New Irons… About Ready to Do It

[daled]

I was here last year deciding between new irons, or just regrip. I did the regrip, don't regret it.

My son-in-law took me to Golf Galaxy last night. He actually bought a set last night, (a waste, but that's a different post). And he had me get fitted. It was an enjoyable experience, and the result has me thinking about buying. Here is the run down.

My old irons are Callaway X-hots from Dicks.

I'm 62, in decent shape, no physical impediments. In our golf league, I'm a 12 handicap for 9 holes.

If I swing fast, I can swing a 7 iron about 85. A comfortable swing speed is more around 77. I hit my 7 iron 150 on the course, on that machine it went about 140.

After going over the particulars, they had me try a few different irons. Ping i210, Taylormade p790, and Cobra SpeedZone. We started with steel shafts, and I hit them all better than my current clubs. Then the guy switched me to graphite shafts. As expected, more distance, easier to swing. I hit the i210 what he said was too high with too much spin. I didn't know too much spin was possible.

Bottom line, I hit the Cobra Speedzone with a recoil graphite shaft the best. Best dispersion, and about 165 carry for the 7 iron. For a set 4-GW with graphite shafts, they're going to ding me for about $1150.

Here's my questions. Am I overlooking anything? Am I over analyzing? I can afford this purchase, but it is a lot of money to me, so I don't want to buy these clubs and regret it.

Thanks for any thoughts or insights on this.

[Bonvivant]

How much better was the dispersion compared to your current clubs? I would assume it is better, but the question is, is it 1150 dollars better? The distance is nice, but a lot of that has to do with them making clubs stronger lofts nowadays. Another question would be, did you actually hit a 4 iron from this range, or did you get an estimated gapping analysis? Whether you did or didn't, I would assume that the 4 iron is going to go quite far, and might even be the same distance as something longer in your current bag (5 wood or hybrid, something of the like), and if this is the case you might not even need the 4 iron and it could cut the cost down a bit.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with whatever you choose. A friendly piece of advice as well, there is a "clubs, shafts, fittings" section on the forum, which this post probably belongs in. Either someone will move it for you, or not, but for next time you have a club related question, that is the place to go. I've noticed a lot of newer members doing this as well, so don't worry.

Cheers! Frank.

[daled]

No, didn't hit a 4 iron. I favor irons. I have hybrids that I don't hit very well off the deck. Same is true for my 3 wood. The longest club in my bag, not off the tee, is a 5 iron.

I guess I'm kind of drawn to the upgrade realizing that graphite is in my future. The dispersion was better with the set they're trying to sell me. And the mishits seemed to go better, but that was in a simulator, so it's tough to be sure.

Sorry about the misplaced post, I'd move it if I knew how?

[Mr22putt]

1 hour ago, daled said:

Bottom line, I hit the Cobra Speedzone with a recoil graphite shaft the best. Best dispersion, and about 165 carry for the 7 iron. For a set 4-GW with graphite shafts, they're going to ding me for about $1150.

Here's my questions. Am I overlooking anything? Am I over analyzing? I can afford this purchase, but it is a lot of money to me, so I don't want to buy these clubs and regret it.

Thanks for any thoughts or insights on this.

You are hitting the Speedzone irons really far because the irons are so JACKED UP.....the 7 iron is 27.5*...that's whacked...my 7 iron is 34* and 6 iron 29.5*.

Though your current irons are also JACKED UP too....7 iron at 30".

Just because dispersion is better on the monitor....it might not translate out on the course.

Based on what you have wrote...I wouldn't buy the irons...you don't seemed convinced you need new irons to enjoy the game more...new irons won't magically lower your scores.

Cobra clubs don't hold their value well if you decide to sell.

Only you know whether you want to spend the money.

[cooke119]

Before I spent $1150 on new irons I would want to test my current irons against the new irons on the same monitor, i.e., bring you current set in and hit them as well. I'm not sure I trust the monitors in all these stores, I may be wrong but I don't think I have ever achieved the distances these monitors predicted once I got on the course. And also as stated above the manufactures have changed the lofts over the years.

[leftybutnotPM]

1 hour ago, daled said:

I

Here's my questions. Am I overlooking anything? Am I over analyzing? I can afford this purchase, but it is a lot of money to me, so I don't want to buy these clubs and regret it.

Thanks for any thoughts or insights on this.

I think that if you buy new irons with a genuine expectation that they will improve your scores, you are going to be disappointed. 

Unless your older clubs are X stiff blades from the 1970s you basically buy new irons because you want new irons.

[Bonvivant]

52 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

You are hitting the Speedzone irons really far because the irons are so JACKED UP.....the 7 iron is 27.5*...that's whacked...my 7 iron is 34* and 6 iron 29.5*.

Though your current irons are also JACKED UP too....7 iron at 30

That's absolutely nutty. My 7 iron is 37 degrees.  In 20 years (some) irons have gotten 10 degrees stronger? Inconceivable! 

[Mr22putt]

LMAO.....Titleist is launching the T400 irons...7 iron is 26*

[daled]

59 minutes ago, Bonvivant said:

That's absolutely nutty. My 7 iron is 37 degrees.  In 20 years (some) irons have gotten 10 degrees stronger? Inconceivable! 

 

 

I'm aware that the manufacturers are messing with the loft. They all do it. But, they are also making the clubs better. The graphite shafts are much better now too. Will new irons make me a scratch golfer? Nope. If I can shave a couple strokes with new irons, and have clubs that i can play into my 70s, that is what I want to accomplish. And let's face it, who doesn't like shiny new clubs?

Having said that, I'm getting a lot of good input here. Lots to consider.

11 minutes ago, Mr22putt said:

LMAO.....Titleist is launching the T400 irons...7 iron is 26*

Another thing I've learned last year, and through this latest fitting is that the new tech launches higher. If the monitor is to be believed, my old 7 put the ball about 18 yards high. The new Cobra with the graphite shaft put it 23-26 yards high, with a lot more spin. I'm well aware that the graphite shaft makes a lot of difference.

[daled]

I did it. Bought a set 5-SW. They were freaky good on the monitor. I'll find out in a couple months how they play. I'm happy with my decision.

[Mr22putt]

9 minutes ago, daled said:

I did it. Bought a set 5-SW. They were freaky good on the monitor. I'll find out in a couple months how they play. I'm happy with my decision.

.....

[Missouri Swede]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:43 PM, daled said:

 

I'm aware that the manufacturers are messing with the loft. They all do it. But, they are also making the clubs better. The graphite shafts are much better now too. Will new irons make me a scratch golfer? Nope. If I can shave a couple strokes with new irons, and have clubs that i can play into my 70s, that is what I want to accomplish. And let's face it, who doesn't like shiny new clubs?

Having said that, I'm getting a lot of good input here. Lots to consider.

Another thing I've learned last year, and through this latest fitting is that the new tech launches higher. If the monitor is to be believed, my old 7 put the ball about 18 yards high. The new Cobra with the graphite shaft put it 23-26 yards high, with a lot more spin. I'm well aware that the graphite shaft makes a lot of difference

And as I understand how they think these things through, the higher launch is why they call it a 7-iron (or whichever), even though the loft is that of a previous era's 6-iron or 5-iron.  I don't let it bother me.  I try to play for the distance that my club gives me, and not worry about whether it's got a 5, 6, 7 or whatever on it.

15 hours ago, daled said:

I did it. Bought a set 5-SW. They were freaky good on the monitor. I'll find out in a couple months how they play. I'm happy with my decision.

Congrats!  I expect you'll love them.

[Typhoon92]

16 hours ago, daled said:

I did it. Bought a set 5-SW. They were freaky good on the monitor. I'll find out in a couple months how they play. I'm happy with my decision.

Good!  I was going to tell you to do it. There has been enough time /iron models passed that there are enough significant improvements to justify a change.

Don’t think about “jacked lofts” it’s the way now.  Plus, the x2hot iron lofts were also what people complained back then as “jacked”....so u might actually have the same lofts.

You will be more accurate hitting 8 iron length clubs than 6 iron length clubs from 160.  Remember, it’s all about you.  Just be sure your gaps are good or at least you know what they are and you can adjust.  With your handicap I know you can figure it out.

Nice purchase!  You’re going to love them.

[cooke119]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:45 PM, Bonvivant said:

That's absolutely nutty. My 7 iron is 37 degrees.  In 20 years (some) irons have gotten 10 degrees stronger? Inconceivable! 

My Cleveland Launcher 7i is 30*

[Slim_Pivot]

On 1/23/2020 at 4:07 PM, daled said:

My son-in-law took me to Golf Galaxy last night. He actually bought a set last night, (a waste, but that's a different post).

Lmao

[daled]

Thanks all. As an added bonus, the fitter gave me some advice about how I was trying to hit my fairway wood. I was doing a forward press at setup and delofting the club. I went to the range yesterday, cold as heck, but had to try it. Sure enough, off the mats in the cold, (40F), and it worked. Now I get it, it's a mat, but it was better than I've done ever. An added bonus. Props to the guys at Golf Galaxy. They spent time with me, and even price matched Carl's which saved me $100.