Getting Fit: An Iron Quest for the ages

[myherobobhope]

I've been playing golf for 30 years, and have never owned a new set of irons... I actually gamed the same set of Taylor Made Oversize for 25 years. I bought them used with money I made working at the pizzeria inside a movie theater... Good times... Last year on a whim, I bought used Adams CMB heads and got them shafted with pulls we had laying around the pro shop... We made it work, but the clubs aren't really built to my specs... My swing is a bigger issue, but it's gotten to the point where I need a set custom built for me (+3/4 over and 2 up)... I've started the process of demoing clubs and talking to reps, so I figured I'd share my journey here...

I have a steep swing, a tendency to be outside in and a fast swing... All of this generates a ton of launch and spin... I'm actively working on hitting a draw, which will drop things, but I'm pretty sure I will always do better with low launch and spin options... With modern club design, I'm not sure how much choice I have outside of shaft to bring this stuff down... but today was the first day I actually hit a demo club... Let's break it down!

0. Sub70... my first email went to them on pricing... for $700ish, I can get a 6-GW built with C-Taper X shafts and midsize grips... This is my value baseline. I love Sub70, and enjoy supporting them. If they made something between the 639 and the 699 in terms of forgiveness, I'd have pulled the trigger on that already... but the 699 are going to launch too far, and the 639 don't have enough forgiveness baked into the longer irons... They don't recommend crossing the streams on these... I could probably get something to work here, and it's my current back up plan... Basically, I know if nothing else, I can get something I'm happy with through Sub70

1. TaylorMade - Went to a TM fitting today. Shout out to Owen. Very nice, informative and helpful. We pretty quickly settled on the P790 head and the C-Taper X shaft... one of my biggest challenges when testing irons is +1/2 is the standard "long" iron and they all have standard grips... still, I hit these well and did not hate the feel... My numbers were pretty good across the board, but didn't knock my CMBs out of the ball park... They were fine, and Owen suggested I wait and try the releases coming out in September... He also didn't have the Mini Driver, which made me sad... 

My big takeaway from the fitting was I can definitely find improvement for my launch parameters, and hopefully improve my overall dispersion. The TaylorMades were fine! If someone wanted to buy me a set, I'd accept them immediately, but I don't think it's where I'm going to spend my money...

Next up: Cobra at Golf Headquarters in Louisville, and hopefully Srixon at my club... The green grass demos are definitely going to have an advantage, but I'm very curious to hit the Cobras... 

I'll likely try the Callaway stuff at my club... I'll hit the Mizunos again (I bought a HMP PW a few years back, but didn't buy the set... didn't love it on the grass)... I'm open to any other suggestions you may have... Anything that has some forgiveness baked in and launches and spins low would be great!

[myherobobhope]

Srixon fitting on Tuesday! Will be interesting to see what shafts he recommends... Hoping to sneak over to the Golf Headquarters (shout out to Tony!) as he's supposed to have a Big Tour 3 wood for me to try as well.

[myherobobhope]

Was talking to a pro I trust today… he said it might be worth waiting on the new titleist irons when they get released in September… I’m not in a huge rush, so if nothing blows me away, I’m waiting to try them.

[myherobobhope]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:26 PM, myherobobhope said:

Was talking to a pro I trust today… he said it might be worth waiting on the new titleist irons when they get released in September… I’m not in a huge rush, so if nothing blows me away, I’m waiting to try them.

LIAR.

Ok, maybe the Srixon just blew me away... Overall, I have become confident that my shaft choice is correct... the C Taper 130 X feels good, and my launch numbers are fine with it... I hit the ZX5 and just really liked the feel of them overall... ordered them 3/4 over and 3 degrees up... I'm hoping they will be in by August so I can make a late summer run with them... 

I like the look, like the feel, and ordering through my club lowers my total cost other brands (except sub70)... they have a nice blend of forgiveness without being cannons... I generate enough club head speed that I don't need the help, but I do need the forgiveness...

I'm nervous overall, as I've never ordered new clubs, and maybe there is a better option out there... but I hit these really well, liked the feel and liked the look... There wasn't anything I would change about them, so I'm not going to fight city hall... This ends a not very epic quest... but I do highly recommend trying Srixon irons if you are in the market for new clubs.

[GregGarner]

I'm excited to see how these work out for you. I was late to the game on this thread, but in reading just your first post I was ready to comment, TRY SRIXON. I was gaming Ping i210s (mentioned in the Titleist ball thread) and was getting stupidly high launch and if I played any sort of spinny ball, I lost ridiculous amounts of distance. (Bonus though, that I could hit 3i into any green and it would stop within 2 yards) The ZX7s have flattened my flight while still getting a good overall peak height and they've dropped my spin enough that I'm not constantly wondering how I can make it work with an ionomer ball. True story, I gave a serious look at the Tour Response ball because they're so low-spin off irons, but I was losing too much distance off the tee. With the ZX7s, I no longer need to worry about that.

[myherobobhope]

2 hours ago, greggarner said:

I'm excited to see how these work out for you. I was late to the game on this thread, but in reading just your first post I was ready to comment, TRY SRIXON. I was gaming Ping i210s (mentioned in the Titleist ball thread) and was getting stupidly high launch and if I played any sort of spinny ball, I lost ridiculous amounts of distance. (Bonus though, that I could hit 3i into any green and it would stop within 2 yards) The ZX7s have flattened my flight while still getting a good overall peak height and they've dropped my spin enough that I'm not constantly wondering how I can make it work with an ionomer ball. True story, I gave a serious look at the Tour Response ball because they're so low-spin off irons, but I was losing too much distance off the tee. With the ZX7s, I no longer need to worry about that.

That’s awesome… I’m really excited and think the srixons are going to be a good fit… I had planned on trying everything, but hit these well enough that I was comfortable just pulling the trigger…

it will be interesting to see how they game when I get the whole set. Went 5-gw.

ive always played low spin balls for driver reasons, but my swing is getting more in to out and flattening out, so I might be able to play something more spinny.