Shopping for new irons tomorrow!

[Pretzel]

I'm pretty excited that I'm finally heading out tomorrow to Denver with intent to purchase a new set of irons (rather than just testing). After my re-grooving attempts on my 8-iron failed ( http://cdn.thesandtrap.com/4/49/900x900px-LL-49ebb892_8-ironFace.jpeg ) and seeing similar effects on the grooves in many of my current irons, I've decided that it's time to get a new set of irons. That and I've been eyeing a few different irons that I like.

Currently on my list (in no particular order) of irons to make sure to test I have:

- Ping s55 (these have had my eye for a while now, and initial testing showed good results)

- Mizuno mp59 (the 64's, 54's, and 69's I hit with fairly mediocre results but didn't test this one)

- Callaway Apex Pros (these surprised me during initial testing, hitting them very well after just trying them for grins)

- Titleist AP2 (I hit the 712 irons poorly when I tested them a year ago, but the demo club did have a partially broken hosel)

- Taylormade Tour Preferred MC (tested these on a demo day and found them to be nice, but haven't hit them with any shaft but the one I've found to work worst for me)

- Ping i25 (newer version of what I'm hitting now, which are the Eye 2's. A direct visual comparison showed large similarities between the two)

If I'm missing any irons that you feel I should test, please tell me. In addition if you own any of these irons and want to tell me something about them, all feedback is appreciated. I'm currently leaning towards the s55's and the Apex Pro's more than anything else, but I'll see how I hit them on a different day compared against different irons than before.

[Hardballs]

Buying new irons!... It's like Christmas and birthday rolled into one! You'll be up at 6am with a huge grin on your face!

[Jakester23]

If you don't have to get forged the Callaway X 2 Hot pro's are very nice.

[Mr. Desmond]

I'd find an Edel fitter near Denver and visit him.

[PirateJim]

Okay, I am sort of a Titleist fan, but I'm mostly a fan of the Titleist Advanced Fitting Center that I'm fortunate to have in my area.  A proper fitting and selection of the right shaft for the individual is really important.  There is an Advanced Fitting Center in the Denver area as well according to the Titleist web site.  If you have an interest in AP2s (everyone is raving about them) I would strongly urge you to take the time to visit them rather than just trying whatever happens to be leaning against the wall at some big retail shop, broken hosel and all.

[Pretzel]

I went to the PGA superstore and the Golfsmith Xtreme in Denver (the superstore didn't have any KBS shafts for the Ping clubs) and so far the top 3 contenders were the Mizuno MP-59 (which surprised me), the S55's, and the i25's. The Taylormades had too large a dispersion, as did the Callaways with both KBS and DG shafts. The Titleists were alright, performing about the same as my current clubs, but didn't amaze me enough to visit their specialized fitting center. When I get home I have a bunch of pictures showing the numbers and dispersions of the different clubs. I did find out two important things at the Golfsmith: - There is a massive difference in launch monitors between stores, so compare them all at the same store to avoid useless data - I apparently am flat at address, but at impact it takes a club that's 3* upright to create the best impact conditions.

[Motley01]

You lied? I thought you were buying clubs, not just testing them?

[Pretzel]

You lied? I thought you were buying clubs, not just testing them?

I am, I'm just going to call in my order once I look over the data without the bias of "I really liked/disliked that iron I hit last, because I crushed/duffed it". I unfortunately have a 4-H meeting this evening though, so I won't be able to upload my results for all the different clubs until late (past 10:00 ET). The other reason is any irons that I purchased would have to be special order anyways, I was told due to them not stocking either KBS stiff or x-stiff (they had me test both) in off the shelf iron sets. I've already decided upon the irons I want, and ordered them, but I'll wait to say which until I have the data to show along with it.

[Pretzel]

Alright, time for the data. The first two are just my baseline irons and I won't really comment on them, since they are what they are. I have two pictures for each, one with numbers and one with the dispersion given from each iron. The launch monitor at the PGA Superstore was near identical to my on course numbers, with the only issue being that the swing speed looked a bit high to me (the Mizuno shaft fitter gave me swing speeds of 89, 91, and 91 on the three swings needed).

7-iron, Ping Eye 2 KBS Tour stiff:

One quick note here, the shot hung out to the right was one of the Mizuno shaft fitting shots before the fitter minimized this window. It was not hit with my club or shaft.

6 iron, Ping Eye 2 KBS Tour stiff:

Once I had finished my baseline testing, I went through the Mizuno shaft fitting with the device on the shaft and the application the fitter used. I didn't take a picture of it, but my average numbers were 91 (Club speed), 5 (Tempo), 4 (Shaft Toe Down), 6 (Shaft Kick Angle), and 8 (Release Factor). It recommended a soft stepped KBS Tour X-flex, which was impossible to test with the available clubs. They had only one KBS X-flex shaft in the entire fitting area from all the brands, and it was a C-taper (not what was recommended) that fit into the Taylormade MC iron. That said I found that the KBS Tour Stiff suits my needs just fine still, and it was the shaft I opted for in the irons that I ordered. I tested all the irons in the KBS Tour Stiff after the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer recommended the KBS and I had found through other testing last fall that it had the tightest dispersion for me.

Here's the data from all the clubs I tested, along with a couple short comments on each club.

7-iron, Taylormade MC KBS C-taper X-flex:

This one I won't bother to show the numbers on it. The dispersion was so high (and didn't get much better with a KBS Tour stiff in it) that I eliminated it right off the bat.

6-iron, Titleist AP2 KBS Tour stiff:

A solid club with pretty good dispersion, but it just didn't stand out as much as a few of the other irons did. The dispersion was also fairly similar to my Eye 2 6-iron, but shorter distances. It's better than my last experience hitting Titleist irons, but not enough to make me want to purchase them.

6-iron, Callaway Apex Pro KBS Tour Stiff:

Similar to the Titleist, but with more distance. It was a solid club, but the dispersion of this and the Titleist couldn't match the other clubs tested.

6-iron, Mizuno MP-59 KBS Tour stiff:

I forgot to take a picture of the dispersion from the Mizuno irons but, save one thin shot that went short, they were all clustered tighter than my current 6-iron at about the same distance. I also liked how they felt when you hit them solid, it was a nice sound, but the thin shot almost hurt. This may be because I have custom-made (read: home built out of weather stripping and fishing line) inserts in my current irons that help dampen some of the vibrations from bad shots like that.

7-iron, Ping i25 KBS Tour stiff:

I was very happy with these clubs, because I actually was initially considering not testing them since I had already spent two hours in the hitting bay. There wasn't anyone waiting on me, but I felt bad for taking up so much time on the machine (the fitter left after the shaft optimization was done and I had the clubs needed for testing, since I explained my process to him). The dispersion was nice and tight, even with one shot (the pink one) that was hit a tiny bit fat. That likely was helped out by the mat though. Ping was also the only company to use a 7-iron as their demo club, which I expect to be an effective market strategy for higher handicappers since it's easier to hit than a 6-iron. This could make it seem like they're more forgiving than the competition.

7-iron, Ping s55 KBS Tour stiff:

These were the clubs I ended up ordering by phone later that evening. They went, on average, 10 yards further than my current 7-iron with the same max height and a tighter dispersion. The look from the topline of these irons is superb and confidence inspiring, with a clubhead that's small enough to feel like a "better player's iron" while not being so small that it felt you couldn't fit the ball onto it. I found it to be just as forgiving as the i25 (the green shot was the same tiny bit fat) but the dispersion with distance was the main purchasing point. I'll take an average left/right deviation of 4 yards any day with a 7-iron and run like I stole it, especially when the average deviation for distance was only 3 yards.

While I did end up purchasing the Ping s55 irons, I would recommend that people try them all. I personally didn't like the Taylormade club much at all, the fitter hit it better than any other club he tested himself. It's really a matter of personal opinion, because even the shape of the clubhead would sometimes affect how I hit it. A nice looking club that I feel comfortable and confident swinging goes better than one that I really don't like. Go out and find what shaft works best for you, then try everything!

The good news is, since I ordered from Golfsmith, I have the option of returning the clubs for 100% store credit (assuming good condition clubs, which I was told is the norm unless you hit rocks) within 30 days of receiving them in case I am unhappy with something about them. This means to me that, should I find the s55's a bit too much to handle in a tournament (in which I will play 2 during that 30 day period) I can essentially swap them out for the i25's or something else with more forgiveness. I could also return them and purchase the clubs with an X-flex if it turns out that the ones I have are too soft (the fitter said I could go with either shaft since the optimizer put me in between the two). I don't anticipate doing either of those things, but it's just a nice little peace of mind thing that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I can't wait for my clubs to arrive (UPS Ground shipping, 3-5 business days) and I will update this thread when they do come and I test them on the course.

[jamo]

Great stuff, man. Hope you love the new sticks!

[Valleygolfer]

A little late to your party but I think the S55s are a solid performer and you will not go wrong with them. It is tough to decide with new clubs and I think it's tougher to decide on a shaft choice more than anything. Depending on your age and if you will maintain the same swing speed the next 5+ years. It's a lot of money and performance loss/gain unknowns. I was fitted with the mizuno system for my shaft flex also and was recommended the xstiff shaft choice. I tried various shafts, I liked the kbs tour but really still liked the x100s. Long story short I went with the x100 and they are excellent. So I say feel good about your decision and focus on playing as good as your irons are.

[Motley01]

Wow I'm looking at all your shots and thinking. Sign this guy up for the PGA Tour. Very consistent ball striking. And hitting a 6 iron 210 on average is really good.

[Pretzel]

Wow I'm looking at all your shots and thinking. Sign this guy up for the PGA Tour. Very consistent ball striking. And hitting a 6 iron 210 on average is really good.

This is at about 5500 ft of altitude, which the launch monitor was calibrated to. It wouldn't go 210 on the sea level tracks pros play.

[Dave2512]

Did you hit the 588 CB's? You should.

[Dave2512]

Did you hit the 588 CB's? You should.

Lol evidently I didn't read all of your previous post. Congrats on the PINGs.

[Pretzel]

Lol evidently I didn't read all of your previous post. Congrats on the PINGs.

Yeah, I would've tried them but I read your post the morning after my order was placed.

[cipher]

Congrats on the new irons @Pretzel ! I hope you enjoy them, I am loving mine. Three things I feel are better about them compared to when I had i20s. They get through the rough easier, especially in the long irons. Which makes sense because of the progressive size of the i20-25 irons. I feel like the dispersion is tighter. And they also are easier for me to move left to right when I need to(I think this is just an appearance thing for me and being able to address the ball more open.). Have fun!

[shfboyroddy]

Sounds and looks like you had a great experiance congrats may they bring you to many short grass situations:)