Byrdie Golf Design - 2024 Forum Review

[WisecrackWard]

16 minutes ago, Grip said:

First Impressions (16 out of 20)

Aesthetics (8 out of 10)

Per Byrdie’s website: “we produce affordable clubs built for forgiveness, fun and feel.” These came in a plain cardboard box wrapped in plastic, bubble wrap and rubber bands. The heads were individually wrapped in plastic and are heavier than I’m used to. At first glance, I thought these looked a lot like my spouse’s Top Flite beginners wedges, well at least the grips and the shafts did.

The heads are indeed gunmetal gray. They come with branded white badging on the grips and gold on the heads plus their listed degrees are in white. Overall, they are good looking from feet away. Upon closer inspection the 52 has some machining issues on the backside. Both the 56 & 60 have nicks in them.

 

The Numbers (8 out of 10)

I went to the range yesterday afternoon Wednesday May 1st. It was rather windy, but overall their dispersion was pretty solid and trajectory/distance varied as expected with each wedge. Each had good spin and bounce. They all work well around the greens; up against the fringe, 1st cut and rough. The sound of the clubs impacting the ball around the greens are a crisp click and full swings off the turf are more of a duller click.

 

As far as forgiveness goes, mishits are not rewarded but penalized; heel hits went more left and toe hits went more right versus my current wedges. When the sweet spot was hit they drew nicely, but focus was key in making that happen. So far, I like the 52 best because it just feels good upon impact and the 56 & 60 have acceptable feels. Mind you, these were range balls so more than likely the balls used on a course may sound and feel different. For having used them one time, there are already more nicks and marks on the finishes from ball, grass and sand impacts.

 

I’ll get these out on the course as soon as weather permits plus the local courses have also just completed aeration.

From what I can tell, they look like about what you'd get for the price. Maybe a little better. Not a bad thing. Just good to have expectations in check. I can deal with a couple small nicks for a good price as long as soon and dispersion and sound aren't way off the mark. Appreciate your initial rang thoughts. Can't wait to see when you run the through 18-36 holes.

[Rob Person]

10 hours ago, Grip said:

First Impressions (16 out of 20)

Aesthetics (8 out of 10)

Per Byrdie’s website: “we produce affordable clubs built for forgiveness, fun and feel.” These came in a plain cardboard box wrapped in plastic, bubble wrap and rubber bands. The heads were individually wrapped in plastic and are heavier than I’m used to. At first glance, I thought these looked a lot like my spouse’s Top Flite beginners wedges, well at least the grips and the shafts did.

The heads are indeed gunmetal gray. They come with branded white badging on the grips and gold on the heads plus their listed degrees are in white. Overall, they are good looking from feet away. Upon closer inspection the 52 has some machining issues on the backside. Both the 56 & 60 have nicks in them.

The Numbers (8 out of 10)

I went to the range yesterday afternoon Wednesday May 1st. It was rather windy, but overall their dispersion was pretty solid and trajectory/distance varied as expected with each wedge. Each had good spin and bounce. They all work well around the greens; up against the fringe, 1st cut and rough. The sound of the clubs impacting the ball around the greens are a crisp click and full swings off the turf are more of a duller click.

 

As far as forgiveness goes, mishits are not rewarded but penalized; heel hits went more left and toe hits went more right versus my current wedges. When the sweet spot was hit they drew nicely, but focus was key in making that happen. So far, I like the 52 best because it just feels good upon impact and the 56 & 60 have acceptable feels. Mind you, these were range balls so more than likely the balls used on a course may sound and feel different. For having used them one time, there are already more nicks and marks on the finishes from ball, grass and sand impacts.

I’ll get these out on the course as soon as weather permits plus the local courses have also just completed aeration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regardless of costs, if as a consumer you put your hard earned money up for a product, you expect quality. 

Now, as an affordable/entry leveI line of clubs , i can understand the finish and faces showing some wear after a range session. 

Good intro. 

[warrenator8]

Update for testing

After working with the clubs for a couple of weeks or so, I wanted to post yardage comparisons between the Byrdie Golf Design Set and my set. For the comparison, I put the 7-iron from the Byrdie Golf Set up against my Cobra LTDx 8-iron. All tests were performed indoors with a Trackman Simulator and Callaway Chrome Soft X golf balls. The statistics I tracked are as follows: Swing Speed, Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Smash Factor, Carry Yardage, Total Yardage.

7-iron vs 8-iron

The reason I am testing a 7 in the BGD set against the 8 of my Cobra irons is very simple: the lofts are closer together. I wanted to be fair with my testing and obviously my Cobra 7-iron will go farther since it is a stronger loft (see full bag lofts below). 

           

With the 7-iron from the BGD set, it took a couple of swings to get the strike down; but, after that, I found the irons to play really well. I am not someone who tends to hit a lot of modern muscle back or blade irons, so I cannot determine how close they feel comparatively. I can say that, when they are struck well, they feel great. When you’re a little quick with them and thin them, you will feel it (especially the 4- and 5-irons). Below are the averages I had from the better strikes with the 7-iron.

As you can see, the BGD 7-iron performed pretty well for me. I am used to having my 7-iron going further, averaging around 165 carry, but I am happy with the results.

For the comparison, I did use the 8-iron from my current set of Cobra LTDx’s. Again,I did this because I wanted to get as similar to the same lofts as I could for the comparison. I took a few warm-up swings with my 8-iron as well (I wanted to be fair), and below is the data I collected.

From the data, we can see that the Cobra LTDx 8-iron was almost identical to the 7-iron from BGD during this test. In fact, the 7-iron actually provided a slightly better launch angle, smash factor and spin rate compared to the LTDx. This was surprising to see and I was thoroughly impressed by the performance of the BGD irons. The change in distances will take some getting used to, though.

On Course

I also wanted to describe my first couple of times out on the course with the set. I took the set out for their first true-on course rounds the weekend of 4/26 - 4/28: one on a Par Three Course (Knight's Play Golf Center), the other a traditional Par 72 (Raleigh Golf Association - Public Course).
The irons and driver performed well enough for my skill level, although I am long enough on the course I played that the 2-iron sufficed off the tee most of the time. That being said, I did bomb one around 325 on one of the par 5s. I am having to club up a lot more due to the differences in loft on the irons. My Cobras are stronger lofted and about one club longer than the BGD irons (See Specs above), but I think I am making the adjustment well. 
My biggest challenges on the course this weekend were those with the wedge and putter. I will say that I am a streaky putter to begin with, but I was struggling with pace all day on Sunday  (The par 3 course had just aerated and sanded their greens - - not much I could do there). The wedge was also very inconsistent this weekend for me, making adventures out of even the easiest chips. I'm hoping with some more practice these won't be issues for me, but we'll see. 
Despite the issues with the wedge and putter on Sunday, the irons and woods did their jobs well enough for me to shoot an 81. Here's hoping what happened yesterday continues, but not the experiences with the wedge and putter.

I played again with the BGD set yesterday and will have my thoughts on that round coming sometime this week. 

 

Let me know if y'all have any questions or thoughts on the information. Now that my coaching season is over, I will be able to practice and play more with the set to better form my opinions about the clubs.

 

Edited May 13 by warrenator8

[WisecrackWard]

12 minutes ago, warrenator8 said:

Update for testing

After working with the clubs for a couple of weeks or so, I wanted to post yardage comparisons between the Byrdie Golf Design Set and my set. For the comparison, I put the 7-iron from the Byrdie Golf Set up against my Cobra LTDx 8-iron. All tests were performed indoors with a Trackman Simulator and Callaway Chrome Soft X golf balls. The statistics I tracked are as follows: Swing Speed, Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Smash Factor, Carry Yardage, Total Yardage.

7-iron vs 8-iron

The reason I am testing a 7 in the BGD set against the 8 of my Cobra irons is very simple: the lofts are closer together. I wanted to be fair with my testing and obviously my Cobra 7-iron will go farther since it is a stronger loft (see full bag lofts below). 

           

With the 7-iron from the BGD set, it took a couple of swings to get the strike down; but, after that, I found the irons to play really well. I am not someone who tends to hit a lot of modern muscle back or blade irons, so I cannot determine how close they feel comparatively. I can say that, when they are struck well, they feel great. When you’re a little quick with them and thin them, you will feel it (especially the 4- and 5-irons). Below are the averages I had from the better strikes with the 7-iron.

As you can see, the BGD 7-iron performed pretty well for me. I am used to having my 7-iron going further, averaging around 165 carry, but I am happy with the results.

For the comparison, I did use the 8-iron from my current set of Cobra LTDx’s. Again,I did this because I wanted to get as similar to the same lofts as I could for the comparison. I took a few warm-up swings with my 8-iron as well (I wanted to be fair), and below is the data I collected.

From the data, we can see that the Cobra LTDx 8-iron was almost identical to the 7-iron from BGD during this test. In fact, the 7-iron actually provided a slightly better launch angle, smash factor and spin rate compared to the LTDx. This was surprising to see and I was thoroughly impressed by the performance of the BGD irons. The change in distances will take some getting used to, though.

On Course

I also wanted to describe my first couple of times out on the course with the set. I took the set out for their first true-on course rounds the weekend of 4/26 - 4/28: one on a Par Three Course (Knight's Play Golf Center), the other a traditional Par 72 (Raleigh Golf Association - Public Course).
The irons and driver performed well enough for my skill level, although I am long enough on the course I played that the 2-iron sufficed off the tee most of the time. That being said, I did bomb one around 325 on one of the par 5s. I am having to club up a lot more due to the differences in loft on the irons. My Cobras are stronger lofted and about one club longer than the BGD irons (See Specs below), but I think I am making the adjustment well. 
My biggest challenges on the course this weekend were those with the wedge and putter. I will say that I am a streaky putter to begin with, but I was struggling with pace all day on Sunday  (The par 3 course had just aerated their greens - - not much I could do there). The wedge was also very inconsistent this weekend for me, making adventures out of even the easiest chips. I'm hoping with some more practice these won't be issues for me, but we'll see. 
Despite the issues with the wedge and putter on Sunday, the irons and woods did their jobs well enough for me to shoot an 81. Here's hoping what happened yesterday continues, but not the experiences with the wedge and putter.

I played again with the BGD set yesterday and will have my thoughts on that round coming sometime this week. 

 

Let me know if y'all have any questions or thoughts on the information. Now that my coaching season is over, I will be able to practice and play more with the set to better form my opinions about the clubs.

 

This sounds about as expected. So far anyway. Surprised at the driver honestly! How far do you typically hit your driver? 325 is big hit! Is the driver sound gross and ting-y? Or is it nice and solid sounding? You said you haven't played many blades, but I still wanna hear forgiveness compared to your Cobra's. Does it look good at address to the ball? Nice thin top line? Does it instill confidence in your hit or make you nervous? Does it just go to a 4i? Or to a 3? Easy to tell if it's a toe or heel hit? That's one thing I like about blades is you can more easily tell where you mishit it to try and correct it better. Glad you finally got to use them!! Excited to hear more! You gotta be hitting stuff shaft correct?

[warrenator8]

12 hours ago, WisecrackWard said:

This sounds about as expected. So far anyway. Surprised at the driver honestly! How far do you typically hit your driver? 325 is big hit! Is the driver sound gross and ting-y? Or is it nice and solid sounding? You said you haven't played many blades, but I still wanna hear forgiveness compared to your Cobra's. Does it look good at address to the ball? Nice thin top line? Does it instill confidence in your hit or make you nervous? Does it just go to a 4i? Or to a 3? Easy to tell if it's a toe or heel hit? That's one thing I like about blades is you can more easily tell where you mishit it to try and correct it better. Glad you finally got to use them!! Excited to hear more! You gotta be hitting stuff shaft correct?

I'll try to answer your questions in order as much as I can for now. In regards to the sound of the driver, I plan to get a recording next time I'm on the range or course with it. I think that that would be a better gauge of how it sounds. I will say it is not unpleasant to hear when you strike it well though. When my driver is cooperating (which it doesn't always want to), I average around 250-260 total distance. This driver has been more cooperative so far than not.

For the irons, they do look good at address, especially the lower irons to me. The 4- and 5-iron in the set are very thin at the top line and that does let the nerves creep in some. The shorter irons, the thin top line is not much of a bother. You can definitely tell when you mishit the irons, especially when you thin the long irons. I'm glad I'm not trying to play these in the cold. I've actually been striking the irons well, out side of a few off the toe, and I think that they are making me concentrate more as I play. My Cobras are definitely more forgiving, but I think that I am playing better with these blades due to this concentration. I am playing a stiff in everything, and I feel the shafts are pretty good quality for the price range, but I am by no means an expert on shafts.

Hope this all helps.

[WisecrackWard]

1 hour ago, warrenator8 said:

I'll try to answer your questions in order as much as I can for now. In regards to the sound of the driver, I plan to get a recording next time I'm on the range or course with it. I think that that would be a better gauge of how it sounds. I will say it is not unpleasant to hear when you strike it well though. When my driver is cooperating (which it doesn't always want to), I average around 250-260 total distance. This driver has been more cooperative so far than not.

For the irons, they do look good at address, especially the lower irons to me. The 4- and 5-iron in the set are very thin at the top line and that does let the nerves creep in some. The shorter irons, the thin top line is not much of a bother. You can definitely tell when you mishit the irons, especially when you thin the long irons. I'm glad I'm not trying to play these in the cold. I've actually been striking the irons well, out side of a few off the toe, and I think that they are making me concentrate more as I play. My Cobras are definitely more forgiving, but I think that I am playing better with these blades due to this concentration. I am playing a stiff in everything, and I feel the shafts are pretty good quality for the price range, but I am by no means an expert on shafts.

Hope this all helps.

Very helpful! Thanks for answering

[Grip]

Took the wedges to a different range today and used their hitting mats. The 52 degree wedge was shooting darts to a pin @ 50 yards out, over and over and over. I was truly impressed with this point and shoot club. The 56 degree wedge wasn't as accurate, but it was landing the range balls within ten feet or so of the same pin. The 60 degree wedge had similar results to the 56. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so possibly Wednesday I can hit a course? Stay tuned

[warrenator8]

14 hours ago, Grip said:

Took the wedges to a different range today and used their hitting mats. The 52 degree wedge was shooting darts to a pin @ 50 yards out, over and over and over. I was truly impressed with this point and shoot club. The 56 degree wedge wasn't as accurate, but it was landing the range balls within ten feet or so of the same pin. The 60 degree wedge had similar results to the 56. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so possibly Wednesday I can hit a course? Stay tuned

I'm curious, what bounce do each of the wedges have. The one I received has a bounce of 10.

[Grip]

23 minutes ago, warrenator8 said:

I'm curious, what bounce do each of the wedges have. The one I received has a bounce of 10.

I don't have exact bounce numbers for each one. What I can tell you is that their bounces are higher than either of my Mack Daddy or CBX2 wedges.

[warrenator8]

59 minutes ago, Grip said:

I don't have exact bounce numbers for each one. What I can tell you is that their bounces are higher than either of my Mack Daddy or CBX2 wedges.

Interesting...

[Grip]

46 minutes ago, warrenator8 said:

Interesting...

Upon further review;

56 degree - 14

52 degree - 10

60 degree - 6

[warrenator8]

3 hours ago, Grip said:

Upon further review;

56 degree - 14

52 degree - 10

60 degree - 6

That 60 will be interesting to use on shorter finesse shots.

[Grip]

I played nine holes this afternoon. I wasn't able to try any bunker shots with any of the Byrdie Design Grind Wedges, because they were all full of water and or debris from yesterday's storm we had. I was able to to do multiple approach shots with each of them from various yardages and am pleased with the results. On one shot I was 58 yards away from the pin and a 52 degree wedge chip shot hit the flag stick and dropped beside the cup. Hopefully, the next time I'm out on a course they'll be drier bunkers. 

[warrenator8]

Update

This is an update based off a round played on Sunday, May 5th. Will have another for this past weekend later this week.

I played a full round with the set on Sunday the 5th and the results were pretty good, but there were some struggles. I am still struggling with the 60 degree, to the point where I stopped using it after 9 holes and went back to my Vokey. I could tell a big difference between the two on the shorter shots around the green. Now, this could be that I am more used to the Vokey than the BGD wedge, but even after practicing with it, I still find it to not be for me.

With the negative out of the way, the irons and driver were performing very well for me after getting a couple holes in to warm up. I didn't need to use the driver a lot, but when I did, it delivered. The irons performed well, and I was beginning to see my usual baby draw coming with them on this day. The putter, which I am still not the biggest fan of, did perform better on this day, especially in terms of speed.

Plan to get one more range session and round in before my final thoughts. We'll see what happens.

[WisecrackWard]

4 hours ago, warrenator8 said:

Update

This is an update based off a round played on Sunday, May 5th. Will have another for this past weekend later this week.

I played a full round with the set on Sunday the 5th and the results were pretty good, but there were some struggles. I am still struggling with the 60 degree, to the point where I stopped using it after 9 holes and went back to my Vokey. I could tell a big difference between the two on the shorter shots around the green. Now, this could be that I am more used to the Vokey than the BGD wedge, but even after practicing with it, I still find it to not be for me.

With the negative out of the way, the irons and driver were performing very well for me after getting a couple holes in to warm up. I didn't need to use the driver a lot, but when I did, it delivered. The irons performed well, and I was beginning to see my usual baby draw coming with them on this day. The putter, which I am still not the biggest fan of, did perform better on this day, especially in terms of speed.

Plan to get one more range session and round in before my final thoughts. We'll see what happens.

So far it sounds like a really decent set of clubs for the overall price. The 60° I always find to be a finicky club anyway. I've found so old OLD 60s I love and then new fancy and shiny ones that suck. Personally with that club I find it's more about the confidence at address than it is the actual club. That being said there are certainly ones that spin better than others. What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't be to worried about the set if the 60 is the only "problem"

[warrenator8]

1 hour ago, WisecrackWard said:

So far it sounds like a really decent set of clubs for the overall price. The 60° I always find to be a finicky club anyway. I've found so old OLD 60s I love and then new fancy and shiny ones that suck. Personally with that club I find it's more about the confidence at address than it is the actual club. That being said there are certainly ones that spin better than others. What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't be to worried about the set if the 60 is the only "problem"

I know I sound extremely critical of the wedge, but I will say, on fuller shots (for me 60-80 yds) the wedge has been very good. I have played several different 60 degrees and I usually can play every shot with it, just not this one for some reason. It definitely is not ruining the rest of the set for me though.

[BringerofRain]

Hello Spies, 

The goats were taken out to graze for my first impression. Give it a read and let me know if you have any questions. 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:39 AM, BringerofRain said:

Introduction: April 1, 2024 

Welcome everyone to the Bringer of Rains petting zoo. While we only have one animal, everyone will have full access to our GOATS. I am extremely excited to have been selected and cannot wait to start testing the Byrdie Golf Design Goat Iron set. I plan on giving everyone a full-access look at how these irons look and perform, and if the Goats can pull off an upcoming team win at the charity scramble. I welcome and encourage every question you may have. I want to be able to provide an answer to any questions you may have.  The one thing I promise is no one in the 2024 MGS testing pool will have more fun than me during their testing process. The first order of business is to throw a party at my friend's golf simulator bar, where I’m having all my friends test these irons out against their current irons. 

When I am not bringing the rain, I go by Chance. I have called beautiful yet expensive San Diego home for the last 13 years, which you can bet means the Goats will be grazing Torrey Pines as often as they can. Before San Diego, I spent 4 years in Austin, Texas, for undergrad, but not at UT, and before that, I called Waterbury, Connecticut, home. Big shoutout to the 203. Go, Huskies!!!!! 

I am 34 years old and get to spend every day with my much better half, Kiwi, who is in fact, from New Zealand. She is the driving force behind me getting out and playing golf. While it sounds sweet, she really only wants me out of the apartment for some peace and quiet. She likes to call me the Golden Retriever. 

Let's get to the interesting part: my self-assessment of my golf game. I currently play a mixed bag of clubs as follows. 

Driver: Triple Diamond Ai smoke 

3 wood: titleist TSR2 

3 hybrid: Taylor-made burner 

4 hybrid: PXG prototype 

5- G: PXG 0311 GEN 2 T  

56: MizunoS5

60: Callaway Jaws 

Putter: Top Flight from Kmart 25 years ago. However, I did have a couple of beers a few weeks ago and preordered a Jailbird. 

Ball: Vice Pro Plus (value too good) 

I started playing golf in Connecticut with my friends, but we never took it seriously or consistently. I would consider myself a COVID golfer because for a year, if I wanted to see my friends and have a couple of beers, golf was the only option. 

Like most Golfers, I stink the majority of the time. I just can’t get that ball to do what I want. It just sits there and refuses to comply—except at the range. It loves going straight at the range. 

My golf buddies would say I am way too hard on myself and that I’m not that bad at golf, but in reality, they just stink more than me. 

With jokes aside, my goal whenever I play is to break 80. I do have the exceptional round where I can trick randoms into thinking I am actually good. Looking at you two guys from Texas here for a wedding when I shot even on Torrey North. I attempted to get an official handicap in 2022, but I was really bad at putting in scores as the rounds usually turned into a 2 v 2 playing for a couple of beers at the end of the round, and the laughter and trash talk were more important than the score. 

I do have a New Year’s resolution to join a local club and get an official handicap, and this BGD GOAT test was the push I needed. I have officially written out the check and filled out the application. While I will focus heavily on the clubs and not myself during testing, if anyone is interested, I will gladly take you on the handicap journey with the GOATS. 

My biggest strength on the golf course is my distance and confidence. I can make any shot. If you need me to carry 300 over a pit of alligators to win the member guest, then I am your guy. My biggest weakness is that I only succeed 10 percent of the time with that shot. I believe layups are for basketball, and I am playing for a good time, not a long time.  

I would consider myself a decent iron player mostly because my drive, while long, can get me in trouble, and I need the irons to bail me out when I hit that pop fly or hard ground ball.  If things are going really well because of my length, I can hopefully keep the long and Mid irons in the bag most of the day.  

I do really love my PXG irons, but I am excited to see if they get regulated of the back of the irons in a couple of months. 

Why am I excited for Byrdie Golf Design Goats and what this test means to me?

As soon as I saw the test come up, I got excited. Do you see how sleek and good-looking those GOAT irons are? I can’t wait to throw them in the bag. Additionally, with the DTC market blowing up and Costco and Takomo proving high-performance irons can be made for half the price, I knew I needed to get my hands on the Goats. Furthermore, the Goat's marketing felt like it was directed right at my demographic. Muscle backs are designed for the weekend warrior. I am going to put that claim to the test with some help from my friends. 

What will be tested and examined?

I will be testing the Goat Irons from Byrdie Golf Design. I am open to all suggestions on how you would like to see these irons tested. In fact, if you’re in the San Diego area and you want to try them, send me a message, and I’ll try to make it happen. 

As for my testing plan, I first want to get them to the simulator and get some numbers, as these clubs are slightly weaker than my current irons. As promised, this will be accompanied by a golf simulator party where multiple skill levels will test their current irons against the Goats. And don’t worry, there will be plenty of videos from that outing. However, I might lose patience and have to get the irons to the course as quickly as possible. Goats belong in the grass and not on the turf. I plan on playing as many rounds as possible, incorporating and testing suggestions the spies have, and I will report back. 

I promise lots of pictures and videos in the future, and I am going to take the easy out and blame Easter weekend for the lack of golf photos. 

I cannot wait to get these clubs in my hands and take everyone on this journey. Bahhhhhhhhhhh. 

I am in the pink  

 

Very Early Impression:

After arriving home from a long weekend family vacation.  I came home to a flock of goats sitting at my doorstep. Here is my immediate reaction photos. While I was disappointed in the plane brown box, my face shows what I really think of the clubs  

The goats will be grazing the grass shortly and a full first impression review will be coming your way shortly. If there any any question don’t be shy and give me a shout. 
 

 

First Impression: May 20, 2024

I made an immediate unboxing first impression three weeks ago. Since then, I have been able to take the GOATS grazing a few times and wanted to give my first impression, as well as a few fellow golfers who I met on the course who could not help but give me their first impressions after I told them I was testing these clubs for MGS. 

Stranger One: Was initially taken aback by the design of the GOATS. He confessed, 'I am petrified even trying to hit those irons. (The GOATS could be intimidating with their smaller head and thin top line). 

Stranger Two (Grip Fitter): The shaft feels like there is too much flex, and the club looks to be surprisingly offset for a muscle back, but my guess is these clubs cost around $1,500 to $2,000. (The clubs are currently being sold for $550) 

I met Stranger Two at a charity golf scramble. He was there to replace the grips on anyone's clubs for a reduced price. This is rather interesting as he is a professional fitter and put his guess at 3X to 4X the actual cost of the clubs. That's a big WIN for Byrdie Golf Design and the GOAT collection. 

As this is supposed to be a first impression, I will refrain from going into too much detail until the final review and give you my top five first impression thoughts. 

1. The clubs are absolutely beautiful and impressive in person. They deserve to be in ESPN’s The Body Issue. 

 

2. Byrdie Golf Design claims the GOATS were made with the weekend warrior in mind. Insert GIF ( You Sure about that). 

3. The Grips are soft and almost spongy, but they feel premium, and I found out I kind of like a soft grip. 

4. I can only guess that due to the club's smaller profile, I have hit the ball off the toe more frequently. 

5. Based on a few rounds, the GOATS are worth a try at the $550 price tag.

Now, for the fun and what I am looking forward to the most, I have rented a simulator for me and all my golf pals to test the clubs against their current gamers. I can't wait to share the results with all the spies. 

As a thank you for reading that next three-footer, pick it up; this gimmie is on me. 

 

They almost look like they have a slight V sole to them. Is that just in that photo or am I correct in thinking that?

[BringerofRain]

12 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

They almost look like they have a slight V sole to them. Is that just in that photo or am I correct in thinking that?

You are correct. Eveyone I have spoken with loves the aesthetic but Little spoiler I was able to get a few friends together to text them at a sim and the results were mixed. 
 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

7 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

You are correct. Eveyone I have spoken with loves the aesthetic but Little spoiler I was able to get a few friends together to text them at a sim and the results were mixed. 
 

 

Do you think the shaft had a larger role in the mixed results?

[jbern]

26 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

They almost look like they have a slight V sole to them. Is that just in that photo or am I correct in thinking that?

Good question! I was wondering the same thing. My Sub70 659CB irons have a bit of a v-sole on them and I really like them. I haven't done a head-to-head test specifically for the v-sole, but I really like the turf interaction on tight lies compared to other irons. Hopefully @BringerofRain gets along with them on outdoor rounds also!

[BringerofRain]

5 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Do you think the shaft had a larger role in the mixed results?

The shaft is an Apollo Phantom stiff flex. Which for the swing speeds of my friends should have been just fine. Now my friends are not the best golfers (majority high 80 to mid 90s) but when BGD says these were developed with the weekend warrior in mind I expect them to be fairly forgiving for the weekend warrior.  This didn’t appear to be the case. The top half is the BGD and the bottom half is my buddies current gamers.  These are from a 7 iron. 

 

This is where BGD might have made a mistake. The clubs should have an extra stiff option as many if not most of the golfers who would actually put these in the bag would have a faster swing speed. 

[Josh Parker]

Just looking at the data...

SS is slightly higher on BGD iron than his gamer which makes me wonder if the shaft profile like @GolfSpy_APH mentioned is just bringing the face at impact open and causing a toe strike 

Im not sure where the split is in the screen I see for hits but the top half seem to be more consistent. 

 

[BringerofRain]

7 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

Just looking at the data...

SS is slightly higher on BGD iron than his gamer which makes me wonder if the shaft profile like @GolfSpy_APH mentioned is just bringing the face at impact open and causing a toe strike 

Im not sure where the split is in the screen I see for hits but the top half seem to be more consistent. 

 

That is a Great observation. Eveyone who came out to test did mention how light the club felt. In my testing I also found to have more toe strikes. I attributed it to the offset and the smaller club head but this could definitely be shaft related. 
 

[warrenator8]

On 5/6/2024 at 12:47 PM, WisecrackWard said:

Very helpful! Thanks for answering

Was finally able to get some video/audio of the drivers. The videos below are my current driver vs the BGD. Sorry you have to look at the ceiling of the bay I was in. Let me know if the videos know if the videos don't work.

Callaway Rogue

 

BGD

 

[WisecrackWard]

10 hours ago, warrenator8 said:

Was finally able to get some video/audio of the drivers. The videos below are my current driver vs the BGD. Sorry you have to look at the ceiling of the bay I was in. Let me know if the videos know if the videos don't work.

Callaway Rogue

 

BGD

 

It worked! While I don't mind the sound of the BGD driver at all, I definitely like the Callaway sound better. That's to be expected though I think. BGD sounds good though I think!

[Gabriellle]

I agree that the sound of your strike is an important part of the golfing experience. For many players, it can be part of their rhythm or even a crucial element of psychological comfort. So if you prefer the sound of Callaway, it can indeed add enjoyment to your game. Personally, it doesn't make a difference to me, but I know many friends who find it helpful. However, it's also important to remember that the main focus should be on the results of your game and how you feel on the course.

[warrenator8]

9 hours ago, WisecrackWard said:

It worked! While I don't mind the sound of the BGD driver at all, I definitely like the Callaway sound better. That's to be expected though I think. BGD sounds good though I think!

I agree. The BGD just sounds a little more high pitched to me. When I played the videos for a friend at work, he could barely tell the difference.

[warrenator8]

7 hours ago, Gabriellle said:

I agree that the sound of your strike is an important part of the golfing experience. For many players, it can be part of their rhythm or even a crucial element of psychological comfort. So if you prefer the sound of Callaway, it can indeed add enjoyment to your game. Personally, it doesn't make a difference to me, but I know many friends who find it helpful. However, it's also important to remember that the main focus should be on the results of your game and how you feel on the course.

I don't mind the sound of either driver. As you'll see in my review, I actually really liked the BGD driver during testing. It was just a slight difference in person.

[Rob Person]

Great review details!  Thanks for providing the honest pros and cons you experienced! 

Would you recommend them?