2020 Official Member Review: Ben Hogan Icon & PTX Pro/Icon Combo Irons

[Erik-M 653]

So, I'm headed out today to do an 18 hole, 4-pw challenge against @GB13 for the cobra connect challenge.   It will be interesting cause i did a gap test yesterday and I hit my 4 iron so bad that it gapped it between my 6 and 7 irons lol. But I'm convinced that the SkyTrak hates my swing anyway, so I'm not putting much stock into it.  Similar 4 iron strikes going 241 and then 193? Weird, but i digress. Plus I'm a gamer, so I'll let you know how it goes. 

[GB13 7,778]

56 minutes ago, Erik-M said:

So, I'm headed out today to do an 18 hole, 4-pw challenge against @GB13 for the cobra connect challenge.   It will be interesting cause i did a gap test yesterday and I hit my 4 iron so bad that it gapped it between my 6 and 7 irons lol. But I'm convinced that the SkyTrak hates my swing anyway, so I'm not putting much stock into it.  Similar 4 iron strikes going 241 and then 193? Weird, but i digress. Plus I'm a gamer, so I'll let you know how it goes. 

Good luck!! Hitting off of mats always produces funky/terrible numbers for my swing. I’m pretty sure it’s a mental issue for me. 

[Erik-M 653]

23 minutes ago, GB13 said:

Good luck!! Hitting off of mats always produces funky/terrible numbers for my swing. I’m pretty sure it’s a mental issue for me. 

Yeah for sure, thanks! good luck to you!

[Titleist87 237]

The black Icons are certainly the most beautiful iron out there IMO. Anxious to read the reviews.

[bens197 6,195]

[Sluggo42 6,040]

17 hours ago, downlowkey said:

I’m likely to drop in a brand new Matrix Ozik crate motor

haha, that one actually made me lol.

Im finding my elbow and left hand are hurting less and less with the switch away from the VTours to the Recoils. But I did like them...

I wish I had a fancy crate engine in my garage...

[Erik-M 653]

So the 4-pw plus putter challenge was just that, a challenge!! I missed my wedges more then I ever thought I would! I realized today how much I lean on my long and short game.  For example on a par 5 today I hit a long 4 iron off the tee and had a 3 iron distance left in, then i had to hit p wedge to get another p wedge distance,  when i would either be on in 2 or near the green where i am really comfortable playing an array of different shots.  Plus our greens are super small and there are tons of run offs that make hitting flop p wedges very interesting. Here's the set up of the bag!

I hit a sticky 5 iron on the 7th from 205, probably 1 of the only highlights of the day!

It was lots of fun though!

[Erik-M 653]

4 hours ago, Titleist87 said:

The black Icons are certainly the most beautiful iron out there IMO. Anxious to read the reviews.

Yeah the finish is holding up well!

[Erik-M 653]

oh and on that gap testing I did yesterday, I was supposed to be hitting pw from 126, so my first shot from the fairway today was 137 so I pulled pw to stay just short of the pin and blasted it long.  So I quickly got that gap test outta my mind and went with what I thought they should play! I'm a good 10 yds longer with each club! Then my old set. 

[Sluggo42 6,040]

I played to score today instead of endless iron testing, and I shot even from the combo tees. It was kind of the 5 and 6 iron show today, with lots of long iron opportunities. I put seven on the greens today. I actually almost made my first HIO twice with the 6 iron on par 3's. the ball had to have gone within an inch of the cup as it settled past the hole by 3 or 4 feet. Made one and missed one birdie putt. I was almost giggling when I finally got to hit the icons. I guess yesterdays gigantic range session paid some dividends today.

I also think the Recoils are giving me about 5 yds extra on the shorter irons and maybe 10 on the longer irons. It also might be my newer swing. Which is simply a flared front foot, and a closed face backswing. But for some reason, that really creates a nice little snap at the contact point. 

[Sluggo42 6,040]

I figured out how to trigger my camera with my IWatch..who knew?

anyway, this is a perfect example of why I love the icons...

[PMookie 12,519]

On 7/31/2020 at 7:17 AM, bens197 said:

Teed off this morning at 6a and finished a quick 9 holes in one hour and 15 at Greystone which is a beautiful links course where I play most often.  While I wasn't playing for a low score I shot 38 with 3 bogeys, one birdie, 3 GIR and 15 putts.  It was more about course management and hitting more irons off the tee (4UiHi) to set myself up with more approaches with mid and longer irons.  I finished the round with a 3 putt from 15 feet so ouch!  

As I develop some confidence with these irons I am learning, well, reinforcing the fact that my yardages with these irons are slightly shorter than what I am used to.  I don't have an issue with that as it could just be a product of getting older.  I am going to dig deeper into this point but one thing I have learned with the Icon heads is that they are much more forgiving than their predecessor.  Without having precise data, I am learning that my toe-miss (my common miss for my irons) is consistently 5 yards short.  The Fort Worth heads would be far worse and require a precise strike to stay within their margin of error.  

Face-on video is the 4 UiHi and the tee shot on the 3 is a 6 iron from 175.

 

 

Two things. First of all, I am jealous that you can get up that early and be loose enough to play golf! Truly jealous! Secondly, I’m going to have to call a two shot penalty on you, possibly even a disqualification, for wearing ear buds during the round.....

[PMookie 12,519]

3 hours ago, Sluggo42 said:

I figured out how to trigger my camera with my IWatch..who knew?

anyway, this is a perfect example of why I love the icons...

Wait... Is that Riviera?!?!?!

[bens197 6,195]

6 hours ago, PMookie said:

Two things. First of all, I am jealous that you can get up that early and be loose enough to play golf! Truly jealous! Secondly, I’m going to have to call a two shot penalty on you, possibly even a disqualification, for wearing ear buds during the round.....

I’ll be the first to say that there are few things I enjoy more than the peaceful sounds of 6am. That said, one of those few things are pounding a driver while listening to Carter Beauford or Neil Peart tearing up a drum solo

 

 

[Golfspy_CG2 25,435]

14 hours ago, Erik-M said:

So the 4-pw plus putter challenge was just that, a challenge!! I missed my wedges more then I ever thought I would! I realized today how much I lean on my long and short game.  For example on a par 5 today I hit a long 4 iron off the tee and had a 3 iron distance left in, then i had to hit p wedge to get another p wedge distance,  when i would either be on in 2 or near the green where i am really comfortable playing an array of different shots.  Plus our greens are super small and there are tons of run offs that make hitting flop p wedges very interesting. Here's the set up of the bag!

I hit a sticky 5 iron on the 7th from 205, probably 1 of the only highlights of the day!

It was lots of fun though!

You guys should have just parked the cart near the starter area, grabbed a couple beverages, and just pulled up a chair, and watched the crowds stop and stare at those two bags, and you could just "yeah, that's right playa's here"   

 

[Erik-M 653]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

You guys should have just parked the cart near the starter area, grabbed a couple beverages, and just pulled up a chair, and watched the crowds stop and stare at those two bags, and you could just "yeah, that's right playa's here"   

 

Right, and just never hit a shot! Lol

[Sluggo42 6,040]

21 hours ago, PMookie said:

Wait... Is that Riviera?!?!?!

I wish...

 

[downlowkey 3,892]

Took the ICONs to Indian Peaks this afternoon. Only the second time on the road with the Hogans and they did not disappoint.

(12/14) Fwy, (17) GIR, 32 Putts (-2)

Flagged it all day with the ICONs. My only missed green was a 9-iron that ended up on the fringe 20 feet from the hole. Hit every club in the bag. Really solid ball striking day and didn’t make a thing over 5 feet.

The only bummer of the round was my push cart creeping off while I was filling the water bottle, rolling into a hole, tipping over on the cart path and dinging up the back of the 9 iron a bit. I almost shed a tear and then 3-putted from 25 feet.

Shot Scope and side-by-side comparisons have the ICONs about a half club longer than my gamers thus far. I’ve put in a lot of work getting to know these clubs and they are proving to be quite dependable.

 

[bens197 6,195]

In the world of bad news, this ranks up there. I was a guest of my brother in law at his home club and wrecked my back. While walking to my tee shot on the first, I heard a pop in my back. I whiffed my approach on the best drive I’ve ever hit on the opening hole and fell to the ground.  Fortunately, I have enough content to offer a final review but I am unfortunately out of commission until I figure out what happened. 
 

 

 

[B.Boston 9,421]

5 minutes ago, bens197 said:

In the world of bad news, this ranks up there. I was a guest of my brother in law at his home club and wrecked my back. While walking to my tee shot on the first, I heard a pop in my back. I whiffed my approach on the best drive I’ve ever hit on the opening hole and fell to the ground.  Fortunately, I have enough content to offer a final review but I am unfortunately out of commission until I figure out what happened. 
 

 

 

Rest up!