Tiger Woods "Slam" irons sold? I don't believe it

[barrett58]

Based on what I know of Tiger, he would not give such clubs to this guy.

This guy seems to be unemployed at the moment, so perhaps he is desperate for cash.

Or perhaps this guy simply misunderstood Tiger.

But if as some say, the ball mark is too low, then they are not Tiger's practice clubs — rather they are frauds.

Regardless, Tiger is in a position to prove this guy is a liar simply by showing the clubs in his garage to someone. If the ball mark is identical then the clubs might Tiger's, but they are most likely practice clubs.

[Shorty]

Based on what I know of Tiger, he would not give such clubs to this guy.

You know nothing about Tiger. What do you know about him that would make you think he wouldn't give Steve Mata the clubs? He was an extremely popular Titleist employee.

It is well documented that Mata is short of money, hence the sale. He makes no secret of it. The wear mark is not too low. It is exactly where it should be. God only knows why people keep bring this nonsense up. Trying to make themselves appear knowledgeable I suppose, but shooting themselves in the foot instead. The authenticity of the clubs has never seriously been questioned. The only question is whether they were used in the Tiger Slam. And there's a very good chance that they were.

[Williamevanl]

^Yikes, I wasn't trying to sound knowledgeable at all. I honestly don't know where the wear mark on a club should be. To be fair though, what I know about the tour striker and what I know about that where that ball mark is on the club are in direct conflict with each other. Someone could have simpy said, "Yea the tour striker is @#@@#@" and I would have thought "oh, that makes sense" So is that the case?

[DarkPrince]

From what I understand, it was just one of the sets he had at the time? Tiger says the real ones are in his garage or in a box somewhere which I have no doubt they are, but that's not to say that the set that was sold isn't the exact same model/style/clubs that were used, just not the ACTUAL irons used in the tournaments. I'd liken it to the existence of the Cameron putters that were made to the exact specifications that tiger used when he won the tiger slam, they are documented, and numbered, but they aren't the actual club used in the majors. Whose to say it wasn't just his practice set?

[Uber$winG]

From what I understand, it was just one of the sets he had at the time? Tiger says the real ones are in his garage or in a box somewhere which I have no doubt they are, but that's not to say that the set that was sold isn't the exact same model/style/clubs that were used, just not the ACTUAL irons used in the tournaments.

The actual Tiger “Slam” clubs have Cadillac Escalade wear marks on them.

[colin007]

so where is the sweet spot on an 8 iron? is it right where that wear mark is? i thought the sweet spot was maybe a little higher?

so either the sweet spot is that low, or he wasnt hitting the sweet spot? i really dont know.

[Ruckus]

The actual Tiger “Slam” clubs have Cadillac Escalade wear marks on them.

Well,

I at least appreciated this one.

[Zeph]

so where is the sweet spot on an 8 iron? is it right where that wear mark is? i thought the sweet spot was maybe a little higher?

That's what I was thinking too. I thought the sweet spot was higher up on the face. I guess you need that forward swing bottom at the same time, or it would feel like a topped shot. It is interesting though to see where on the club he strike the ball. I've always believed you should hit the ball dead center, or perhaps slightly lower on the clubface. Like on the picture below.

I'm not saying I don't belive it to be correct, I'm just a bit surprised. My divot usually start right underneath the ball, or slightly behind it, so I feel that I hit the ground just before I hit the ball (which I do). And I always hit the ball higher on the face. If you hit the ball that low on the clubface and have a 3-6 inches forward swing bottom, the option of hitting it fat is just not there. It is of course impossible to hit the ball first and have the divot start at the back edge of the ball at the same time. Since the clubs are lofted, the bottom of the club will always be slightly ahead of the center. Even more on an 8 iron than 4 iron. Depends a on the angle of attack too of course. These clubs are also blades, so not a lot of forgiveness in them. The wear mark center is at 2.8 grooves from the bottom. Come to think of it, people have been saying the sweet spot is around 3rd and 4th groove, depending on the club. Just never seen wear marks like that before. I've seen clubs like the one below, where the indicated sweet spot is 2 grooves higher on the face. This was useful information. Back when I was hitting it really fat, I tried once to top the ball, and hit some very good shots. Well, not top it by the definition of topping it, but striking the ball lower on the face of the club. If I could get the forward swing bottom at the same time, things would be peachy good. I tried something interesting yesterday while playing a round of golf. Before every shot (mostly irons), I put down a tee at a 90º angle from my target line, on the upside of the ball. The idea was to have an indication after I'd hit the shot of where the ball was. It was interesting to see that most of the time, my divot started right underneath the ball. The shots were so and so, but didn't come out horribly. Shots where the divot started behind the ball were crap. Having no grass range, I'll try using the golf courses more for practice purpose. Trying to get something similar to the results of Mike Bennett in this video. The ball was always placed directly on the line, and he never touched it. Had I done the same, the line would've been gone when I was done. Goes to show how easier it is to work on stuff like this with a grass range *sigh*.

[oneoverwrx]

I feel like the mark on the iron is a tad bit low. I know there have been many people on here saying it isnt but i have never hit a pure shot and looked at my iron and the mark been below the lowest groove. Shots coming from this club however have been trapped and he has had to control spin and things like that so that may be why the mark looks low to me. My wear mark starts a tad bit above the lowest groove and is a bit less tight.

[Zeph]

Shots coming from this club however have been trapped

Trapped?

and he has had to control spin and things like that so that may be why the mark looks low to me.

I don't know how to control spin, but does it affect where you hit the ball? I'm sure most of the time he hit an 8i, it's a stock shot.

[sean_miller]

Trapped?

Wild guess - he maybe hit a gazillion 3-4 pitch shots with that club to warm up and hit the same shot periodically during the session to maintain his tempo. Just a thought.