Was I wrong about Nike?

[ms1195]

Bored on a Friday, so I wanted to write this as a shout out to Nike golf clubs, a brand I would never thought to have given much of a chance in my bag. I have been playing Cleveland wedges since I started playing, and have always been very fond of them. I recently picked up a used Nike VR Forged 52° gap wedge, and have been incredibly impressed with it.

 

It seems to have a slightly larger face than my CG15, but it looks fantastic at address, feel is much better than the Cleveland (as expected from forged), and I have found it to be extremely versatile. Traditionally I only used my gap wedge for 100-80 yard shots but I have started chipping with this around the green and it has been deadly accurate. Spin is very good too. I would say Nike's grooves on this wedge beat out the Zip grooves from Cleveland. I have a 58° on the way and am excited to put it into play.

 

Anyway I am writing this for people, like myself, who never gave Nike irons a chance in the past. Their forgings appear to be high quality, and their wedges flat out work. I will provide an update once I get a chance to play with the 58 a few times.

 

Also, does anyone have any experience with the VR Combo Irons or just the VR Forged Blades?

[revkev]

Nike makes very playable equipment - I use one of their balls and none of their clubs but I have little doubt that I could go out and get fit for Nike equipment and find something quite suitable for me game. Of course that's true of any major golf manufacturer - so long as I got fit it would work.

 

I do have a question though VR Forged Blades and a 15 tend not to equate. What are your thoughts there? (This is a rhetorical question meant to cause you to think about your game, go see a qualified fitter and consult with him before you make a mistake.)

[JMiller]

Also, does anyone have any experience with the VR Combo Irons or just the VR Forged Blades?

 

I have a big review on a chunk of blade irons not sure if this will help any --> http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/5458-muscleback-iron-review/

 

It comes down to your personal swing and what you need that works best for you when deciding on Players CB, Players CB / MB Split, MB irons. If you have specific questions then I can follow up with Blades and the Nike VR Pro set if you wanted. I actually almost bought them and the deal i was getting fell through the bottom. So ended up in W/S and happy as can be with the FG62.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Was very seriously considering the Pro Combo set before buying MP-59's this spring...thought they war excellent irons, for what it's worth.

[BK in TEXAS]

I play the Nike VR II cavity back irons. I like them. Not nearly as clunky as a Super Game Improvement iron, but still nice & consistent. You can shape shots with them some, with a little effort. You can also snap hook the daylights out of them, but I'm pretty sure that's me

[Super Tuna]

The Pro Combo irons from last year are my favorite iron set to date. The blades are dead easy to use, the splits are great clubs as well. Personally, the 3/4 CB is where the set fell down but then I use hybrids in those slots anyway so it wasn't much of a difference maker to me.

 

Worse mistake I've made equipment wise was selling those things to be honest.

 

Too much bounce on their wedge offerings and I'm iffy on their ball options but other then that I could have a mostly full Nike bag and be pretty happy.

 

I do wish they'd consider those who don't want so much bounce in their wedges. And perhaps to try and not rival Callaway for the most expensive OEM in terms of upgrades in the business.

[JMiller]

Hehe, I am probably the biggest blade pusher on this website, but I will agree that they are only for someone that is truly dedicated to playing and practicing a ton. I am with RP blades are not for everyone, design and what you are looking to do can only come from a custom fitting.

 

I have an opinion on Nike Wedges VR Pro Black Oxide, spin was good full swings, but little open face 1/2 swings didn't have a lot of bite playing DG x100, didn't bother to try a DG Spinner or KBS Wedge or KBS Hi-Rev in it. I would open a 60* about 1 or 2* hit down on it for a 50 yard shot it would hit and release, My Mizzy wedges now one hope stop or two hop stop. Just a little exert about the Nike VR Pro Black Oxide Wedges.

[revkev]

It really does come down to what fits the eye, doesn't it. I had so much success with the Ping Eye 2 that I've spent the rest of my golfing career prefering that look.

 

Now that we've totally confused you just find something that works for you -

[ms1195]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Rev - I will always be confused when it comes to golf so no damage done here In terms of my ability to play blades, it should be true that GI or SGI clubs would help me score better, but historically they simply haven't. Usually (especially lately) my miss is thin, and I have found that a thin shot with any iron is not going to do what I want it to, so I may as well play clubs that look good and feel great (on a well struck shot). Workability is also a factor because I rarely try to hit a straight shot.

 

RP I used to play and still have a set of mizunos, so an endorsement from a mizzie guy is good to hear. I also want to add that the pro combo cb and blade are great looking clubs, rivaling mizuno's classic appearance, so that is another plus in my book.

 

I may give a 6 iron in the blade and cb a run to see how they work for me, but for now I am at least happy with the wedges. Tuna, the bounce hasn't been trouble with the gap wedge yet, but I do like to lay a 58 open often so I am wondering if it will come into play there.

[RookieBlue7]

For me, none of their clubs will ever be as good as the original forged blades and the original split cavity irons forged at the Hoffman foundry.

[BK in TEXAS]

For me, none of their clubs will ever be as good as the original forged blades and the original split cavity irons forged at the Hoffman foundry.

What is it you like about those more so than the rest?

 

Bk

[RookieBlue7]

Yep, unless I'm mistaken, the 681T's were the last set of Titleists(they were based off the T model they made for Tiger when he was playing Titleist).

 

Their forgings, IMO, are the softest and best feeling out there, and it's a shame they were put out of business due to rising costs for us based foundries versus Japanese competitors. Now, the creme' de la creme' are Miura forgings.

[JMiller]

Well since we are WAY OT at this point lol, getting back to Nike VR Pro Blades, they are a good club if that is the brand you are set on, They hit well for me even as a "rack set" that I tested, I don't have much bad to say about them, but i would keep open minded when it comes to forged clubs you might find something you like better.

 

Let us know if you get specific questions on Nike VR Blades, Combos, CBs I'm sure we can give some specific playing performance answers to anything you might have ms1195

[Xamilo]

I play a Nike Driver. It looks hideous (Dymo2), sounds horrible, but performs... I have never ever paid the least attention to what brand of clubs I play. My bag is a tutti-frutty of brands and I'm proud of it hehehe

[ms1195]

I very much appreciate where this discussion has gone, because it leads me to another question of an older Nike set. I am aware of the forged blades you guys say are forged in USA (blades with just the swoosh on the back), but wonder if the Nike Forged Pro Combo set is from the same foundry? Also does anyone have any experience with these?

 

The are not as easy on the eye as the VR Blades or CBs, but can be had at a pretty good price these days.

 

Also I did get a round in with my 58° VR wedge this weekend, and it performed pretty well. It is considerably heavier than my Cleveland CG15 (DSG version, always wondered if the sole grind took lots of weight off?), so I felt like I was getting more consistent distances and getting out of rough easier. I also didn't have a problem with the 10 degrees of bounce. Never had to hit out of a bunker, so can't comment on that aspect. JM, did you think the VRs (blade or cb) felt heavier as an off the rack club?

[JMiller]

I very much appreciate where this discussion has gone, because it leads me to another question of an older Nike set. I am aware of the forged blades you guys say are forged in USA (blades with just the swoosh on the back), but wonder if the Nike Forged Pro Combo set is from the same foundry?

 

Also does anyone have any experience with these?

The new Nike are not from the same foundry think RB7 and RP both had them in the Endo factory? Correct me someone if I am wrong. Experience with the old Nike swoosh blades? I personally do not, but from sounds of it RB7 or RP might.

 

Also I did get a round in with my 58° VR wedge this weekend, and it performed pretty well. It is considerably heavier than my Cleveland CG15 (DSG version, always wondered if the sole grind took lots of weight off?), so I felt like I was getting more consistent distances and getting out of rough easier. I also didn't have a problem with the 10 degrees of bounce. Never had to hit out of a bunker, so can't comment on that aspect. JM, did you think the VRs (blade or cb) felt heavier as an off the rack club?

 

I had the VR Pro Forged wedge in Black Oxide finish, not sure if we are talking the same wedges here, I know that Nike has a VR V-Rev a few years ago my friend got a set of those and I hit one one time really couldn't tell much of a difference between the two wedges other then mine might have been a hair softer, his were chrome finished. I have not hit the new VR Pro DS wedges but the grooves look the same as what I had been playing and the spin off the clubs was my biggest complaint.

 

The Nike VR Pro Black Ox was a DG x100 shaft in it, the Mizuno MP T-11 I play now has a KBS Wedge X-Stiff in them, I can say that on the course with a Penta TP, Penta TP5, Srixon XV, Titleist Prov v1x, the Mizuno spins a little more full swings, and way more on partial swings. I mean I have not tried the Mizuno wedge with a DG x100 or the opposite tried the Nike with KBS Wedge shafts.

 

As a side note I am very old school so to speak I play my wedges at the same length of my PW. plus they play "old modern standard" 38.75" 3 iron and 35.25" wedges. I would have to swing weight these differently then if they are playing at standard OEM lengths. 64* ~ 34.75", 60* ~ 35.00", 56* ~ 35.25", 52* ~ 35.50", 46 / 47 ~ 35.75" custom builds are really hard to compare to "rack models".

 

If I wanted to say in comparison to my Vokey that were non-CoC the Nike was a hair lighter, I would say that the Mizuno might be a touch heaver as well or close to the Nike. If I needed to make a guess at swing weight for the three wedges it would be... Nike ~ D3/4, Mizuno ~ D4/5, Vokey ~ D5/6 I still have the Nike Wedges so I could swing weight them if I really wanted to, I'm just not that pressed about it.

[ms1195]

JM - The Pro Forged Combo I mentioned are not the VR Combo, it is an older set (I assume from the same time period as the previous blades), the ones that look like they have rivets in the cavity. Long Irons are full cavity, mid are cb, and short irons are muscle back, not quite a blade in my opinion.

 

In terms of the wedges, I think I have the same one you have just with the chrome finish. It doesn't have the VRev grooves, etc. After reading your post I remembered that my wedge has an S400 shaft in it. Most of my shafts are S300, and my CG15 actually has a Rifle Spinner in it, so that could easily account for the weight difference, at least I think.

[RookieBlue7]

There's a pro combo then one that was almost identical in the Pro Combo Tour. The original (pre-2005) were 2 piece forgings and had a medallion in the back. They were forged, I believe at Endo, as Hoffman closed shortly after the two original irons they released. They also made subtle changes to the new Tour model versus the original. The new ones have less bounce on the sole grind, they changed from the original grooves to a u/v groove morph. They also had the faces milled flat, and the speed step shafts that were standard we're swapped to DG's standard. The leading edge is also slightly sharper. The 2005 model was significantly easier to hit for lots of people and why they were received much better by those that have hit both. They're not nearly as gaudy as the pre-2005 model.

 

Hope that helped.

[GolfSpy WD]

I gotta agree with everyone here. The VR pro combo is a great set and felt great. That said I don't like any of their recent products, they just don't perform for me.