Recommendations - irons for $500 budget

Hello all,

I am looking for recommendations on an steel shaft iron set (4-GW) in the $300-500 range, completely fitted (shortened and lie angle adjusted).

Here are the ones I have been looking at thus far; am I missing any?

$499 range

Ping G10's

TM Burner

TM Burner 1.0

$299-399 range
TM Burner Plus

Calloway X-20

Cleveland CG Gold

Cobra S2

Cobra SZ

Nike VR cavity

Do any of the above seem to outperform the others or have value technology for the price?

I have not hit any of these clubs yet.  I plan to buy in April/May and like everything I purchase, like to put in my research ahead of time.

find a coupon code, retailmenot.com for any of the golf stores. I got my burner 09's brand new for 333 from globalgolf (used but MINT on their scale (whihc means never used) and cause i am a lefty i got 25% off

Take a look at some of the hybrid/iron sets to see if you like hybrid type clubs.  You might find that 4 and 5 hybrids are easier to hit than 4 and 5 irons.

Some hybrid/iron sets that can be found for under $300

Adams A3

Tour Edge Bazooka

Tour Edge Exotics

Cleveland Hibore

Personal preference only-but I like the X20's and CG Golds a lot more than the rest.

I already have 4/5/6 hybrids in Taylor made r7's.  So I am looking for irons only.  This way I can compare if I hit the irons or hybrids better and figure out what goes into my bag accordingly.

My current iron set is 7 iron through PW (goofy 6 iron that came with the set is some form of a hybrid iron that is worthless to me). I was always somewhat decent at hitting a 4 and 5 iron but never had any game improvement technology to try.  The last 4/5 irons I had were Ping i2 knockoffs.

I really thought everybody would recommend the Ping G10's in that price range.

My dad has the x-20s and really likes them.

Honestly, you should go to several stores and hit a bunch of irons off the monitor.

Irons that can be purchased at a good value you should consider:

Ping Rapture

Wilson Di9

Cobra S2

MacGregor MT mid

I know they would be hard to demo, since they have limited presence in B&M; stores, but the Wilson Staff Di9/Di11, and Wilson Staff Ci7/Ci9 are really great irons.  I have a set of the Di9s and Ci7s, and they're both sweet sets.  I prefer my Di9s to a set of Ping G5s that I have had as well.  Frankly, they're so cheap, it may be worth a shot just to try out anyway, whatever route you go.  But your selection of irons to test out looks like a pretty good list otherwise.

I would recommend the X-20's or the CG7's. I currently am playing the X-20's and love them. Have owned Burners before and didn't much care for them and ended up selling them. The x-20's can had for $299 right now on RBG.

I love my X20 Tours. Got them on Callaway Preowned. They had a big iron sale going on the other day, irons sets 20-40% off!! They will alter the clubs lie, length, and grip at the time of purchase. You can't beat Callaway Preowned. Got all my stuff there. "Like new" is brand new if you are not familiar.

-Dan

I have the G10's and are really liking them, if you look around you might be able to find them cheaper.  I was able to get mine for 399 brand new.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I was leaning towards purchasing from Golf Galaxy or at least having them fit me since I have about $100 in gift cards to burn there.

I was really swayed towards the G10's because they can still order them from Ping in my specs once fitted.

But if I went this route....

Say I'd buy the X-20's for RBG for $299 and take them to Golf Galaxy and have them fitted.  I am looking at probably another $150 between new grips, shortening fees, grip install cost and lie adjustment.  Now I am up to $450.  I'd almost rather pay the $500 for the Pings.

Granted it all comes down to what I hit best.  Maybe I need to quit typing and start swinging some clubs to eliminate some choices and narrow it down.

Somebody mentioned in another thread to checkout a certified PGA fitter in my area.  I found one less than an hour away.  Does anybody know about how much they charge on average to retro fit clubs?

Or is it worth it to buy some wishon's or whatever clubs they sell in house?

I've never heard of wishon's

Thanks

Do you see this as a transition set? If you do, steer clear of custom fitting cast clubs. Or you could just not mention that when you try and sell them.

You can get forged irons bent to fit for ~ $50 for the entire set. That won't take care of the length, but just how short are you to be sure you need them shortened already?

I'm 6' 2" and have no problems using the same irons as my brother who's 5' 8".

Wishon is very high quality gear.  It might be worth your time to at least talk to the club fitter about your game and check out the irons.

I'd like to play this set for many years so I am not worried about selling them in the near future.  I know my game is nowhere near where it needs to be to play forged tour based irons.  Definately looking for Game improvement irons.  I just want to keep the ball as straight as possible.

I am sure I need shorter clubs.  I have only owned 2 sets of irons and they both needed an inch off as I am only 5' 3.5".  I have tried gripping down on a normal sized club and is not comfortable to me at all.

Well, if PING includes all the fitting and stuff that you want with the purchase price then I say go that route.  G10s are great.

Well, I've narrowed my choice down to 2:

TM Burner Plus

Cobra S2 Max.

Hit both well on the simulator.  I have to admit I like the looks of the Cobra's a little better, but every shot with the TM's on the monitor was between the posts.  Straight is a good thing in my book.  So looks like its the TM's for me.  Making my purchase tomorrow at Golf Galaxy.  $349 w/ $50 off coupon.  Can be found much cheaper on ebay, but GG will do the fitting for free and 50% off labor for adjustments.  I know I will need them all shortened, regripped and lie adjusted.  So seems like the logical choice.

I really wanted Pings and had my heart set on the G10's but as I hit them, the club just seemed dead to me.  And as somebody mentioned on here before reminded me of swinging a hockey stick.  lol

I'm probably jumping the gun as the TM's will probably go down in price by the time spring comes around, but the $$ is burning a hole in my pocket.

I'm playing the G10 w/ AWT R shafts and really like them. Easy to hit and long. Played X-14s before - nice, but not as forgiving or as long as the PINGs.

I seem to hit the G10's fairly well, but for me, the TM 6i demo actually felt easier to hit than the Ping 7i demo.  Maybe being my handicap is around a 19/20 the extra forgiveness of the TM's work better for me.  But before I buy I want to give the Ping's one last chance.  And I want to compare apples to apples this time (6i vs 6i, instead of 7i vs 6i).  I am going to have the store tape up the Ping 6i this way I can compare 6i to 6i in both brands.  Maybe tomorrow I will come home with a new set of irons.