Haywood CB/MB Irons - 2024 Forum Review

[frazzman80]

Practice round #1 with the Haywood irons - Windcrest GC, Windcrest, TX

When I first received the irons, my brain was racing on where I could play an "all irons" practice round with the new clubs in an effort to hit each iron from varying lies and compare directly to my existing set. I appreciate Windcrest Golf Club allowing me to do this on their 9-hole par 34 2485 yard course. I was able to hit the Haywoods and my irons shot for shot to determine distance, ball flight, height and directly compare feel and other elements such as turf interaction directly compared to my Callaway gamers. 
 

Hole-by-hole and shot-by-shot breakdown of each of the holes noted below, with winners from each. I played best ball on some holes and worst ball on others while just dropping some randomly along the way. I'll note each of these as I go through the holes. All distances are with Arccos. I hit Haywoods first on odd numbered holes and Callaways first on evens.

Hole 1 - Par 4, 329 yards from blue tees. Straight hole with trees both right and left. Slightly downhill.

• Haywood 4I - off tee in 10-15 MPH wind from right. 167 yards total, but hit a branch of a tree overhanging right side of the fairway. Hit straight with good flight, and dropped into fairway after hitting branch (I aimed a bit too far right and my draw didn't kick in, leaving a straight shot). 
• Callaway Apex 5I - off tee in 10-15 MPH wind. I don't carry a 4I in my Apex, but until I have distances 100% dialed in, I'm going off Josh Haywood's Email that said "expect the Haywoods to be 8-10 yards shorter than my gamers, so 4 = 5 according to this. 179 yards in the fairway right (missed the overhanging branch the Haywood hit). My 5 iron had a lower flight than the Haywood, so it snuck under the branch. IMO, had I missed the branch with the Haywood 4I, it would have been a very equal shot.

----- SHOT 2 ----- from fairway 135 to pin playing best ball (so Callaway shot above)

• Callaway 9 Iron - off fairway 5-10 MPH wind from right. Struck it poorly/thin and it came out low and short. 102 yards total.
• Haywood 8 iron - off fairway 5-10 MPH wind from right. Good strike, slight pull. 132 yards total hit green, but due to contour of the green rolled off the green left, finishing almost pin high just left of the fringe.

----- SHOT 3 ----- from rough near fringe to an uphill green (10 or so feet below putting surface)

• Haywood PW (only had PW and 49 degree in bag, no 53 or 57 degree clubs)- from rough 5-10 MPH wind in face. - Very good contact and smooth feel on chip. Finished on line 12' past the hole.
• Edison 49 degree - from rough 5-10 MPH wind in face. Solid strike with better line, but 22' past the hole.
• Didn't focus on putting much, but I did 2-putt both.

HOLE 2 - Par 4 346 yards from blue tees. Slight dogleg right with multiple trees right and left requiring an accurate tee shot to get out of the tree tunnel before opening up substantially in the landing area. Slightly uphill.

• Callaway Apex 5I - From tee with wind helping 8-10 MPH helping from the left. Poor strike slice - ball hit a tree on the right and bounced into a spot where I wouldn't have had any shot at the green. 132 yards total.
• Haywood 4I - From tee with wind helping 8-10 MPH helping from the left. Pure strike (felt so good with zero vibration...just so everyone knows, I don't carry a 4I because while I own a Callaway Apex one, I could never hit it). Straight flight with slight draw into the wind. 192 yards total.

----- SHOT 2 ----- 134 yards to the flag uphill with 10 MPH wind behind/left. Played best ball from here with a true winner of a shot from the Haywood above.

• Haywood 9I - from fairway uphill with 10 MPH wind behind/left - Very thin strike. The ball maybe got 5 feet off the ground max. That said, it rolled perfectly up on the green to about 12' right of the pin and I would have had a birdie putt. 133 yards total. 
• Callaway Apex PW - from fairway uphill with 10 MPH wind behind/left - Great strike with a slight draw. Normal PW height for me. Finished 10' just left of the hole 130 yards total.
• Haywood 9I shot 2 - from fairway uphill with 10 MPH wind behind/left - I wanted to hit another one with the Haywood because even though I GIRed, I had hit it really poorly. Better strike, but still thin. Likely flew half as high as my Callaway PW shot above, but hit the brakes on the green and finished 27' long/left on the back of the green to a center pin position. 143 yards total (thin with wind helping). 
• Didn't putt any of these as there was a single who was waiting for the green. 

BEFORE HOLE 3 - I waited for the single to play around me. After hitting, unsolicited, he came to look at my clubs (I guess the clubhouse let him know what I was doing) and immediately gravitated to the Haywoods, asking to look at them and swing them. "Never seen these before. They are very nice!" he said before driving off.

HOLE 3 - 144 on the card but tucked front pin playing 114 with wind into/from the right 8-10 gusting to 15. Level green/tee box elevation, but with the green dropping sharply in the front with a large bunker right.

• Haywood PW - from tee with wind into/from the right 8-10 gusting to 15 - Pure strike with a very high draw that started at the hole and then rode the wind (unfortunately) to the left/center side of the green. Stopped about 6' behind the pitch mark 122 yards total 32' from the pin long/left.
• Edison 49 degree - from tee with wind into/from the right 8-10 gusting to 15 - Solid strike starting right at the flag, but notably lower than the Haywood PW, so it cut through the wind more. It was short however, landing on the bank and rolled back down (rolled about 8 yards from pitch mark). Carried 109 total 101 due to bank. 

----- SHOT 2 ----- from fairway short of green (played worst ball, so Edison 49 degree above)

• Edison 49 degree - great bump and run up the embankment right on line. Finished 2' behind the pin left.
• Haywood PW - Solid strike on the bump and run. Carried it just a bit too far and it ran 9' past the hole. 
• Putting - 2 putted the GIR HW PW, 2-putted the 9' HW bump and run and tapped in the Edison 2 footer.

Hole 4 - 334 yard par 4 (#1 handicap) - sharp dogleg right at around 200 yards and needing at least 190 yards to have a shot as there was a large tree on the right that you had to get past in order to have any shot at the green. Internal OB right as well (due to the #2 tee box). However, if you hit it 225, you'd have run through the fairway and into the water hazard feature on #5. Wind 5-10 MPH off right. 

• Callaway 5I - NO tee, so hit off the deck on the tee box - Wind 5-10 MPH off right. - Good contact, but started right and actually faded into the wind. It didn't hit a tree, but took a strange hop on the right side of the cartpath and finished 172 yards total. I would have been dead behind the tree protecting the dogleg, but wasn't far enough right to be OB>
• Haywood 4I - NO tee, so hit off the deck on the tee box - Wind 5-10 MPH off right. - PURE PURE contact. Straight as an arrow dead center in the fairway. Again, higher ball flight than my Callaway 5I and "a nice penetrating flight" through the wind. I was floored I had hit a 4I that well off the deck...even a tee box.

----- SHOT 2 ----- 122.6 (per the laser) directly into 10-15 gusty wind.

• Haywood 9I – Great strike, but I pulled it trying to get some extra distance out of it into the wind (should have hit 8). 132 yards total long left and in some nasty rough.
• Callaway PW – Good strike with a nice high flight that the wind ate up. It didn’t draw at all, ending short right just on the fringe. 113 yards total.
• Haywood 9I, 2nd shot – Very solid contact, but slightly thin (2nd/3rd groove) with a noticeably lower ball flight than the other Haywood 9I or the PW I had just hit, but still high enough to clear a branch halfway into the shot from an overhanging tree on the right. 116 yards total 27’ from the pin on the front of the green.

----- SHOT 3 ----- from deep deep rough (played worst ball, so Haywood pulled shot above). 26 yards per the pin. As I looked at the ball, I wish I had my Edison 57. This is not a shot I would have chosen to play with the Haywood PW or the Edison 49. But it’s all I had, so I knew I had to hit it into the bank/fringe of the green and have it roll up/on. This meant 20 yards of carry with zero chance if I left it short and it would be gone if I carried it onto the green.

• Haywood PW – The weight of the club on the practice swings and thin sole gave me confidence. It just felt like it was going to work on this shot and I pulled it off perfectly. It hit the bank and rolled up/over and stopped about 5’ to the right of the flag.
• Edison 49 – I wanted my 57. The 49 felt so light and I knew I couldn’t open the face. The grass ate it and came out low and left, making to the bank and barely trickling over. 38’ from the hole short.

HOLE 5 – Card at 124 but I played it as far back on the box as I could because with the 10-15 gusty wind behind me. Had I played it from the tees I would have had WAY too much club with either the 49 or the PW. But I didn’t want to play from the gnarly rough over the water, so it was as far as I could go back. So I measured 130 exactly on the laser.

• Haywood 9I – with tee 10-15 gusty wind behind me – PURE strike – Very high with slight draw. GIR 132 yards total 22’ left of the pin. The ball stayed stuck in it’s own divot.
• Callaway Apex PW – with tee 10-15 gusty wind behind me – Good strike with a typical draw ball flight. I can honestly say this one flew lower than the Haywood 9 iron. GIR 122 yards total 36’ right of the pin.
• 2-putted each of these.

Hole 6 – 281 yards on the card slight dogleg left to a fairway/green that was rising up steadily in elevation (a creek was between the tee box and fairway at about 150 out). Trees down both sides. The elevated green was protected by 2 massive bunkers with only about a 10 yard gap between them. You could barely see the flag from the tee box. Wind 5-10 off the right.

• Callaway Apex 6 iron – off the deck with no tee wind 5-10 off the right. – Poor strike – hit a tree on the right and landed in the creek (no water).
• Haywood 5 iron – off the deck with no tee wind 5-10 off the right – PURE strike 180 yards dead center of the fairway with a slight wind-riding draw. I could not have walked a ball out and dropped it any better.
• Callaway Apex 6 iron shot 2 – Re-hit because I wanted to do a distance comparison with the Haywood 5 iron. Pure strike dead center of the fairway 178 yards with a wind-riding draw. I didn’t capitalize “Pure” like I did with the Haywood “PURE” because even though I hit it very well and the ball ended up literally like 5 feet from the Haywood 5-iron, the Callaway 6-iron didn’t feel nearly as good as the Haywood. I’m not saying I hit it any less pure, but it didn’t feel nearly as good as the Haywood 5-iron.

----- SHOT 2 ----- I found the ball in the tall grass of the creek and decided that I was going to give myself the hardest shot I possibly could into this crazy elevated, bunker protected green from a truly bad lie, so I left the 2 perfect balls up in the fairway and played from the dry creek with grass that was as tall as the blades of the club. I did move to exactly 150 out (all you could see was the top of the flag, so I lasered that). Wind 5-10 off the right. Elevation change at least 40 feet up.

• Haywood 6I – Heavy rough with wind 5-10 off the right – Low toe strike, but the club did cut through the rough with ease and the ball came out straight. Unfortunately, I had set up at the right side bunker trying to play my standard draw and the ball went straight into it – 134 yards total.
• Callaway Apex 7 iron – Heavy rough with wind 5-10 off the right – Pure strike…it just didn’t draw at all. It ALMOST carried the right bunker, but landed high in the face and rolled back into the bunker. Carry of 143 yards but total of 140 rolling back.
• Haywood 6I shot 2 – Heavy rough with wind 5-10 off the right. I wanted to re-hit this as I just wasn’t pleased with my poor strike earlier. I hit it PURE beyond PURE…it was like the rough wasn’t there and I just knifed through it. As soon as I hit it, I said “that’s going to be in the leather”. The flight was beautiful…rising from the creek and flying both bunkers. I couldn’t see where it ended up, but I just KNEW it was money. The pitch mark was 3’ left of the hole and it rolled out to 13’ left/long.

----- Shot from original tee shots in fairway ----- I had 101 yards uphill to the green. This was going to be a 3/4 to 7/8 shot even though it was uphill with the wind 5-10 off the right.

• Haywood PW – from fairway wind 5-10 off the right – 3/4 swing with PURE strike (perfect thin little divot) that as soon as I hit it, I said “holy crap that’s in”. The pitch mark was 2’ right of the hole and the ball rolled out 7’ past the hole. Honestly, I didn’t hit my Edison 49 because I thought I had made it and wanted to see where it landed…

HOLE 7 – 123 on the card playing 135 with the pin in the back. Uphill into a 10-15 with gusts wind.

One other thing to note…by this point in the day, it was extremely hot and humid with the temp around 88-90 degrees, so my distances might be a tad bit longer due to these conditions. It was about 80 degrees when I teed off.

• Haywood 7 iron – Off the deck from the back of the teebox (off some St. Augustine grass that was mowed, but I wouldn’t call it perfect fairway) – PURE strike – great height, but the gusty wind exaggerated the draw and it wound up pin high, but left on the fringe 137 yards total.
• Callaway Apex 8 iron - Off the deck from the back of the teebox (off some St. Augustine grass that was mowed, but I wouldn’t call it perfect fairway) – Best Callaway strike of the day hands down. Drilled it through the wind with a strong, penetrating baby draw. Back of the green GIR 25’ left and back from the pin. 141 total (ball was 6” past its divot).
• Haywood 7 iron 2nd shot – I re-hit from the same spot as I felt very unlucky with the wind on the first hit. Hit it super fat…it went straight, but about 100 yards total. I left a huge divot and had to clean mud off the face.
• Haywood 7 iron 3rd shot – I re-hit again from just behind the huge divot I had made (I filled it in with sand after…I’m a respectful golfer). Slightly thin strike, but surprisingly I hit it as high as I hit my Callaway 8I shot earlier. I baby drew it much like that 8I and it had a ton of spin (it was the only ball I backspun on a GIR shot all day, with the ball finishing about 8” behind the pitch mark. Total distance was 135 yards winding up 12’ left pin high.

HOLE 8 – This was a very weird hole. Big dogleg left, 285 yards on the card, but way downhill toward the creek that cut through hole 6. The dogleg was such that I really only had about 200 to the green, but there were huge trees protecting that route. It was also very downwind at 15+ MPH.

I decided to hit the same club on this hole to see the distance difference (if there was one), so this wound up being dueling 7-irons.

• Callaway Apex 7I – Off tee - Very downhill (at least 40-50’), very downwind 15+ MPH – I started on my line and ripped it with a strong draw. It actually landed with a big bounce (don’t know what it hit or if the fairway was just firm) and rocketed through the fairway almost into the creek. 192 yards total (if that tells you how far downhill downwind it was).
• Haywood 7I – Off tee - Very downhill (at least 40-50’), very downwind 15+ MPH – Slightly thin, but good strike. Ball went straight, which I had setup for a draw, so it was further right of the Callaway shot. Didn’t take high bounce. Finished 177 yards in the right rough.

----- SHOT 2 ----- I played the Haywood shot from the right rough. Wind 10-15 gusty off the left. I had 119.8 on the laser.

• Haywood PW – from rough with wind 10-15 gusty off the left. – Terrible strike. Low toe. Worst strike of the day from the Haywoods. Never got more than 10 feet off the ground, sliced badly and finished 88 yards, short right and in front of a massive bunker.
• Haywood PW shot 2 - from rough with wind 10-15 gusty off the left. I made sure to give myself the exact same lie in the rough for shot 2. Good strike, but pulled left. Very high and the wind brought it back toward the green. 124 yards total 45’ from pin long/left.

----- SHOT 3 ----- I had 35 yards over a massive bunker to a green sitting below me after getting to the low toe ball. Wind 10-15 gusty into my face/slightly off left.

• Haywood PW – This was such an awesome chip. It flew high, carried the bunker, landed softly on the green rolling up to about 10’ short. The weight of the club feels great for chipping to me.
• Edison 49 – The weight of these clubs is so different when chipping. Again, it made me want my 57. I tried to pick it clean, but hit it long/over the green.
• Edison 49 second shot – I played this one with the face wide open and more of a flop shot instead of a straightforward chip (as I would have done with my 57) and hit it much better, over the bunker, but 15’ short of the hole.

HOLE 9 – The wind laid down a bit, back to 5-10 MPH with maybe a little gust off the left as this hole was nearer to some houses. 519 yard par 5 on the card, but downhill the whole way (though not as steep) with the creek on the right for the 2nd shot.

• Callaway Apex 5 iron – off the tee with wind 5-10 gusts off the left, downhill – don’t know why I hit this first as it should have been a Haywood first hole, but I guess I messed up? Great strike, but it started right and slightly faded right on the wind, across the cart path right and into some mesquite trees, though it didn’t hit any. 216 yards total.
• Haywood 4I – off the tee with wind 5-10 gusts off the left, downhill – PURE beyond PURE. Straight as can be. The wind never moved it…it was perfect. In the fairway 219 yards. “Perfect”.

----- SHOT 2 ----- I was surely laying up as I didn't have a club in the bag that would get me to the green. I had the wind off the left and that creek about 150-160 on the right crossing under the fairway/road to the left (it went into a culvert than run under the fairway). So I decided to take it out of play by hitting past it but had hit a lot of HW 4/Callaway 5 irons and wanted to hit a different long club.

• Haywood 5I – from patchy fairway with 5-10 wind off the left and slightly downhill but uphill past the creek. Semi thin, but good strike. Slight fade with the wind and a bit lower flight that flew past the creek and rolled up the right-hand side of the fairway. 181 yards total.
• Callaway Apex 6I – from patchy fairway with 5-10 wind off the left and slightly downhill but uphill past the creek. Pure strike but a big pull hook. I hit a tree and that saved me from going OB. Shot total was 132 yards in the left rough. I picked this ball up, went to a spot where I lasered 140 from the fairway and hit:

----- SHOT 2.5 -----

• Haywood 8I – I hadn’t hit this since the first hole and wanted to make sure I hit it again. So, I set it 140 out in the fairway and hit. Good strike with a slight pull that the wind helped push toward the green. It wound up almost pin high on the left fringe 136 yards total. Would have been like a 40' putt.

----- SHOT 3 ----- I had 93.2 yards out on the laser, slightly uphill to the green after the Haywood 5I. This was once again 3/4 range. Wind 5-10 off the left.

• Haywood PW – Smooth 3/4 swing with a PURE strike. Good height and it rode the wind, fading toward the pin. Finished about 10’ left short after taking 1 hop and stopping. 90 yards total.
• Edison 49 – Smooth 3/4 swing with a PURE strike. Lower ball flight with a slight fade riding the wind. Spun and immediately stopped. Finished about 12’ long/left on the green. 94 yards total.

All in all – I have high praise from this first round for the Haywoods. They performed better than my gamers on most holes (especially in the long irons), the feel was special/spectacular and despite the distance truly being “one club less” than my Callaways, was easily offset by just taking a club that is literally numbered 1 higher than what is in my bag. I’m going to play more rounds to see if this holds, but for the first round ever with new irons, I was thoroughly impressed.

 

Edited April 9 by frazzman80

[CFreddie]

8 hours ago, ArizonaLogan said:

I've amended my post to include first impressions. I'm quoting it here to bump the thread.

Great pics @ArizonaLogan ! I may be in the minority, but the bag chatter marks to me add some character!

[MILGolfing]

Congrats testers! Lets see some videos and hear how those irons sound compared to your current/previous ones

[Rob Person]

Loving the first impression reviews so far.

Anyone have any feedback on the weight or grip feel?

[Splatt]

On 3/5/2024 at 4:17 PM, frazzman80 said:

 

Making use of the included towel.

The muscle backs are so sexy they make me feel sexier just being around them.

The cavity backs are equally stunning from up close and far away.

Photo to show faces and backs blended together.

Close up the 4 iron with the 9 in the background for comparison.

That milling on the 9 iron...drool...

Up close of the milling on the cavity back 7 iron...also drool.

The back side of the cavity backs are so refined, they remind me of the curves on a sportscar.

The grooved face finish on each of the irons matches the color of the non-grooved areas, so no worries about shiny reflections or different colors when you have the club at address.

 

Different perspective of the muscleback PW. 

Close up on the milling of the MB PW.

 

Back side featuring the milling on the CB 6 iron.

Close up of the milling on the back of CB 6 iron.

Probably the sexiest my bag has ever looked on the course.

 

These clubs are really really really ridiculously good looking

They looked nice on Haywood's website, but seeing them in someone's golf bag is just next level!!

 

[frazzman80]

Practice round #2 – just the Haywoods!!! Starcke Park GC, Seguin, TX.

I wanted to get a round in with soft conditions specifically to test the soles and see how they performed in soft conditions (because you never know when it’s going to rain again in drought-stricken South-Central Texas.)

Background: My Callaways are "fat city" when it’s wet. I do not like playing in soft conditions because I tend to play terribly because every shot I hit is fat.

I got in 12 holes after work and went with the driver, 3W, 2H, 4H and the Haywoods 4-PW with my 53 and 57. This will be my bag setup if the Haywoods stick. I played from the tips so I’d have longer irons into the greens. Wind was light 5-10 max so I’ll only note direction if it mattered.

Hole 10 – Par 4 409 yards dogleg left with big pecans lining the fairway. Green is elevated and protected by a huge deep bunker short left. I started on 10 and without any real warmup ripped driver 246 dead center. I was 146.2 on the laser so pulled 7 iron. I topped it…hitting it low toe and missed the green long right. It never really got off the ground. But I 57ed up to the green and 2-putted.

+1 with 0 GIR

Hole 11 – Uphill par 5 536 yards with trees lining fairway, but open green with bunkers protecting short left and right. Hit a bad driver 203 total to the right of the trees in the deep rough. The Haywood 4I to the rescue. I actually hit it TOO good and I was thinking it would fade a bit given the bad lie and the L/R wind, but no. 199 total through the fairway straight as an arrow and into the left rough. I had 129.2 on the laser with a L/R/helping breeze to an elevated green, so I grabbed 9I. PURED it. It was so beautiful flying high and landing soft with a 1-hop-stop! 9 feet short directly on line with the pin.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I took a huge dollar bill-sized divot from the muddy rough with this shot. This is the kind of divot that means fat city with my Callaways, the kind of shot where the ball goes 30 yards short. Nope…the Haywood was pure despite the very not me kind of divot.

BIRDIE BABY!

E with 1 GIR

Hole 12 – 380 yard dogleg left par 4 with a water hazard right that is in play on the tee shot and 2nd shot. Elevated green with a huge deep bunker right of the flag. Ripped driver 246 dead center into the breeze. My laser read 129.6 to the uphill green with the pin the back left. I felt in between clubs with the 9I and PW as the breeze was off the right. I pulled 9I and hit is slightly thin and a little right, but not quite in the bunker. It landed on the green and just rolled almost to the back fringe on the right (so lucky as if it had gone 2-3 yards further it would have rolled down a huge embankment. 127 yards total and pin high right about 35’ right. I pulled the PW just to see how that would have been and hit a PURE strike that drew on the wind to the center of the green 117 yards (30’ short of the hole). The PW shot left another large, long divot in the FW (again, the kind of divot that means a fat shot with my Callaways) and again, there was zero influence on the shot.

I played the 9-iron ball and 2-putted from near the fringe.

E with 2 GIR.

Hole 13 was designed by the devil. I HATE this hole. HATE IT! In my life, I bet I’ve played this hole 100 times and I can count on one had the number of pars I have, much less birdies. It’s 187 yards (I lasered 179.9 to the front right pin) downhill ALWAYS into the wind off the left. There’s water short and right and a GIANT tree that guards the whole left side of the green that you can’t really hit over due to the long irons you have to hit into the green, which SEVERELY slopes back left to front right. Balls hit on the front of the green roll off (sometimes nearly into the water). Balls hit on the right of the green roll off (definitely into the water unless you get lucky enough to roll into the short right bunker).

So today, on devil hole, the Haywood 4I had its opportunity to thread the needle between tree and water and land high enough left to stay on the green with the into/L-R wind pushing it toward the water. I topped it. It went 110 yards, stopping short of the water hazard but in rough so thick you could only see the top of the ball. I used my 57 degree to hack it to the back left of the green, leaving myself a 35’ downhill breaking right and the opportunity to putt off the green and into the bunker/water a distinct possibility. I managed a 2 putt after running the 1st 5 feet by (after telling myself to hit the ball only 20 feet on the first putt).

+1 with 2 GIR

Hole 14 is a 551 yard par 5 with OB the entire length left and many giant pecans framing the fairway. I hit driver 240 but missed right and was blocked out from going for the green and had to get the ball over a smaller tree. 6I layup was perfect 163 yards out of some shaggy rough (over the tree and into the middle of the fairway). I had 172.8 on the laser to an elevated green with the pin in the back (so the giant front right bunker guarding the green wasn’t in play). I pulled 5I and struck it really well (again, large divot that would have likely been fat with my old clubs) but it drew just a bit too much on the R-L wind, landed just left of the green and down a large embankment. It wound up pin high but left, below the green about 15 yards. I used the PW to bump and run up the embankment to 12 and sank the par putt.

+1 with 2 GIR

Hole 15 is a 325 yard very tree-lined dogleg right with a giant deep bunker guarding the green. You are in jail in giant pecan-trees if you miss the fairway. I pulled the 4I and didn’t go after it, trying to get an accurate ball into the fairway. Success! A good strike and 173 yards later, I was dead center. I mean dead center. I had 137.5 to the uphill green with the pin tucked behind the giant bunker. I pulled 8I and PURED IT BEYOND PURE. The height was amazing and it cut through what breeze there was, disappearing behind the face of the bunker. I knew it was close. 5’ from the pin just a bit right. BIRDIE BABY!

E with 3 GIR

Hole 16 is another tough par 3 with a large bunker guarding all but the front left front of the green. Of course the pin was fully tucked behind it. From the blue tees it was 186.4 to the pin and I didn’t want to hit 4I again so I moved up to the whites and the 172.8 yard distance. I pulled 5I. And it was perfect on line, but I didn’t quite catch it perfectly and it went 165 yards into the bunker. I re-teed and played the more conservative line to the very skinny (but bunkerless) front left and the PURE strike landed on the green and rolled over and down (did I mention it was skinny? This shot went 177 yards). Sand wedge and putters and a bogey followed.

+1 with 3 GIR

Hole 17 is a 392-yard dogleg right par 4 with a ton of trees right and a front right bunker guarding the green. I smoked my driver 280 down the left side, leaving me 119.5 to the slightly elevated pin. I pulled PW and left another huge dollar sized divot, but once again it was a pure strike (maybe a tad thin as it came out a little low) and 120 yards later I was pin high 12’ right of the flag. I 2 putted (little too much pace on the high side).

+1 with 4 GIR

Hole 18 is a beast of a driving hole. Water right and a ginormous pecan tree blocking the fairway on the slight dogleg right. Oh, and there’s also water left right in the landing area even though it was into the wind. I bailed out right (luckily past the hazard) 233 yards, but was dead behind the pecan trees. I had to hit 4 hybrid just to recover under the trees and hit to too well across the fairway and into the pecan trees left. So…on my jaunt across the fairway, I decided to drop 2 balls 145.7 yards and 146.8 yards out, pull out the 7I and just send them at the flag for fun (since I wasn’t going to get to hit an iron approach to this hole). I  hit the first just a bit thin and it landed on the right side of the green (the pin was back right) but just rolled over. The 2nd I hit PURE and it wound up in the center of the green I can’t count it GIR, but I really would have loved the 20’ putt.

So when I got to the ball I was actually playing, I had 50 yards with overhanging trees and a terrible lie. Couldn’t go high, so I took the PW and hit a great low bump and run that landed on the front and unfortunately rolled just off the back. I used 57 to 1’ and tapped in for bogey.

+2 with 4 GIR

Hole 1 – 390 yard par 4 with gigantic 70-80’ pecan trees framing the hole. You have to hit the fairway to have a 2nd shot. I pulled my driver left and hit it 284 yards somehow missing the trees onto the 9th fairway. My options were to go under a tree and avoid the front left bunker somehow or go over multiple 80+ foot tall pecan trees. I don’t hit the ball high. I just don’t. But I wanted to see if the Haywoods went higher. I had 126.3 yards. I grabbed the PW and opened the face and swung. Dollar bill sized divot.

I can’t believe I hit this shot. It flew so high. I mean it cleared the giant trees by a good 20-30 feet. Cleared them with such ease that it had to be short…it was too high right? NOPE. Landed on the front of the green and stuck. 20’ putt for birdie (just missed it).

+2 with 5 GIR

Hole 2 is a 167 yard uphill par 3 with a water hazard (that isn’t really in play) short left and a bunker right. It’s an inviting tee shot. I had 157.7 on the laser. I grabbed 6I. This was the absolute worst strike of the day. I hit it so far on the toe that I didn’t hit the grooves. Missed the grooves. The whole club turned in my hand.

I can’t believe what happened with the actual ball flight. Water? NOPE…Bunker right…NOPE. It started at the right side of the green with a low-mid flight (maybe 30-40 feet off the ground) and drew toward the center of the green, landing on the front and rolling uphill to 17’ left/short of the pin. I only hit it 149 yards, but I had hit the middle of the green on a shot that I literally hit so badly off the toe that I DIDN’T HIT THE GROOVES and I still hit the green. Unreal forgiveness. I 2-putted.

+2 with 6 GIR

See the dots there where the ball hit the face on the toe where there are no grooves…it was a really bad strike.

Hole 9 (I was running out of daylight so I jumped ahead to the next closest hole). 340 yard dogleg left par 4 with trees left and an elevated green with a deep bunker right. I played 2 sets of balls off this hole. Set 1 was a 277 yard ripped driver and a 60 yard 53 degree wedge and a 2 putt. But those aren’t Haywood shots, so y’all don’t care.

Set 2 was all Haywood. I took 4 iron off the deck (no tee on the tee box) and ripped it as hard as I could winding up with a 197 yard shot that just crept into the right rough (that’s the side of the fairway I was aiming for as it gives the best angle to the green, it just leaked a tad into the rough). I was 147.1 out so I pulled 7I. I left a HUGE divot, but PURED the 7 iron. Hitting it so well it carried over the front flag location and left a pitch mark on the fringe left and of course rolled down an embankment for 161 yards total. I used the Haywood PW to bump it up on the green to about 7’ and 1-putted for par.

+2 with 7 GIR (6 with Haywoods) on 12 holes.

I can’t believe I didn’t have a single fat shot playing in soft conditions. I really can’t believe it. The thinner soles worked to keep the club from digging in the soft conditions and despite the large divots, the result was the shots were pure and not fat.

Also, 58.3% GIR is good for me (I average 9.8 or 52% GIR per Arccos). But the 19’ proximity to the hole on GIR is crazy good for me (I average 27’ proximity per Arccos). Full Arccos stats/images for the 12 holes below.

    

    

Edited April 10 by frazzman80

[frazzman80]

9 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Loving the first impression reviews so far.

Anyone have any feedback on the weight or grip feel?

Thanks! Happy to continue to share as I have more time with these clubs. 

The weight is definitely different from my Callaways, so much that I think I have trouble transitioning between the 2 on back to back shots if that makes sense. I don't think the Haywoods are heavy but I like the swing weight of the irons. The CB are smooth and the MBs feel like they are fast throught the ball.

The grips are ok. Honestly, I've always played corded grips but wasn't given that option when these were built out. They feel soft, but not squishy. I keep trying not to grip them too tightly as I feel I hit them better with lighter grip pressure, but they are softer than what I'm used to so it's a bit of feel-based learning curve for me. I'm not sure if I would get them regripped with cords or not. I'll have to keep testing with them.

[mingl86]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:17 AM, ArizonaLogan said:

To conclude with the unboxing, I liked the extra items that were included (Haywood hat, Haywood tees, Haywood towel), but unless Haywood says otherwise, I have reason to suspect that the items were “special treatment” for the MGS testers.

Wanted to chime in here. I bought Haywoods in late 2022 and received the same "swag" so It's not just for the MGS testers. FWIW, I love these irons.

[Shrek74]

15 hours ago, frazzman80 said:

Hole 1 – 390 yard par 4 with gigantic 70-80’ pecan trees framing the hole. You have to hit the fairway to have a 2nd shot. I pulled my driver left and hit it 284 yards somehow missing the trees onto the 9th fairway. My options were to go under a tree and avoid the front left bunker somehow or go over multiple 80+ foot tall pecan trees. I don’t hit the ball high. I just don’t. But I wanted to see if the Haywoods went higher. I had 126.3 yards. I grabbed the PW and opened the face and swung. Dollar bill sized divot.

I can’t believe I hit this shot. It flew so high. I mean it cleared the giant trees by a good 20-30 feet. Cleared them with such ease that it had to be short…it was too high right? NOPE. Landed on the front of the green and stuck. 20’ putt for birdie (just missed it).

+2 with 5 GIR

[frazzman80]

26 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

You get me!!! Only thing was my shot wasn’t “too far”!

[ArizonaLogan]

5 hours ago, mingl86 said:

Wanted to chime in here. I bought Haywoods in late 2022 and received the same "swag" so It's not just for the MGS testers. FWIW, I love these irons.

Thanks for the information. I'll add a note to my post.

[ArizonaLogan]

  

On 4/7/2024 at 7:27 PM, Lefty11 said:

I love the look of these irons! Testers: what do you think of the weight of these irons?  

Here is a spreadsheet I made of some weight information about the Haywood MBs/CBs and My Maltby TS4s. Both iron sets have stiff flex steel shafts, and an extra 0.25 inch of length. They also have nearly identical grips (the only difference is a Lamkin logo on the TS4s).

What prompted me to do this test was that I could tell that the Haywoods had a "lighter" swing weight but about the same (if not slightly heavier) "handling weight". What I didn't know is that I was dealing with 1-4 gram differences.

To answer your question simply: I personally prefer the heavier average swing weight that the Maltby TS4s have when paired with True Temper Score LT shafts..

I calculated the swing weights using the tool and exact methods linked here -> https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-assembled-swingweight-calculator. I verified the numbers with a second calculator here -> http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT. Note: I use an AD-Blocker so click at your own risk.

Here are some line charts. The lines about weight show similar "peaks" and ranges.

Balance point measured from the bottom of the grip. The Haywoods appear to have a smoother curve. The "shoulder steps" on the shafts of the TS4s made it a little bit harder to measure.

All the swing weight numbers have a "D" pre-fix. I like the consistent trend upward that happens in the Haywoods. Also, the line chart makes it easier to see the pattern in Haywood Irons. I think that the TS4s would also have a nice trend if the 4 and 8 irons were a little more in range. I will likely re-measure the TS4s on some sort of "tight rope" to get more accurate data for the "Show Us Your Maltby" thread.

Sorry if the charts are too nerdy.

Edited April 10 by ArizonaLogan

[Shrek74]

1 hour ago, ArizonaLogan said:

Here is a spreadsheet I made of some weight information about the Haywood MBs/CBs and My Maltby TS4s. Both iron sets have stiff flex steel shafts, and an extra 0.25 inch of length. They also have nearly identical grips (the only difference is a Lamkin logo on the TS4s).

What prompted me to do this test was that I could tell that the Haywoods had a "lighter" swing weight but about the same (if not slightly heavier) "handling weight". What I didn't know is that I was dealing with 1-4 gram differences.

To answer your question simply: I personally prefer the heavier average swing weight that the Maltby TS4s have when paired with True Temper Score LT shafts..

I calculated the swing weights using the tool and exact methods linked here. -> "https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-assembled-swingweight-calculator".

Here are some line charts. The lines about weight show similar "peaks" and ranges.

Balance point measured from the bottom of the grip. The Haywoods appear to have a smoother curve. The "shoulder steps" on the shafts of the TS4s made it a little bit harder to measure.

All the swing weight numbers have a "D" pre-fix. I like the consistent change that happens in the Haywoods, but I also like the symmetry in the TS4s. The line chart makes it easier to see the pattern in Haywood Irons. I think that the TS4s would have a really nice "bowl" if the 5 and 9 irons were brought down to the D6.3-D6.5 range. I will likely re-measure the TS4s on some sort of "tight rope" to get more accurate data for the "Show Us Your Maltby" thread.

Sorry if the charts are too nerdy.

Aaaaaand now I'm going to have to take my measurements and SW out of my phone's notepad and put it into Excel. Here, twist my arm.

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

17 hours ago, frazzman80 said:

Practice round #2 – just the Haywoods!!! Starke Park GC, Seguin, TX.

I wanted to get a round in with soft conditions specifically to test the soles and see how they performed in soft conditions (because you never know when it’s going to rain again in drought-stricken South-Central Texas.)

Background: My Callaways are "fat city" when it’s wet. I do not like playing in soft conditions because I tend to play terribly because every shot I hit is fat.

I got in 12 holes after work and went with the driver, 3W, 2H, 4H and the Haywoods 4-PW with my 53 and 57. This will be my bag setup if the Haywoods stick. I played from the tips so I’d have longer irons into the greens. Wind was light 5-10 max so I’ll only note direction if it mattered.

Hole 10 – Par 4 409 yards dogleg left with big pecans lining the fairway. Green is elevated and protected by a huge deep bunker short left. I started on 10 and without any real warmup ripped driver 246 dead center. I was 146.2 on the laser so pulled 7 iron. I topped it…hitting it low toe and missed the green long right. It never really got off the ground. But I 57ed up to the green and 2-putted.

+1 with 0 GIR

Hole 11 – Uphill par 5 536 yards with trees lining fairway, but open green with bunkers protecting short left and right. Hit a bad driver 203 total to the right of the trees in the deep rough. The Haywood 4I to the rescue. I actually hit it TOO good and I was thinking it would fade a bit given the bad lie and the L/R wind, but no. 199 total through the fairway straight as an arrow and into the left rough. I had 129.2 on the laser with a L/R/helping breeze to an elevated green, so I grabbed 9I. PURED it. It was so beautiful flying high and landing soft with a 1-hop-stop! 9 feet short directly on line with the pin.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I took a huge dollar bill-sized divot from the muddy rough with this shot. This is the kind of divot that means fat city with my Callaways, the kind of shot where the ball goes 30 yards short. Nope…the Haywood was pure despite the very not me kind of divot.

BIRDIE BABY!

E with 1 GIR

Hole 12 – 380 yard dogleg left par 4 with a water hazard right that is in play on the tee shot and 2nd shot. Elevated green with a huge deep bunker right of the flag. Ripped driver 246 dead center into the breeze. My laser read 129.6 to the uphill green with the pin the back left. I felt in between clubs with the 9I and PW as the breeze was off the right. I pulled 9I and hit is slightly thin and a little right, but not quite in the bunker. It landed on the green and just rolled almost to the back fringe on the right (so lucky as if it had gone 2-3 yards further it would have rolled down a huge embankment. 127 yards total and pin high right about 35’ right. I pulled the PW just to see how that would have been and hit a PURE strike that drew on the wind to the center of the green 117 yards (30’ short of the hole). The PW shot left another large, long divot in the FW (again, the kind of divot that means a fat shot with my Callaways) and again, there was zero influence on the shot.

I played the 9-iron ball and 2-putted from near the fringe.

E with 2 GIR.

Hole 13 was designed by the devil. I HATE this hole. HATE IT! In my life, I bet I’ve played this hole 100 times and I can count on one had the number of pars I have, much less birdies. It’s 187 yards (I lasered 179.9 to the front right pin) downhill ALWAYS into the wind off the left. There’s water short and right and a GIANT tree that guards the whole left side of the green that you can’t really hit over due to the long irons you have to hit into the green, which SEVERELY slopes back left to front right. Balls hit on the front of the green roll off (sometimes nearly into the water). Balls hit on the right of the green roll off (definitely into the water unless you get lucky enough to roll into the short right bunker).

So today, on devil hole, the Haywood 4I had its opportunity to thread the needle between tree and water and land high enough left to stay on the green with the into/L-R wind pushing it toward the water. I topped it. It went 110 yards, stopping short of the water hazard but in rough so thick you could only see the top of the ball. I used my 57 degree to hack it to the back left of the green, leaving myself a 35’ downhill breaking right and the opportunity to putt off the green and into the bunker/water a distinct possibility. I managed a 2 putt after running the 1st 5 feet by (after telling myself to hit the ball only 20 feet on the first putt).

+1 with 2 GIR

Hole 14 is a 551 yard par 5 with OB the entire length left and many giant pecans framing the fairway. I hit driver 240 but missed right and was blocked out from going for the green and had to get the ball over a smaller tree. 6I layup was perfect 163 yards out of some shaggy rough (over the tree and into the middle of the fairway). I had 172.8 on the laser to an elevated green with the pin in the back (so the giant front right bunker guarding the green wasn’t in play). I pulled 5I and struck it really well (again, large divot that would have likely been fat with my old clubs) but it drew just a bit too much on the R-L wind, landed just left of the green and down a large embankment. It wound up pin high but left, below the green about 15 yards. I used the PW to bump and run up the embankment to 12 and sank the par putt.

+1 with 2 GIR

Hole 15 is a 325 yard very tree-lined dogleg right with a giant deep bunker guarding the green. You are in jail in giant pecan-trees if you miss the fairway. I pulled the 4I and didn’t go after it, trying to get an accurate ball into the fairway. Success! A good strike and 173 yards later, I was dead center. I mean dead center. I had 137.5 to the uphill green with the pin tucked behind the giant bunker. I pulled 8I and PURED IT BEYOND PURE. The height was amazing and it cut through what breeze there was, disappearing behind the face of the bunker. I knew it was close. 5’ from the pin just a bit right. BIRDIE BABY!

E with 3 GIR

Hole 16 is another tough par 3 with a large bunker guarding all but the front left front of the green. Of course the pin was fully tucked behind it. From the blue tees it was 186.4 to the pin and I didn’t want to hit 4I again so I moved up to the whites and the 172.8 yard distance. I pulled 5I. And it was perfect on line, but I didn’t quite catch it perfectly and it went 165 yards into the bunker. I re-teed and played the more conservative line to the very skinny (but bunkerless) front left and the PURE strike landed on the green and rolled over and down (did I mention it was skinny? This shot went 177 yards). Sand wedge and putters and a bogey followed.

+1 with 3 GIR

Hole 17 is a 392-yard dogleg right par 4 with a ton of trees right and a front right bunker guarding the green. I smoked my driver 280 down the left side, leaving me 119.5 to the slightly elevated pin. I pulled PW and left another huge dollar sized divot, but once again it was a pure strike (maybe a tad thin as it came out a little low) and 120 yards later I was pin high 12’ right of the flag. I 2 putted (little too much pace on the high side).

+1 with 4 GIR

Hole 18 is a beast of a driving hole. Water right and a ginormous pecan tree blocking the fairway on the slight dogleg right. Oh, and there’s also water left right in the landing area even though it was into the wind. I bailed out right (luckily past the hazard) 233 yards, but was dead behind the pecan trees. I had to hit 4 hybrid just to recover under the trees and hit to too well across the fairway and into the pecan trees left. So…on my jaunt across the fairway, I decided to drop 2 balls 145.7 yards and 146.8 yards out, pull out the 7I and just send them at the flag for fun (since I wasn’t going to get to hit an iron approach to this hole). I  hit the first just a bit thin and it landed on the right side of the green (the pin was back right) but just rolled over. The 2nd I hit PURE and it wound up in the center of the green I can’t count it GIR, but I really would have loved the 20’ putt.

So when I got to the ball I was actually playing, I had 50 yards with overhanging trees and a terrible lie. Couldn’t go high, so I took the PW and hit a great low bump and run that landed on the front and unfortunately rolled just off the back. I used 57 to 1’ and tapped in for bogey.

+2 with 4 GIR

Hole 1 – 390 yard par 4 with gigantic 70-80’ pecan trees framing the hole. You have to hit the fairway to have a 2nd shot. I pulled my driver left and hit it 284 yards somehow missing the trees onto the 9th fairway. My options were to go under a tree and avoid the front left bunker somehow or go over multiple 80+ foot tall pecan trees. I don’t hit the ball high. I just don’t. But I wanted to see if the Haywoods went higher. I had 126.3 yards. I grabbed the PW and opened the face and swung. Dollar bill sized divot.

I can’t believe I hit this shot. It flew so high. I mean it cleared the giant trees by a good 20-30 feet. Cleared them with such ease that it had to be short…it was too high right? NOPE. Landed on the front of the green and stuck. 20’ putt for birdie (just missed it).

+2 with 5 GIR

Hole 2 is a 167 yard uphill par 3 with a water hazard (that isn’t really in play) short left and a bunker right. It’s an inviting tee shot. I had 157.7 on the laser. I grabbed 6I. This was the absolute worst strike of the day. I hit it so far on the toe that I didn’t hit the grooves. Missed the grooves. The whole club turned in my hand.

I can’t believe what happened with the actual ball flight. Water? NOPE…Bunker right…NOPE. It started at the right side of the green with a low-mid flight (maybe 30-40 feet off the ground) and drew toward the center of the green, landing on the front and rolling uphill to 17’ left/short of the pin. I only hit it 149 yards, but I had hit the middle of the green on a shot that I literally hit so badly off the toe that I DIDN’T HIT THE GROOVES and I still hit the green. Unreal forgiveness. I 2-putted.

+2 with 6 GIR

See the dots there where the ball hit the face on the toe where there are no grooves…it was a really bad strike.

Hole 9 (I was running out of daylight so I jumped ahead to the next closest hole). 340 yard dogleg left par 4 with trees left and an elevated green with a deep bunker right. I played 2 sets of balls off this hole. Set 1 was a 277 yard ripped driver and a 60 yard 53 degree wedge and a 2 putt. But those aren’t Haywood shots, so y’all don’t care.

Set 2 was all Haywood. I took 4 iron off the deck (no tee on the tee box) and ripped it as hard as I could winding up with a 197 yard shot that just crept into the right rough (that’s the side of the fairway I was aiming for as it gives the best angle to the green, it just leaked a tad into the rough). I was 147.1 out so I pulled 7I. I left a HUGE divot, but PURED the 7 iron. Hitting it so well it carried over the front flag location and left a pitch mark on the fringe left and of course rolled down an embankment for 161 yards total. I used the Haywood PW to bump it up on the green to about 7’ and 1-putted for par.

+2 with 7 GIR (6 with Haywoods) on 12 holes.

I can’t believe I didn’t have a single fat shot playing in soft conditions. I really can’t believe it. The thinner soles worked to keep the club from digging in the soft conditions and despite the large divots, the result was the shots were pure and not fat.

Also, 58.3% GIR is good for me (I average 9.8 or 52% GIR per Arccos). But the 19’ proximity to the hole on GIR is crazy good for me (I average 27’ proximity per Arccos). Full Arccos stats/images for the 12 holes below.

    

    

Love the data and hole by hole!

[Nunfa0]

I have added a wee unboxing for you all 

https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/63187-haywood-cbmb-irons-2024-forum-review/?do=findComment&comment=1025661

Edited April 11 by Nunfa0

[Lefty11]

Is there a discernible difference sound and feel wise between the CB and MB?

[frazzman80]

3 hours ago, Lefty11 said:

Is there a discernible difference sound and feel wise between the CB and MB?

It's been interesting to me so far and I've taken the 8, 9, PW and hit those and then the 4, 5, 6, 7, and hit those and I have a hard time distinguishing them because sound wise they are identical. I did a 7 vs. 8 session the other day and if you had handed me one or the other randomly, I couldn't have told them apart by sound.

Feel wise, I'd say the CBs feel more forgiving, especially the 4 and 5 irons. I've had some strikes on the Rapsodo so far where I hit the ball, say "that felt good", but the carry distance and ball speed are a few yards/MPH less and when I go to look at the slow-mo of impact, I go "huh...I did hit that off the toe a bit." With the MBs, I've found when you miss, even a little, you feel it more. Numbers wise it's not drastically worse for carry or ball speed, but if the CBs are a few yards/MPH less on a non-center strike, the MBs are even less by a couple more. Nothing drastic. Half a club at most.  

I have found one thing so far on course that doesn't show as well on the Rapsodo. Thin/low misses have a tendency to turn out well for me. The height/apex of the shot isn't nearly as high/pretty, but the distance is good and it spins more, so when I catch it just a bit thin I'm still putting. 

[Nunfa0]

7 hours ago, Lefty11 said:

Is there a discernible difference sound and feel wise between the CB and MB?

I have only been able to do one range session so far and honestly, I couldn't feel or hear any real difference between the CB and MB irons.

[Nunfa0]

These are some highlights from my first range session. I hit all 7 of the clubs and I also hit a few with my T100S PW and T200 4 iron, to give a comparison.

First off, when you flush these clubs, they feel solid but soft. Sort of a confidence inspiring feeling. Off centre hits can definitely be felt but are nowhere as harsh as I thought they might be. 

Again this is all range balls, so distance is down 

This was an example of the Haywood PW. Being a pure blade, the distance is down on the Titleist.

The 4 irons I won't even show because the T200s are a players DISTANCE design, so it wasn't even close. One thing I will say, is the Haywood's love a nice smooth swing and I can't wait to get them on the course.

Edited April 12 by Nunfa0

[GolfSpy_APH]

How does everyone find the sole design? It is something that is talked about a lot with irons now and I am wondering what all of your thoughts are on it. 

[Nunfa0]

9 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

How does everyone find the sole design? It is something that is talked about a lot with irons now and I am wondering what all of your thoughts are on it. 

For me the soles are not too dissimilar to the Titleist's, just a bit sharper. They are definitely longer though...

Haywood on the left

Edited April 12 by Nunfa0

[frazzman80]

7 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

How does everyone find the sole design? It is something that is talked about a lot with irons now and I am wondering what all of your thoughts are on it. 

I've got pics of the sole difference in my official writeup in the aesthetics section, but recapping here, the Haywoods are slimmer than my existing Callaways by 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch. So far, I've enjoyed the truf interaction with the Haywoods more than my Callaways. The Haywoods leave a better divot in my mind when I do take a divot (I'm a picker/sweeper and don't take large deep divots typically) and I don't feel the "thud" of the ground I do with my Callaways. In my soft conditions round the other day I very much preferred the Haywoods. I've got a dry course in the Texas Hill Country coming up on Sunday so I'm going to see how they do in standard Texas conditions (firm and likely not a lot of grass).

[frazzman80]

Round 3 in the books with the Haywoods today. I played at Willow Springs GC in San Antonio, TX and the course was packed, so this was a straight up round (no extra shots here or there this time). As such, I played a true round today, shooting 80 (should have been lower, but the greens were...recovering...I should have just taken 2 putts on each hole outside of 30' as I 3-putted 3 times from distance...oh well). Oh...and I hit a tree on the par 3 18th and lost the ball, so that also wasn't happy). I hit 12 greens in regulation, which again is stellar for me. My last 2 rounds with the Haywoods have both been above average for GIR.

Just breaking down the Haywood shots below this time as I hit a variety of clubs today.

Hole 1 - Approach shot from fairway 131 to an uphill green with a 10-15 MPH wind behind me. Solid slightly thin contact with the 9I that carried a bunker and landed on the green (3' roll out from pitch mark). 21' short/right of the hole.

Hole 2 - Approach shot from fairway 191 downhill back pin into the 15 MPH wind. I didn't think the 4I would reach, but I tried anyway and struck it so PURE, with a flight that cut through the wind and faded ever so slightly. It went 179 and was just short of the green. About 15' short of a GIR. 

Hole 3 - Approach shot from fairway 116 yards to a pin that about 8 paces on the front. I thought the 15-20 MPH wind was straight off the right, but once I got to the green it was into off the right. The PW I hit was so PURE, but went 109 into the wind. Had I read the wind better, I would have hit 9. No GIR by about 5'. 

Hole 4 - Downwind/off the left (15-20 MPH) wind to an uphill par 3 with the pin the front. Lasered 165. PURED a 5 iron that rode the wind and baby faded right over the flagstick, but the wind carried it past the flag to 178 total. Had a 40' putt back downhill (3-putt...sigh). 

Hole 5 - Downhill, but straight into the 15-20 MPH wind, I pulled a 6I from a lasered spot of 161 out off the fairway. Hit it just a bit thin, which produced a great low shot that bore through the wind and wound up on the right side of the green for a total of 149 yards. Had a 43' putt downhill left (3-putted...sigh).

Hole 6 - No Haywoods used on this par 5 (but I did hit my Edison 57 to 5' and made birdie)

Hole 7 - 298 yard par 4 with a straight 90 degree dogleg. Wind 15-20 gusting straight left to right. Hit the Haywood 4 iron off the tee and mostly toed it. It started straight, got above the tree line and took off right. I hit it 191, but I was in the right rough. Hit Edison 53 in to 21'. 

Hole 8 - Lasered 184 on this uphill straight downwind (15-20 MPH) par 3. I pulled 5I based on the last par 3. I had a pure (not PURE) strike and the ball laded on the front part of the green is a wet spot and literally spun back 6" from the pitch mark (despite being crazy downwind...sigh). It carried 169 yards. 

Hole 9 - No Haywoods were used on this hole (GIR from 60 yards out with Edison 53)

Hole 10 - No Haywoods were used on this hole (GIR from 59 yards out with Edison 53)

Hole 11 - Lasered 147 downwind (15-20) off the right to a level green on this par 3. Pulled 7I and PURED It carried 159 finishing at 161 on the back of the green, leaving a 46' putt back (I 3-putted...sigh).

Hole 12 - Approach shot from fairway lasered 105 to a back pin on my 3rd to a par 5 with a 15-20 MPH into and off the right wind. Pulled the PW and stuck it PURE, but the wind never moved it left and I hit it 104 total - but 6' right of the green pin high but in rough so thick I literally had to search for the ball. No GIR, but just barely no GIR.

Hole 13 - No Haywoods were used on this hole (Edison 57 80 yards to 20')

Hole 14 - Approach shot lasered 161 into a 20-25 MPH headwind. I hit 5 iron and flighted it down well, but the wind still ate it and pushed it just short right. 153 yards total.

Hole 15 - Lasered 135 to a back pin with the 20-25 MPH wind at my back. I had a decent lie in the right rough and a short 30' tree to go over about 20 yards in front of me. I pulled 8I, PURED it, easily carried the tree and hit it 141 total to the back left of the green, leaving a 21' putt.

Hole 16 - No Haywoods were used on this hole.

Hole 17 - 310 yard, 90 degree dogleg right with a deep, tree-lined creek hazard the hole way right and then surrounding the green on the approach shot. Tightest driving hole on the course and there are huge bunkers and giant oak trees left. Pulled Haywood 4I and with the 15-20 MPH wind helping from L-R, PURED one straight down the middle of the fairway 216 yards. I've never hit such a good tee shot on this hole. It left me 133 lasered to a slightly downhill green with the wind now at my back. I pulled 9I, toed it, cursed, and then watched as my ball started just a tad right of the target and then magically drew straight for the green landing pin high and going 135 total. I was flabbergasted as I just knew based on my strike it was destined for a slicer into the creek. My Callaways would have sliced into the creek. Instead I had 21' for birdie (and I missed...again).

Hole 18 - Uphill 186-yard par 3 with the wind screaming straight L-R at about 20 MPH gusting higher. I pulled the Haywood 4I again, Struck it low toe and the wind took it straight into about a 100' foot tall pecan tree that guards the green. A branch fell down...and no one in my foursome had any clue where the ball went. I played a provisional that I PURED it went 191 total, just on the back/right fringe of the green. I looked for my 3 minutes of allotted time, but never found the ball that hit the tree. 

SO...when you look at my Arccos stats below, just know that SG approach number has a 2-stroke lost ball penalty on 18. Even with that, I was still a +0.3 compared to a 6 H.I. (which is my current handicap). On as windy of a day as it was, I felt like the Haywoods performed fantastically, especially in the CBs and long irons, routinely getting me to the green with putter in hand or leaving me easy putts/chips from around the green. My friend who played with me asked me, "How many rounds do you have with those clubs?" I said it was my 3rd round with them and he didn't believe it, saying it took him a dozen rounds to get used to new irons. He even asked me a couple more times (I guess he didn't believe me). I was pleased with them again today. So of the holes I used the Haywoods for approach shots, 7 GIR (8 if you'd count the provisional on 18) with 5 missed GIRs. 7 of 12 is really good for me.

    

    

Edited April 13 by frazzman80

[frazzman80]

Family round today with the frazzmom and the kiddos. Earlier in the week, I tested the Haywoods in soft post-rain conditions, so today I wanted to do the opposite and test them in drought-stricken conditions. I had heard from several other players that a "name redacted" course, which has been in the worst of the Texas drought for over 2 years now, was really dried out. So we drove the hour and a half up to the Texas Hill Country to give the Haywoods some hard pan experience.

It was a mistake...as the course was beyond bad. There was no fairway...only whatever weeds were tough enough to grow. Several "fairways" had bare dirt, hard as the limestone rocks of the Texas Hill Country. I'll be honest, I played "preferred lies" just to find any grass because there were rocks all over the "fairways" in the bare dirt. The greens were beyond baked out and you could tell they were doing everything to keep them alive, but none of them were green much less lush. So, some of the yardages from today are likely influenced by the fact that everything ran out when it hit the ground. I'll try to give carry numbers if I can.

Kudos to my 10 year old though, who had his 2nd birdie ever on the 214 yard (from the red tees) par 4 4th after he smacked the longest drive of his life (202 yards to right in front of the green)!

Hole 1 - Downhill into a 15-20 gusty MPH wind coming slightly off the right. I never played this course before and as soon as I hit my drive, the marshal told me "Nice drive...but that's the 11th fairway." So, from the 11th "fairway", I took 6I with the wind off the right/into, struck it pure and it landed on the green and bounded 15-20 yards over. 164 total (like 150ish carry). SO, no GIR as I had to chip it back on. Can I call it a "Green hit"?

Hole 2 - I was in the "fairway" after hitting a great drive into the gusty wind, but had 283 to the flag on this long par 5 into the wind. I hit 5I to lay up and struck it PURE with a slight fade. The wind knocked it down and it didn't run out as it was uphill. 153 total. I had 135.1 to the flag and pulled 8 iron. Hit it pure but pulled 8-iron and just missed pin high left (it landed just short of the green and bounded forward). Missed GIR left - 130 total. I chipped it in from 12 yards with my 57!

Hole 3 - 20MPH gusty left helping wind on this uphill par 3. I shot 131.6 with the laser and pulled 8 iron again since I just hit 130. PURED it. It landed on the front of the green and rolled all the way to the back. GIR - 139 total (130 carry...it would have been pin high had the green not been rock hard). 

Hole 4 - 312 yard par 4 into the 15-20+ gusty wind. Hit 4iron off the deck off the first tee box that actually had grass on it 186 right down the middle. I have no clue how much it rolled out because the hole rose then went downhill past the 150 stick, but when I got to the ball it was in about a 10-12 yard wide swatch of bare dirt, so I moved it find grass and had 127 into the stiff breeze, so 8I again. PURED it. I landed just past the flag, jumped about 8' in the air and bounded over the green. Another "Green hit."

Hole 5 - Very uphill 354 yard par 4 still into the 15-20+ MPH wind. From 116.8 yards in the right rough (which in this case had more grass than the fairway), I hit 9I into the wind to the back pin. The ball landed middle of the green and thank God for the big back to front slope, which stopped the ball just before the back fringe. GIR 118 yards total (likely 110 carry).

Hole 6 - Long narrow par 5 15-20 MPH wind off the left helping. After hitting a tree with my drive, I was in the fairway but a long way back. Hit 4I 187 yards to a perfect layup number of 75 yards. It was solid strike off whatever weed I put the ball on. GIRed the hole with my 57. 

Hole 7 - Hit drive right on the strong left-helping wind and it was then I realized that the only grass on the course was in the rough under the shade of the oak trees. Unfortunately, I had several trees between me and the green for this 134.7 yard approach shot. So I took 9I to get over all of them, landed just short and got a good hop up onto the front right of the green (the pin was back left). GIR 126 yards total (likely 120 carry).

Hole 8 - Par 3 that I shot at 175.4 yards. 15-20 MPH Left to right (maybe helping a little) wind. Took 5I and PURED it. Straight as an arrow with a touch of fade as the wind moved it. It landed nearly pin high left and bounded beyond the green. 188 total (likely 175 carry) and another "Green hit".

Hole 9 - No Haywoods used as I crushed a drive and had 70 yards in. GIR with my 57.

Hole 10 - No Haywoods uses as I smoked a drive and had 90 yards in. GIR with my 53.

Hole 11 - My drive hit a tree. I had to chop out sideways leaving me 109.2 to a very elevated green with a 15-20+ MPH L-R wind from a grassy creek that crossed the fairway (it actually had grass!). Pulled PW and PURED it. I know I had some draw on it, but it never moved as the wind held it straight as an arrow. Hit the right side of the green and rolled to the back. 110 yards total (likely carry 100). Another "Green hit" and if not for the chip out from behind the tree, would have been a GIR.

Hole 12 - Par 5 with gusty wind helping from the left. My drive hit a tree (163 yards). My 3 wood hit a tree (160 yards). I had 4I from the left rough to an uphill green and PURED IT. I'm telling you now...never in my life has a 4 IRON ever played this good for me. Straight as an arrow, landing on the front of the green and rolling all the way to the back. 200 total with 180 (or so) carry for the GIR.

Hole 13 - Shot 156.8 on the laser to this flat par 3 with gusty 20+ wind helping from the left. Pulled 7I. PURED IT. I was hoping the wind would push it toward the hole, but it held it's line flawlessly straight just left of the pin where I started it. I landed somewhere short/middle left of the green and finished 12' past the hole on the left. GIR 166 total (likely 160 carry as this green was shaded and the most green/soft of any). 

Hole 14 - After screwing up my drive and hitting right into the 15th "fairway" on this long par 5, I found some grass and set the ball down to hit one of my easiest and "signature" shots. A super low hard slicing long iron that goes under all the trees and slices and slices like mad before landing and running straight down the middle of the fairway. The honor to hit this signature shot was the Haywood 4I, because it's the most amazeballs 4I ever made. This shot was downwind, downhill and couldn't get into the air more than 20-25' high to get under the trees. I hit it PURE and it went 210 yards, finishing neatly into the weeds that made up the fairway on this hole. 57 GIR from 85 yards out followed, but that doesn't happen without the perfect 4I (which went only 17 yards shorter than my crappy drive).

Hole 15 - No Haywoods used on this hole (GIR from 70 yards with my 53 into the gusty wind).

Hole 16 - After hitting an amazing drive that ran forever on the runway of hardpan that was the "fairway" (seriously, it went 283 into the 20+ MPH wind because it probably rand for 50 yards), I had 119.8 to a middle flag position into the gusty wind. I pulled 9I and ABSOLUTELY HIT THE TOP 1/3 OF THE BALL and watched in udder amusement as it bounced, skipped, and blazed a trail through the weeds and up onto the green rolling to the back left. This ball shouldn't have gone 40 yards, but there it was, 122 yards away on the back left of the green! So, I dropped another ball, hit the 9I again and PURED it. It landed right by the pin and I got to watch in horror as it hopped up and rolled all the way to almost the back fringe on a green that was sloped big time back to front. That one carried right at the laser number of 120 and finished at 131. GIR (x2 in very different ways...the topped shot was a better outcome than the PURED one...sigh).

Hole 17 - Straight downwind (20+ gusty). I lasered 161 and decided 7I was the right choice. I slightly thin/toed this one, but it was flying at the right side. It landed just short of the green, hit God knows what in the non-grassed fairway, jumped pretty much straight right and missed long right. This was the first green I truly missed since hole #2 and it took a crappy bounce to make it happen. Total was 170 yards.

Hole 18 - Into the gusty wind, on a 90 degree dogleg left, I tried to rip driver to reach the dogleg and topped it. It went 138. Sooooooo...now I'm well over 200 out, not near the dogleg and there are several oak trees between me and the green.

Of course, I do the totally logical thing and go "WATCH THIS KIDS! Daddy's going to take this 4I (because it's magic!) and aim directly over that last dead tree (there were about 4 dead trees on the left side...the drought sucks), I'm going to hit it over that tree (directly into the wind mind you) and hook this ball around the other trees and it's going to wind up right in front of the green. AND I FRICKEN DID IT! Do you know how hard it is to hit a 4I into the wind over a 50' tall dead tree AND hook it (when your typical shot shape with a long iron is a fade and your miss is a slice)?!? It went 166...which probably hurts my Arccos distance with the 4I so far, but it was the perfect shot. I had 69 yards left to the front pin and hit the green with my 57 (of course the ball landed in the front and rolled out 40 feet even into the wind for 79 yards total). Again, no GIR, but the 4I shot setup the hit green.

The total for the day was 11 of 18 GIRs with an additional 4 "greens hit". I'm 100% positive that had I been playing on a golf course that had a working irrigation system and wasn't short 25-30 inches of rain from the past 2 years, I would have had 15 of 18 GIRs today. It shows in my Arccos stats below: +1.9 Strokes Gained approach (and it should have been higher if not for the hard as steel greens). My proximity to the hole was OK but wasn't great today, but I guarantee you tour pros wouldn't have been able to spin a ball on these greens. 

    

    

Edited April 15 by frazzman80

[Nunfa0]

I managed to get a round in with the Haywood's today. I'm not going to do a blow by blow but a couple of things stood out.

First off, when you hit these well, they feel very nice. A good solid feeling, with a pleasant sound.

When I didn't hit them well, there was a definite drop off in distance but there was more forgiveness there than I expected.

The sole seems to interact with the turf very well, in and out in a flash. Also, I hit a full 4 iron from the long rough and it flew straight and true to the green 181 yards away.

The one downside is that I seem to be half a club shorter from 4 to 7 iron and a full club shorter from 8 to PW.

[Nunfa0]

Right folks, I have added my first impressions and I will be adding aesthetics tomorrow.

[frazzman80]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:34 AM, frazzman80 said:

I've got pics of the sole difference in my official writeup in the aesthetics section, but recapping here, the Haywoods are slimmer than my existing Callaways by 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch. So far, I've enjoyed the truf interaction with the Haywoods more than my Callaways. The Haywoods leave a better divot in my mind when I do take a divot (I'm a picker/sweeper and don't take large deep divots typically) and I don't feel the "thud" of the ground I do with my Callaways. In my soft conditions round the other day I very much preferred the Haywoods. I've got a dry course in the Texas Hill Country coming up on Sunday so I'm going to see how they do in standard Texas conditions (firm and likely not a lot of grass).

Following up on the sole question from @GolfSpy_APH - I got in the round at the dryest, hard-panniest course yesterday and was very pleased with the turf interaction on the dry course. Aside from the cloud of dust with each strike, the soles didn't bounce off the hardpan at all. It was the same quick interaction with the ground and each shot left a nice clean divot. I even left small, shallow divots when the ground was has hard as a rock. 

So in my mind, compared to my Callaways, in very dry conditions, I didn't have the club skip into the ball or any worries about thin shots. On the day I played after the rain, compared to my Callaways, I didn't have any fat "mud-filled club" shots. I like the sharp thin soles and it feels like the bounce is working for me.

[frazzman80]

This afternoon it suddenly started misting and drizzling and I decided to take full advantage of testing the Haywoods out in what I would call a "heavy dew" kind of wetness. It wasn't raining and the cart paths were still dry, but the grass was definitely wet, especially the rough. There was also literally zero wind today, so in addition to testing wet performance, I got to test my yardages and shot shapes without any wind to alter things. 

Let me start by prefacing this breakdown. I played from the tips at what I would consider my "home" course River Bend GC in Floresville, TX. I did so to test myself because when I play from the tips it's a lot of long irons as its 7,030 yards from the tips. That said, I did 2 something's I've never done on a golf course before. The first something was on hole #5, where I purposely hit approach shots from 180, 170, 160, 150, 140, 130 and 120 consecutively to the green on a real golf hole. The other is that I set a record for number of GIR hit in a round for me! How many? Read on!!!

Hole 1:  409 yard par 4 - 250 yard drive centered in the fairway left me 147.3 to a middle pin. Hit 7I and struck it just a bit thin (thin has been a great miss with these irons) and lo and behold it landed just short of the green and ran up leaving me 25' left of the pin almost pin high. Total distance 144 yards. GIR 1

Hole 2: The card says 248, but the tees were up a box and I lasered 199.2. I chose 4I (instead of my 4 hybrid which I call my "200 easy club" because I figured middle of the green to the back pin was better than flying it 200 and hoping the 4 hybrid would stop. I PURED the 4I and as it beautifully flew toward the middle of the green with a baby draw, I watched in awe as yet again I smoked a 4I. I'm enamored with the fact that I can hit a 4I so well. I feel professional. It carried right at 190, rolled out to 197 and finished pin high left due to the slope of the green 12' from the hole...with a 4I. 12 FEET! GIR 2

Hole 3: 557 yard par 5 with a forced carry of a water hazard and penalty areas both left and right. Hit an OK drive 247 into the right rough (feet from disaster), so I took 5I to lay up. Hit the 5I just a bit thin (thin is good again) and hit it 179 yards to the second part of the fairway, leaving me 103.7 yards. Problem. So this is the first potential issue I've seen with the Haywoods and I hadn't faced it on the course until now. My old Callaway PW went 125 and my Edison 49* goes around 110 while my 53* Edison is 95. I can hit that 53 100, but not consistently. The Haywood PW is currently subbing in for the 49* Edison and the Haywood PW goes 115ish. So this is a 20 yard gap in my bag right now Haywood PW to Edison 53*. And this put me in between clubs. I decided to hit PW and failed to take enough off it. I hit the green, but the pin was in the front and I centered it after hitting 117 yards. I 3-putted from 55'. GIR 3, but not good proximity.

Hole 4: 467 yard par 4 that plays shorter if you can cut the dogleg left by being in the left side of the fairway. Smoked driver 283 down the left side, leaving 166.8 to a slightly uphill green. I pulled 6I and PURED it, watching happily as the baby draw pulled the ball from the right side of the green toward the middle pin location. It was right on line, just a bit short going 157 yards. I 2-putted from 30'. GIR 4!

Hole 5: drivable 292 yard par 4 with some nasty deep bunkers guarding the green to dissuade you from going full bore at it. I hit driver 256 down the right side into the rough. I knew I wouldn't have a Haywood in and also knew no one was behind me at all. Therefore, I got to do my "every Haywood hole"! The pin was back right and slightly elevated (my slope on the range finder added anywhere between 2.5-4 yards of "playing distance". It was away from the bunkers with the only trouble being the right side of the green falls off quickly, so missing right would roll off. Here's how it went (note - none of these will be reflected in the Arccos data at the end because I had to delete them to not have a 13 on the hole):

• 180 yards on the laser - 4I pure strike - started at the hole and drew into the left center of the green. GIR finishing 58' left pin high
• 170 yards on the laser - 5I slight low toe strike - started just right of the hole and stayed dead straight. It hit the slope on the right fringe area and went straight right down the hill from there. NO GIR 48' right pin high.
• 160 yards on the laser - 6I slightly thin strike - started just left of the hole and stayed straight. Carried the bunkers landing on the green just over the front fringe and rolled forward finishing 31' short and left of the pin. GIR
• 150 yards on the laser - 7I PURE strike - Started directly at the hole and maybe drew a yard or 2. It landed and stopped promptly 4' from the hole. OMG GIR!
• 140 yards on the laser - 8I PURE strike - Everything the 7I was, the 8I copied. It may have flown exactly the same path, just a bit higher. It landed soft and finished 6' left of the pin right behind the 7I. OMG GIR
• 130 yards on the laser - 9I pure strike, just came out a little lower and a tad left, but it was as straight as an arrow. Landed and stopped 14' short left of the pin. GIR
• 120 yards on the laser - PW that I chunked. I chunked the crap out of it. It went about 80 yards and stopped short of the bunkers. Dejected, I grabbed another ball. NO GIR
• 120 yards on the laser - PW PURE strike - I thought this was going in when I hit it but the baby draw just had it finish 8' left of the hole. GIR

So that's 8 shots with 6 of 8 on the green and 3 of those 6 within 8 feet! I also hit the green on the 52 yard chip with my 57 Edison so GIR for me officially too. That's 7 of 9 approach shots for GIRs on this hole! GIR 5 officially.

Hole 6: 524 yard par 5 that is totally a 2 shot hole with a good drive. I drove it 282, but it leaked right and into an area with literally no grass and a blind shot to carry the pond that guards the green short right. So I played the layup with a 6I and hit it thin from the bare dirt hardpan lie but got 164 down the hill rolling out to a safe layup spot. Hit my 53 into the green from 63.6 to 15'. GIR #6!

Hole 7: 410 yard par 4 that has an elevated tee box to a downhill landing area with a steep uphill 2nd shot. Smoked driver 294 right down the pipe leaving 124.9 playing 129.4 uphill. Pulled 9I knowing I'd need to hit it hard to carry a deep front right bunker with the pin tucked behind it. I PURED it (and left a deep, dollar bill divot in the process, typically a divot that would mean a very fat shot with my Callaways, but apparently NOT with the Haywoods) and the ball carried the bunked with ease going 130 yards and finishing 18 long right of the pin. GIR #7!

Hole 8: 190 yard level par 3. The pin was in the middle/back left and I lasered 190.7. I pulled 5I thinking I would play to the center of the green with a little roll out to leave me an uphill putt. I hit it slightly thin (good miss again!) and it landed on the front of the green and rolled up toward the pin, finishing 20 feet right. 189 yards total GIR 8 in row!!

Hole 9: 485 yard par 4 that at least goes downhill the 2nd part of the hole. Typically this plays directly into a stiff wind, but no wind today at least. I hit driver 269 yards and just into the right rough. The wet thick right rough. I had 185.7 downhill to the green with the pin in the very front, so I pulled the same 5I I just hit 189 on the last hole thinking I've got it made. I didn't have it made. I struck the middle of the ball (thin) and watched in horror as the line drive skulled shot started left of the green and just kept on rolling...and rolling...and rolling. It missed the green left, crossed the cart path and went a total of 224 yards. I chipped back to the green and 2 putted, ending my longest consecutive GIR steak at 8 holes. GIR now 8/9.

Hole 10: 455 yard par 4 with OB right (driving range) and a creek/penalty area down the entire left side. Hammered driver 298 down the right side, got an amazing bounce off a hill that if you land on the right side you are OB and if you land on the left side you are fairway. I was on the left side of the hill and wound up in on the right side of the fairway. I had 159.3 on the laser to a middle left pin that if you land left of, you hit the green and roll off into the creek (unless you get lucky). It's a sucker pin you have to play right of. I pulled 6I and PURED IT BEYOND PURE, leaving a divot that was literally just brushed grass to the soil line. The thing is, I watched the ball fly super high, way higher than any Haywood 6I I've hit to date. It landed just shy of the back fringe and bounded over the green disappearing in the thick rough behind the green. It went 169 yards.

On the course, I thought I just hit it too hard or too PURE, but now that I'm typing this 5 hour later, I think the water and wet grass affected the Haywood 6I and essentially gave me a flyer. The extra high flight coupled with the lack of spin means the wetness impacted my shot and it launched out higher with less spin. Most of my other shots were not in this thick/wet of fairway grass and now I'm sure the moisture impacted this shot. NO GIR (8/10 total)

Hole 11: 511 yard par 5 with the same creek down the entire left side again and lost-ball city down the hole right side with trees and waste high grass. Nailed driver 274 right down the middle, but had a blind 2nd from 246.6 and decided to hit the 3-wood anyway because I'm a pro damnit. I am not a pro...and 205 yards later I was dropping my ball after going in the creek left. I had 50 yards to the pin and chipped on with my 57. NO GIR (8/11 total now).

Hole 12: 421 yards with the creek bisecting the hole. Option A is layup before the creek and with a perfect layup have 180-200 in or option B is carry the creek (225 down the left and 255 down the right) to the 2nd fairway on the other side. I always choose option B unless the wind is howling in my face. No wind today. I crushed it 267 yard but went a tad too far right, crossing the creek but missing the fairway in the heavy right rough. I found the ball (thank goodness) and had 129.7ish because I couldn't see the green from where I was and took that reading about 10 yards left of my ball up the hill where I could see the flag. I picked a tree as the best target line I could make out and hit 8I and pured it as well as I could from the lie. It flew and I ran full speed up the hill just in time to see it land short and creep onto the front of the green just 17' short of the front pin! GIR #9 (of 12)

Hole 13: 185 yard par 3 slightly downhill. I lasered 167.9 total. I pulled 6I and hit it very well (ever so slight toe). It started at the flag (which was on the right side) and drew toward the middle of the green, stopping quickly. 161 yards total 31' short and left of the pin. GIR #10

Hole 14: 330 yard par 4 with a creek down the hole right side and several large deep bunkers protecting the green starting at about 125 yards out all the way to the front of the green. Hit driver 250 yards down the right side almost into the hazard after it took a strange bounce. I had 83.7 yards so I hit my 57 and PURED it to 10'. GIR #11!

I had some time on this hole, so I went back to 105.5 yards, to that odd in between PW and 53* distance and hit both. I PURED the Haywood PW (left another deep dollar bill divot but it wasn't fat!) and hit it to the back of the green 116 yards total...again, not great at taking a little off it. I hit the 53, PURED it and it landed in the bunker at 98 yards total. I'm going to keep this is mind the next few times I playtest as this gap isn't ideal. 

Hole 15: 575 yard par 5 and longest hole on the course. I've never gotten there in 2 from the white tees much less the tips. Hit my driver 250 but it went well right. When I got to the ball, I was over 300 out in heavy wet rough and had no shot at the green in 2. I decided to hit 4I to play it to the 150 stick. Sadly, the lie was bad and the wet grass ate up my 4I and I thinned it badly, hitting it only 138 but advancing it back into the fairway. I had 186.5 to an uphill green with the pin in the very front. I gave the 4I a chance to atone for the previous shot. DID IT EVER! I struck it PURER than PURE and watched with awe as the ball rose beautifully up, drew perfectly toward the hole, landed just short right and hopped up on the green! 194 total to the center of the green! GIR #12!

Hole 16: 348 yard par 4 that you can get really close to the green if you cut the dogleg to the right. It also takes the creek left completely out of play. I hit driver 257, but the course apparently has wised up to this tactic and unbeknownst to me has reshaped the fairway, leaving what used to be this right side landing strip to the green with about 2" of wet heavy rough. I was able to find me ball (and about 3 others) and had 78 yards to the pin. I took Edison 57* and hacked it out, but it came out left, going 71 yards but leaving me short left of the pin. GIR #13 though!

Hole 17: 194 on the card and severely uphill (like 40-50 feet elevation change from the tee to the hidden green). You can only see the top of the flag, which I shot at 178.4 (playing 187.9 according to my laser slope). I wanted to give the 5I another shot at glory, even though I had just hit 4I around the 190 distance. This time I PURED the 5I and it started just left of the hole (where I had aimed) and hit the slope on that side and kicked right toward the pin. I wasn't sure it was long enough, but was happy to pull up to the green to see it on the very front at 170 yards total. GIR #14 and a stretch of 6 in a row again!

Hole 18: 429 yard par 4. I promptly hit my tee shot OB into someone's backyard. SUNNOVA!!!! OK...tee ball #2 - PURED it 278 yards dead center. 151.8 playing 154.7 to the slightly uphill green with the pin the back. I pulled 7I and skulled/thinned it (bad...not the good slightly thin) and watched it line drive down the fairway, onto and over the green 164 yards total. It's not the way I wanted to end the round, but it was almost dark and there were 2 groups behind me trying to finish, so I didn't rehit. NO GIR.

BUT...as poor as the last shot was, I hit 14 of 18 GREENS IN REGULATION!!! My previous record was 13! And, if you count all the shots I hit on 5, I really hit 20 of 26 approach shots for GIRs today! 16 of 22 with Haywoods! The dispersion was also really good. Arccos stats show me once again at positive Approach SG at +2.9!!! That's 5 rounds with the Haywoods and 5 rounds with positive strokes gained. In my previous 15 rounds with the Callaways, I had 5 rounds with positive strokes gained approach. At this point, I'm very impressed with the on course performance of the Haywoods. 

    

    

Edited April 17 by frazzman80

[Nunfa0]

I have added my aesthetics and finished my first impressions. To summarize, I like them so far...

 

The top line could do with some refining though...

[Josh Parker]

5 hours ago, frazzman80 said:

This afternoon it suddenly started misting and drizzling and I decided to take full advantage of testing the Haywoods out in what I would call a "heavy dew" kind of wetness. It wasn't raining and the cart paths were still dry, but the grass was definitely wet, especially the rough. There was also literally zero wind today, so in addition to testing wet performance, I got to test my yardages and shot shapes without any wind to alter things. 

Let me start by prefacing this breakdown. I played from the tips at what I would consider my "home" course River Bend GC in Floresville, TX. I did so to test myself because when I play from the tips it's a lot of long irons as its 7,030 yards from the tips. That said, I did 2 something's I've never done on a golf course before. The first something was on hole #5, where I purposely hit approach shots from 180, 170, 160, 150, 140, 130 and 120 consecutively to the green on a real golf hole. The other is that I set a record for number of GIR hit in a round for me! How many? Read on!!!

Hole 1:  409 yard par 4 - 250 yard drive centered in the fairway left me 147.3 to a middle pin. Hit 7I and struck it just a bit thin (thin has been a great miss with these irons) and lo and behold it landed just short of the green and ran up leaving me 25' left of the pin almost pin high. Total distance 144 yards. GIR 1

Hole 2: The card says 248, but the tees were up a box and I lasered 199.2. I chose 4I (instead of my 4 hybrid which I call my "200 easy club" because I figured middle of the green to the back pin was better than flying it 200 and hoping the 4 hybrid would stop. I PURED the 4I and as it beautifully flew toward the middle of the green with a baby draw, I watched in awe as yet again I smoked a 4I. I'm enamored with the fact that I can hit a 4I so well. I feel professional. It carried right at 190, rolled out to 197 and finished pin high left due to the slope of the green 12' from the hole...with a 4I. 12 FEET! GIR 2

Hole 3: 557 yard par 5 with a forced carry of a water hazard and penalty areas both left and right. Hit an OK drive 247 into the right rough (feet from disaster), so I took 5I to lay up. Hit the 5I just a bit thin (thin is good again) and hit it 179 yards to the second part of the fairway, leaving me 103.7 yards. Problem. So this is the first potential issue I've seen with the Haywoods and I hadn't faced it on the course until now. My old Callaway PW went 125 and my Edison 49* goes around 110 while my 53* Edison is 95. I can hit that 53 100, but not consistently. The Haywood PW is currently subbing in for the 49* Edison and the Haywood PW goes 115ish. So this is a 20 yard gap in my bag right now Haywood PW to Edison 53*. And this put me in between clubs. I decided to hit PW and failed to take enough off it. I hit the green, but the pin was in the front and I centered it after hitting 117 yards. I 3-putted from 55'. GIR 3, but not good proximity.

Hole 4: 467 yard par 4 that plays shorter if you can cut the dogleg left by being in the left side of the fairway. Smoked driver 283 down the left side, leaving 166.8 to a slightly uphill green. I pulled 6I and PURED it, watching happily as the baby draw pulled the ball from the right side of the green toward the middle pin location. It was right on line, just a bit short going 157 yards. I 2-putted from 30'. GIR 4!

Hole 5: drivable 292 yard par 4 with some nasty deep bunkers guarding the green to dissuade you from going full bore at it. I hit driver 256 down the right side into the rough. I knew I wouldn't have a Haywood in and also knew no one was behind me at all. Therefore, I got to do my "every Haywood hole"! The pin was back right and slightly elevated (my slope on the range finder added anywhere between 2.5-4 yards of "playing distance". It was away from the bunkers with the only trouble being the right side of the green falls off quickly, so missing right would roll off. Here's how it went (note - none of these will be reflected in the Arccos data at the end because I had to delete them to not have a 13 on the hole):

• 180 yards on the laser - 4I pure strike - started at the hole and drew into the left center of the green. GIR finishing 58' left pin high
• 170 yards on the laser - 5I slight low toe strike - started just right of the hole and stayed dead straight. It hit the slope on the right fringe area and went straight right down the hill from there. NO GIR 48' right pin high.
• 160 yards on the laser - 6I slightly thin strike - started just left of the hole and stayed straight. Carried the bunkers landing on the green just over the front fringe and rolled forward finishing 31' short and left of the pin. GIR
• 150 yards on the laser - 7I PURE strike - Started directly at the hole and maybe drew a yard or 2. It landed and stopped promptly 4' from the hole. OMG GIR!
• 140 yards on the laser - 8I PURE strike - Everything the 7I was, the 8I copied. It may have flown exactly the same path, just a bit higher. It landed soft and finished 6' left of the pin right behind the 7I. OMG GIR
• 130 yards on the laser - 9I pure strike, just came out a little lower and a tad left, but it was as straight as an arrow. Landed and stopped 14' short left of the pin. GIR
• 120 yards on the laser - PW that I chunked. I chunked the crap out of it. It went about 80 yards and stopped short of the bunkers. Dejected, I grabbed another ball. NO GIR
• 120 yards on the laser - PW PURE strike - I thought this was going in when I hit it but the baby draw just had it finish 8' left of the hole. GIR

So that's 8 shots with 6 of 8 on the green and 3 of those 6 within 8 feet! I also hit the green on the 52 yard chip with my 57 Edison so GIR for me officially too. That's 7 of 9 approach shots for GIRs on this hole! GIR 5 officially.

Hole 6: 524 yard par 5 that is totally a 2 shot hole with a good drive. I drove it 282, but it leaked right and into an area with literally no grass and a blind shot to carry the pond that guards the green short right. So I played the layup with a 6I and hit it thin from the bare dirt hardpan lie but got 164 down the hill rolling out to a safe layup spot. Hit my 53 into the green from 63.6 to 15'. GIR #6!

Hole 7: 410 yard par 4 that has an elevated tee box to a downhill landing area with a steep uphill 2nd shot. Smoked driver 294 right down the pipe leaving 124.9 playing 129.4 uphill. Pulled 9I knowing I'd need to hit it hard to carry a deep front right bunker with the pin tucked behind it. I PURED it (and left a deep, dollar bill divot in the process, typically a divot that would mean a very fat shot with my Callaways, but apparently NOT with the Haywoods) and the ball carried the bunked with ease going 130 yards and finishing 18 long right of the pin. GIR #7!

Hole 8: 190 yard level par 3. The pin was in the middle/back left and I lasered 190.7. I pulled 5I thinking I would play to the center of the green with a little roll out to leave me an uphill putt. I hit it slightly thin (good miss again!) and it landed on the front of the green and rolled up toward the pin, finishing 20 feet right. 189 yards total GIR 8 in row!!

Hole 9: 485 yard par 4 that at least goes downhill the 2nd part of the hole. Typically this plays directly into a stiff wind, but no wind today at least. I hit driver 269 yards and just into the right rough. The wet thick right rough. I had 185.7 downhill to the green with the pin in the very front, so I pulled the same 5I I just hit 189 on the last hole thinking I've got it made. I didn't have it made. I struck the middle of the ball (thin) and watched in horror as the line drive skulled shot started left of the green and just kept on rolling...and rolling...and rolling. It missed the green left, crossed the cart path and went a total of 224 yards. I chipped back to the green and 2 putted, ending my longest consecutive GIR steak at 8 holes. GIR now 8/9.

Hole 10: 455 yard par 4 with OB right (driving range) and a creek/penalty area down the entire left side. Hammered driver 298 down the right side, got an amazing bounce off a hill that if you land on the right side you are OB and if you land on the left side you are fairway. I was on the left side of the hill and wound up in on the right side of the fairway. I had 159.3 on the laser to a middle left pin that if you land left of, you hit the green and roll off into the creek (unless you get lucky). It's a sucker pin you have to play right of. I pulled 6I and PURED IT BEYOND PURE, leaving a divot that was literally just brushed grass to the soil line. The thing is, I watched the ball fly super high, way higher than any Haywood 6I I've hit to date. It landed just shy of the back fringe and bounded over the green disappearing in the thick rough behind the green. It went 169 yards.

On the course, I thought I just hit it too hard or too PURE, but now that I'm typing this 5 hour later, I think the water and wet grass affected the Haywood 6I and essentially gave me a flyer. The extra high flight coupled with the lack of spin means the wetness impacted my shot and it launched out higher with less spin. Most of my other shots were not in this thick/wet of fairway grass and now I'm sure the moisture impacted this shot. NO GIR (8/10 total)

Hole 11: 511 yard par 5 with the same creek down the entire left side again and lost-ball city down the hole right side with trees and waste high grass. Nailed driver 274 right down the middle, but had a blind 2nd from 246.6 and decided to hit the 3-wood anyway because I'm a pro damnit. I am not a pro...and 205 yards later I was dropping my ball after going in the creek left. I had 50 yards to the pin and chipped on with my 57. NO GIR (8/11 total now).

Hole 12: 421 yards with the creek bisecting the hole. Option A is layup before the creek and with a perfect layup have 180-200 in or option B is carry the creek (225 down the left and 255 down the right) to the 2nd fairway on the other side. I always choose option B unless the wind is howling in my face. No wind today. I crushed it 267 yard but went a tad too far right, crossing the creek but missing the fairway in the heavy right rough. I found the ball (thank goodness) and had 129.7ish because I couldn't see the green from where I was and took that reading about 10 yards left of my ball up the hill where I could see the flag. I picked a tree as the best target line I could make out and hit 8I and pured it as well as I could from the lie. It flew and I ran full speed up the hill just in time to see it land short and creep onto the front of the green just 17' short of the front pin! GIR #9 (of 12)

Hole 13: 185 yard par 3 slightly downhill. I lasered 167.9 total. I pulled 6I and hit it very well (ever so slight toe). It started at the flag (which was on the right side) and drew toward the middle of the green, stopping quickly. 161 yards total 31' short and left of the pin. GIR #10

Hole 14: 330 yard par 4 with a creek down the hole right side and several large deep bunkers protecting the green starting at about 125 yards out all the way to the front of the green. Hit driver 250 yards down the right side almost into the hazard after it took a strange bounce. I had 83.7 yards so I hit my 57 and PURED it to 10'. GIR #11!

I had some time on this hole, so I went back to 105.5 yards, to that odd in between PW and 53* distance and hit both. I PURED the Haywood PW (left another deep dollar bill divot but it wasn't fat!) and hit it to the back of the green 116 yards total...again, not great at taking a little off it. I hit the 53, PURED it and it landed in the bunker at 98 yards total. I'm going to keep this is mind the next few times I playtest as this gap isn't ideal. 

Hole 15: 575 yard par 5 and longest hole on the course. I've never gotten there in 2 from the white tees much less the tips. Hit my driver 250 but it went well right. When I got to the ball, I was over 300 out in heavy wet rough and had no shot at the green in 2. I decided to hit 4I to play it to the 150 stick. Sadly, the lie was bad and the wet grass ate up my 4I and I thinned it badly, hitting it only 138 but advancing it back into the fairway. I had 186.5 to an uphill green with the pin in the very front. I gave the 4I a change to attone for the previous shot. DID IT EVER! I struck it PURER than PURE and watched with awe as the ball rose beautifully up, drew perfectly toward the hole, landed just short right and hopped up on the green! 194 total to the center of the green! GIR #12!

Hole 16: 348 yard par 4 that you can get really close to the green if you cut the dogleg to the right. It also takes the creek left completely out of play. I hit driver 257, but the course apparently has wised up to this tactic and unbeknownst to me has reshaped the fairway, leaving what used to be this right side landing strip to the green with about 2" of wet heavy rough. I was able to find me ball (and about 3 others) and had 78 yards to the pin. I took Edison 57* and hacked it out, but it came out left, going 71 yards but leaving me short left of the pin. GIR #13 though!

Hole 17: 194 on the card and severely uphill (like 40-50 feet elevation change from the tee to the hidden green). You can only see the top of the flag, which I shot at 178.4 (playing 187.9 according to my laser slope). I wanted to give the 5I another shot at glory, even though I had just hit 4I around the 190 distance. This time I PURED the 5I and it started just left of the hole (where I had aimed) and hit the slope on that side and kicked right toward the pin. I wasn't sure it was long enough, but was happy to pull up to the green to see it on the very front at 170 yards total. GIR #14 and a stretch of 6 in a row again!

Hole 18: 429 yard par 4. I promptly hit my tee shot OB into someone's backyard. SUNNOVA!!!! OK...tee ball #2 - PURED it 278 yards dead center. 151.8 playing 154.7 to the slightly uphill green with the pin the back. I pulled 7I and skulled/thinned it (bad...not the good slightly thin) and watched it line drive down the fairway, onto and over the green 164 yards total. It's not the way I wanted to end the round, but it was almost dark and there were 2 groups behind me trying to finish, so I didn't rehit. NO GIR.

BUT...as poor as the last shot was, I hit 14 of 18 GREENS IN REGULATION!!! My previous record was 13! And, if you count all the shots I hit on 5, I really hit 20 of 26 approach shots for GIRs today! 16 of 22 with Haywoods! The dispersion was also really good. Arccos stats show me once again at positive Approach SG at +2.9!!! That's 5 rounds with the Haywoods and 5 rounds with positive strokes gained. In my previous 15 rounds with the Callaways, I had 5 rounds with positive strokes gained approach. At this point, I'm very impressed with the on course performance of the Haywoods. 

    

    

Great round with the clubs!