Master "Forged vs. Cast" or "Blade vs. Game-Improvement" Iron Thread

[iacas]

BTW, the poll results aren't going to mean much either. People love to believe they're better than they are. You're going to see too many "Yes"es than would be truthful.

The simple fact is almost nobody has ever hit the same club in both cast and forged models. The power of suggestion ("ooh, this 5-iron is forged... I'm gonna hit it... ooh, sweet feel") is indeed very powerful.

The poll should have an "I've never hit the same exact model club produced via the two different techniques, therefore I am not qualified to answer yes or no."

[The Rambler]

I can tell the difference between a forged wedge and a cast wedge. You dont have to be scratch or a + handicap to be able to tell the difference

[hypergolf]

As I said, unless the exact same clubs were presented to a variety of golfers and all the variations were made in two further variations - cast and forged - the results are meaningless to me. When you factor in the other studies I've seen through the years about how most golfers can't tell the difference, I've got to give them a whole lot more credence than "some guy" posting results on the Internet without any proof, methodology, etc.

As I said I am just posting the info I got from the club. Isn't this forum supposed to be sharing what is happening around the globe (and not just US based) This was just done by a local club for the fun of it so I am not saying that you have to give more credit to this event.

Second, I am still far from being a low handicapper so get your facts correct before you throw some sacarsm at people? Maybe a low capper like you could fall under those idiot category? (Chill... Just poking some fun as well.) But anyway, to be honest I only could only get 6 out of 10 clubs right. Some of those China made cast blades had good feel to it... There were a few unknown brands as well... Not all the popular brands like Titleist, Mizuno etc etc. And yes, one of the wrong ones I got was the 775CB. I honestly thought it was cast. I also agree that the exact same club of both forged and cast has to be presented for this test to be true. You can throw all the questions and arguements at me but as I said I was just the participant and wanted to share this experience with the members here. So yes, as you said don't take this result too seriously. But please vote. Just want to see the results here.

[buggyman]

this is interesting, because I just the other day took a callaway X Forged 6 iron and a Taylor Made R7 TP iron to the range and hit them back to back for a bucket of balls. I can honestly say for the most part I could not tell the difference. On solid shots they both felt forged. On misses it was VERY minor between them.

[Snake]

Pardon the dumb noob question, but what are the supposed advantages of forged irons over cast irons? Are there actual advantges or is it one of those "they usually cost more so they must be better" situations?

[iacas]

Pardon the dumb noob question, but what are the supposed advantages of forged irons over cast irons? Are there actual advantges or is it one of those "they usually cost more so they must be better" situations?

Forged used to feel better than cast. Some believe it still does... others agree that it does but think the degree is very, very small... and still others believe that casting has caught up to forging and that there's really no discernable difference unless you're Tiger Woods.

I'm in the middle category, fwiw.

[WorkerOfTheBall]

I have never hit a cast iron, to be honest I have no desire to. The size is a major turn off. This probably also explains why I don't have any hybrids either.

D

[wolverine318]

I havent hit a cast iron in 5 or 6 years so I cant really comment on the feel of them today. When I went from my old set of top flights to my Mizuno 33s though I could feel a huge difference.

I dont know if I could tell the difference by feel. I think that it would be close and the feel would be very similar and it would be hard to tell. I can though tell that my vokey is not forged as it doesnt feel anywhere near as soft as my PW does.

[wachesawgolfer]

I still think it's true that most cast clubs are cavity-backed, and most forged ones are musclebacks.

The type of manufacture can be either cast or forged for players clubs. The SMT blade is a cast club as is the perimeter weighted Honma 901 and Maruman Pro M. All players clubs. The casting process is only necessary when the cavity reaches a certain size and has a hollowing out space. A solid head club, whether, perimeter weighted or true muscle back can be casted or forged. In fact many of the blade like clubs which make you think they are forged are not. "soft metal" or "forge like" are clues the club-head is cast. But these cast metals are indeed softer than standard cast and I think would be hard to tell. I doubt many people could not the the SMT Blade club is not forged if they did not know it ahead of time.

There are not too many clubs close enough in design to make this test valid.
One way to do it would be to use the KZG line as they make very similar looking heads in both forged and cast. Using the same shafts, with different heads, I suspect few could tell the difference between the forged or cast.

[ahnh666]

went from a mizuno mx-15 (cast) set to a mizuno mx-23 (forged)...both almost identical in shape, size and design...but there was definitely a difference in the "feel" and sound...

mx-19 is the newer version vs. mx-25 which is also the newer versions of the above mentioned.......

vs.

if you go test both out..you'll notice the differences...

[iacas]

Yeah, perhaps I'm just pickier than you, but those aren't close to being "almost identical" enough for me. They have fairly significant differences in sole width, cavity shape and size, and overall design.

And since you didn't do a blind test, again, the power of suggestion likely played a role in what you think you felt (happens to everyone... I've got a good story about it happening to Sergio Garcia of all people, after all). That being said, I'll bow out of the discussion now. Kind of a waste of time. If someone ever does a study with the same shape clubheads with only the creation method as the variable, and blind tests people, let me know.

[babywax]

Pardon the dumb noob question, but what are the supposed advantages of forged irons over cast irons? Are there actual advantges or is it one of those "they usually cost more so they must be better" situations?

Unless I'm mistaken, one of the big advantages of forged is that they can be bent without fear of breaking. Cast, while they can be bent, are more likely to break if you try to adjust the lies, though I could be wrong.

[Linkster]

Ping claims that during development of the S58 they had cast and outsourced forged, then had Chris Dimarco test both and he was unable to tell them apart, so they stuck with what they do best.

[fusioncal]

Nowadays, with such advancement in head design it's quite tough to tell the difference between forged and cast clubs based on feel. Notice more and more cast club heads are now using gel insert, vibration dampener, etc. in the back?

As someone who happens to have both cavity back forged (MP-60) and cast club (Fusion) at the same time, I could honestly say that they still have that "difference" in feel, but only up to a certain point. When hit pure, Fusion also has that crisp and buttery feel to it. At first I thought Fusion was forged due to that. Then overtime I realize that almost pure shots and mis-hits feel quite the same, but not the case with MP-60 where the same impact flaws would result in "knocking" sounds.

If I was blind tested between forged and cast clubs, I think I would only get them half right. However, I believe I could tell the difference between forged and cast just by looking at the club face where the grooves are.

I do agree to make the test result valid, it must be tested with the same head design. Otherwise, only take it as an "entertainment."

[Diggitydog]

I was thinking blades but all the golf shop dudes are like "1 in 7 people can hit blades so we don't carry them." What's all the fuss? Is it hype or what?
My misses are not heel or toe much they are more thin or not closing the face or closing too much but sweet spot isn't really a problem.

[golf_junkie27]

I've played with both and can only say that playing with blades is going to make you a much better golfer. I originally purchased a set of blades and found that "I could not hit them." That was a result of having too hard a swing, poor tempo, terrible alignment and of course, inconsistent ball striking. It had to be the blades and not me.

I then switched to a set of cavity backs. At the same time, a friend of mine spent countless hours honing my swing. He made me swing easier, he adjusted my tempo (You'd be surprised what rushing to hit a shot does to you) and had me relax. Viola, I started to hit the ball much better.

After six or seven months of playing with cavity backs, lowering my scores, my handicap and generally just getting better, I switched to blades. I've been hitting them, everyday, for a few weeks, now. The result: My swing has gotten much smoother, my tempo much better and my focus has increased. It might be a mindset issue but it works for me. Additionally, I have not lost any substantial yardage on my irons.

The question is do you want a club that's more forgiving or a club that is going to force you to purify your swing? Personally, I prefer the blades. They give me INSTANT feedback and have forced me to become a more mechanically sound golfer. Is that not the goal of every golfer?

[g-funk13]

Its very interesting that multiple posts on this thread debunk the idea that a forged club with more feedback makes your score worse.

It sounds like MANY players choose less forgiving clubs that tell them more about their stroke to their benefit .

This is one of the most informative threads on ST I have read. I am enjoying it mucho

[Guest]

I've been using cavity backs for a while but i recently switched to blades and I love the feel


In My Bag
Driver: R7 Superquad TP 9.5
3 Wood: Burner TP 14.0
Irons: Srixon Pro-100 3-P
Wedges: RAC TP Black 52,56,61
Putter: Rossa Agsi sienna