2020 Official Member Review: Ben Hogan Golf ComPany-VKTR+, UiHi and GS53 FW

[golfish!]

On 2/12/2021 at 8:56 AM, kardboard.kid said:

attached is video for sound purposes.  I think it tells the story of what a ball being hit by the club sounds like.  I know there have been discussions about feel and sound.  Hope this helps.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/4qScxmQ9Yxo/edit

 

link isn't working but I did see the video on your original post

[golfish!]

So I recently bought a used Mevo off Ebay and tested the 3H against the 3W. Got some interesting data...

Average of 23 yards longer carry with the 3W than the 3H with an avg speed 4 MPH faster. I checked with the data I got from the other LM and saw that I was swinging the 3W faster by about 2MPH but also swinging the 3H about 2MPH slower than that test. Could just be I was more warmed up for that test or just swinging better that day on the 3H vs this test day for the 3W. I noticed the carry distances on my last comparison were about the same so it is interesting data indeed.

[kardboard.kid]

On 2/22/2021 at 11:42 PM, golfish! said:

link isn't working but I did see the video on your original post

I'll try to fix the problem when I submit my review.  Not been a good few months here for me.  

[Crowev01]

UPDATE #2

So I let a co-worker borrow the Hogan to take to a top tracer range since he has been in the market for a new 3 wood. He's currently gaming an RBZ phase 1, standard stock regular flex shaft. The first picture is his current gamer: 

His swing speed is a little high for regular flex, which is why I thought he might like the Hogan. Here are his numbers with the X-Stiff Tensei Blue Hogan: 

Again, considerable distance gap from a club much older than this one. I think the ball flight is better suited with the Hogan, but even with a lower trajectory,, distance suffers. 

 

He did say he really liked it though, which is the interesting thing; it does FEEL really good. 

[twyatt700]

Well the UiHi is off to a new tester. Hopefully it works out better for him! I could have kept and never used it, but that’s not in the spirit of the MGS testing code!


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[Golfspy_CG2]

18 minutes ago, twyatt700 said:

Well the UiHi is off to a new tester. Hopefully it works out better for him! I could have kept and never used it, but that’s not in the spirit of the MGS testing code!


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Good on you! 

[gbtrsc]

I need to do the same thing. What little I’ve been able to try to hit it, I could tell it just was not going to work for me. Nice club just the wrong shaft for my swing.

I would be happy to eat the cost to ship to someone who can commit to doing a full write up on it.


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[twyatt700]

g_humphrey is the new owner of one of the UiHi clubs, he’s new to the forum so give him a warm welcome
Also I can’t figure out how to link the username


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[jb0330]

@g_humphrey welcome to the test tread! This is/was a huge test a good number of us have submitted our reviews and are waiting on a break in the weather to do some updating. 

[cciciora13]

I'm surprised at how poorly the hybrid and 3 wood performed, given that I absolutely love the driver from my review. Would love to see how the 3 wood would perform for me given my love for the driver

[twyatt700]

[mention=106366]g_humphrey[/mention] welcome to the test tread! This is/was a huge test a good number of us have submitted our reviews and are waiting on a break in the weather to do some updating. 

Thanks for the assist!


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[twyatt700]

So one thing I was thinking about and talking with my wife about is how cool this whole thing really is! She was asking about the club I had “won” and I explained how I sent it to someone else and why. And I realized that it’s really cool that I had the opportunity to try something I was curious about (I desperately wanted to be the driving iron guy!) but didn’t have to invest a lot of money to find out. At the end of the day I realized that I hit hybrids better than the longest irons and I was able to then send the club on it way to give them an opportunity to try it out. Pretty awesome when you think about it.


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[longdrivenate]

On 3/4/2021 at 6:39 AM, twyatt700 said:

So one thing I was thinking about and talking with my wife about is how cool this whole thing really is! She was asking about the club I had “won” and I explained how I sent it to someone else and why. And I realized that it’s really cool that I had the opportunity to try something I was curious about (I desperately wanted to be the driving iron guy!) but didn’t have to invest a lot of money to find out. At the end of the day I realized that I hit hybrids better than the longest irons and I was able to then send the club on it way to give them an opportunity to try it out. Pretty awesome when you think about it.


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Agreed. It's part of what makes MGS and this community so great. I haven't passed mine on yet as I've been wanting to give it a try when the courses around here get a bit dryer and there is more run in the fairways, but after that if it's still not a club I plan to use regularly then I'll probably be passing it along too. 

[gbtrsc]

I am not going to be able to do a worthy review of the club I was given. It’s a UiHi utility with a stiff Tour V90 shaft. I’ve hit about 10 balls with it which was enough to tell me that it is not the right shaft for me. So if anyone else can commit to give it a full and complete review, please PM me here and we can make arrangements to get it to you.


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[oaks]

So I had my first opportunity to take the VKTR+ out on the golf course and while it felt great and the distance was comparable I do not see it unseating my Exotics.  
 

the Hogan looks great and feels great but at this time my Exotics feels more comfortable in my hands.   I rely on my Hybrid for a few crucial tee shots and approaches into one Par 5 in particular and I have that sense of security with my Exotics.   
 

The VKTR is a great Hybrid and my buddy is going to end up putting it in his bag after taking a few swinga

[AGutierrez7]

Little update for you guys concerning how I'm getting along with the GS53 3W... 

 

I believe I noted this in my review but I will reiterate that it seems to spin slightly too much for me, but need to get it on a proper LM to verify my suspicions. Only reason I note this is because it seems to launch higher than I'm used to, even on the better strikes. Other than that, the club is fantastic and the feel is great. You can definitely feel when you catch it right. 

[kardboard.kid]

On 10/30/2020 at 9:10 AM, kardboard.kid said:

Placeholder

Hello Fellow MGS family,

            This is KK coming at you from the wonderful city of Columbus, OH.  My name is Tim and I am a high handicapper.  Last year saw little golf so my pursuit to lower my handicap was put on hold.  When the pandemic hit I was on the downward track to a 14, but I fear I will start this year off higher.  I was fitted for irons a couple of years that was part of this journey I am on.  Because of several things that were well out of my control, this review is extremely late, and for that I would like to profoundly apologize.  I have struggled finding a club to fit between my driver and my 5 iron for sometime now.  I currently do not have a 3 wood, as I have a horrible time hitting them off the fairway, and my Cobra Hybrid also struggles in that department.  Off the tee there is no problem, just of course; distance.

            I was hoping that the 3 Iron from Ben Hogan Golf would help to decrease that gap.  I have found the area of most lost shots for me is between the second and third shots on the course. This would also provide for me a better choice on par 4’s, where a driver would not fit.  I have been playing golf with a purpose for about 10 years now.  Before that it was when I could get a round in or to be the comedy relief for a sales person with their customer.  So let’s get to this review.

 

My first impression of the iron was Stylish, and sleek.  It has a very distinct look to it, that I hope will match in the ball striking category.  The only thing that I am not sure of is the grip.  It feels thin, and my become an issue down the road. 

 

 

“Our new UiHi utility irons make the process a whole lot easier. These clubs -- pronounced “You-Eye-High” -- feature a two-piece forged, hollow-body construction which produce higher launch angles, longer carry and more forgiveness -- on both center and off-center hits.”

“Our engineers designed the UiHi utility irons so you can take an easier, more controlled swing … like the one you use with shorter irons that you are more comfortable hitting.”

“The key lies in UiHi’s two-piece, multi-material forged construction. We started with a soft, 1020 carbon steel frame to create a larger clubhead with a deep cavity. The deep cavity allowed our R&D team to optimize weight distribution around the perimeter. This creates a very low, rearward Center of Gravity (CG) to help get the ball airborne quickly and maximize the size of the Effective Hitting Area. Our engineers added more weight to toe area, too, to eliminate lag and help ensure the face is squared at image.
The face is forged is made of MS300 steel … an incredibly strong, hard and lightweight material. This enabled us to make it exceptionally thin so that more discretionary weight could be positioned in other places to add more forgiveness. Once the face is laser-welded to the softer 1020 carbon steel forged frame the result is a hollow-bodied, confidence-inspiring shaped and solid-sounding clubhead with a low-and-deep CG, maximum perimeter weighting, and loads of forgiveness.”

 

                These are the statements from the Ben Hogan website, and what I will use a reference to this review.  The club is clean, and very “pro” looking. The club looks like something you would see in a PGA tour  players bag.

 

Grading           8 out of 10

 

 

Sound and Feel when ball striking,

Due to the weather the only ball striking I have been able to do is indoors.  What I have found is that the clubs strikes the ball very clean.  Even on most mis hits,( within the grooves) the ball still feels the same coming off the club.  I have found that the hits outside of the groove area are not as forgiving.  For example; I could hit the ball very close to the bottom of the club head and not see a typical “topping” of the ball. If you hit near the toe, or heel the ball will squirt out in that direction. That would equate to bad ball flight on the course I would believe. 

I like the sound.  To me it is clean and crisp and what the ball strike should sound like.  I have posted a clip for sound in the thread already should someone what to hear the sound.  I believe this “good feel” will lead to better striking on the course and for me what I need to fill that gap.

 

 

Grading           8 out of 10

 

Now to the Meat of the review, the performance

            I have set up a hitting cage in my garage that allows me to get a full iron swing, and there is about 8 ft from where the ball is stuck to the net.  I use a pad with a low turf and a medium height rubber tee.  The first thing that stands out is the grip.  I feel that this is almost as important as any other feature of a club.  If you don’t feel good holding it, you won’t feel good swinging it, and you will end up not playing it.  Even with a glove, the grip has caused discomfort to my hand.  That would be the first thing to be changed long term. 

            Separating out the “mishits” from the solid strikes, I began to see a pattern. No matter where on the club face I hit, and no matter how fast the swing, all the balls traveled the same line.  The trajectory was between 22 inches, and 26 inches in 8 ft.  That is about a 14 degree launch angle, which is slightly below the 18 degree loft of the club. Fo me that could turn out to be a good thing.  I would expect the ball to runout farther after landing on the fairway, and also give me better control with miss hits.

            I am not sure the club is as forgiving in totality, as the initial thoughts were.  I have not been able to find the center of the head hitting off the matt, as I have from the tee.  What I find the most interesting is that the launch height is pretty much the same off the tee or matt.  Initially I had only a net, but added a blanket to the front of the net to be able to better see where the ball was hitting, and I have hit several hundred balls into it this winter. 

Based on the performance and feel I experienced, I think I would change out the shaft to match my other clubs and put a mid, or maybe even thicker grip on the club. 

Grading           15 out of 20

 

Since I have yet to get on the course I want to refrain from finalizing the review score.  But I will tell you that I really like the club, and I feel very strongly about it becoming my between club that I was looking for.  Now that the courses are beginning to open around me, I will play a few rounds as is to either confirm my thoughts, or change them.  If I change anything on the club I will keep you posted and Once I have some on course time, I will return to finish this review.

 

TTFN

[TCUfrog]

I've continued to struggle to hit this club despite wanting it to work so badly. My wife saw it in my bag this weekend and asked if i was going to continue to use it. When I said no, she asked if she could try it. She's a new golfer who's never hit hybrids before, so we are going to go to the range this weekend and see if it would work for her. The lighter shaft should work better for her.

 

[golfish!]

Quick Update

Still trying to find opportunities to hit this off the deck. Unfortunately, I am finding that I am either too close to the pin for a 3 wood (usually hitting my 3H to distances of about 190-210 to the pin) or too far ( 240+) from the pin to find many opportunities. I am still using it off the tee pretty effectively for shorter par 4's (199 total distance on a dog leg left short par 4 into a 2 club up wind). @AGutierrez7 I'll post some spin numbers from my Mevo after a good range session but for me seems to be spinning a bit less than my 3H. 

[Nolan220]

Pulled the hybrid out for couple of shots on Sunday .. had a really nice on a long or 4 but missed the green starting to get used to it a little bit, but still don’t have the confidence to pull it out when I really need to make a shot.