Toura Golf Irons Build Test: 2024 Forum Review

[TJ Hall]

20 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

Aaaaand of course my hotel has a putting green. Such a tease. 

I stay at the wrong hotels!

[TSauer]

1 hour ago, JRDuck40 said:

Aaaaand of course my hotel has a putting green. Such a tease. 

I’ve never seen that at a hotel before, that’s awesome! I’m surprised it’s empty. 

[Shrek74]

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[ctg44]

18 hours ago, ctg44 said:

Thank you sir.  I'll hopefully get this data done tonight myself...

I used the same format as @azstu324 and did a spreadsheet for my loft / lie data from the gap analysis session at PGA Superstore.  Normally, I would have been bummed that their repair shop had a 3-day delay to do the work, but that turned out to work in my favor because Golf Galaxy is also close by. They had a qualified tech who was willing to work on the clubs while I gave him the factory specs, let him read off what the clubs were right then, and then bend them to what the PGASS fitter recommended for me based on the Trackman Data and what the lie labels showed I was doing with the clubs.

The fitter did say that if he were doing a full fitting with me and recommending clubs for me, something with a slightly lower overall weight would be his recommendation.  However, he said I had enough club and ball speed for the 130-gram X100 shafts at this point. My loft data confirmed that unless I went STIFFER into an X7, I would hate any shaft I changed into because my ball flight would be so elevated that I wouldn't be able to control anything in the wind in Texas.  He said that for a future fitting, I could consider trying the X100 in the 120-gram version, but I wasn't sure that was a great option because it had a different launch profile that wasn't as flat as I needed.

So yeah, I guess at some point in my future, a shaft change might be necessary to make the most of these heads, but for now, I'm just anxious for Sunday when I can get some time to hit a few balls or maybe even get on the course and play a bit.  What I end up doing depends on if we're doing our combined family celebration for a couple of anniversaries and a birthday this Sunday or next weekend (someone is sick with the flu, and my 81-year-old father-in-law is supposed to be coming, so we can't get him sick).  

Without further ado, here are my numbers:

The rest of this is going to be picture-heavy with the TrackMan data, but in short, these were 2° too flat for me, and anything that resulted in a good shot was, as the fitter put it, the result of me "steering" the club...which is causing a loss of distance.  It was interesting that the 5 iron, which I had NEVER hit right since building it, was stronger than the factory loft, and the 4 iron was weaker than the factory loft, and yet, I smashed the 4 iron and could barely hit the 5 iron.  We'll see if the adjustments to the loft (notice that the 4 iron was basically spot on for what I need from the factory).

4 Iron:

5 Iron:

6 Iron:

7 Iron:

 

8 Iron:

 

 

9 Iron:

PW:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ctg44]

I confirmed that my wife and I will be able to play one of our 2 courses early Sunday morning, so that's good to have on the books.  Even better is that after a ton of rain the past few weeks, including non-stop pouring rain yesterday, it's supposed to be sunny the next couple of days.  It will likely still be cartpath-only, but when we play together on a weekend, we usually walk, so that's fine.  Unfortunately, it is still going to be VERY humid through the end of next week, so we'll need to carry a lot of water with us.

[ctg44]

I finally decided about halfway through the PGA Superstore fitting / gap analysis session Thursday night that I'd had enough of the Toura (AKA GP Tour Velvet 360) grips.  Between those being too slick for me to really keep the club in the right spots if I got it into the ground at all heavy and needing to extend the 6 and 8 irons by a 1/8" each (because I'd screwed up the measure twice cut once principle (more accurately, I'm bad at fractions apparently), it was time to put the ZGRIP Plus2s on the Touras and get them ready for the weekend.  When I came home from officiating some adult hockey games, I took all the grips off and cleaned the shafts up to get them ready. 

I'd planned on doing the grips this morning, but it worked out that the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche went into 2OT last night, so I left that on in the background while I worked on extending the 6 and 8 irons with some lightweight aluminum Golfworks extensions I had.  I cut about 1/3" off of the bottom to save a little weight and then used the DP810NS epoxy (wanted to make sure the extensions were never moving...and nothing's better at that than the DP810NS in my experience) after cleaning both the inside of the shaft and the extension thoroughly with sandpaper and rubbing alcohol.  I used a pipe cutter to get a nice tight 1/8" cut at the top of the extension and get them inserted and cured under a hot lamp while I installed the grips onto the other 5 clubs.  By the time I was done with them, the leftover epoxy was cured enough that I felt it was safe to put a grip on the 6 and 8 irons, so I was able to get those done just as the Stars scored to end the game.  Living in Dallas as a lifelong St. Louis Blues fan isn't always easy, but the Stars being good benefits the hockey community here in the DFW area, so I won't complain too much as long as they don't win another Stanley Cup before the Blues. 

Assuming it's not actually closed (normally, we get a notification via the Invited app when it is), I'm about to head to the range at the club and hit some balls for a bit this morning.  Unfortunately, I signed up to work 3 adult league games as a ref this afternoon, so I can't play a round today.  Hopefully, I have the legs to actually play golf tomorrow morning because I'm sure my wife will want to walk...Guess I'll need to stock up on caffeine and ibuprofen in the morning...  

[azstu324]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:48 AM, ctg44 said:

I'd had enough of the Toura (AKA GP Tour Velvet 360) grips

This is definitely something that I'm holding my reservations on. I'm still yet to put a swing on the clubs but hope to be able to maybe Tuesday. I've never really liked the GP TV or Lamkin Crossline style grips. Lately I've been using the Royal Linktech full chords and love them! I'll install the "Toura Velvets" but anticipate a quick swap after a round or 2 in the heating AZ conditions. I'll be testing these in 100°+ weather and sweat will be a factor. 

[JRDuck40]

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

[azstu324]

5 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

We will be praying for you

 

[TJ Hall]

8 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

They look amazing…hopefully they dry better than last time.

[Northern Monkey]

26 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

They’ll look great with the dark heads!!!

[JRDuck40]

27 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

We will be praying for you

 

No rain / low humidity. They will be sitting in place for 24 hrs…… 

onward 

[ctg44]

I played 18 today with my set of Toura CB irons and it was a mixed bag. I hit several really good shots, and they are straighter now that the lies have been adjusted, but they are almost a full club shorter throughout the bag than the P7MC irons from 2020 I was gaming, largely due to having a lot higher spin rates and much higher launch angles. I had an 8 iron hit the front of the green and spin off down into a collection area. A shot where I normally can hit a high, middle stance PW took a pounded, back of the stance PW, which is a riskier shot even if I did pull it off and make the birdie putt... 

 

Overall though, I was pretty tired today. I reffed 2 ice hockey games Wednesday night, had that fitting with about 150 total shots taken Thursday night, reffed 2 games Friday night, hit another 175 shots (according to my Swing CaddieSC300 launch monitor) Saturday morning, and reffed 3 more games last night. It's a good thing I've lost 80 pounds in the last 2 1/2 years, because it was 90+ and VERY humid before noon today here today.. 

So, in summary, the irons FEEL great. They do launch very high, and even more so with the Bridgestone B X Mindset balls I was sent to test...those are not my choice in balls for sure for a variety of reasons, but that's another story. I changed to a ProV1x on the last 6 holes and was able to get more control of the ball flight with the Toura irons, but they still launch very high for essentially being low-tech cavity back irons. 

 

The long-term "will they they stay in the bag" question is a long way from being answered. I am not a fan of giving up a ton of distance, but if I get better dispersion once I get more confident and comfortable with them, maybe I can live with that. 

[Josh Parker]

11 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

I played 18 today with my set of Toura CB irons and it was a mixed bag. I hit several really good shots, and they are straighter now that the lies have been adjusted, but they are almost a full club shorter throughout the bag than the P7MC irons from 2020 I was gaming, largely due to having a lot higher spin rates and much higher launch angles. I had an 8 iron hit the front of the green and spin off down into a collection area. A shot where I normally can hit a high, middle stance PW took a pounded, back of the stance PW, which is a riskier shot even if I did pull it off and make the birdie putt... 

 

Overall though, I was pretty tired today. I reffed 2 ice hockey games Wednesday night, had that fitting with about 150 total shots taken Thursday night, reffed 2 games Friday night, hit another 175 shots (according to my Swing CaddieSC300 launch monitor) Saturday morning, and reffed 3 more games last night. It's a good thing I've lost 80 pounds in the last 2 1/2 years, because it was 90+ and VERY humid before noon today here today.. 

So, in summary, the irons FEEL great. They do launch very high, and even more so with the Bridgestone B X Mindset balls I was sent to test...those are not my choice in balls for sure for a variety of reasons, but that's another story. I changed to a ProV1x on the last 6 holes and was able to get more control of the ball flight with the Toura irons, but they still launch very high for essentially being low-tech cavity back irons. 

 

The long-term "will they they stay in the bag" question is a long way from being answered. I am not a fan of giving up a ton of distance, but if I get better dispersion once I get more confident and comfortable with them, maybe I can live with that. 

2 club difference is quite a bit. 

[azstu324]

38 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

I played 18 today with my set of Toura CB irons and it was a mixed bag. I hit several really good shots, and they are straighter now that the lies have been adjusted, but they are almost a full club shorter throughout the bag than the P7MC irons from 2020 I was gaming, largely due to having a lot higher spin rates and much higher launch angles. I had an 8 iron hit the front of the green and spin off down into a collection area. A shot where I normally can hit a high, middle stance PW took a pounded, back of the stance PW, which is a riskier shot even if I did pull it off and make the birdie putt... 

 

Overall though, I was pretty tired today. I reffed 2 ice hockey games Wednesday night, had that fitting with about 150 total shots taken Thursday night, reffed 2 games Friday night, hit another 175 shots (according to my Swing CaddieSC300 launch monitor) Saturday morning, and reffed 3 more games last night. It's a good thing I've lost 80 pounds in the last 2 1/2 years, because it was 90+ and VERY humid before noon today here today.. 

So, in summary, the irons FEEL great. They do launch very high, and even more so with the Bridgestone B X Mindset balls I was sent to test...those are not my choice in balls for sure for a variety of reasons, but that's another story. I changed to a ProV1x on the last 6 holes and was able to get more control of the ball flight with the Toura irons, but they still launch very high for essentially being low-tech cavity back irons. 

 

The long-term "will they they stay in the bag" question is a long way from being answered. I am not a fan of giving up a ton of distance, but if I get better dispersion once I get more confident and comfortable with them, maybe I can live with that. 

Man I'm surprised that with the DG X100 shafts, you're seeing such a high flight. One thing that I am a little concerned.. or maybe more curious about is how these X100's will play for me. My current shafts are a rifle flighted 120g softer XS at 6.3 frequency rating. I just hope that I can generate the SS needed to optimize the performance of both the shafts and heads. 

Currently I'm waiting for Amazon to drop off some high density lead tape so that I can finish up my swing weighting and get the grips on for final build pics and then start hitting them Tomorrow or Tuesday. 

 

[David Leighton Reid]

Update May 19, 2024 - I took my bucket of practice balls to youth soccer fields behind our Middle School and hit 35 shots with the wind and 35 shots into the wind with the Toura CB 7 - 9 irons.  What was impressive was the shots into the 10-15 mph wind did not balloon up from too much spin, but just bored right through.  It was easy to work the ball with the CB irons, both draws and fades.  Once again I am impressed with the marshmallow soft feel of balls struck in the sweet spot.  Tomorrow I get to take the Toura CB irons to Highland Springs Golf Course in Springfield, MO, which is the home of the Pricecutter Open on the Korn Ferry Tour.  

[Rob Person]

4 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

Oooh!  Im glad you decided to go back to this option!  They look stellar! Will you be adding any kind of clear finish to help protect  them?

[ctg44]

6 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

Update!!!!

so I megaloathed the look of the shaft wraps. No offense to the shaft wrap product…. Followed the video / directions / etc… just did not like look. Decided to pull and re sand. Hit with primer and paint. The second round looks sooooo much better. Video up tonight / tomorrow. 

Any thoughts (don't kill me here for asking please) to dismantling the irons and painting these in a clean room / hot house type environment and using a paint designed to get heat cured? I know you've sanded these a couple of times now, but did you by chance take pre-painting weights, or know the approximate stock weights against which you can compare the painted S300 shafts? I am just wondering if you aren't approaching S400 weighting at this point with all the weight of the paint, especially once you clear coat it for durability. 

All that said....man are those going to look soooooo good! 

Edited May 20 by ctg44

[JRDuck40]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Oooh!  Im glad you decided to go back to this option!  They look stellar! Will you be adding any kind of clear finish to help protect  them?

 

14 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

Any thoughts (don't kill me here for asking please) to dismantling the irons and painting these in a clean room / hot house type environment and using a paint designed to get heat cured? I know you've sanded these a couple of times now, but did you by chance take pre-painting weights, or know the approximate stock weights against which you can compare the painted S300 shafts? I am just wondering if you aren't approaching S400 weighting at this point with all the weight of the paint, especially once you clear coat it for durability. 

All that said....man are those going to look soooooo good! 

Hahaha clean room. Dude! I do not have that at my disposal. I do have a 10 x 10 area outside of my kids stuff to work for the most part. 
 

I did hit them with 2x clear coat. Looks super solid! 
 

Installing grips and then onto testing! Boom! 
 

onward 

[azstu324]

Got the swing weights dialed in! My set progression goes something like this:

PW is +1/2" over Maltby standard @ 35.875". Club lengths are cut in 3/8" increments starting with the PW moving up. 

Swing weights start with PW @ D5 and progress in 1/2 SW point per club ending with the 4i @ D2. 

This is the exact setup that I have both sets of Maltbys built to. Although total weight is heavier with the Touras, relatively they should feel similar to my Maltbys so I'm hoping there won't be a major transition period required. 

These really remind me of the Cleveland TA1's that I played a few years ago. Extremely bladey blades and they were a whole lot of fun! I'm sure these will feel even nicer. 

 

[ctg44]

12 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

2 club difference is quite a bit. 

It took me a second to see what you were saying there, but then I realized that I'd made it seem that I used an 8 iron on a hole where I normally used a PW.  Those were meant to describe 2 different shots.  Sorry about the confusion there.  It's probably more like 3/4 of a club in distance loss for me right now.

[Josh Parker]

9 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

It took me a second to see what you were saying there, but then I realized that I'd made it seem that I used an 8 iron on a hole where I normally used a PW.  Those were meant to describe 2 different shots.  Sorry about the confusion there.  It's probably more like 3/4 of a club in distance loss for me right now.

Ok, that makes more sense. Ha. 

[ctg44]

13 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

 

Hahaha clean room. Dude! I do not have that at my disposal. I do have a 10 x 10 area outside of my kids stuff to work for the most part. 
 

I did hit them with 2x clear coat. Looks super solid! 
 

Installing grips and then onto testing! Boom! 
 

onward 

That's probably enough space to set up a clean space for yourself, and maybe more than enough.  When we redid some cabinets a few years ago, I took a section of the garage and made an 8'x8' "closet" by "cubing" off an area w/ brand new 8 mil clear plastic, put on some Tyvek coveralls (to keep out lint and dust), and then did a 2nd layer of plastic from the inside that was taken out of the package inside the "closet" area.  I had the cabinet doors and drawers already sanded and cleaned 2-3 times before I started this. Once the sanding and initial cleaning was done, I moved the drawers and doors inside, used the air compressor to blow all the dust out of the garage 2-3 times (letting everything settle 10 or so minutes between cycles).  I then used clean microfibers and about 2 gallons of rubbing alcohol to clean the door / drawers to ensure no dust was left on anything before bringing them back outside and into the "clean room."  It worked well, other than I was doing everything over winter break, and it dropped down to the 20s.  Unfortunately, I am not a patient person and I painted a 2nd coat on most of the door faces before I should have because the 1st coat hadn't fully hardened and the end result was a softer finish than we would have liked.  Part of that was the base wood of the cabinets kind of sucks and the other was the cure rate of the paint in the cold.

[ctg44]

4 hours ago, Josh Parker said:

Ok, that makes more sense. Ha. 

It probably didn't help my distance control out that I had blistered my right ring finger between the gap analysis session Thursday and the range session Saturday, and I was having difficulty gripping the club with my right (bottom) hand, which could easily have cost me a few yards, too...

 

However, I'm a hockey player, so I wasn't about to quit on the round.  I shot a 37 with a double and a bogey back-to-back on 16 and 17.  I had hit 2 bad drives in a row on those holes, so I went w/ 3 wood on 18 and hit a nice 250-yard shot up the middle, but that still left 183 into a crosswind for a 2nd shot on the long par 4, finishing hole.  I put a high fading 5 iron just past pin high in the center of the green about 12' away and left myself with a stress-free / tap-in 3" par putt after a very close miss on the birdie putt.  Overall, I did see better side-to-side dispersion this round from the Toura CBs now that the lie angles are a better fit.  I also saw many fewer issues with turf interaction, also not surprising because of the improved lie angles for my swing.

In the end, I'm pretty happy with how I finished strong despite being tired and sore after all of the work my legs, core, and arms had gotten over the weekend and having to deal with the blister that was ripping open more with every shot.  I wish I'd have started well enough to have played worth a _____ on the front 9...bogeying a short, straight par 5 after striping a drive  long and down the middle of the fairway, hitting a decent iron shot short and right of the green, and to leave one an easy pitch to a pin in the center of the green is not the way one wants to start a round (because one hits not ONE, but TWO bad wedge shots on said hole).

[ctg44]

18 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Man I'm surprised that with the DG X100 shafts, you're seeing such a high flight. One thing that I am a little concerned.. or maybe more curious about is how these X100's will play for me. My current shafts are a rifle flighted 120g softer XS at 6.3 frequency rating. I just hope that I can generate the SS needed to optimize the performance of both the shafts and heads. 

Currently I'm waiting for Amazon to drop off some high density lead tape so that I can finish up my swing weighting and get the grips on for final build pics and then start hitting them Tomorrow or Tuesday. 

 

Well, I tend to absolutely hammer the ball and generate a massive amount of backspin.  I guess one can blame that on the hockey-based lower body mechanics from which my golf swing is derived.  I had a 10,500 RPM shot from the 48-degree MG4 PW that went 125 yards on the Trackman last week if that says anything...right after a 4,000 RPM bladed ripper that went 175 yards...I can be wildly inconsistent if I don't take my time and get set up properly...and then ensure I take a nice wide backswing...

[azstu324]

Okay!!

I finally got to put some swings on the MB's. It was a matt day today so no actual turf interaction which is a bummer. 

I can gladly say that these pretty easily fit any "stereotype" that high-end Japanese forged blades might fall under. Just a disclaimer that everything today is based off of limited flight range balls that are probably a month away from being retired so I can only imagine that everything I felt today is only going to be amplified once I get a nice quality urethane ball between the club and the sky. 

Feel is an easy 10 out of 10! I'm definitely no stranger to a nice forged blade and these would rank right up there with the top of the nicest feeling clubs that I have played.. And I might even go so far as to put them in the same category as mizuno's of old. Yep.. I just did that!

@ctg44 I see what you're saying now about the flight of these. I thought that maybe the muscle backs might have some different characteristics but man these things go high! Even down to the four five and six irons, I'm noticing quite a bit of launch that I don't think I even have with my Maltby TS3s. Not too much of a concern though, as these are very easily flighted and if needed it doesn't take much effort to keep the shot down low. These could possibly have some lower CG qualities to help get the ball up in the air? 

As for the shafts, I really like they way they feel. They're nothing remotely close to rebar. They load nicely but are crazy controllable. I definitely have a great pairing in these shafts + heads that will allow me to test these clubs without that "what if" question lurking in the back of my mind. 

As for the heads themselves, they're blades. There's no 2 ways about it. You don't mind your business and you'll be taking a nap at the bottom of the pond (well.. your ball will. They're golf clubs, not Mafia hit men lol.). That said, once I started swinging, it didn't take long to start finding the middle of the face consistently. My shot with these seemed to be a nice baby draw. I'm more accustomed to a straight to baby fade shot. I'm guessing that it's due to the slight difference in grips (no taper current vs standard taper Toura Velvets. Also, the Maltbys have a perimeter toe weighting that might also promote more right biased movement. 

The biggest surprise was that my distances weren't all that different between my Maltby CB's and the Touras.. even with the 2° difference in loft per club. I'd say at absolute most, I'm 1/2° shorter with these. 

More to come! 

Edited May 20 by azstu324

[ctg44]

Just now, azstu324 said:

Okay!!

I finally got to put some swings on the MB's. It was a matt day today so no actual turf interaction which is a bummer. 

I can gladly say that these pretty easily fit any "stereotype" that high-end Japanese forged blades might fall under. Just a disclaimer that everything today is based off of limited flight range balls that are probably a month away from being retired so I can only imagine that everything I felt today is only going to be amplified once I get a nice quality urethane ball between the club and the sky. 

Feel is an easy 10 out of 10! I'm definitely no stranger to a nice forged blade and these would rank right up there with the top of the nicest feeling clubs that I have played.. And I might even go so far as to put them in the same category as mizuno's of old. Yep.. I just did that!

@ctg44 I see what you're saying now about the flight of these. I thought that maybe the muscle backs might have some different characteristics but man these things go high! Even down to the four five and six irons, I'm noticing quite a bit of lunch that I don't think I even have with my Maltby TS3s. Not too much of a concern though, as these are very easily flighted and if needed it doesn't take much effort to keep the shot down low. These could possibly have some lower CG qualities to help get the ball up in the air? 

As for the shafts, I really like they way they feel. They're nothing remotely close to rebar. They load nicely but are crazy controllable. I definitely have a great pairing in these shafts + heads that will allow me to test these clubs without that "what if" question lurking in the back of my mind. 

As for the heads themselves, they're blades. There's no 2 ways about it. You don't mind your business and you'll be taking a nap at the bottom of the pond (well.. your ball will. They're golf clubs, not Mafia hit men lol.). That said, once I started swinging, it didn't take long to start finding the middle of the face consistently. My shot with these seemed to be a nice baby draw. I'm more accustomed to a straight to baby fade shot. I'm guessing that it's due to the slight difference in grips (no taper current vs standard taper Toura Velvets. Also, the Maltbys have a perimeter toe weighting that might also promote more right biased movement. 

The biggest surprise was that my distances weren't all that different between my Maltby CB's and the Touras.. even with the 2° difference in loft per club. I'd say at absolute most, I'm 1/2° shorter with these. 

More to come! 

@azstu324  I definitely think there's a ton of mass way down deep at the bottom of these heads (whether that's actually tungsten or something else Toura is doing to move mass down there...inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!!)...and that very low CG is going to hammer the ball up into the air.  It also seems to help have a pretty good gear effect on toe hits.  

The only real area I've found the Toura irons to struggle with are heel hits...anything near the hosel is a no-go and generates a nasty shank.  I hit 1 of those on the range with the PW not long after I'd hit one with my MG4 48 degree wedge, and despite them being in almost identical spots on the face, the MG4 was much more forgiving.  Now, a toe hit w/ the Toura would probably have been a little more forgiving than the MG4, especially a low toe hit.  Where these irons REALLY shine is on a thin hit where you get them about 2 grooves low but still mostly get them on the face.  Those balls still tend to get most of their proper distance and still stop almost immediately when they get there instead of being crazy shanked fliers... 

[TJ Hall]

22 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

Okay!!

I finally got to put some swings on the MB's. It was a matt day today so no actual turf interaction which is a bummer. 

I can gladly say that these pretty easily fit any "stereotype" that high-end Japanese forged blades might fall under. Just a disclaimer that everything today is based off of limited flight range balls that are probably a month away from being retired so I can only imagine that everything I felt today is only going to be amplified once I get a nice quality urethane ball between the club and the sky. 

Feel is an easy 10 out of 10! I'm definitely no stranger to a nice forged blade and these would rank right up there with the top of the nicest feeling clubs that I have played.. And I might even go so far as to put them in the same category as mizuno's of old. Yep.. I just did that!

@ctg44 I see what you're saying now about the flight of these. I thought that maybe the muscle backs might have some different characteristics but man these things go high! Even down to the four five and six irons, I'm noticing quite a bit of lunch that I don't think I even have with my Maltby TS3s. Not too much of a concern though, as these are very easily flighted and if needed it doesn't take much effort to keep the shot down low. These could possibly have some lower CG qualities to help get the ball up in the air? 

As for the shafts, I really like they way they feel. They're nothing remotely close to rebar. They load nicely but are crazy controllable. I definitely have a great pairing in these shafts + heads that will allow me to test these clubs without that "what if" question lurking in the back of my mind. 

As for the heads themselves, they're blades. There's no 2 ways about it. You don't mind your business and you'll be taking a nap at the bottom of the pond (well.. your ball will. They're golf clubs, not Mafia hit men lol.). That said, once I started swinging, it didn't take long to start finding the middle of the face consistently. My shot with these seemed to be a nice baby draw. I'm more accustomed to a straight to baby fade shot. I'm guessing that it's due to the slight difference in grips (no taper current vs standard taper Toura Velvets. Also, the Maltbys have a perimeter toe weighting that might also promote more right biased movement. 

The biggest surprise was that my distances weren't all that different between my Maltby CB's and the Touras.. even with the 2° difference in loft per club. I'd say at absolute most, I'm 1/2° shorter with these. 

More to come! 

How did the finish hold up for the first session?

[azstu324]

34 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

How did the finish hold up for the first session?

The finish on the soles seemed ok. I need to check the faces when I get back home. 

What didn't hold up though is the silver paint fill on the sole . I think I needed to let it cure a few more days. Maybe I'll just remove it and have the club #'s be bare. I'll try 1 more time

[Josh Parker]

1 hour ago, azstu324 said:

Okay!!

I finally got to put some swings on the MB's. It was a matt day today so no actual turf interaction which is a bummer. 

I can gladly say that these pretty easily fit any "stereotype" that high-end Japanese forged blades might fall under. Just a disclaimer that everything today is based off of limited flight range balls that are probably a month away from being retired so I can only imagine that everything I felt today is only going to be amplified once I get a nice quality urethane ball between the club and the sky. 

Feel is an easy 10 out of 10! I'm definitely no stranger to a nice forged blade and these would rank right up there with the top of the nicest feeling clubs that I have played.. And I might even go so far as to put them in the same category as mizuno's of old. Yep.. I just did that!

@ctg44 I see what you're saying now about the flight of these. I thought that maybe the muscle backs might have some different characteristics but man these things go high! Even down to the four five and six irons, I'm noticing quite a bit of lunch that I don't think I even have with my Maltby TS3s. Not too much of a concern though, as these are very easily flighted and if needed it doesn't take much effort to keep the shot down low. These could possibly have some lower CG qualities to help get the ball up in the air? 

As for the shafts, I really like they way they feel. They're nothing remotely close to rebar. They load nicely but are crazy controllable. I definitely have a great pairing in these shafts + heads that will allow me to test these clubs without that "what if" question lurking in the back of my mind. 

As for the heads themselves, they're blades. There's no 2 ways about it. You don't mind your business and you'll be taking a nap at the bottom of the pond (well.. your ball will. They're golf clubs, not Mafia hit men lol.). That said, once I started swinging, it didn't take long to start finding the middle of the face consistently. My shot with these seemed to be a nice baby draw. I'm more accustomed to a straight to baby fade shot. I'm guessing that it's due to the slight difference in grips (no taper current vs standard taper Toura Velvets. Also, the Maltbys have a perimeter toe weighting that might also promote more right biased movement. 

The biggest surprise was that my distances weren't all that different between my Maltby CB's and the Touras.. even with the 2° difference in loft per club. I'd say at absolute most, I'm 1/2° shorter with these. 

More to come! 

These turned out so good!