Rev's iron fitting at Golftec

[revkev]

I had mentioned in a different thread that I was going for an iron fitting at Golftec today.  I had a great experience there last year with driver and was able to line up the same fitter.  He remembered me and my irons which was great.  I was upfront with him when I scheduled and told him I ended up getting fit elsewhere for irons last summer because I wanted Srixon - Golftec fits for a number of brands but not them.  I really liked the look and feel of those clubs.  Long story short they have been a miss from the get go - We used the old reliable D7 forged irons as my baseline - I did hit a few with the Srixon 7 iron and got exactly what I have been getting - shots that flew longer, spun less and started way left and went lefter.  In checking the lie angle they are too flat for me and as I suspected the shaft is lighter than he would have recommended for me - fitters so matter as many of us know and these were a misfit.  

 

Back to today.  The numbers with the D7 forged were reasonable and pretty accurate to what I experience on the course.  Ball speed in the high 90's launch angle of just under 20, good descent angle, draw, carry of 140 run out to around 147 - 145 is my stock 7 iron shot with that iron - that creates a gap to my 6 hybrid BTW - that's what made me go hunting last year, plus I know that 5 years of iron technology is significant.  My dispersion with that club was very reasonable as well.  I asked him if it was in keeping with a mid single digit handicap and he said it was really closer to a scratch players dispersion than the 8 I'm playing to - distance was another matter but my dispersion pattern was outstanding.  Uhmmmm

 

John asked if there were any iron that I wanted to try in particular.  I told, "Titleist T series."  He set up a t350 for me.  I'm glad we started there because it's what I came in looking for.  Until I saw it and hit it.  Honestly it did not fit my eye, just a bit too clumsy for my taste.  I asked about the T150 which is what the Titleist online fitting tool suggested for me - he said sure if I'd like but honestly that club is not nearly as forgiving as other player's distance irons.  I decided to pass as I wanted to try both the Taylor Made and Callaway lines and perhaps Edel.  First though he said, "I want you to try the Ping G430."  Alright, I thought.  He hit on the driver last year what can it hurt? I had tried the G410 a number of years back and did not like them at all.  I also gamed the G30 which I hit well but got rid of when I tested the D7 forged for MGS which I hit a bit better - not longer but better dispersion.  This one was love on first swing.  Shot after shot I picked up 7 yards of carry, about 500 rpms of spin, 2 degrees in launch angle, descent at a solid 44 and the dispersion was a tad bit better.  Plus, my ball flight was much straighter, baby draw and I was able to hit a fade or two.  We set that one aside.

 

Next up was the Taylor Made 790.  Loved how the head looked, nice and compact but I was surprised that it appeared closed when I set it behind the ball and hated the business of the first shaft that he gave me - so he changed shafts to a similar profile that was much more reserved - I started hitting shots that with numbers very similar to the Ping.  So that got set aside, too.  

 

On to Callaway - easily the distance winner mainly because my spin rate was way too low and the pulls started to creep back in - tried a different Callaway (I forget which one) I did get one out there with a carry of 160 but I couldn't do it with any consistency and couldn't keep it on the planet - we both figured I didn't need another Srixon like set in my closet so we worked on dialing in what worked.

 

In the end I went with the Pings - almost identical performance, $40 less a club plus the fitting was free by ordering today.  

 

Spec wise I ended up 1/2" shorter than standard, CB alta 70 iron shaft, R flex - so a little heavier than what I had and 1 degree flat instead of 2 (or the 4 in the Srixons - not what I ordered at all.)  7 through GW which in reality is the equivalent of 6 iron through PW in the G30's that I gamed 6 or 7 years ago.  The shaft feels as if it transitions nicely to my hybrid and fairway woods which are Ping G 410's.  The back of the 7 iron is a bit visible but that really doesn't bother me at all.  

 

Now I need to consider what to do about wedges - the GW to that set is a 50 and my wedges all match up with a 48 degree GW.  I have my eye on the S59's - I will give them a try once I know that these work - but I intend to make them work. 

 

I will drop back in once I get the irons to let you know how I do with them.  

[Josh Parker]

Congrats on the new set!  

What wedges do you carry now?  52,56,60?

My PW is 46, so I carry 50,54,58 and like the gapping. 

[hckymeyer]

Great result Rev, happy you found something you like!

Have you tried the new Ping wedge selector online tool?  Of course a real fitting would probably be best, but from what I've read from people who've tried it the results are pretty spot on for a lot of people.

https://wedge.webfit.ping.com/en/

[GolfSpy_BNG]

Congrats on the new set @revkev  

[revkev]

@Josh I carry 52,56 and sometimes 60 or sometimes a 58 that I only use as a Sand Iron. I haven’t lately because our sand had been so firm - very different at my new club so it’s an issue for now.

 

@ hckymeyer - I did a few months ago when I applied for the MGS test opportunity - just tried it again when I got home.

I will ask my fitter about my result when my clubs come in.  Now that I’ve bought from him twice maybe he will be willing to back a recommendation without going through a full fitting. Plus it turns out that his mom is retiring from a school that is a part of my church body and the other guy that was there went to school where I did my internship - his mom and dad both taught there at one time - just after I was there.

 

So we gave lots of connections 

Edited May 14 by revkev

[russtopherb]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us Rev, the write up and info was definitely appreciated! I’m really excited to see what those new Pings do for you out on the course.

[TJ Hall]

Congrats on the new irons @revkev, sounds like a great experience with this fitter!

[Josh Parker]

41 minutes ago, revkev said:

@Josh I carry 52,56 and sometimes 60 or sometimes a 58 that I only use as a Sand Iron. I haven’t lately because our sand had been so firm - very different at my new club so it’s an issue for now.

Sounds like the 58* would still work and just need a 54*

Hopefully he can give you a quick tidbit and help out on some specs. 

[tdroma98]

Congratulations on the new irons @revkev and good luck with your choice of wedges.  
I recently went through a Titleist iron & wedge fitting.  My first wedge fitting in over 10 years and glad I did it.  I did go with the Titleist wedge fitting recommendations: Vokey SM10 48F (bent to 49), 54S & 58M.  The grinds were different results from the online wedge fitting process.   I'd encourage you to  go through the Wedge fitting as well. 
  Good Luck & Thanks for sharing your experience!! 

[revkev]

9 minutes ago, tdroma98 said:

Congratulations on the new irons @revkev and good luck with your choice of wedges.  
I recently went through a Titleist iron & wedge fitting.  My first wedge fitting in over 10 years and glad I did it.  I did go with the Titleist wedge fitting recommendations: Vokey SM10 48F (bent to 49), 54S & 58M.  The grinds were different results from the online wedge fitting process.   I'd encourage you to  go through the Wedge fitting as well. 
  Good Luck & Thanks for sharing your experience!! 

Very interesting - that the grinds came out differently from the online tool.  Thanks for sharing that.  

[tdroma98]

@revkev the 48-degree being an "F" grind surprised me. I was not a fan of the F grind in the 54-degree. I sold the wedge after a month using it with the"F" Grind. Also, I never would have thought to have the 48 bent to 49 degrees, but the Titleist club fitter saw that.   
The 54-degree online fitting for the SM8 was a "D" grind.  
The live fitting for the 54 was an "S" Grind.  I do like the S grind. 

The 58 degree is an "M" Grind.  The online & live fitting both came back with the same grind.  
What did change for all three of my wedges - the fitting had the lie bent 1 degree up.  It's made a difference.  

[billpierce]

17 hours ago, revkev said:

I had mentioned in a different thread that I was going for an iron fitting at Golftec today.  I had a great experience there last year with driver and was able to line up the same fitter.  He remembered me and my irons which was great.  I was upfront with him when I scheduled and told him I ended up getting fit elsewhere for irons last summer because I wanted Srixon - Golftec fits for a number of brands but not them.  I really liked the look and feel of those clubs.  Long story short they have been a miss from the get go - We used the old reliable D7 forged irons as my baseline - I did hit a few with the Srixon 7 iron and got exactly what I have been getting - shots that flew longer, spun less and started way left and went lefter.  In checking the lie angle they are too flat for me and as I suspected the shaft is lighter than he would have recommended for me - fitters so matter as many of us know and these were a misfit.  

 

Back to today.  The numbers with the D7 forged were reasonable and pretty accurate to what I experience on the course.  Ball speed in the high 90's launch angle of just under 20, good descent angle, draw, carry of 140 run out to around 147 - 145 is my stock 7 iron shot with that iron - that creates a gap to my 6 hybrid BTW - that's what made me go hunting last year, plus I know that 5 years of iron technology is significant.  My dispersion with that club was very reasonable as well.  I asked him if it was in keeping with a mid single digit handicap and he said it was really closer to a scratch players dispersion than the 8 I'm playing to - distance was another matter but my dispersion pattern was outstanding.  Uhmmmm

 

John asked if there were any iron that I wanted to try in particular.  I told, "Titleist T series."  He set up a t350 for me.  I'm glad we started there because it's what I came in looking for.  Until I saw it and hit it.  Honestly it did not fit my eye, just a bit too clumsy for my taste.  I asked about the T150 which is what the Titleist online fitting tool suggested for me - he said sure if I'd like but honestly that club is not nearly as forgiving as other player's distance irons.  I decided to pass as I wanted to try both the Taylor Made and Callaway lines and perhaps Edel.  First though he said, "I want you to try the Ping G430."  Alright, I thought.  He hit on the driver last year what can it hurt? I had tried the G410 a number of years back and did not like them at all.  I also gamed the G30 which I hit well but got rid of when I tested the D7 forged for MGS which I hit a bit better - not longer but better dispersion.  This one was love on first swing.  Shot after shot I picked up 7 yards of carry, about 500 rpms of spin, 2 degrees in launch angle, descent at a solid 44 and the dispersion was a tad bit better.  Plus, my ball flight was much straighter, baby draw and I was able to hit a fade or two.  We set that one aside.

 

Next up was the Taylor Made 790.  Loved how the head looked, nice and compact but I was surprised that it appeared closed when I set it behind the ball and hated the business of the first shaft that he gave me - so he changed shafts to a similar profile that was much more reserved - I started hitting shots that with numbers very similar to the Ping.  So that got set aside, too.  

 

On to Callaway - easily the distance winner mainly because my spin rate was way too low and the pulls started to creep back in - tried a different Callaway (I forget which one) I did get one out there with a carry of 160 but I couldn't do it with any consistency and couldn't keep it on the planet - we both figured I didn't need another Srixon like set in my closet so we worked on dialing in what worked.

 

In the end I went with the Pings - almost identical performance, $40 less a club plus the fitting was free by ordering today.  

 

Spec wise I ended up 1/2" shorter than standard, CB alta 70 iron shaft, R flex - so a little heavier than what I had and 1 degree flat instead of 2 (or the 4 in the Srixons - not what I ordered at all.)  7 through GW which in reality is the equivalent of 6 iron through PW in the G30's that I gamed 6 or 7 years ago.  The shaft feels as if it transitions nicely to my hybrid and fairway woods which are Ping G 410's.  The back of the 7 iron is a bit visible but that really doesn't bother me at all.  

 

Now I need to consider what to do about wedges - the GW to that set is a 50 and my wedges all match up with a 48 degree GW.  I have my eye on the S59's - I will give them a try once I know that these work - but I intend to make them work. 

 

I will drop back in once I get the irons to let you know how I do with them.  

Love the new ping across the board! Congrats Rev

[revkev]

As a brief follow up, I did reach back to my fitter and ask about wedges.  He has an arrangement with my club where he gives all golftec playing lessons there, so he knows the conditions that I play in probably better than I do - remember I'm new at this club.  He recommended the S159 54 S grind and S159 58 whatever that old Ping Eye 2 grind is - Of interest he wants me in a light, 95 gram, steel shaft with my wedges.  I'm okay with that - I have an old SCOR 60 that I put into the bag on occasion that's steel and I do just fine with it.  

 

Hopeful that I get these before Memorial Day but not sure it will happen.  I'm looking at playing much more golf than I've played in several years this summer.  My goal is playing twice a week, 9 walking in league, 18 riding Friday and then a range session on one of the weekend days and a chipping putting practice session at lunch time on Monday.  

[Haile]

Congrats on the new clubs. I love the Golftec that I go to. I've taken a lot of lessons there. I've also been fit with a driver and wedges there. Irons are next on the list. I've never had anything but great experiences with them. I'm sure like anything else it's all about who you work with. I like the fact that it's a no pressure situation. I also liked the fact that they 100% agreed that I'd be just fine not making my new driver cost $1000.