Sub 70 699-U V2 Review •UPDATE•

[berkeleybob]

Heyo! I thought I’d give a small review of the latest club to hit my bag.

Who Are You

I picked up the game back in the 00s in my forties, played regularly at Tilden Park in Berkeley, California for a few years and got my handicap down to 20. Then my job and other priorities took myself out of the game for several years. Now after settling down in Denmark, I’m slowly getting back into golf. 

The nearby golf course has a waiting list for new members due to the sport’s resurgence. Hopefully by summer I’ll have a course I can call home. Until then, I’ve been hitting at the driving range and playing “public” nine-holes. And about twice a year, I play a mini-series with my brother whenever I get out to California.

When I first started, I had a firm belief that my game should be as good as my clubs, so I purposely bought clubs that I could grow into and when needed, shape a shot. I worked at it and got there.

These days, I’m at a crossroads. I’m starting to recognize that I don’t have the game I had 15 years ago. While I’m confident that with practice I can break 90, I’m not sure that I can or want to do it with all the clubs I currently have in the bag. This new club I bought might be an indication of what I’ll change with my equipment moving forward.

Just a note: All my club purchases have been in the US. Frankly, it's cheaper. In the past whenever I've tried to schedule a fitting places have been booked. Some day, I'll get one, but until then, I'll do what I usually do, read and look for recommendations online. 

A Change, It Had to Come

For a while now, I’ve been struggling with my 5-iron (Mizuno JPX 900 Forged, Project X LS 5.5 metal). My mishits on the range and the course made it my least trusted club when it came to middle/long-distance shots on the fairway or rough. I have no problems hitting a hybrid club, so I toyed with the idea of getting a 5-hybrid, but being left handed, the options were just too limiting. 

Sub 70 has been on my radar for a couple years, so when I saw that they were offering the new 699-U V2 at 23°, I jumped at the chance and ordered one from their site.

Yes, I just bought it. Timing on my side made it too difficult to test the club first and receiving what I order during my stay in California. Besides, the price was in the right target zone for me at $135, and from what I read and for what it’s intended, I was pretty sure it would be a safe bet. Moreover, as a lefty that’s my usual mode: Buy it before it’s out of stock.

699-U V2 Specs

Head Color: Black
Body Material: 431 Stainless Steel
Face Material: S450 Steel
Face Thickness: 1.7mm
Shaft: Project X Hybrid 476 graphite stiff
Length: 38.5” (standard)
Lie: 61° (standard)
Loft: 23°
Offset: 3.81mm
Grip: Winn Dritac 2.0 midsize

I did use the online virtual fitting feature. According to the site, I should have a lie of -1°. Unfortunately, while customizing club online, I found that when I went back to change any specs above the field for lie, it reset to standard, and I didn’t catch it till it was too late to change. I’m not that disappointed since my clubs are all at standard lie anyway, but it is something to keep in mind—double-check your specs before buying.

Look and Feel: Just Need a Brief New Romance

It’s a good looking club.

Sub 70’s first version has a look that’s bare-bones with a get-the-job-done attitude.

Nothing wrong with that, but the V2 design in black adds an understated coolness to it. Think 1960s crowded gathering in the suburbs where everyone's in standard evening attire, and standing among them is a lone figure dressed in simple black, who’s looking at you with eyes that say, “Let’s get outta here.”

The 699-U V2 has a wider sole than my 5-iron, and the offset is apparent, but at address, I hardly notice those differences possibly because the black color has a way of slimming down the club to my eye.

And, I do love the black.

Out Here in the Fields

The first thing I did was hit some balls on the range. The big difference to me when comparing my 5-iron to the 699-U is the weight. Getting a graphite shaft was the right decision.

UPDATE: I followed up with Sub 70 to ask about details of the Project X 476 shaft. Apparently, CEO Jason Hiland worked with the folks at TrueTemper/Project X to make a special Sub 70 shaft that caters to a large audience of golfers. My takeaway from that is that I’m part of the mass of golfers that benefits from this kind of shaft.

Specs on the shaft:

Project X Graphite 6.0 476
Weight: 75 grams
Torque: 3.8
Launch angle: Mid

My club’s swing weight (per my calculation) is D0. I didn’t request anything, but Sub 70 does help meet customer spec requirements.

In my swing it felt similar to my hybrid, while at contact it felt and sounded like a 5-iron.

I don’t have access to a launch monitor, but here’s an average of the club’s stats based on two outings at two different driving ranges via Top Tracer.

Carry distance: 158 yds
Total distance: 170 yds
Ball spin: 113 mph
Launch angle: 19°
Landing angle: 40°
Height: 24 yds

The average carry yardage is 158 while the average total yardage for me is 170, which is the target distance I wanted on the range. What I love is that my ball strikes are consistently in the center.

I was more impressed with its performance on the course. With my imperfect swing on uneven ground on a Springtime course, it gave me the forgiveness that I was looking for, like keeping the line down the left side of the fairway even though my shot was toey, or keeping it straight and true to hit the green from 161 yards out. It gave me confidence in the middle of a longer fairway and helped me gain a couple GIRs during my rounds. 

About the Grip

I wanted to try something different. I liked the feel of the Dri-Tac on my old Ping Karsten Anser putter, so I thought I'd try it on a swing club. It is softer compared to my Golf Pride MCC+4 grips. That's not necessarily a bad thing. My goal is to have my gloved hand comfortably grip the club without squeezing too hard. But since I use Bionic gloves with its leather thicker than other gloves, the Dri-Tac might be overkill.

To Sum Up

Out of five stars ...

• Ordering:  If not for the glitch selecting the preferred lie, it would have been a perfect experience. I should say that I have emailed and spoken to customer service with questions and feedback, and the experience has been top notch.
• First impressions:   Good looking club.
• Performance: It met my expectations. Exceeded it, really. 

This 699-U is definitely a keeper. I'd be tempted to try out the 17° or 20° version, but for the meantime I'm happy with my hybrids.

Chest of Treasure or Can of Worms?

Having some successful outings with this club bring a few questions to mind, including where do I go from here? The ease of wielding this club gives me reason to ask, do I have the right irons in my bag? While I've loved the feel of forged irons, I’m not finding the same kind of forgiveness I get with the 699-U. When I look back on my results on the driving range, I can see that accuracy with my Mizunos is not what it used to be. Sure, I've taken lessons to improve that, and I need more practice and a better stretching and exercise regime; but with my body this side of 55, I don’t know if I can ever make it back to driving 250-275 yards on the range. I don't know if I'm making it harder on myself to play a kind of game that’s showing less reward than I’d hoped.

Should I give up the feel of forged irons and steel shafts for lighter, wieldable hollow irons and graphite shafts? Should I give myself a break and consider getting 699s (or 699 pros) as a way to ease the path to breaking 90? While I'm sure I can shed more light on this subject with a fitting, I'll put those questions out to you folks as well. 

And while I consider all this over the course of the season, one thing I am certain of, more Sub 70 clubs are welcome to find a home in my bag.

... One More Thing

My club arrived with a few other things in the package, among them Jason Hiland's business card. Nice touch.

—

Update March 2024

Heyo!

I just wanted to offer a quick update. It’s been a year since I posted this review, and I have a few numbers to share.

• Avg carry: 164.8 yards
• Avg club head speed: 81.2 mph
• Avg ball speed: 115.2 mph 
• Avg spin rate: 4894 rpm

(Not sure if it makes sense to including launching and landing angle for a this club, but I’d be happy to include.)

I’ve been working on my swing these past couple months with the result of eking out a few more carry yards. I was hitting a Vice Pro Soft, so I’d expect my carry yardage to increase a tad with my current balls Vice Pro or Wilson Staff Model. Still, 175 yards total is ideal, since my 4-hybrid lands somewhere in the 190-yard range.

Compared to what it replaced …

I was able to dig up some stats from my old 5-iron (24°), Mizuno JPX 900 forged:

• Avg total: 165.5 yards
• Avg carry: 143 yards
• Avg ball speed: 107 mph

This was on a Top Tracer range, so no other data was available. My ball was running up to that total yardage, so I wasn’t really getting a desirable flight path with that club. 

Most importantly, the 699-U is just a very forgiving club. I’m not worried about dispersion, and it’ll only get tighter as my swing gets better. 

Does the black finish hold up?

I’ve come across this question a couple times here in the forum. While I’ve been using the club moderately, I’ve been on the course and the range about 6-8 times a month since July 2023. It’s not a go-to club on every hole, but it does come out.

The black is a DLC, or diamond-like carbon, coating. Considering how often I use it per round, the finish should wear quite well.

Moving forward …

Currently, I have a gapping issue between my 3-wood and my 4-hybrid. I’ve thought about filling it with a 5-wood or a 3-hybrid—but considering the amount of ease and comfort I have in swinging a 699-U, a 17° is definitely in running.

It’s a fun club to hit.

Edited March 15 by berkeleybob
Update, March 2024

[GolfSpy_APH]

Awesome write up!

Thanks for sharing and posting and you're making me want to come up to visit so we can get a round to two in and see this club in action!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Great write up! @GolfSub70 has some great stuff going on, and every time I see a club review either on here or YouTube, there’s always the nice personal touch of some added goodies and a note in the box. Love how this company treats their customers. 

[berkeleybob]

4 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Awesome write up!

Thanks for sharing and posting and you're making me want to come up to visit so we can get a round to two in and see this club in action!

Thanks! Anytime, but the last time I checked, I need to pass a couple benchmarks on the beginner/intermediate 9-holes before a club will let me on to their 18-hole. No room for laggards. 

1 hour ago, Jnoble89 said:

Great write up! @GolfSub70 has some great stuff going on, and every time I see a club review either on here or YouTube, there’s always the nice personal touch of some added goodies and a note in the box. Love how this company treats their customers. 

Yep. These folks have style to spare.

[GolfSub70]

Thanks for the write up and feedback @berkeleybob! If you ever need anything or have any questions just let us know. We can always change orders after they were placed as long as they haven't gone to assembly yet. We definitely want to make sure the customer gets exactly what they want. It sounds like the 699U v2 is working well though anyway which is great to hear! Thanks again. 

[Bossfan]

I have the original version in a 4 and it has been exactly what I hoped for. I just love it on windy days off the tee and those “occasional “ times I need to keep it low under the trees.

[richk9holes]

@Bossfan This is what I'm looking at adding to my 6-aw Apex '19. Thinking 24° with steelfiber shaft. My 5h can go down to 23° and has steelfiber. My 6i is 26.5° with steel. The utility should fit between them perfect in my mind.

[berkeleybob]

10 hours ago, GolfSub70 said:

Thanks for the write up and feedback @berkeleybob! If you ever need anything or have any questions just let us know. We can always change orders after they were placed as long as they haven't gone to assembly yet. We definitely want to make sure the customer gets exactly what they want. It sounds like the 699U v2 is working well though anyway which is great to hear! Thanks again. 

You bet! I appreciate that, as I mentioned, emailing speaking to you folks on the phone was aces. Hope to reach out to you guys again sometime soon. 

[richk9holes]

@Bossfan out of curiosity what shaft do you have in it? Any feedback?

[Bossfan]

2 hours ago, richk9holes said:

@Bossfan out of curiosity what shaft do you have in it? Any feedback?

The same as my irons KBS Tour 90. Jason my st people use a hybrid shaft but I was looking for a lower ball flight and the gapping works better this way. 

[Bossfan]

10 hours ago, richk9holes said:

@Bossfan This is what I'm looking at adding to my 6-aw Apex '19. Thinking 24° with steelfiber shaft. My 5h can go down to 23° and has steelfiber. My 6i is 26.5° with steel. The utility should fit between them perfect in my mind.

They bent down mine so the gapping worked better between the hybrid I was using at the time and my 5 iron. 

[cksurfdude]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:30 AM, berkeleybob said:

Should I give up the feel of forged irons and steel shafts for lighter, wieldable hollow irons and graphite shafts?

IMO at least give it a try!

I may be roughly around your level .. eg shooting 90s hoping to get into the 80s this season. Taking lessons and practicing, and also currently working on deciding if there's a "better" iron out there for me...

A big part of this experiment/process (pre official fitting) involves buying a demo 7i (easier for me here in the States than you) from a few different DTC brands (that are not available in at a fitting) and taking them to the outdoor range so I can see the ball flights and get the feel of each.

Trying to order each one to about the same spec and with *approx* similar shafts (type, weight & flex, not overall "EI" profile). Also going to an OEM demo day at my club next weekend.

As far as Sub 70 .. am waiting for them to release a new 749 GI model (I think that's the model#; supposed to come out in April).

All this is to say: YES go try different clubs to see what works well for you .. keeping in mind that it could be helpful to lean towards the GI models .. which are now often hollow body but when paired with a nice graphite shaft that fits you can launch the ball high, and far.....

 

[berkeleybob]

@cksurfdude Yep, thinking outside of Mizuno is a big step for me. But unless I stumble upon a demo set a third time happens to be right for me, DTCs are probably the right route for me. 

Sub 70 in Europe seem to be set up differently than in the US—demo clubs aren’t available on their site. The next time I’ve got tix to US, demos will be a priority. 

 

[giantcaptivfrog]

How has the black finish held up on this? I love the look, but seeing the finish fade so quickly on other irons (Titleist T100, for example) gives me pause.

[richk9holes]

2 minutes ago, giantcaptivfrog said:

How has the black finish held up on this? I love the look, but seeing the finish fade so quickly on other irons (Titleist T100, for example) gives me pause.

I'd like to know as well, may look at the black finish if I get new irons in the future 

[berkeleybob]

13 hours ago, giantcaptivfrog said:

How has the black finish held up on this? I love the look, but seeing the finish fade so quickly on other irons (Titleist T100, for example) gives me pause.

13 hours ago, richk9holes said:

I'd like to know as well, may look at the black finish if I get new irons in the future 

I’ve been out with it a few times, and the finish has held up. But since then the weather’s turned, so I haven’t been out in a little while. If you give me a week, I’ll have been out a couple times again, and then I’ll take pics of the club and post on Easter weekend.

[giantcaptivfrog]

1 hour ago, berkeleybob said:

I’ve been out with it a few times, and the finish has held up. But since then the weather’s turned, so I haven’t been out in a little while. If you give me a week, I’ll have been out a couple times again, and then I’ll take pics of the club and post on Easter weekend.

That would be great, thank you!

[berkeleybob]

On 3/31/2023 at 4:10 AM, giantcaptivfrog said:

How has the black finish held up on this? I love the look, but seeing the finish fade so quickly on other irons (Titleist T100, for example) gives me pause.

I’ve been out a few times more since last posted, so here’s an update to the finish.

Here’s what my club looked like when it first arrived at the beginning of March

And here it is today after a few outings (range and course) over the past month.

Still holding up overall. I see some scratches, but I don’t think it’s fading.

I’ll be playing more this month, and I’ll run another update, since this is my first black iron/utility and I’m curious to see if/when it fades.

[richk9holes]

I got 6-PW pre-owned under $300. @bocaf They were as good if not better than the listed "very good" condition.

[berkeleybob]

Hey all, I just updated my review to include some number on the club’s performance, a little background on the shaft and pictures of how the club head’s black finish has worn.