Thin2win Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 As promised, some comparison pictures between the current testing clubs, the D7 Forged and the 699 Pros. So this last picture shows the biggest difference between the two. Notice the D7 has 7 groves that are full length, the 699's have only 6. This makes the 699 look incredibly narrow in the heel and high in the toe at address to me. I got the 699 to replace my i500 and to match my 639-CB set. But I could never get comfortable looking at it and kept the i500 in the bag. All that babble aside, if anyone has any questions for me in how the D7 Forged compare to Ping i200s or i500s, or Sub 70 639-CB or 699 Pros ask away. JohnSmalls, HardcoreLooper, MattF and 5 others 6 2 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 The man on the left in this picture is my fitter/club repair guy. He will be checking my specs for me next week. He also fits Brittany Lincecome and John Daly. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy sirchunksalot, MattF, JohnSmalls and 3 others 6 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardcoreLooper Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 On 9/19/2020 at 8:45 PM, Thin2win said: You guys have any fit /finish issues? No issues with the finish. Everything appears to be built very nicely. Shaft logos down, tight ferrules, grips on straight. Just one issue. I ordered the clubs -1.5 flat, and the spec sheet reports the build at -1.0 flat. So that's not great. I just pinged the fitter at Club Champion; I'm hoping to bring them over for a spec check/adjustment in the next couple days. My daughter was not feeling well this morning, so I played a quick nine by myself. No video evidence exists, which is a good thing. My back was bothering me; I should have stayed home and did yoga instead. I did hit another one high off the toe, this time with a 6 iron, and lost a solid 25 yards on it. Luckily it was a tee shot, so it was the difference between a gap wedge and a 9 iron. Let's talk short game for a moment. Hot Chip pretty much sums it up. The face on these clubs is lively. The ball feels like it leaps off the clubface on short shots. I have hit about 80% of my chip shots past the hole. And not a little past the hole. A good 8-10 feet past the hole. I'm trying to use higher lofted clubs for bump and run shots, but I still feel like I'm hitting a super-ball. I'm not too terribly worried, though. I remember having the same problem with the Cobras, so I'm sure I'll get used to these. GregGarner, sirchunksalot, russtopherb and 4 others 7 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSmalls Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 40 minutes ago, HardcoreLooper said: No issues with the finish. Everything appears to be built very nicely. Shaft logos down, tight ferrules, grips on straight. Just one issue. I ordered the clubs -1.5 flat, and the spec sheet reports the build at -1.0 flat. So that's not great. I just pinged the fitter at Club Champion; I'm hoping to bring them over for a spec check/adjustment in the next couple days. My daughter was not feeling well this morning, so I played a quick nine by myself. No video evidence exists, which is a good thing. My back was bothering me; I should have stayed home and did yoga instead. I did hit another one high off the toe, this time with a 6 irons, and lost a solid 25 yards on it. Luckily it was a tee shot, so it was the difference between a gap wedge and a 9 iron. Let's talk short game for a moment. Hot Chip pretty much sums it up. The face on these clubs is lively. The ball feels like it leaps off the clubface on short shots. I have hit about 80% of my chip shots past the hole. And not a little past the hole. A good 8-10 feet past the hole. I'm trying to use higher lofted clubs for bump and run shots, but I still feel like I'm hitting a super-ball. I'm not too terribly worried, though. I remember having the same problem with the Cobras, so I'm sure I'll get used to these. I struggled when I first got my D7s topping shots and hitting them out of the power holes. I sliced a brand new ball doing that with the 4 iron I had yet another similar experience when I spec checked my irons. They all came in one degree off on the lie, and my fitter said it was probably due to how their machine is calibrated. FWIW GregGarner, MattF, HardcoreLooper and 1 other 4 Quote Gameday Vessel Sunday 2.0/ Ogio Silencer Dynapwr Carbon | Hzrdus Smoke Black Mavrik 3w | Evenflow Riptide FG Tour F5 Hybrid(20,23) | MCA Fubuki Staff Model CB 5-PW | DG 120 Vokey SM7 (50, 54, 58) | DG 120 Studio Stock 15 -ProV1x (left dash) Romans 10:9 Classic Bag Jones Collegiate Clemson Stand Bag Eye 2 Laminate 1973 Staff Dynapower 4-PW Anser DUO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattF Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Not officially charted but yesterday was my The Grint club tournament, so I played a few holes with one of the groups before my tee time. #5 at Windmill Lakes I lost the driver short and right leaving 200 to the middle with the pin in the front quadrant. I thought 4 iron because 185ish is good for the Bridgestone. Well...D7 to the middle and rolled to the back. Rickp, sirchunksalot, HardcoreLooper and 3 others 6 Quote In the bag: Driver: TSR2 Project X HZRDUS Black 5.5 Fairway: Apex UW 19° & 21° Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Black 5.5 Irons: JPX 923 HMP 5-PW UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Wedges: T-22 Denim Copper 48°, 52° & 56° UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Putter Sycamore 005 Wide Blade Bag: Alpha Convoy 514 Balls: Chrome Soft X Cart: CaddyLite ONE Ver. 8 God Bless America, God save the King, God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Not officially charted but yesterday was my The Grint club tournament, so I played a few holes with one of the groups before my tee time. #5 at Windmill Lakes I lost the driver short and right leaving 200 to the middle with the pin in the front quadrant. I thought 4 iron because 185ish is good for the Bridgestone. Well...D7 to the middle and rolled to the back.I also hit several irons long yesterday. But it was so windy that it was hard to get anything downwind you stop Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy HardcoreLooper, Rickp, JohnSmalls and 3 others 6 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin2win Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 4 hours ago, MattF said: Not officially charted but yesterday was my The Grint club tournament, so I played a few holes with one of the groups before my tee time. #5 at Windmill Lakes I lost the driver short and right leaving 200 to the middle with the pin in the front quadrant. I thought 4 iron because 185ish is good for the Bridgestone. Well...D7 to the middle and rolled to the back. 3 hours ago, revkev said: I also hit several irons long yesterday. But it was so windy that it was hard to get anything downwind you stop Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy I've been hitting a few shots per round crazy long. It hasn't happened off the tee, or of the fairway, so I'm blaming this on getting flyers from the rough, but I'm getting them more frequently and way further distance than ever before. Yesterday, I had 145y to a back pin, really good lie in the rough (ball fully visible and sitting up). Hitting these a little longer than my previous set, I pulled 9i, figuring on about 140y of carry. Hit a pure shot, right at the pin... Flew the green and had a 30y shot back to the green... Shotscope tracked it as a 179y 9i. The round before it was a 5i that went 40y further than expected and a PW that went 30y more than expected. This isn't ideal. I'm going to use CG quad today to check gaping, I'll see if I get any of these type shots off a mat. JohnSmalls, revkev, xOldBenKenobiX and 2 others 5 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregGarner Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 13 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said: Hot Chip pretty much sums it up. The face on these clubs is lively. The ball feels like it leaps off the clubface on short shots. I have hit about 80% of my chip shots past the hole. And not a little past the hole. A good 8-10 feet past the hole. I'm typically not one to use irons for chips, though every once in a rare while I'll pull a PW or 9i, especially out of the rough with a lot of green to work with. But realistically probably 85+% of greenside shots are with a wedge, fairly evenly distributed across my 50, 54, and 58. As part of this testing, I've tried to use my PW more, but it's definitely hot. This morning I had a really straightforward 9i chip with about 40' of green to work with and I blasted it 15' past. That's gonna take some getting used to... brendalonian, MattF and revkev 3 Quote Driver: ZX5 LS MkII 9.5* (@ 9.0*) with 46.5" Ventus Blue 6X 3-wood: SIM 15* with Diamana Limited 75S 5-wood: RADspeed 18.5* with Motore X F3 60S 2i: ZX with SteelFiber i95 Stiff 4hy: TS3 23* with Tensei AV Blue 70 S 4i-7i ZX7, 8i-PW Z-Forged, Modus3 Tour 120 S 50*, 55* RTX 6 Modus3 Tour 125 60* RTX Full Face ZipCore DG Spinner S400 Putter: Toulon Chicago with a Quad Tour or HB SOFT Milled 10.5S with UST All-in Ball: Chrome Tour (but I might still have some Left Dashes hanging around) Bag: Ltd Edition Tartan, blue/green/yellow Using to keep track of my shots Tested: D7 Forged 3i-PW, KBS Tour-V 110S - Official Review Blind Ball Test (Ball #3 vs Ball #4) - Unofficial Review V3 GPS Watch + Tags - Official Review Vero X2 - Official Review The Stack System - Official Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardcoreLooper Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 10 hours ago, Thin2win said: Yesterday, I had 145y to a back pin, really good lie in the rough (ball fully visible and sitting up). Hitting these a little longer than my previous set, I pulled 9i, figuring on about 140y of carry. Hit a pure shot, right at the pin... Flew the green and had a 30y shot back to the green... Shotscope tracked it as a 179y 9i. That's just insane. I really haven't caught any fliers, but our rough isn't all that thick right now. 9 hours ago, greggarner said: I'm typically not one to use irons for chips, though every once in a rare while I'll pull a PW or 9i, especially out of the rough with a lot of green to work with. But realistically probably 85+% of greenside shots are with a wedge, fairly evenly distributed across my 50, 54, and 58. As part of this testing, I've tried to use my PW more, but it's definitely hot. This morning I had a really straightforward 9i chip with about 40' of green to work with and I blasted it 15' past. That's gonna take some getting used to... I may be showing my age here, but I like to get the ball on the ground and rolling as soon as I can. I've been known to use everything up to a 6i if I have a long way to go and very little fringe to carry. JohnSmalls, GregGarner, Thin2win and 1 other 4 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin2win Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 (edited) Spent yesterday on a launch monitor. I'll update this with some numbers, but the short version is I was impressed with the gaping of the D7's. 10-12 yards gaps for me from GW-5i. And every peak height 29y +/- 1 y. Also, didn't hit a single crazy flyer the likes of which I've been seeing on the course, so still blaming that on the rough(and ability to play out of it). edit: here are the numbers Previous Bag: Iron Wilson D7 Forged Carry Spin GW 49° 118 7700 PW 44° 130 7300 9i 39° 143 6500 8i 34.5° 155 5800 7i 30.5° 168 4800 6i 27.5° 178 4400 5i 24.5° 188 4000 Cleveland CBX2 Carry Sub 70 639 CB Carry Ping i500 Carry Spin 50° 115y - - 42°(PW/9i) 136 7300 - 36°(8i/9i) 149 5400 30°(7i) 165 4700 - 25°(5i) 189 The shot area's were all pretty good, I threw out a few ugly shots. Overall, I'd say the D7's spun a little more than my current set, most notable with the 8i. The gapping is definitely more consistent than what I have been using, but that is mostly in the long iron area. My gap was 165-189, that was a bit big. But that is an easy enough fix, take 2° off my 5i and I should be at 180 with it. But still, having a full set is nice. Edited September 22, 2020 by Thin2win Adding numbers brendalonian, HardcoreLooper, GregGarner and 2 others 5 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin2win Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Power holes testing: Also out of yesterday's LM session, I have some thoughts on the power holes. I'm definitely a sweeper/picker of the ball, I rarely take a divot, and I tend to miss on the thin side. Going back and hitting my current set after a few weeks of not hitting them. The D7's feel much better on a thin hit. Some combination of Power Holes, Power Chamber and Recoil shaft has taken all the sting out of a thin shot. I didn't really notice it going to the D7's, but switching back for some LM data, it was very noticeable. That is a big plus in my book. HardcoreLooper, GregGarner, MattF and 4 others 7 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GregGarner Posted September 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2020 Sunday and Monday? Not so good. Lots of shots thin and heely. But nothing a little Dr. Scholl's can't fix! Sharing my 6i and 3i work from tonight (yes, that's a couple strikes on the 3i) And yeah. These feel gooooood. I am ready to get back out there. Bringing my pw, 6i, 4i from my i210s to do some head-to-head. sirchunksalot, HardcoreLooper, edingc and 7 others 10 Quote Driver: ZX5 LS MkII 9.5* (@ 9.0*) with 46.5" Ventus Blue 6X 3-wood: SIM 15* with Diamana Limited 75S 5-wood: RADspeed 18.5* with Motore X F3 60S 2i: ZX with SteelFiber i95 Stiff 4hy: TS3 23* with Tensei AV Blue 70 S 4i-7i ZX7, 8i-PW Z-Forged, Modus3 Tour 120 S 50*, 55* RTX 6 Modus3 Tour 125 60* RTX Full Face ZipCore DG Spinner S400 Putter: Toulon Chicago with a Quad Tour or HB SOFT Milled 10.5S with UST All-in Ball: Chrome Tour (but I might still have some Left Dashes hanging around) Bag: Ltd Edition Tartan, blue/green/yellow Using to keep track of my shots Tested: D7 Forged 3i-PW, KBS Tour-V 110S - Official Review Blind Ball Test (Ball #3 vs Ball #4) - Unofficial Review V3 GPS Watch + Tags - Official Review Vero X2 - Official Review The Stack System - Official Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HardcoreLooper Posted September 23, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2020 @MattF will be upset with me, but I hit some range balls this evening. I know I'm going to be kicked off of team #NoPractice, but my daughter wanted to hit her new driver, and I didn't want to be the typical junior golf dad and just watch her practice. Besides, it's all in the name of the review. I do it for the readers. Don't worry, I didn't hit a ton of balls, probably less than 20. I've done plenty of testing off the toe already, especially the high toe, and I'm convinced that it costs me about 20 yards. But what about the heel? And not just the heel, but the hosel? Purely in the name of science and for the purposes of the review, I subconsciously decided to hit an 8 iron left of the grooves. And as expected, the ball flight was low and nearly perpendicular to my intended target. Just as you would expect. My shank experiment notwithstanding, the range session was pretty good. The feel and sound of these clubs are just brilliant. It's not that my F8s are bad, just that these are so much better. I'm also loving the increased height. The question is - can I live with the dead shot off the high toe, knowing that I'm good for at least one of these per round? Stay tuned. fixyurdivot, JohnSmalls, GregGarner and 8 others 7 4 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattF Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 7 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said: @MattF will be upset with me, but I hit some range balls this evening. I know I'm going to be kicked off of team #NoPractice, HardcoreLooper, sirchunksalot, JohnSmalls and 6 others 1 8 Quote In the bag: Driver: TSR2 Project X HZRDUS Black 5.5 Fairway: Apex UW 19° & 21° Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Black 5.5 Irons: JPX 923 HMP 5-PW UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Wedges: T-22 Denim Copper 48°, 52° & 56° UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Putter Sycamore 005 Wide Blade Bag: Alpha Convoy 514 Balls: Chrome Soft X Cart: CaddyLite ONE Ver. 8 God Bless America, God save the King, God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GregGarner Posted September 24, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 24, 2020 23 hours ago, greggarner said: Nothing a little Dr. Scholl's can't fix! I am ready to get back out there. Bringing my pw, 6i, 4i from my i210s to do some head-to-head. Still struggling some with the 3i, but wanted to share a couple things that stood out to me tonight following last night's range session: I've got my hands lower at impact, so contrary to my initial rounds, I've now got a baby draw working (and can still easily call up a fade, which was very difficult for me with my Pings) D7 PW about 5 yards longer on comparable strikes (n=2, soooo...) BUT the peak height is pretty similar D7 6i about 10 yards longer on comparable strikes (n=3...) and the D7 is markedly lower/more piercing. My Ping seems to just float. It's hard to tell without a launch monitor, but I'm starting to wonder if the spin rates are a little lower on the D7 or if it's just the flatter descent angle (or, you know, both). I was playing ProV1x tonight and the Pings were drop-and-stop with mid irons and coming back about a foot or two with short irons. (The greens were so firm tonight that ballmarks were hard to find!) The D7s were definitely running out more. Here's an 8i from 160 (I would have juiced a 7i if playing my Pings). I added in the dotted line to help illustrate, but that's approximately 10' of run-out. Don't love that, but a) it was off a tee and b) there are spinnier balls. And one thing that I'm definitely noticing is the predictability of a well-struck shot. I can already tell by feel exactly where that ball is about to end up and that's not something I would've ever said about my i210s. D7s? KBS shafts? Combo of both? No matter, the dispersion is excellent. Case in point, par 5 9th, I flushed this 6i and just from the feel, I immediately had the thought: that's going to be damn close. Watching the ball track right at the pin, I thought, "that's going in." Well, I was wrong. Sure would've liked an albatross though. Rickp, russtopherb, Thin2win and 8 others 8 3 Quote Driver: ZX5 LS MkII 9.5* (@ 9.0*) with 46.5" Ventus Blue 6X 3-wood: SIM 15* with Diamana Limited 75S 5-wood: RADspeed 18.5* with Motore X F3 60S 2i: ZX with SteelFiber i95 Stiff 4hy: TS3 23* with Tensei AV Blue 70 S 4i-7i ZX7, 8i-PW Z-Forged, Modus3 Tour 120 S 50*, 55* RTX 6 Modus3 Tour 125 60* RTX Full Face ZipCore DG Spinner S400 Putter: Toulon Chicago with a Quad Tour or HB SOFT Milled 10.5S with UST All-in Ball: Chrome Tour (but I might still have some Left Dashes hanging around) Bag: Ltd Edition Tartan, blue/green/yellow Using to keep track of my shots Tested: D7 Forged 3i-PW, KBS Tour-V 110S - Official Review Blind Ball Test (Ball #3 vs Ball #4) - Unofficial Review V3 GPS Watch + Tags - Official Review Vero X2 - Official Review The Stack System - Official Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardcoreLooper Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 1 hour ago, greggarner said: The D7s were definitely running out more. Do you think you'll experiment with a higher-spinning ball? Also, what's the soil like down in RDU? For all the time I spent in the Red Hat tower pre-COVID, I've never played golf down there. Richmond is all clay, so I never really worry about stopping the ball. Balls plug for days after it rains here. JohnSmalls, fixyurdivot, MattF and 2 others 5 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thin2win Posted September 24, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 24, 2020 Winter is coming.... After enjoying a nice PNW summer of 75 degrees days and mild to no wind, today that all changed. I was the lone player from our standard 8 man Wednesday game to tee it up. I haven't played in sustained winds in a good while. Throw in some rain and it was a different day on the links. So, I got to hit lots of 3/4 knock downs... I hit more GIR today than in the last month and shot my best round in the last few weeks. Golf. Very easy to fight the ball down and got through the wet grass nicely. Surprisingly pleased with the day. GregGarner, JohnSmalls, fixyurdivot and 7 others 9 1 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregGarner Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 11 hours ago, HardcoreLooper said: Do you think you'll experiment with a higher-spinning ball? Also, what's the soil like down in RDU? For all the time I spent in the Red Hat tower pre-COVID, I've never played golf down there. Richmond is all clay, so I never really worry about stopping the ball. Balls plug for days after it rains here. I've noticed the Z-Star seems to have plenty of spin, more of a hop-and-stop. I was giving my stash of XVs a break, but I may need to bust them out for some testing. I was thinking about picking up a sleeve of Bridgestone Tour BXS because I can spin the cover off of them, but if anyone has any other balls they want me to test, I'm happy to snag a sleeve (except NOT K-Sigs). The ProV1x's really aren't getting it done even with crisp contact. (And just for a fun, I found a Callaway ERC Soft and hit that a couple of times. You wanna talk about running out...) It's also clay down here. In the fairways, that's fine, but my club actively tries to make the greens really firm (Bermuda) so that it doesn't turn to mush when it rains. There is a course I have reciprocity at with Bentgrass greens and every summer they lose a couple of them. They are sponges right now and everything plugs, so I've stayed away from it for our testing. 10 hours ago, Thin2win said: Very easy to fight the ball down and got through the wet grass nicely. Surprisingly pleased with the day. I had a couple shots today where I needed to punch and could not get the ball up. One of them had straight up topspin and dove into the turf about 20 yards out. Apparently I need to figure out how to punch with these irons as my Pings had me doing it wrong? Agree on wet grass. These are really easy to hit out of wet Bermuda rough. Rickp, Thin2win, brendalonian and 5 others 8 Quote Driver: ZX5 LS MkII 9.5* (@ 9.0*) with 46.5" Ventus Blue 6X 3-wood: SIM 15* with Diamana Limited 75S 5-wood: RADspeed 18.5* with Motore X F3 60S 2i: ZX with SteelFiber i95 Stiff 4hy: TS3 23* with Tensei AV Blue 70 S 4i-7i ZX7, 8i-PW Z-Forged, Modus3 Tour 120 S 50*, 55* RTX 6 Modus3 Tour 125 60* RTX Full Face ZipCore DG Spinner S400 Putter: Toulon Chicago with a Quad Tour or HB SOFT Milled 10.5S with UST All-in Ball: Chrome Tour (but I might still have some Left Dashes hanging around) Bag: Ltd Edition Tartan, blue/green/yellow Using to keep track of my shots Tested: D7 Forged 3i-PW, KBS Tour-V 110S - Official Review Blind Ball Test (Ball #3 vs Ball #4) - Unofficial Review V3 GPS Watch + Tags - Official Review Vero X2 - Official Review The Stack System - Official Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Trying to get to the range as much as possible to familiarize myself with these. It’s really tough for me to just “play” with new irons. I need time. The one time I played I also experienced the ball not holding but it was exceedingly windy.Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Thin2win, Rickp, russtopherb and 6 others 9 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejgaudette Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 6 hours ago, greggarner said: I've noticed the Z-Star seems to have plenty of spin, more of a hop-and-stop. I was giving my stash of XVs a break, but I may need to bust them out for some testing. I was thinking about picking up a sleeve of Bridgestone Tour BXS because I can spin the cover off of them, but if anyone has any other balls they want me to test, I'm happy to snag a sleeve (except NOT K-Sigs). The ProV1x's really aren't getting it done even with crisp contact. (And just for a fun, I found a Callaway ERC Soft and hit that a couple of times. You wanna talk about running out...) It's also clay down here. In the fairways, that's fine, but my club actively tries to make the greens really firm (Bermuda) so that it doesn't turn to mush when it rains. There is a course I have reciprocity at with Bentgrass greens and every summer they lose a couple of them. They are sponges right now and everything plugs, so I've stayed away from it for our testing. I had a couple shots today where I needed to punch and could not get the ball up. One of them had straight up topspin and dove into the turf about 20 yards out. Apparently I need to figure out how to punch with these irons as my Pings had me doing it wrong? Agree on wet grass. These are really easy to hit out of wet Bermuda rough. The Mizuno Tour RB X ball is another very spinny one I you want to try that with the D7s fixyurdivot, sirchunksalot, JohnSmalls and 2 others 5 Quote Epic Max LS 9° Ventus Blue 6X (2021 Official Review) | Epic Speed 18° Evenflow Riptide 70g 6.0 816 H1 21° Diamana S+ Blue 70 S | SMS 4-5/SMS Pro 6-PW Steelfiber i95 S (2023 Official Review) Glide 4.0 50°.12°S/54°.14°W/58°.6°T PING Z-Z115 Wedge Flex | SOFT 11S Super Stroke Mid-Slim 2.0 Hoofer Bag | Pro V1 | Right Handed | Tracked by V3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardcoreLooper Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 11 hours ago, greggarner said: It's also clay down here. In the fairways, that's fine, but my club actively tries to make the greens really firm (Bermuda) so that it doesn't turn to mush when it rains. There is a course I have reciprocity at with Bentgrass greens and every summer they lose a couple of them. They are sponges right now and everything plugs, so I've stayed away from it for our testing. Being just a teeny bit farther south than us makes it easier to keep Bermuda greens alive. The place I usually play (and volunteer as a coach) has bent greens, and they are just sponges. The other TFT facility here in Richmond has Champions Bermuda greens on the practice green and the par 3 course (it's also the practice facility for VCU golf, and they funded the renovation). They are phenomenal to play on, but it's just too cold around here to keep them from getting damaged during the winter without extreme measures. We've already lost them once. Richmond is a great town for beer, food, live music and art, but it's a lousy place to grow grass. 9 hours ago, revkev said: Trying to get to the range as much as possible to familiarize myself with these. It’s really tough for me to just “play” with new irons. I need time. Different strokes for different folks. I wish I had the patience to practice full shots. I got out again tonight for a quick nine. I had a pretty nice night striking the ball: Ignore the overall handicap, not sure how Arccos is calculating that. I just like that direction the red line is going. I'm also liking the looks of this: Even the awful nine I played on Sunday had a decent strokes gained for approach. I'm starting to get a feel for the distances these clubs will go. The TFT course has several par 3s, and I'd always hit the ball off a tee pushed down to the ground. And when hitting an iron off the tee on a par 4 or 5, I'd tee it up a bit. I hit these clubs better (at least for tonight) with the ball on the turf on Par 3s and just barely off the ground when hitting the 4i on par 4s/5s. That 7i was a fun shot. I was blocked out by low hanging limbs; the only way I was getting the ball anywhere near the green was to hit a low cut punch shot. And I did. These clubs seem to want to hit it straight, but I was able to get a good bit of curve on that shot. I think I've said it before, but the sound the ball makes coming off these clubs is sublime. It's a solid crack that I'd honestly forgotten about after a couple years of the Cobra F8s. I'm all about the stats and the scores, but it's hard not to take pride in being able to make that sound with a golf club again. JohnSmalls, fixyurdivot, MattF and 3 others 6 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin2win Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 20 minutes ago, HardcoreLooper said: These are very pleasant on the ears. Best sounding irons I've had in the bag. MattF, fixyurdivot, HardcoreLooper and 3 others 6 Quote WITB: Driver: SIM2 Max 12° - Accra TZ6 M4 FW Wood: Gen5 0311 7w Fujikura Motore X F3 Irons: ZX7 PW-7i, ZX5 6i-5i Wedges: Zipcore 50°, 58° Putter: MySpider X Cart: Onewheel XR+ Ball: Z-Star Diamond/ Z-Star XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardcoreLooper Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 16 minutes ago, Thin2win said: These are very pleasant on the ears. Best sounding irons I've had in the bag. I hit an old set of Hogans I have a few days before these arrived, and the sound is similar. But in an easier to hit package. JohnSmalls, MattF, GregGarner and 1 other 3 1 Quote What's in the bag: Driver - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Wood (13.5*) - 980F 4 Wood (18*) - F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S ) 3 Hybrid (19*) - RBZ 4i - PW - D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S ) 52* - CBX 58* - CBX Full Face 2 Putter - Craz-e Bag - 2.5 (Blue) Ball - AVX Instagram - @hardcorelooper Twitter - @meovino Facebook - mike.eovino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Reading remarks by my tester teammates I’m reminded that irons in this category generally will produce less spin. The offset is an increased angle of descent. I will be anxious to get on an LM to compare spin and descent rates. By sight the G30’s appear to launch and fly higher but the Rapsodo data doesn’t support what the eyes see. Very similar launch rates and carry distances - 147 yards average carry with 7 iron.I’m not a high spin player anyway. I’m fine with my wedges but once I get to 9 iron I need to allow for run out - how much depends on course conditions. I’m far enough south that everything is some form of Bermuda and the newer strains that populate most of our greens tend to be quite firm most of the year. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy GregGarner, ejgaudette, sirchunksalot and 3 others 6 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejgaudette Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 13 minutes ago, revkev said: Reading remarks by my tester teammates I’m reminded that irons in this category generally will produce less spin. The offset is an increased angle of descent. I will be anxious to get on an LM to compare spin and descent rates. By sight the G30’s appear to launch and fly higher but the Rapsodo data doesn’t support what the eyes see. Very similar launch rates and carry distances - 147 yards average carry with 7 iron. I’m not a high spin player anyway. I’m fine with my wedges but once I get to 9 iron I need to allow for run out - how much depends on course conditions. I’m far enough south that everything is some form of Bermuda and the newer strains that populate most of our greens tend to be quite firm most of the year. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Great point about the trade-off between the descent angle and spin rates that most game improvement irons present. Seeing this compared on a launch monitor would be very interesting. Would love if someone could come up with some sort of test to see how much changing the descent angle be a degree reduces stopping distance versus say increasing spin 300 rmp say. Does one have a much bigger effect than the other. Setting this up would of course be difficult, but maybe one could even use existing CGQuad data to start to answer this question. If I had some data such as this it would be really interesting to dive into. sirchunksalot, revkev, GregGarner and 3 others 6 Quote Epic Max LS 9° Ventus Blue 6X (2021 Official Review) | Epic Speed 18° Evenflow Riptide 70g 6.0 816 H1 21° Diamana S+ Blue 70 S | SMS 4-5/SMS Pro 6-PW Steelfiber i95 S (2023 Official Review) Glide 4.0 50°.12°S/54°.14°W/58°.6°T PING Z-Z115 Wedge Flex | SOFT 11S Super Stroke Mid-Slim 2.0 Hoofer Bag | Pro V1 | Right Handed | Tracked by V3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Great point about the trade-off between the descent angle and spin rates that most game improvement irons present. Seeing this compared on a launch monitor would be very interesting. Would love if someone could come up with some sort of test to see how much changing the descent angle be a degree reduces stopping distance versus say increasing spin 300 rmp say. Does one have a much bigger effect than the other. Setting this up would of course be difficult, but maybe one could even use existing CGQuad data to start to answer this question. If I had some data such as this it would be really interesting to dive into.This seems like a question for the MGS tester group - they have oodles of data gathered grime most wanted testing.I just came from the range - from my days as a SuperSpeed tester I have learned that I’m much faster in the late afternoon than earlier in the day, especially than in the morning. At least when swinging the SuperSpeed sticks.With the accumulated data that I’ve collected on my Rapsodo monitor I can now quantify what that means. My average 7 iron carry today at 930 AM was 135 according to my LM - that’s odd given that I was hitting into Avery slight breeze and landing nearly every shot past a flag that I shot at 138 with the laser but it’s still the same LM. I averaged 145 carry at 545 on Tuesday and subjectively I hit the ball much better today, far more consistent, lots more on the sweet spot.With driver the difference is greater 208 average carry to 219. And again I was very consistent and on the sweet spot with driver this morning.At any rate I felt far more comfortable with the D7’s today. I’m getting used to how they look at set up and gaining confidence in how the ball flies. I believe I get more out of misses with them and miss than less than the regular D7’s. I greatly prefer how they feel. The real comparison now will focus on them v. The G30’s. I will be sure to have both 7 irons with me on the range after church on Sunday and then on a Par 3 course that I intend to play a couple of times next week. (I will be on vacation)Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy MaxEntropy, HardcoreLooper, sirchunksalot and 5 others 8 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejgaudette Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, revkev said: This seems like a question for the MGS tester group - they have oodles of data gathered grime most wanted testing. I just came from the range - from my days as a SuperSpeed tester I have learned that I’m much faster in the late afternoon than earlier in the day, especially than in the morning. At least when swinging the SuperSpeed sticks. With the accumulated data that I’ve collected on my Rapsodo monitor I can now quantify what that means. My average 7 iron carry today at 930 AM was 135 according to my LM - that’s odd given that I was hitting into Avery slight breeze and landing nearly every shot past a flag that I shot at 138 with the laser but it’s still the same LM. I averaged 145 carry at 545 on Tuesday and subjectively I hit the ball much better today, far more consistent, lots more on the sweet spot. With driver the difference is greater 208 average carry to 219. And again I was very consistent and on the sweet spot with driver this morning. At any rate I felt far more comfortable with the D7’s today. I’m getting used to how they look at set up and gaining confidence in how the ball flies. I believe I get more out of misses with them and miss than less than the regular D7’s. I greatly prefer how they feel. The real comparison now will focus on them v. The G30’s. I will be sure to have both 7 irons with me on the range after church on Sunday and then on a Par 3 course that I intend to play a couple of times next week. (I will be on vacation) Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy I was kinda hinting at that with the data from the testing might help answer that question. I totally get that time of day work. I really need a couple hours in the morning before playing to get to maximum speed. HardcoreLooper 1 Quote Epic Max LS 9° Ventus Blue 6X (2021 Official Review) | Epic Speed 18° Evenflow Riptide 70g 6.0 816 H1 21° Diamana S+ Blue 70 S | SMS 4-5/SMS Pro 6-PW Steelfiber i95 S (2023 Official Review) Glide 4.0 50°.12°S/54°.14°W/58°.6°T PING Z-Z115 Wedge Flex | SOFT 11S Super Stroke Mid-Slim 2.0 Hoofer Bag | Pro V1 | Right Handed | Tracked by V3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 This seems like a question for the MGS tester group - they have oodles of data gathered grime most wanted testing.I just came from the range - from my days as a SuperSpeed tester I have learned that I’m much faster in the late afternoon than earlier in the day, especially than in the morning. At least when swinging the SuperSpeed sticks.With the accumulated data that I’ve collected on my Rapsodo monitor I can now quantify what that means. HhOAt any rate I felt far more comfortable with the D7’s today. I’m getting used to how they look at set up and gaining confidence in how the ball flies. I believe I get more out of misses with them and miss than less than the regular D7’s. I greatly prefer how they feel. The real comparison now will focus on them v. The G30’s. I will be sure to have both 7 irons with me on the range after church on Sunday and then on a Par 3 course that I intend to play a couple of times next week. (I will be on vacation)Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpySent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russtopherb Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 14 minutes ago, revkev said: At any rate I felt far more comfortable with the D7’s today. I’m getting used to how they look at set up and gaining confidence in how the ball flies. I believe I get more out of misses with them and miss than less than the regular D7’s. I greatly prefer how they feel. The real comparison now will focus on them v. The G30’s. That's really interesting and I wonder why that is with the consistency. The D7 seems like it categorized as an SGI and would offer more forgiveness than the D7 forged in the player's distance category. That said - when you're comfortable and confident with a club, it stands to reason that you're going to hit it much better. Feel wise, I totally get the preference of the forged vs cast sirchunksalot, JohnSmalls, GregGarner and 2 others 5 Quote In my carry bag: ST-X 10.5* Kai'li Blue R Flex ST-Z 15* Kai/li Blue R Flex ST-Z 4h Linq Blue R Flex Launcher 5h Launcher CBX 6i-PW CBX 54* & 58* Huntington Beach #10 e12 Contact CURRENTLY TESTING - Mizuno Long Game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 That's really interesting and I wonder why that is with the consistency. The D7 seems like it categorized as an SGI and would offer more forgiveness than the D7 forged in the player's distance category. That said - when you're comfortable and confident with a club, it stands to reason that you're going to hit it much better. Feel wise, I totally get the preference of the forged vs cast To be clear I don’t mean that I think the D7 forgeds “feel” better than the D7’s. A good hit is a good hit and a bad hit feels like a bad hit regardless to me. I can’t really tell the difference between forged or cast - never have been able to - I can tell you where I made contact and whether it was good or not. I do know that this isn’t the case for some - I’m only speaking for myself. For what ever reason too, Im hitting more solid shots with the forged than the regular - it could be the 1/2” longer shaft, less offset, more loft, a combo of all three. I have no doubt the regular D7’s are more forgiving but a poor shot remains a poor shot. Forgiveness comes into play on marginal shots. You can see it from my dispersion pattern that the D7 forged is a better fit for me. Less offset moves the entire pattern to the right putting the pin nearly in the middle instead of to the right edge of the pattern. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy GregGarner, MattF, russtopherb and 4 others 7 Quote Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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