What to upgrade next

[Bread]

Hey all, keen to hear some thoughts, I’m looking at upgrading my irons this year to something fitted for me. I’m currently playing a set of Mizuno JPX850 forged. I love the feel being forged so would like to stick to something similar. However, here in lies my problem. 
 

My current handicap is an 18, but I have a mid 110’s club head speed with driver which puts me in an odd position.  The more forgiving game improvement irons are too strong lofted and add a massive gap in the short end.  
 

I find the lofts / traj / feel of more bladed irons (mp20, king mb, p7mb) suit me best but for my sanity and hopes of getting to single digits I definitely can’t play them.  

anyone else in a similar position and have advice

[DiscipleofPenick]

Club head speed has nothing to do with what type of iron head you should play. Though it is understandable that the newer GI irons are too strong lofts for what you are looking for and that can be a cause for concern. Playing a forged club (CB/MB) is all about the ability to find the center of the club face. If you are struggling to do this, you're going to need to put in a lot of work to get the most out of these clubs. What is interesting is that generally speaking, the CB/MB irons actually have a bigger sweet spot relative to the size of the club face. 

The short answer, which is a deafing echo around here is - Go Get Fitted

The longer is answer, or at least my recommendation is check out something like the Titleist T200s as they may split the difference for you. Or the Ping/TM/Cobra equivalents.

[cnosil]

55 minutes ago, Bread said:

My current handicap is an 18, but I have a mid 110’s club head speed with driver which puts me in an odd position.  The more forgiving game improvement irons are too strong lofted and add a massive gap in the short end.  

I find the lofts / traj / feel of more bladed irons (mp20, king mb, p7mb) suit me best but for my sanity and hopes of getting to single digits I definitely can’t play them.  

anyone else in a similar position and have advice

I don’t think it puts you in any different position than any other golfer.   You have a driver and a most lofted wedge.   You need clubs to fit between them to hit specific distances.  This may mean an iron set starts at 6, 7, or 8 and then transitions to specialty wedges and/or you need to learn how to hit partial wedges for distance gaps. If I were building a new set, I’d focus on the short/scoring end of the bag and drop clubs from the top end. 
 

who says an 18 handicap can’t play more players type irons?  Why do you say you can’t play them?  I actually hit GI irons worse than player irons.    

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Bread said:

My current handicap is an 18, but I have a mid 110’s club head speed with driver which puts me in an odd position.  The more forgiving game improvement irons are too strong lofted and add a massive gap in the short end.  

Not necessarily irrelevant but swing speed and handicap have nothing to do with what clubs one should play. It’s about contact point on the face so playing length, weight are more important to get best results and the right launch window.

It could be possible that some GI irons will be a bad fit but keep in mind that the Ping i20,i210 and i230 which are more into the GI than not from Ping are played by a lot of their pga pros so guys with similar or higher driver swing speed which btw is even less important when looking for irons to play.

1 hour ago, Bread said:

find the lofts / traj / feel of more bladed irons (mp20, king mb, p7mb) suit me best but for my sanity and hopes of getting to single digits I definitely can’t play them.  

Again the type of iron and what handicap you are at or want to get to are irrelevant. If they give you the best consistency in contact on the face. Based on your profile your tee game is what’s causing your higher handicap. Some people have this and others are fine off the tee but struggle with irons or short game. It’s why stating a handicap and what to play don’t correlate.

Since you are going to get fitted go into the fitting with an open on what club will work and what shaft. Focus on giving good feedback to the fitter on what you like or don’t like from feel, ball fligh, sound, etc. let the fitter get you setup in the right clubhead and then shaft that feels good to you and produces the optimal flight for your swing.

 

[StrokerAce]

just to add to what @RickyBobby_PR said - Matt Fitzpatrick plays an i210 4 iron.
Irons: Ping i210 (4)

 

+1 on what he said; use whatever it takes to get you on the green the fastest. that will get you your lowest scores. don't get caught up in style, name, etc.

[Bread]

Much appreciated all,  I have a fitting booked in a few weeks and now a better idea of a place to start! 

[richk9holes]

I can give a vote of confidence to 3 options I know appealed to me. I have a similar game to yours, in terms of swing speed and ability, and I share your affinity for forged irons and traditional shaped irons/wedges.

Titleist T200 I carried 8-9 iron with vokeys at 48-52-58-64° and a mix of hybrids and hybrid/ironwoods when I was getting back into the game after a break. Forgiving and easy to manipulate. I'd look at t300 in the lower lofts (5-6i for me) and T200 7-PW as a combo set. Drawback is strong lofts but you could have them weakened.

Callaway Apex. I have 6-AW of the '19. I enjoyed the mix of forgiveness and playability they offered as I progressed from bogey golf to more like a 12 handicap. Everything I've read about the '21 version is they are technically improved from the prior iteration. Same strong lofts as T200.

Sub70 699 is what I'm currently using. The tech is far different, but I encourage you to check them out. They've created a sweet balance between game improvement technology (hollow 2 piece injected construction) to promote ball speed and forgiveness, but the irons have a traditional blade shape and relatively narrow top line. The PW is a normal non roided 45°. I can't adequately describe how buttery they are except to say I rarely ever use my Callaways anymore and they'll only come out if I'm not confident in finding the center due to rust, or if I'm going to a rock patch I'll spare the new set.

[Shlax]

On 4/27/2023 at 7:41 AM, Bread said:

Hey all, keen to hear some thoughts, I’m looking at upgrading my irons this year to something fitted for me. I’m currently playing a set of Mizuno JPX850 forged. I love the feel being forged so would like to stick to something similar. However, here in lies my problem. 
 

My current handicap is an 18, but I have a mid 110’s club head speed with driver which puts me in an odd position.  The more forgiving game improvement irons are too strong lofted and add a massive gap in the short end.  
 

I find the lofts / traj / feel of more bladed irons (mp20, king mb, p7mb) suit me best but for my sanity and hopes of getting to single digits I definitely can’t play them.  

anyone else in a similar position and have advice

Just stumbled upon this thread. Have you settled on a set of irons by any chance?

If not, I will gladly share my experience as I think it can help you in your process.

I changed irons 3 years ago when I got back into golf when the pandemic hit. My Srixon Z785 set was my first set of forged irons and also my first set of players’ irons. Prior to that, I had only owned beginner box sets and decided to really gear up when I committed back to this lovely game. At the time, I would say that my index was around 23-25 (I didn’t keep an official GHIN at the time, but I broke 100 frequently without ever shooting below 92 or 93 really).

My driver swing speed was also around 115 mph. Surprisingly, driver was my best club at the time. It is now my weakness (I now drive worst than I did three years ago but this topic is for another discussion).

A little less than three years later, I now have an officiel index of 9.6 and approaches (i.e., iron play) is definitely my strength. Having cavity backs that were somewhat intimidating at first really pushed me to work on my swing and improve the quality of my strikes. I also started learning to shape shots to some extent and to manage ball flight. The feeling of striking those forged irons purely is simply unmatched.

All of this to say: Don’t let your current handicap guide your choice of equipment that you will keep for many years to come. Of course, I’m not saying to get a TM RORS Proto 3-PW blade set, but if getting a set that you truly love in terms of aesthetics, feel and performance can get you to practice a bit more in order to appreciate and take advantage of the quality of the set that you have, you are in fact winning twice!

[Bread]

9 hours ago, Shlax said:

Just stumbled upon this thread. Have you settled on a set of irons by any chance?

If not, I will gladly share my experience as I think it can help you in your process.

I changed irons 3 years ago when I got back into golf when the pandemic hit. My Srixon Z785 set was my first set of forged irons and also my first set of players’ irons. Prior to that, I had only owned beginner box sets and decided to really gear up when I committed back to this lovely game. At the time, I would say that my index was around 23-25 (I didn’t keep an official GHIN at the time, but I broke 100 frequently without ever shooting below 92 or 93 really).

My driver swing speed was also around 115 mph. Surprisingly, driver was my best club at the time. It is now my weakness (I now drive worst than I did three years ago but this topic is for another discussion).

A little less than three years later, I now have an officiel index of 9.6 and approaches (i.e., iron play) is definitely my strength. Having cavity backs that were somewhat intimidating at first really pushed me to work on my swing and improve the quality of my strikes. I also started learning to shape shots to some extent and to manage ball flight. The feeling of striking those forged irons purely is simply unmatched.

All of this to say: Don’t let your current handicap guide your choice of equipment that you will keep for many years to come. Of course, I’m not saying to get a TM RORS Proto 3-PW blade set, but if getting a set that you truly love in terms of aesthetics, feel and performance can get you to practice a bit more in order to appreciate and take advantage of the quality of the set that you have, you are in fact winning twice!

I have yet to decide or upgrade, i decided to hold off for a while until i found a set of irons i really like the look/feel of.

And have been focusing on overhauling my swing to as up until now i have been getting by on athleticism to execute iron shots. (steep delivery, club head infront on hands, added dynamic loft, a lot of sway front to back) not optimal or good for getting better, resulted in a lot of either really fat or really thin shots. with some wild slices thrown in.

once i feel my swing is better im going to deep dive and just pick the irons the i like the best / that perform the best.  rather than focusing on what might be best for my handicap persay.
Definitely still attracted to the more players irons even if they are more unforgiving.