Byrdie Golf Design - 2024 Forum Review

[Grip]

1 hour ago, SDunne said:

Thanks for the insight - I know a lot of the DTC start out as very "off the shelf" and build up to being able to tweak it all. Manufacturing is tough enough without all the possible deviations!

Yup, these are like a Model T "They come in any color you want as long as it's black."...LOL. I'm really looking forward to testing them out. They are not due out to the public until @ May 10th so I'll be one of the fIrst human beings on the planet to to get my hands on them .

[warrenator8]

On 4/4/2024 at 5:39 PM, SDunne said:

You raise a fair point about customisation here - was there the ability to tailor your clubs at all to make them closer to what you may have wanted? 

For the full set, the only bit of customization I saw was with shaft stiffness and with finish. I tend to tinker with clubs too much if they have a lot of customization, so this was a blessing for me.

[warrenator8]

It's almost here. Would be more exciting if it wasn't about to storm, but I'm ready to start this review up.

[BringerofRain]

32 minutes ago, warrenator8 said:

It's almost here. Would be more exciting if it wasn't about to storm, but I'm ready to start this review up.

MY envy is at an all time high. I am awaiting the GOATS and have gotten no information when they might arrive. 

[warrenator8]

11 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

MY envy is at an all time high. I am awaiting the GOATS and have gotten no information when they might arrive. 

Here's hoping you hear something soon man. 

[warrenator8]

First Impressions should be up tonight or tomorrow. Hope everyone is excited!

[BringerofRain]

Can’t wait. I am hoping to get the GOATS out to the grass this weekend 

[WisecrackWard]

1 hour ago, BringerofRain said:

Can’t wait. I am hoping to get the GOATS out to the grass this weekend 

So do you have them in hand now? So they look as gorgeous in person as they do in the pictures!? I really hope these are like a players distance iron and less like a blade. Can't wait to see what you end up saying about them. Been so interested in these for a while and just want to hear some thoughts!

[BringerofRain]

12 minutes ago, WisecrackWard said:

So do you have them in hand now? So they look as gorgeous in person as they do in the pictures!? I really hope these are like a players distance iron and less like a blade. Can't wait to see what you end up saying about them. Been so interested in these for a while and just want to hear some thoughts!

I do not have them in hand but should / hope they arrive in the next couple of days. I have to agree they look absolutely stunning from the pictures. 

I do expect them to not be very long as the lofts are pretty weak. The GOATS are all one degree weaker than my current PXG Tour irons.  For example the PW is 47 degrees instead of my current 46 degrees.

I am here to answer any questions. Keep them coming. 
 

I will post pictures and a First impressions article as soon as I can. 

[WisecrackWard]

5 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

I do not have them in hand but should / hope they arrive in the next couple of days. I have to agree they look absolutely stunning from the pictures. 

I do expect them to not be very long as the lofts are pretty weak. The GOATS are all one degree weaker than my current PXG Tour irons.  For example the PW is 47 degrees instead of my current 46 degrees.

I am here to answer any questions. Keep them coming. 
 

I will post pictures and a First impressions article as soon as I can. 

I fell like I'm a fairly long striker so a little shorter wouldn't turn me off. In fact it could help my iron game a little. I'm glad you brought that to my attention though, I missed that. There a degree different from my Ping i10's as well 

[BringerofRain]

14 minutes ago, WisecrackWard said:

I fell like I'm a fairly long striker so a little shorter wouldn't turn me off. In fact it could help my iron game a little. I'm glad you brought that to my attention though, I missed that. There a degree different from my Ping i10's as well 

I was a little surprised to find that out myself. I am not overally concerned with distance either but I am most interested to see the 4 iron impact. I have used a hybrid the last few years and curious to see what will happen with a traditional 4 iron. 

[warrenator8]

First Impressions post for the Byrdie Golf Design's Essentials Complete Golf Set has been added to my introductory post. Please check it out at the link below and feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:39 AM, warrenator8 said:

Hello all,

My name is David Warren, and I am excited to be testing Byrdie Golf Design’s Complete Set through MyGolfSpy. This is my third test with My Golf Spy, having previously reviewed the Lean Lock Putter and System as well as being a part of the Titleist White Box Testing Event late in 2023. I am currently living near Raleigh, North Carolina, and work as a teacher and soccer coach at a local middle school. I am very much a recreational golfer, playing off and on since I was around 13, playing most weekends, and keeping to around a 15 handicap. I did score my first (hopefully of many) hole-in-one in July 2022.

My golf game would be best described as inconsistent. Lately, I have been fighting a bit of a hook while on the golf course. My irons are hit or miss; but, when they and my driver are on, I can compete with almost anyone. My putting and short game have lately been the best part of my game. I am very “streaky” with the putter and usually tend to cycle through putters often, usually between the Lean Lock putter I tested last year (see link below) and a Yes! Marilyn C. For a full what’s in the bag, see the signature below. 

For this test, I will be testing the full set from Byrdie Golf Design, the BGD Essentials Full Bag outfitted with the OG Collection Irons (the Vandal collection were unavailable at the time).

I will be curious to see how the clubs hold up over the testing period, especially the black finish on the irons and wedges. I also would love to see if my yardages will stay fairly constant despite the change in clubs. I plan to both test these on the golf course and on simulators, to gather the numbers for the comparison. I also want to see how forgiving the clubs are compared to what I am currently using. Finally, I will be very interested in seeing if I can find more consistency with every club, but especially the putter. 

I will have a more detailed plan of attack for my testing posted for everyone soon, but I would love to hear from everyone as the other testers and I go.

I am super excited for this new opportunity to test clubs through My Golf Spy and plan to give it my all to provide y’all with the best review possible.

 

Old Reviews

 

First Impressions (out of 20 pts.)

On April 3rd, I first received an email from Byrdie Golf Designs letting me know that the order had been received and shipped out. The email read that I should receive the set of clubs sometime between April 11th and April 16th. Luckily for me, the clubs arrived on the earlier end of this spectrum, arriving on April 11th.

 

When I received the set from Byrdie Golf Design, they were packaged just like any other clubs I have received by mail: a large brown cardboard box with plastic protecting the shaft and grip while bubble wrap was wrapping the club head. See the below image to see an example.

After unwrapping each of the clubs, I began to inspect and take notes of each club, looking at the condition in which each arrived and how they looked aesthetically. 

For the most part, everything looked phenomenal. I saw no major scratches, and nothing was broken. I am not someone who normally loves muscle-back irons, but I was impressed by the quality of each iron’s clubhead. The logo on the clubheads is tasteful and looks great. I will say that the clubheads seem to be a little smaller than I am used to in irons; but, overall, I am very pleased with the irons. All of this can be said for the wedge as well.

     

I was very curious about the putter when I learned I was getting one in this test set. In most package and direct-to-consumer sets I have seen in the past, the putter can be an afterthought and is usually not great. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the putter, and it might be my favorite club in the set looks-wise. It is a very simple Anser-style putter head, but I love the sight line on the putter and how the logo pops off the backside. The milling on the face looks fantastic as well.

 

 

As for the driver and three wood, everything again looks good. The driver and three wood are almost entirely black with some white and gold lettering. The three wood has a very deep face; it will be interesting to see how that plays off the deck during testing. Neither club is adjustable, but I think that might be the best for this style of product. Overall, both look great.

3-Wood                                                      Driver

      

 

Now for the negatives. When I was looking over each of the clubs, I noticed some things that were not quite right on the club when I received them. One of the first clubs I pulled out was the sixty-degree wedge that was provided as a part of the set. As I was looking at the face, I noticed a black mark inside one of the grooves. I thought this might have just been something that was trapped inside before packaging, but when I tried to get it out, it stayed. I may need to do a full-on wash and see if that gets it out; but, for now, it is there.

 

Another issue I found was with the grip on one of the irons. On the eight-iron’s grip, there is a slight bulge on the clubface side of the grip, close to the logo. While not a major issue, it is surprising to see with brand-new clubs.

 

My last complaint about the clubs would be the grips. This was a concern I had coming into testing; and, unfortunately, I find the grips to be lacking. I know that this set is for people who want to spend less on great equipment, and the cost-cutting for the company to provide this seems to be with the grips. While they look good, I hate the feel (they are rubbery and feel like an old PE basketball to me). I will see how they perform in testing, but I wanted to make sure it was brought up.

Overall aesthetics, I would give these clubs an 8.5 out of 10, due to the imperfections found in the wedge and eight-iron as well as my concerns over the grips.

 

The Numbers

I took the clubs out for a practice session on Saturday, and I was impressed with the results of my first try with them. The first club I hit was the sixty-degree wedge and it went very well. I was able to hit different types of shots with it and it was fairly versatile when I tried different short-game shots I tend to hit (no flops though: I was indoors at a sim).

Once I transitioned to the irons, I did find they were a little harder to hit and not going the same yardage I am used to with my irons. Part of this can be explained by the fact that the Byrdie Golf Design irons are higher lofted than my Cobra Irons, even after I lowered the lofts on my irons (loft charts for both can be found below). When I struck the irons well, that went about the distance I would expect out of irons around that loft; but the irons were harder to hit. I was also hitting these BGD irons straighter than my Cobras but will need to do 1-on-1 testing to see by how much and the difference in distances. It has been a while since I have hit muscle-backs so the learning curve will take some getting used to, but overall I have no complaints as of right now.

The driver and three wood were my favorite clubs to hit out of the set when I tested them over the weekend. The deep face on the three wood did make it difficult to hit off the deck; but, off the tee, it was a rocket. I tend to use my three wood off the tee more than most, but I have not had one fly this well in a while. The ball came out with decent spin (an issue I have is low spin, so getting any spin is great) and flew with a nice medium ball flight. With the driver, the ball came out hot as well, getting good spin and distance with a fade, something I have wanted it to do for a long time. I prefer the fade, so getting one back was great. Unfortunately, the three wood did get scratched up during my first day of testing. While I was not expecting them to stay pristine all testing long, it would have been nice to see it last a little longer.

For all clubs, I will have more concrete numbers soon. I was unable to save my numbers from this weekend.

The putter is hot. Testing it on the putting green at my local PGA Superstore, I barely had to hit the putt and it was making it to the hole. This will be interesting to take out on the course, especially as the greens around me speed up with summer coming in.

 

Overall Grade: 8.5 out of 10 (due to the lack of forgiveness in the irons and the question marks around the putter and three wood performance on the regular course)

Side note: I played 9 holes with these clubs on the simulator used for this practice session and shot 1 under. It was a short course, but I was still pleased with my (and the clubs’) performance.

Assuming you want to make these work as best for you - how long would you give these grips before switching them out or replacing them?

[warrenator8]

4 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Assuming you want to make these work as best for you - how long would you give these grips before switching them out or replacing them?

I plan to keep the grips throughout all of testing to give them a true test as the company intended. If I decide to keep the irons in the bag, then a change might be made. After practicing and playing with them on Sunday, I am getting more used to them.

[Rob Person]

Has anyone else received the sets yet?

[Josh Parker]

What are everyone's thoughts on these so far? 

[Grip]

1 hour ago, Rob Person said:

Has anyone else received the sets yet?

I'm still waiting for the wedges to arrive.

[Grip]

1 hour ago, Josh Parker said:

What are everyone's thoughts on these so far? 

Wish I could say or but the wedges are still in transit

[warrenator8]

2 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

What are everyone's thoughts on these so far? 

I am enjoying the clubs still, but as I have said the grips are taking time to get used to.

[Josh Parker]

2 minutes ago, warrenator8 said:

I am enjoying the clubs still, but as I have said the grips are taking time to get used to.

Will you be switching out the grips to your specs so you can really get a feel for the clubs?

[warrenator8]

8 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Will you be switching out the grips to your specs so you can really get a feel for the clubs?

After the testing period probably. I want to try and use the clubs as they came for as long as possible to get the best feel of the product as the manufacturer intended.

[WisecrackWard]

Hey, @BringerofRain have you had the clubs show up? If so what's initial thoughts? 

[BringerofRain]

5 hours ago, WisecrackWard said:

Hey, @BringerofRain have you had the clubs show up? If so what's initial thoughts? 

The Goats have not been delivered yet. I was given notice they shipped last week and hopefully I will get them out to the course  next week 

[WisecrackWard]

49 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

The Goats have not been delivered yet. I was given notice they shipped last week and hopefully I will get them out to the course  next week 

Huge bummer! I wonder what's going on? Do you know know if that's normal for the testing gear that gets sent out?

[BringerofRain]

1 hour ago, WisecrackWard said:

Huge bummer! I wonder what's going on? Do you know know if that's normal for the testing gear that gets sent out?

I do not think this is normal for testing. I do think this could be something to note in the review but with some grace. A friend of mine ordered Takomo and it was delayed so long they reimbursed him for shipping.

[Grip]

The wedges just arrived. Hopefully my first impressions should be up by tomorrow or soon after. In the mean time, here are some teaser snap shots.... I'll be at the range soon with these .

[WisecrackWard]

15 minutes ago, Grip said:

The wedges just arrived. Hopefully my first impressions should be up by tomorrow or soon after. In the mean time, here are some teaser snap shots.... I'll be at the range soon with these .

They look pretty nice at least! Here's hoping they spin!

[Rob Person]

Oh my, sleek looking 

[SDunne]

Nice looking wedges! Look forward to hearing more about them @Grip !

[warrenator8]

Glad they finally got there for you, @Grip. Here's hoping you enjoy them.

Edited May 1 by warrenator8