New irons day...yay!

[Jodrell]

After being made redundant a couple of months ago, and having successfully found a new job, I decided that rather than wait any more (the plan was later this year anyway) I'd spend some the severance package on replacing my 2008 (I think) Mizuno MP-60s

The Mizuno's are lovely clubs, but surely after 16 years technology can help me out, right?!? Oh boy!

I went for a general fitting at a local range trying Mizunos, Cobras, Ping, Titleist and Taylormade irons and no matter what I did I couldn't help but hit the Taylormade P790s straight. We tried some other clubs after it but things started to go astray so the fitted handed my the P790 7-iron back and boom boom straight again. Over the fitting with that club I had a side ti side dispersion of 8 yards hitting around 175 yards, almost 20 yards further than my current 7-iron with the same peak height, slightly higher and more consistent spin, and a steeper descent angle

3 weeks after that fitting the Taylormade European Tour truck was visiting my local course...I couldn't not really could I, so I booked onto the event which included a tour of the truck, some swag, and an hour slot booked with the TM fitters. The fitting session was great and once again I was hitting really well. The fitter was excellent and we tried a number of different shafts, weights and lengths before settling on my final setup

I've ended up with a blended set with the P790 for the 4 and 5 iron (no 3 iron as I'm getting up to my 5-wood at that point) and then the P770 for 6-iron to Pitching Wedge. The lofts on them are apparently tweaked to keep the gapping. AFAIK that means weakening the two 790s by 1º. I've also moved from a 130g shaft to a 115g one, but still stiff, oh, and if I'm paying that much let's put a custom ferule on them too!

Obviously I ordered them 2 days before the stunning Copper heads were released...my local shop tried to update the order for me but they're listed as an online exclusive in the UK so no joy.

I collected them last night and hit a bucket on the range, and then went for a cheeky 9 before work today, along with my new bag...hell, if I'm going to have a bag with only Taylormade clubs in, not by design as I was fitted for everything, I might as well go the whole hog.

I've attached a pic of the distance changes between my old and new irons (accepting this is about 6 shots with the new clubs, and a years worth with the old ones) and the dispersion. I was struggling a bit with the 4-iron (probably as I wasn't warmed up fully) but mostly am really surprised at how flat the dispersion is rather than the usual long left short right angled ellipses.

Thus far, I'm delighted with them and just wanted to share the process and a couple of pics

[ClarkWGriswoldIII]

I'd be curious to see the loft comparisons between the sets.

I just took a look at the P770 7-iron.  33 degrees.  2008 Mizuno MP-60- 35 degrees.   6-iron is 31 degrees.

 

[Jodrell]

I think one of the sets I tried on the initial fitting, the Callaway AI Smoke irons I think, had a 7-iron loft of 28º...and it still launched at the same angle. It's quite impressive in a way! OK, so it also felt like hitting a ball with a sponge, just no feel at all for where/how I'd hit the ball

[alexchung]

You did the same as me then. I recently replaced a set of 2008 MP-60s as well but I got a set of Srixon ZX5 MKIIs, I know that the lofts are night and day compared to each other but I am finding that my good shots are better and bad ones are not as bad, also the sole of the Srixons help so much with my swing being on the slightly steep side at times (working on this) I would have loved to do a back to back with the MP-60s (being an old set I am sure the lofts and lies were all over the place) being set to my current lie specs and original lofts.

Hope the new clubs are working out for you.

Alex

[J.B. TexasEx]

On 4/26/2024 at 8:27 AM, Jodrell said:

After being made redundant a couple of months ago, and having successfully found a new job, I decided that rather than wait any more (the plan was later this year anyway) I'd spend some the severance package on replacing my 2008 (I think) Mizuno MP-60s

The Mizuno's are lovely clubs, but surely after 16 years technology can help me out, right?!? Oh boy!

I went for a general fitting at a local range trying Mizunos, Cobras, Ping, Titleist and Taylormade irons and no matter what I did I couldn't help but hit the Taylormade P790s straight. We tried some other clubs after it but things started to go astray so the fitted handed my the P790 7-iron back and boom boom straight again. Over the fitting with that club I had a side ti side dispersion of 8 yards hitting around 175 yards, almost 20 yards further than my current 7-iron with the same peak height, slightly higher and more consistent spin, and a steeper descent angle

3 weeks after that fitting the Taylormade European Tour truck was visiting my local course...I couldn't not really could I, so I booked onto the event which included a tour of the truck, some swag, and an hour slot booked with the TM fitters. The fitting session was great and once again I was hitting really well. The fitter was excellent and we tried a number of different shafts, weights and lengths before settling on my final setup

I've ended up with a blended set with the P790 for the 4 and 5 iron (no 3 iron as I'm getting up to my 5-wood at that point) and then the P770 for 6-iron to Pitching Wedge. The lofts on them are apparently tweaked to keep the gapping. AFAIK that means weakening the two 790s by 1º. I've also moved from a 130g shaft to a 115g one, but still stiff, oh, and if I'm paying that much let's put a custom ferule on them too!

Obviously I ordered them 2 days before the stunning Copper heads were released...my local shop tried to update the order for me but they're listed as an online exclusive in the UK so no joy.

I collected them last night and hit a bucket on the range, and then went for a cheeky 9 before work today, along with my new bag...hell, if I'm going to have a bag with only Taylormade clubs in, not by design as I was fitted for everything, I might as well go the whole hog.

I've attached a pic of the distance changes between my old and new irons (accepting this is about 6 shots with the new clubs, and a years worth with the old ones) and the dispersion. I was struggling a bit with the 4-iron (probably as I wasn't warmed up fully) but mostly am really surprised at how flat the dispersion is rather than the usual long left short right angled ellipses.

Thus far, I'm delighted with them and just wanted to share the process and a couple of pics

 

 

I'd like to see a close-up shot of your custom ferrules.

[Jodrell]

On 5/30/2024 at 6:12 PM, J.B. TexasEx said:

I'd like to see a close-up shot of your custom ferrules.

They’re subtle, but I already have a McLaren F1 coloured themed putter, and wanted just a little nod towards that on the irons

 

Edited May 31 by Jodrell

[RetiredBoomer]

I confess to enjoy seeing how different players choose their equipment. 
Equipment choice and set configuration are very interesting subjects to me, 
not quite apart from playing the game itself,  but almost.

For some time, now, I've bought my golf clubs online, which means
that I don't even get to see them first (except in pictures),
much less try them first.

Without benefit of a professional fitter, then, I have to have some criteria for choosing.
I do, but I suspect that they are not mainstream.

________________________________________________________________________________________

I chose my driver for
its retro smaller size and generous loft.

I chose my driving iron because
the OEM didn't put a club number on it. 

I chose my fairways woods because
they had the flattest published lie angles.

I chose my numbered irons because
they had the weakest published lofts.

I chose my wedges in order to get
matching clubs in the loft/bounce combos I wanted.

I chose my putter because
its hickory wooden shaft looked so classy.

And finally, I chose my ball because
the OEM offers custom ball numbers. (I go with 79.)

OK, everybody isn't going to adopt this methodology immediately,
I'm guessing.   Still, I will say this.  I've always played my best with the equipment
that most soothed my mind.

 

 

 

[schooner44]

Congrats on the new clubs and, more importantly, the new job!

I just recently got clubs not because my old ones were old but because I came to the realization that I needed lighter clubs with more flex. It's a tremendous feeling when you get clubs that boost your confidence because they just feel right.