Forged irons sturdiness?

[Alohaed]

Hi there,
If this subject has been brought up before, I apologize for the redundancy. I was in a NYC World of Golf store drooling over the new Mizunos: MX-1000s and MX-300s. Also the Cobra S2 forged. The sales person told me that they are obviously softer metals and that is why everyone says they feel like butter when hit. He also said that they nick and scratch easily, which I've read many times in this forum. I can understand this hitting rocks, pebbles, etc, as he mentioned. Yet he also said they will get all nicked up from banging against each other from bouncing around in the golf bag. Can this happen? Has anyone out there, owning forged irons, experience this? He suggested that this won't happen with cast irons such as the AP1s.

[ND Fan]

It's most commonly called bag chatter and yes it happens to all forged clubs that I know of. The damage does not effect the playablity of the clubs, they just start to look a bit like a car that was in a hail storm after while.

[sean_miller]

Hi there,

Is bag chatter going to be a major factor in your iron set decision?

There are steps you can take to reduce chatter, including: walk (power carts and forged irons are a bad combo), set up your carry bag with the long irons in the middle and the short irons at the bottom (duh), drape your towel between the long and short irons while walking, wipe them off after hitting (dirt/grit adds to the chatter and did you know forged irons rust as well?), use iron covers (coughkindagaycough). Anyway, as long as you're not playing Hogan Apex from the 80s, bag chatter can be managed. I take a bit of care with my Mizunos (early 90s) and MacGregors (mid 50s - seriously), and they look great (to me).

[ND Fan]

To be honest I like some bag chatter on my clubs. They are not intended to be works of art they are in fact war clubs and a some battles scars are well appropriate.

[FHopper]

How can you imply headcovers are mmmgay?

[msd3075]

In addition to bag chatter, the pro who fitted me for my irons said that you should have forged irons checked every year or so to make sure the lie angle is still where it should be. He said if you travel a lot or if you practice off of mats, the lie angle can bend to a different spec than what you originally had them set at.

I don't know if this is "true", but it's what he told me.

[Jay-Bird]

Yes it happens to forged irons. There's something exciting about playing with new, unblemished forged irons. But there's something special about playing forged irons with character - bag chatter, nicks and scratches - that you've given to the clubs.

[ND Fan]

In addition to bag chatter, the pro who fitted me for my irons said that you should have forged irons checked every year or so to make sure the lie angle is still where it should be. He said if you travel a lot or if you practice off of mats, the lie angle can bend to a different spec than what you originally had them set at.

If the lie starts out correct it won't change much but the loft will get stronger with time. Especially if hitting off mats which is crazy to do with irons. It's the single largest destroyer of irons. Besides iron mat practice is basically useless.

[msd3075]

If the lie starts out correct it won't change much but the loft will get stronger with time. Especially if hitting off mats which is crazy to do with irons. It's the single largest destroyer of irons. Besides iron mat practice is basically useless.

That must have been what he said. I do distinctly remember him saying that if you travel often to play (fly with your clubs, have them rolling around in your truck, etc) that your lie angle will get bent out of spec fairly quickly.

[Zeph]

If the lie starts out correct it won't change much but the loft will get stronger with time. Especially if hitting off mats which is crazy to do with irons. It's the single largest destroyer of irons. Besides iron mat practice is basically useless.

Yeah....except you are wrong all the way.

I have nothing but mats to hit off on the ranges near me, and I don't have a problem with my MP-57's. They lie and loft will get bent a little, but if you get it checked once a year, it's no problem. How you come to the conclusion that mat practice is useless is something I don't understand. You hit the ball first, how is the stuff the ball sits on going to affect a shot? Turf ranges are of course better, but to say it's useless is just stupid. They don't "destroy" irons at all, it's just adviced to get forged ones checked once a year. The whole thing is blown out of proportions. The Mizunos are some of the softest clubs on the market, if they can take it, any set can.

[ks8829]

I bought a used set of MP33 forged irons and have played with them for about 4 years and you get small nicks and scrapes but nothing serious and nothing to prevent you from buying forged irons.

If I bought a new set of forged irons I would purchase light weight head covers since I carry my bag.

They feel marvelous!

[groovezilla79]

I think the main thing to remember on forged irons is that as long as there aren't any big nicks on the grooves, you're good. One of the club pros I play with swings an older set of Mizunos that look like they've been thrown off a cliff into the Grand Canyon, dragged behind a car and then dipped in acid. But, he keeps the grooves clean and sharp.... so the ugliest clubs I've seen make the prettiest shots I've seen.

[elchene]

Hi there,

Not a big deal at all, after a few months, you don't even notice the scratches anymore.

[ET-Taylor]

I use Mizuno MX 23 Grain Flow Forged and apart from the shaft snapping on my 7 iron I have had no problems whatsoever with them they still work i bought them second hand 3 years ago today almost and used them as often as i can which is quite alot and there is no problems they have the great spin and bite and the pro i bought them off said the boy that used them before used them alot so there is no worries in durability