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FEEL Competitor Irons


BK in TEXAS

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FEEL COMPETITOR IRONS

 

At what point does a component company become a “real” company? I'm really not sure if FEEL is either. I see them as a wedge company that makes a set of irons. They only make the competitor (in MB and cavity) along with wedges, but they have been around a while. I believe they introduced the “Competitor” iron way back in 1988. It hasn't changed much…if at all.

 

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LOOKS 90/100

 

They look naked. Very simple. Very plain. Very clean. Very naked. And I like it. To my eye, they are just what a blade should look like. This set is satin finish, but I like the chrome version far better. Simple but shiny. My kind of iron.

 

5 iron

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PW

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Face

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Address

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Grips

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One interesting aspect of the “Competitor” is that they don't stamp the iron number on the sole. Supposedly this is so your competition (hence “Competitor”) can't see what iron you pulled. I suppose, but in reality it makes it a major pain in the rear to find the club you want to play. Besides, if I pull the same club as my playing partner, I'll be a club or two short. Regardless, it makes a pretty clean looking club. These most definitely look like a players iron.

 

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You can see how they look compared to a few other blades I have in my iron hoarder stash. "Hi, my name is BK and I'm a hoarder". Anyway, top to bottom: Titleist 735CM, FEEL Competitor, Nike Forged, Nike TW Forged. The MB shape of the Competitor looks the most similar to the 735CM (and the 695MB not pictured). These are all 8 irons by the way. While the FEEL, and both Nike sets are blades through the whole set, the Titleist 735's are cavity backs in the 7 & higher.

 

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PERFORMANCE 95/100

 

Performance. Now this is what it's all about, really. To keep it simple, lets define performance as nothing more than distance and accuracy. I was quite impressed with both. Ignoring the bad shots (and, oh ya, you know when you hit a bad shot), the ball went where I wanted it. Distance was very consistent. The distance was actually nearly spot on the same as the 735's I've been playing. I don't think it would affect my game in the least to throw these in the bag and play them right off. Both the Nike's however, were ever so slightly longer in the long irons (4-6)

 

SOUND & FEEL 75/100

 

Well, as the name suggests, the “feel” should be great. I'll say this: you tend to forget you're NOT playing a forged iron. That's right hombres, the “Competitor” is a cast club. “Pressure Cast” according to the website, but I honestly have no idea what that means. Nor do I really care to be honest. What I did care about is that they actually feel softer than the forged 735CMs, about the same as the Nike TW Forged, but harder than the Nike Forged. Which, if you think about it, is pretty darn impressive for a cast club.

 

Sound, however is a slightly different story. Occasionally, when you slightly mishit these heads you get an odd sound. It's sort of a hollow tinny sound, or maybe a muted snare drum. It's hard to describe, but if you've heard/felt it you would know exactly what I'm trying to explain. I've heard it on one other club before, the Nike VRII Pro Cavity irons. Unfortunately, however slight it might be, I hate that sound.

 

FORGIVENESS N/A

 

Let's keep this simple. They are a blade. They are not forgiving. You mis-hit it and you pay the price in distance. Compared to other modern blades I've hit, they are about the same. If you want a more forgiving blade, get a cavity back or GI iron.

 

VALUE 100/100

 

Value is where the FEEL Competitor really shines. If you can find a set out there (and I don't think there are a whole heck of a lot of them) you can get these for a song. I've only seen a few sets come across eBay in the last 6 months. But, they are selling for about $150 a set in excellent condition. Those looking for a softer feel would do well to pony up the extra cash (about double) for the Nike Forged or some of those “buttery” (god I hate that word) Mizuno's I've heard so much about. However, for the guy (or gal) on a tight budget, or simply looking for a set of blades to try out, the Competitor is an outstanding value.

 

LIKELYHOOD OF PURCHASE 70/100

 

Or in my case, likelyhood of re-purchase: unlikely. I already know I like MB blades, and am willing to spend double the money on a more expensive set of clubs to get that added feel and sound. Now, if I was debating taking the plunge into blades for the first time, then absolutely I'd buy these.

 

 

GENERAL FINAL RAMBLING

 

If I had to summarize these irons I'd call them the classic underachieving stepchild. They don't really do anything bad, but don't really do anything great. You won't be disappointed with them, but you're not going to love them either. You wouldn't mind dating them but your not going to marry them. You get the point. But again, for someone looking for an inexpensive first set of blades, these would fit the bill nicely.

 

OVERALL SCORE 88/100

 

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MENTOR, L4 COACH & TRAINER  FIRST TEE GREATER HOUSTON
HDCP: 8.3  (GHIN: 3143312)
In my bag, April 2023
:titelist-small: TS3 Driver & 4 Wood Hzrdous Smoke Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:titelist-small: TS2 Hybrids  Mitsubishi Tensei Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:mizuno-small:  MP-59 5-PW; KBS Tour (Regular Flex)
:titelist-small: SM8 Wedges

EVNROLL ER2  Putter
SRIXON Z-STAR DIAMOND BALL
Sun Mountain Cart Bag
:Clicgear: 4.0 Push Cart (I'm walking 9 outta 10 rounds!!)

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Nice write up. Holy crap though I went to their site and they make a 73° wedge?!

 

Yeah. They heard amateur golfers like to make bets on whether or not you can hit yourself in the face with your own wedge shot so they decided to make that a little easier.

What's In The Bag:

 

Adams 9064LS

Ben Hogan Edge CFT Ti

Ben Hogan Apex Edge 4-PW

TaylorMade ATV 50* 54*

Mizuno Bettinardi BC3 Tour Issue

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Now that's a blade!

 

 

Blades scare me, and that's a MEAN looking blade!!!!

 

You know the funny thing is, as "mean" as they look, they really were no more difficult to hit than any of the other blades. That and the fact they are not forged were the two things that really surprised me.

MENTOR, L4 COACH & TRAINER  FIRST TEE GREATER HOUSTON
HDCP: 8.3  (GHIN: 3143312)
In my bag, April 2023
:titelist-small: TS3 Driver & 4 Wood Hzrdous Smoke Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:titelist-small: TS2 Hybrids  Mitsubishi Tensei Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:mizuno-small:  MP-59 5-PW; KBS Tour (Regular Flex)
:titelist-small: SM8 Wedges

EVNROLL ER2  Putter
SRIXON Z-STAR DIAMOND BALL
Sun Mountain Cart Bag
:Clicgear: 4.0 Push Cart (I'm walking 9 outta 10 rounds!!)

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Share on other sites

RP...they're going for about $150 on ebay, but they don't come across all that often. Brand new they're $479 http://www.feelwedges.com/category-s/167.htm

MENTOR, L4 COACH & TRAINER  FIRST TEE GREATER HOUSTON
HDCP: 8.3  (GHIN: 3143312)
In my bag, April 2023
:titelist-small: TS3 Driver & 4 Wood Hzrdous Smoke Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:titelist-small: TS2 Hybrids  Mitsubishi Tensei Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:mizuno-small:  MP-59 5-PW; KBS Tour (Regular Flex)
:titelist-small: SM8 Wedges

EVNROLL ER2  Putter
SRIXON Z-STAR DIAMOND BALL
Sun Mountain Cart Bag
:Clicgear: 4.0 Push Cart (I'm walking 9 outta 10 rounds!!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. They heard amateur golfers like to make bets on whether or not you can hit yourself in the face with your own wedge shot so they decided to make that a little easier.

 

I may or may not have snorted. Cheers!

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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