set for next season.

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[ncwoz]

Can confirm: these puppies are money. Got to take them out to the course today, with some surprisingly mild weather. Even in the beginning of some swing changes, they felt and performed really well. I'll admit, the 4 iron had me slightly intimidated when I first looked down at them. But after a number of great tee shots, I've got nothing but confidence in it!

[azstu324]

On 11/24/2020 at 7:36 AM, liermann.mark said:

Thanks for trying. The TS1 looks nice, but that filled face. Is it clickey?

I had Cleveland 588 TT's that were clickey when you hit it pure. Never liked the sound.

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Great question! First to give my example, and how I also shared the same concerns when I was on the fence about buying them.

In 2019 I was a tester for the Lynx Prowler VT's. Similar.. kind of, but also very different. The 1 major negative for me was the sound. Half the set sound clickey and the other half sounded tingy. It was just a horrendous sound throughout the set and I was very clear about my opinions regarding the acoustics. I even did an experiment where I plugged my ears and hit some. With limited audio, the clubs actually felt pretty decent. When I unplugged my ears, it was amazing that the clubs actually felt clickier when sound was introduced.The audio of the clubs actually impacts the feel in a way. It was a very interesting experiment.

Now to answer your question.. they're absolutely not clickey in the slightest! Being a regular at PGATSS I've hit a LOT of clubs and most of them in the forged mb, cb, and player's distance category. The TS-1'S IMO rank right up there in both sound and feeling with the best in production.

I personally think they are the best. When hit well, the ball explodes off the face with a very satisfying muted crack but. When flushed, there is nothing like it!

Besides the looks, sound, and feel, what I really appreciate is that they're not ridiculously lofted. I'm getting maybe 5 extra yds from my prior DBMs and those are as traditional as they come. Playability and distance control is just superb.

 

Off the toe does get a tad clickey but more so in the "you hit a crappy shot" sense which definitely equates to feedback and is only helpful.

Keep us posted when you get your 7. I started out with a single 3 iron which was probably not the best idea in hindsight but it still worked well enough to encourage me to take the plunge.

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful. Looking forward to your feedback on the club.

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 

Edited November 29, 2020 by azstu324

[fixyurdivot]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:12 AM, azstu324 said:

So we are obviously all familiar with various Maltby Offerings right? I'm familiar with the TS-1 and DBM's. I know they're not all visual successes but no OEM has a 100% aesthetic success rate. Take the clubs that visually look the part and also are just home runs as far as playability go, i.e. PTM, DBM, TS-1, TS-2, TSW, KE4 woods, etc. are fit and finish really a problem when comparing each of these to OEM's? 

I did a comparison of the TS-1 in the "show us your Maltby" thread to the TM P770. IMO, I'm not seeing any missed steps in product quality. I actually like the look and profile of the TS-1 better and the P770 is a really nice looking club. Samesies with the TSW wedges. 

I'm guessing that with some of these guys it boils down to viewer ratings. If they're gonna put together a video, they're probably thinking more about maximizing their audience. Additionally, Maltby would need to have a need for the connection as I'm sure other OEM's are sending free gear to these guys to get some camera time. If Maltby isn't willing to form a partnership and provide clubs, and these Youtube guys aren't willing to fork up a few bucks to do a review that might get less action than an OEM review, it's a lose/lose. Definitely sucks

 

 

Just catching up on this entire thread - good one btw.  I do find the whole side discussion about why Maltby irons are not finding their way into various testing/review venues both interesting and odd. There does indeed seem to be a fairly recent surge and popularity in DTC companies.  It would seem now is the time more than ever to leverage this. Unless Maltby/GWX has all the sales they can handle and no desire to grow market share, it seems really crazy to me they have not offered up products for MGS Most Wanted testing. Perhaps they think the testing format is biased?  Perhaps they just want to keep the question how they would rank a mystery? 

As for the other various YT and TGW product reviews not including these is odd, however, I did find a 3 part series by Fit2YouGolf.  This reviewer describes the TS1 as a players category... which makes more sense that what I shared above.

[azstu324]

Just catching up on this entire thread - good one btw.  I do find the whole side discussion about why Maltby irons are not finding their way into various testing/review venues both interesting and odd. There does indeed seem to be a fairly recent surge and popularity in DTC companies.  It would seem now is the time more than ever to leverage this. Unless Maltby/GWX has all the sales they can handle and no desire to grow market share, it seems really crazy to me they have not offered up products for MGS Most Wanted testing. Perhaps they think the testing format is biased?  Perhaps they just want to keep the question how they would rank a mystery? 
As for the other various YT and TGW product reviews not including these is odd, however, I did find a 3 part series by Fit2YouGolf.  This reviewer describes the TS1 as a players category... which makes more sense that what I shared above.

Good ol Dave from fit2you golf! I've probably seen all of his videos just because he's really the ONLY person providing any video reviews on Maltby.

My understanding is that Dave is a psychologist by profession and a hobby club builder who uses primarily Golfworks/Maltby gear. I doubt he's getting any financial kickbacks from them at all. He's just an enthusiast like many of us and happens to be content with using his own resources to obtain the equipment and produce the videos.

Honestly though, I don't see too many in the golf world stumbling upon his reviews unless they're specifically looking for "Maltby" or "Golfworks" equipment.

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..

[bens197]

20 hours ago, ncwoz said:

Can confirm: these puppies are money. Got to take them out to the course today, with some surprisingly mild weather. Even in the beginning of some swing changes, they felt and performed really well. I'll admit, the 4 iron had me slightly intimidated when I first looked down at them. But after a number of great tee shots, I've got nothing but confidence in it!

They really are a great club.  Looking at the 4 iron, it certainly doesn't look like what you'd expect but it is proof that they have engineered a great club that still fits into a player's category.

[NRJyzr]

I'm not especially fond of the loft progression in the long irons for the TS1.  If I were to try a set, I'd probably have to skip the 4i in a 3-GW set, or go 5-GW with a TS2 4 iron.

Not much danger of that, with the graphite reshafts I've got on tap (and ahead of them in the queue). 

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by NRJyzr

[Popeye64]

I'm not especially fond of the loft progression in the long irons for the TS1.  If I were to try a set, I'd probably have to skip the 4i in a 3-GW set, or go 5-GW with a TS2 4 iron.
Not much danger of that, with the graphite reshafts I've got on tap (and ahead of them in the queue). 
 

I stopped the TS-1s at the 5i and have the 3 and 2 of the FDI. Those Ke4 FDIs are pretty darn friendly.

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[azstu324]

3 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

I'm not especially fond of the loft progression in the long irons for the TS1.  If I were to try a set, I'd probably have to skip the 4i in a 3-GW set, or go 5-GW with a TS2 4 iron.

Not much danger of that, with the graphite reshafts I've got on tap (and ahead of them in the queue). 

 

If playing the longer irons is your jam, Just note that these are butter soft so bending lofts to meet your desired specs is not an issue at all. That said, the Ts2 4 iron wouldn't be a bad accompaniment to the set. 

[tommc23]

3 hours ago, Popeye64 said:

I stopped the TS-1s at the 5i and have the 3 and 2 of the FDI. Those Ke4 FDIs are pretty darn friendly.

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I definitely think I had a shaft put into my Ke4 DI 3i. I hit it shorter than I do my 4i with it going the same distance on some shots. That was just one round where I had those results. I'm going to hit the range with it in the spring and see if there is any change if not I'm going to have to find another shaft for it or just sell it.

[Sparkey67]

So I received the TS-1 last week Monday. However, living in Wisconsin doesn't allow for nice conditions this time of year.

Anyway, the 7 iron is plus 1/2" and 1 degree upright which is per a fitting I had many years ago. Has a Nippon Modus Tour 105 S shaft with a mid size grip.

Last week Wed it was a balmy 39 degrees and since their is a winter wheat field behind my house, I took some swings from the yard into the field.

Swing 1 - thin blade that let me know with a nice light stingy feeling.
swing 2 - ditto and then same for 3 & 4.

So I figured it had to be the cold and extra layers preventing me from being loose and extending. So I did a 5 min jog around the yard and got warm. Took off the heavy layer and hit again.

Warm swing 1 - toey but straight and flew about 143 yards. Felt the miss, which is good.

Warm swing 2 - felt awesome, like a soft thwack. ball flew 156 yards slight draw.

Warm swing 3 - same strike, felt awesome with a draw about 152 yards.

At that point I was no longer warm so I stopped.

Honestly, I am surprised how far it went and how great solid strikes feel. No click or ting, just a solid thwacky smush feeling.

Today it was 46, so I hit again. More solid hits and I found that a simple hand adjustment lets me hit fades.

I'm hooked!!

I'm also sad, I am surprised how much I like the Modus 105 S shaft so I priced that out and it's more than I can spend. Guess I have to figure out what lower priced shaft will work for me.

Unless I go Recoil or Kuro Kage but my experience with Aldila Rogue shafts was so so. ** so so as in graphite vs steel **





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[azstu324]

16 minutes ago, liermann.mark said:

So I received the TS-1 last week Monday. However, living in Wisconsin doesn't allow for nice conditions this time of year.

Anyway, the 7 iron is plus 1/2" and 1 degree upright which is per a fitting I had many years ago. Has a Nippon Modus Tour 105 S shaft with a mid size grip.

Last week Wed it was a balmy 39 degrees and since their is a winter wheat field behind my house, I took some swings from the yard into the field.

Swing 1 - thin blade that let me know with a nice light stingy feeling.
swing 2 - ditto and then same for 3 & 4.

So I figured it had to be the cold and extra layers preventing me from being loose and extending. So I did a 5 min jog around the yard and got warm. Took off the heavy layer and hit again.

Warm swing 1 - toey but straight and flew about 143 yards. Felt the miss, which is good.

Warm swing 2 - felt awesome, like a soft thwack. ball flew 156 yards slight draw.

Warm swing 3 - same strike, felt awesome with a draw about 152 yards.

At that point I was no longer warm so I stopped.

Honestly, I am surprised how far it went and how great solid strikes feel. No click or ting, just a solid thwacky smush feeling.

Today it was 46, so I hit again. More solid hits and I found that a simple hand adjustment lets me hit fades.

I'm hooked!!

I'm also sad, I am surprised how much I like the Modus 105 S shaft so I priced that out and it's more than I can spend. Guess I have to figure out what lower priced shaft will work for me.

Unless I go Recoil or Kuro Kage but my experience with Aldila Rogue shafts was so so.





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Great to see that your experience with the 7 iron has inspired you to look at the set. I know it's been discussed out in the forum and there are folks who think we're FOS and should be beaten with our own clubs when we say a well-struck TS-1 rivals the best in production (Name your brand)

Not sure what the overall cost difference is but I had mine built with the TT DG 105's and really like them and highly recommend them for a lighter weight option. If I recall, they were on the more budget-friendly end of the "Premium" shaft offerings. Also, I played the Nippon 950's in my DBM's and those or the 1050's would be great alternatives to the Modus. Not the same, but definitely a good runner up. 

[Sparkey67]

The FST 115 Stiff soft stepped might be an option. Looks like any swings I take over the next few months would have to be in a simulator...

The Nippon Modus shafts are only available thru the custom shop.

My gut says pick a cheaper steel shaft and if need be, reshaft after a year.

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[Sparkey67]

I added some comparison pics:

Club on left is a Wilson FG-17 blade

Club on the right is the Maltby TS1

both are 7 irons.




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[pozzit]

I added some comparison pics:

Club on left is a Wilson FG-17 blade

Club on the right is the Maltby TS1

both are 7 irons.




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I quite enjoy the fact that you had to identify which one the TS1 is haha.

I have a set of TS1s and truly love them have been gaming them a year and have no regrets. I was fitted into C Tapers so I shafted them all myself was fun to try and lean. Had 1 club head come off preseason but learned my lesson and have been great since.
I wish I could have gotten a fitting in with these to compare to some other top brands and I think I may bring them in to get lofts check/adjusted but have really enjoyed the set.

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[bens197]

10 hours ago, liermann.mark said:

I added some comparison pics:

Club on left is a Wilson FG-17 blade

Club on the right is the Maltby TS1

both are 7 irons.




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Can we just take a second and admire how beautiful that Wilson is at address?

[Kansas King]

11 hours ago, liermann.mark said:

I added some comparison pics:

Club on left is a Wilson FG-17 blade

Club on the right is the Maltby TS1

both are 7 irons.




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The designers for Maltby clubs are very sneaky in how they build forgiveness into their players irons. It's difficult to tell in pictures and sometimes even setting the clubs next to each other but Maltby uses longer head lengths to stretch out the C-dimension or horizontal COG. However, their designs are great at hiding it. I recently had a MMB-17 and MP-68 7-iron build to see what the differences were based on the MPF and how the irons played. When I was comparing irons they both looked the same but the Maltby was ever so slightly more chunky. However, when I started measuring head lengths, I found the Maltby was much longer. If you non-scientifically measure from the outside of the hosel to the end of the had about halfway up the face, the MMB-17 was a number of millimeters longer. The TS1s appear to use the same design trick as you can see in the bottom picture that there is additional space between the hosel and where the grooves start compared to the Wilson. I think by keeping the groove length the same, they are able to make it look like the clubhead is much smaller than It really is. I will make a post of my findings eventually when I get time but it's interesting seeing these pictures of the TS1s because they seem to be very similar to my results. 

[azstu324]

This is my comparison in the "Show us your Maltby" thread. I had a set of Cleveland TA-1's (left) that were very sexy and bladey and slim just like these FG-17's. Like @Kansas King pointed out, There's definitely a difference in length when a tape measure is handy.. but just looking at the clubs side by side, they look like they could play in the same sandbox together.  

[Kansas King]

@azstu324 

One notable way that Maltby clubs move weight out down and out towards the toe is having a shorter hosel as you can see in your picture. I don't understand why manufacturers today still use long hosels. To my knowledge, the biggest offender of this in the last decade had to of been the Ben Hogan Ft. Worth 15 irons. They were gorgeous but the hozel is almost an inch longer than what Maltby used on the MMB 17. I bought a Ft. Worth 15 5-iron off eBay a while back and that has to be the sharpest butter knife made in the last decade. It was also exceedingly hard to hit solid. Interestingly, the Ft. Worth 15s were designed by the same guy who made the Scor wedges which I really like and own and they to have the exact same hosel. That might explain why I could never hit the 42* Scor wedge solid. The COG was probably high and close to the hosel. I would be curious to know why Scor wedge designer, Terry Kohler, used such a long hosel on those clubs. 

[NRJyzr]

16 minutes ago, Kansas King said:

@azstu324 

One notable way that Maltby clubs move weight out down and out towards the toe is having a shorter hosel as you can see in your picture. I don't understand why manufacturers today still use long hosels. To my knowledge, the biggest offender of this in the last decade had to of been the Ben Hogan Ft. Worth 15 irons. They were gorgeous but the hozel is almost an inch longer than what Maltby used on the MMB 17. I bought a Ft. Worth 15 5-iron off eBay a while back and that has to be the sharpest butter knife made in the last decade. It was also exceedingly hard to hit solid. Interestingly, the Ft. Worth 15s were designed by the same guy who made the Scor wedges which I really like and own and they to have the exact same hosel. That might explain why I could never hit the 42* Scor wedge solid. The COG was probably high and close to the hosel. I would be curious to know why Scor wedge designer, Terry Kohler, used such a long hosel on those clubs. 

It's an easy way to keep the CG a bit higher.  Or such is my guess.
 

[Kansas King]

2 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

It's an easy way to keep the CG a bit higher.  Or such is my guess.
 

I could see that on the wedges but it doesn't make sense for a blade 5 iron to have a very high COG. The Ft. Worth 15 6 iron gets an MPF score of 90 and that score seems reasonable relative to the club's actual playability. The VCOG is exceptionally high at 0.92". The MP68 5 iron looks like a shovel next to the Ft. Worth 15. 

[azstu324]

21 minutes ago, Kansas King said:

One notable way that Maltby clubs move weight out down and out towards the toe is having a shorter hosel as you can see in your picture.

Yeah I think I've read this somewhere that it's a design strategy of Maltby. Not sure if it was a post by Britt Lindsey somewhere.. or another forum member? I'm definitely not mad at the look. And if it adds to form and function, why the hell not right? 

[NRJyzr]

3 minutes ago, Kansas King said:

I could see that on the wedges but it doesn't make sense for a blade 5 iron to have a very high COG. The Ft. Worth 15 6 iron gets an MPF score of 90 and that score seems reasonable relative to the club's actual playability. The VCOG is exceptionally high at 0.92". The MP68 5 iron looks like a shovel next to the Ft. Worth 15. 

Raising the CG is something that's been prevalent in recent iron designs, both in blades and CBs.  The ultimate result is increasing the spin.

Ping i500 are also quite high, as are the i200.  There are other examples out there, those are two I knew of off top of my head.  

1 minute ago, azstu324 said:

Yeah I think I've read this somewhere that it's a design strategy of Maltby. Not sure if it was a post by Britt Lindsey somewhere.. or another forum member? I'm definitely not mad at the look. And if it adds to form and function, why the hell not right? 

Exactly.  That's Ralph Maltby's philosophy, a CG that's low and farther from the hosel.

If you look at MOI, his designs aren't exactly loaded with it. 
 

[Kansas King]

19 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

Raising the CG is something that's been prevalent in recent iron designs, both in blades and CBs.  The ultimate result is increasing the spin.

Ping i500 are also quite high, as are the i200.  There are other examples out there, those are two I knew of off top of my head.  

Exactly.  That's Ralph Maltby's philosophy, a CG that's low and farther from the hosel.

If you look at MOI, his designs aren't exactly loaded with it. 
 

I don't want to be considered a disciple of Maltby because there are obviously some other valid design philosophies in the world of golf. Maltby is simply the most public with his ideas and concepts and they are logical. Ping and Wilson are notable with having some higher COG designs but I must say the i500 is not easy to his solid, I can't speak for the other irons. I'm sure there is a reason but as COG gets higher, it's almost universal that MOI goes up as well. Maltby calls high MOI with high COG as "bad MOI" in relation to the MPF calculation. I don't recall reading anywhere in his books that clearly explains why high MOI in higher VCOG irons is actually bad. That is kind of the mission I have been on recently but finding others that have gone down the rabbit hole as far as I have or farther regarding iron head designs are hard to find. 

[Sparkey67]

So all the planning to build a set ended when I found a lightly used set on eBay.

Spring can't come soon enough!

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Edited August 10, 2022 by liermann.mark

[WalterS]

On 3/22/2020 at 12:54 PM, azstu324 said:

You guys have probably seen me post in other threads so sorry for the repeat. Many people in underground component golf brand world don't realize that Wishon was an apprentice of Ralph Maltby back in the 80's.

Wishon then went on to run Dynacraft. And eventually broke off to start Wishon Golf.

Wishon was also a drummer for the Steve Miller band!

These are some really nice looking irons! Can't wait for the release of the TSW wedges. I'm also really interested in the KE4 TC 3 wood or STF2 3 wood.

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 

"Wishon was also a drummer for the Steve Miller band!"

Well........ that is not quite completely true. Although he did sit in on the taping of the Fly Like an Eagle album and yes I do believe he told me it is him drumming on one of the tracks on the album. But no he was never "the drummer" for Steve Miller. They just happened to be at the golf course where he was working and found out he was a drummer and asked him to sit in because their drummer was sick. And that is straight from the horse's(Tom's) mouth to me.

[WalterS]

On 5/4/2020 at 12:03 AM, shortgame said:

I have to agree with you on the OEMs feelings,  popeye. I had the Maltby TE forged irons for the past 5 years and its been the best set of irons I've ever had. They're a very forgiving iron with lofts that are not jack up. 

I'd have to agree with you there, the TE heads are great(better than my MP57s). I've had them for maybe 4 years now that I really don't have that many rounds on them. My question is how long will the grooves in these last playing 80 rounds a year and should I stock up on another set of heads for backups just incase they decide to stop making them.

[azstu324]

"Wishon was also a drummer for the Steve Miller band!"
Well........ that is not quite completely true. Although he did sit in on the taping of the Fly Like an Eagle album and yes I do believe he told me it is him drumming on one of the tracks on the album. But no he was never "the drummer" for Steve Miller. They just happened to be at the golf course where he was working and found out he was a drummer and asked him to sit in because their drummer was sick. And that is straight from the horse's(Tom's) mouth to me.

Hey still a pretty killer story nonetheless. I believe I got that info in a news article from golf digest. I'm sure they "embellished" a tad.

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..

[WalterS]

10 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Hey still a pretty killer story nonetheless. I believe I got that info in a news article from golf digest. I'm sure they "embellished" a tad.

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 

Yeah I was calling him the rock star but he quickly pooh poohed that, ha-ha.

[brendalonian]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:12 PM, WalterS said:

I'd have to agree with you there, the TE heads are great(better than my MP57s). I've had them for maybe 4 years now that I really don't have that many rounds on them. My question is how long will the grooves in these last playing 80 rounds a year and should I stock up on another set of heads for backups just incase they decide to stop making them.

I've been gaming the Wilson D7 Forged since last summer and I was pretty shocked when I saw they carry an MPF score of 438. But then again, my distance and lateral dispersion with them is pretty erratic. Seeing as how inexpensive the TE Forged heads are, I decided to build three 6 irons in different shafts for some testing. 

Even with an MPF of 788, I didn't expect the TE to be ultra forgiving given its compact shape. After four driving range sessions and one 9-hole round, I have been incredibly impressed by how much forgiveness this club provides. The carry distance is down a tad from my Wilsons due to the weaker lofts, but the distance consistency appears, thus far, to be superior. I'm finding a groove with one of the shafts in particular and I feel like I'm throwing darts with this club. 

It feels weird to consider replacing a 1.5 year old model with an 11 year old model, but I suppose Maltby/GolfWorks hasn't replaced it because it works and still sells. I too echo @WalterS's question about the longevity of the grooves and wonder if the DBM version would hold up better over time.