Sub 70 659 CB from a high handicappers perspective

[cjwloszczyna15]

Sub 70 659 CB from a high handicappers perspective

 

Hello all, a little background on why I chose to purchase and use irons that went against the trend of high forgiveness, larger iron heads for high handicap players. 2 years ago when I started playing golf I used an excellent set of ping eye2+, now I think most people who are golf iron nerds know that the ping eye2 is an excellent precedent of old irons that offer forgiveness and durability. I decided to get something new about 8 months ago and settled on getting DTC clubs to save some money. Sub 70 offered a wide variety of iron products from forged iron heads like their 659 offerings, or hollow body designs like their 699 series. This variety offered me the same flexibility that major pro line brands in type of club I wanted so I decided to do some digging on product research and really compare the pros and cons of different iron types. The first controversy I stumbled across was the issue of "loft Jacking", which depending on perspective isn't necessarily a problem. Still this issue is illustrated when comparing a seven iron of the 659 CB to say a Callaway Paradym X  there are 32 and 27.5 degrees of loft. But differences in head types like this don’t end there, materials and construction also differ, these differences tend to center around offering high handicap golfers more distance and forgiveness, and in the case of (the 659 CB shot shape and feel towards low handicap golfers). This is obviously a big claim, more of all the good stuff, so naturally I am became skeptical. I will pause here to give some context to my golf game in particular. Like I said I am a high handicap golfer, but that doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. I don’t struggle for distance with my irons typically (7 iron distance is 164* based on arcoss data with 659 CB), by no means the longest hitter but not short either. Now the yardage I gave assumes good contact, so it includes mishits but not shots that were extremely thin or fat. Of course as a high handicap you have the right to question the rate at which good contact is made, but I personally felt my game with my irons I made consistent enough contact to allow me to choose any club I wanted. With that about my game in mind I wanted to find information on how loft impacts forgiveness, and possibly how club type affected distances. Based on what I found despite the increased moi club size of the high forgiveness clubs the lower lofts mitigated their increased forgiveness, while a players cavity club with higher loft offered better forgiveness sacrificing the distances. Also hollow body type designs had  a wider front to back distance based on strike location compared the players CB.

 

https://txg.ca/are-strong-lofts-better/  --- This video by TXG makes both points for and against the delofting of clubs but one thing that stuck out was that with a player with high ball speed the land angle decreased, and that wouldn't improve with lower swing speeds.

https://www.golfwrx.com/143743/iron-lofts-alone-dont-create-more-distance/ --- an article on golf WRX advocating for adding loft.

I will try to update with more evidence as I try to retrace my product researching steps

 

Based on what I had looked into I settled on the 659 CB, so onto the actual review of my experience with these irons. I purchased a set from 5 to PW in a raw finish, I used the fitting tool on their website and it suggested 2 degree uprights and +1 length which agreed with some fitting data I had received while at a store, I opted for a stiff dynamic gold 105 shaft with midsized grips. The set was delivered in nice packaging with lots of goodies and a kind message from the sub 70 CEO. The performance of these irons are of course the question at hand. Have, I hit more GIR, or do I have more consistent Gapping? Possibly I will have to do more testing potentially on a simulator where I can export data slightly easier than looking at my arcoss app. But based on my last 5 rounds there has been about a 5 to 12% improvement depending on club for GIR. 

As far as feel of this club goes it is excellent, feedback can be harsh on my mishits but the sweet spot feels effortless when struck well (go figure).  Turf interaction is excellent, I typically play in medium to soft courses in the Midwest and have had no issues through most turf aside from the deepest of roughs.

Moving forward I would like to test out swing weight to know where the set stands and how it might be able to be tweaked. Additionally getting a simulator or getting a fitting would greatly help in comparing clubs. As it stands I feel that even as a high handicap golfer the Sub 70 659 CB is a great club choice.

[Shrek74]

I love the Cool Club reviews. They're doing drivers now and it's super interesting, especially as they show the differences in the lofts of the same club.

I picked up a set of the 659 CB/TC combos and just got them yesterday. I'll be testing them out myself and am very interested to see how they play. I had a set of 639CB's for a short time and they were good. I hear the 659 series is even better, especially on mishits.

I play the DG120's in my Takomo 101's now and this set of 659's has the KBS Tour 120's so I'll also get a nice comparison in the shaft game too. I'll have to think about putting my experiences here in this unofficial review forum when I get out and play.

[Jcogan]

Shrek74:

If you dont mind I have been looking at both the Takomo and the Sub 70 659 combo set as my next set of Irons.

 

After playing both of them which set are you leaning more to?  And could you give some insite on why you chose the set to play you did.

 

Also have heard alot of differences in customer service from both side?

[Sam vincen]

Instead of taking any prospective on high handicappers use best cavity back irons that gives high forgiveness and stability and easy to handle.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Sam vincen

[Shrek74]

Shrek74:
If you dont mind I have been looking at both the Takomo and the Sub 70 659 combo set as my next set of Irons.
 
After playing both of them which set are you leaning more to?  And could you give some insite on why you chose the set to play you did.
 
Also have heard alot of differences in customer service from both side?

Well, you can’t beat the Sub70 service. Anywhere. Takomo isn’t bad, but they’re just not nearly as good. The quality of Sub70 equipment rivals anyone’s out there. Takomo is good too, but I’ve seen their same heads at Caley so not sure if they’re really “different” like I know Sub70 is.

Comparing the 101 to the 659 really isn’t easy. They’re very different categories and do very different things. 659’s won’t be as forgiving and generally not as long. But they will likely be more controllable and accurate. The forged 659’s are buttery smooth when struck well though.


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