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Posted

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share a quick thought. I am a high handicapper and didn't think I would use blades until I greatly improved my game (my rounds are still peppered with occasional nasty slices, chunks etc.). Till a week ago, I had a set of Burner 1.0s in the bag, but to be honest the fat top line of the clubs has always bothered me a little.

A week ago, I saw a used set of Ben Hogan APEX PC with a #3 shaft irons in a golf store for 50 bucks. Its was a full set, and apparently these forged irons had been made in the mid-80s and at the time were the hottest thing one the market. In fact, an elderly gentleman in the store was telling me about how they were the best clubs he has ever hit. Intrigued, I decided to give them a try on the launch monitor. The first thing I noticed was what a work of art these things were. Beautiful look at address, and just a gorgeous, timeless finish. I pulled out a 8 iron, and to be amazement, striped a shot to 2 feet of the par 3 hole projected on the screen. Mind you, it was the first time I had felt that "buttery" feeling of hitting the sweet spot on a blade. After about 10 swings I was sold and picked up the set. At worst, I figured it would be a cool little nostalgia piece to keep around or even better a good set of practice irons with little forgiveness so I could improve my ballstriking. Long story short, my Burners are now in the closet and I've been playing my best golf in a long time.

For those of you interested in a classic set of clubs that wont run in the $800 range, I strongly suggest looking for a set of forged Ben Hogans (pre-Callaway takeover). I've been snooping around and there are sets available on eBay etc. Even though they have been around for ever, they are far from antiquated and the combination of looks and underrated forgiveness are hard to match, from what I've seen.

Anyway, just thought I would share the experience because I know a bunch of y'all are looking for a new set of sticks for this season.

  • Upvote 1

Driver 10.5 G10 Aldila NV Fairway:  15* Speedline Fast 10 Matrix Ozik

Hybrids 909H 19*,  SQ Machspeed 24*

Irons:  MP-53 5-PW PX5.5

Wedges Tw9 50.08  Rac Black 56.12,  Vokey 60.04

Putter Scotty Cameron Newport 2  Ball: One Tour


Posted


Originally Posted by vikramraju

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share a quick thought. I am a high handicapper and didn't think I would use blades until I greatly improved my game (my rounds are still peppered with occasional nasty slices, chunks etc.). Till a week ago, I had a set of Burner 1.0s in the bag, but to be honest the fat top line of the clubs has always bothered me a little.

A week ago, I saw a used set of Ben Hogan APEX PC with a #3 shaft irons in a golf store for 50 bucks. Its was a full set, and apparently these forged irons had been made in the mid-80s and at the time were the hottest thing one the market. In fact, an elderly gentleman in the store was telling me about how they were the best clubs he has ever hit. Intrigued, I decided to give them a try on the launch monitor. The first thing I noticed was what a work of art these things were. Beautiful look at address, and just a gorgeous, timeless finish. I pulled out a 8 iron, and to be amazement, striped a shot to 2 feet of the par 3 hole projected on the screen. Mind you, it was the first time I had felt that "buttery" feeling of hitting the sweet spot on a blade. After about 10 swings I was sold and picked up the set. At worst, I figured it would be a cool little nostalgia piece to keep around or even better a good set of practice irons with little forgiveness so I could improve my ballstriking. Long story short, my Burners are now in the closet and I've been playing my best golf in a long time.

For those of you interested in a classic set of clubs that wont run in the $800 range, I strongly suggest looking for a set of forged Ben Hogans (pre-Callaway takeover). I've been snooping around and there are sets available on eBay etc. Even though they have been around for ever, they are far from antiquated and the combination of looks and underrated forgiveness are hard to match, from what I've seen.

Anyway, just thought I would share the experience because I know a bunch of y'all are looking for a new set of sticks for this season.


There were definitely some great irons forged in the 80s, but the best Hogan irons (imho) were forged during the Spalding years. And I have 2 sets of PCs so that's not hater talk.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.


Posted

There is no better feel in golf than puring a shot with a forged blade.  Congratulations on converting!  I've always felt that handicap really has no bearing on if you can play a blade or not, how well you hit irons is the key.

Craig 

Yeah, wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?


Posted

I picked up a set of Apex Edge Pro's on the suggestion of my instructor.  They were in great condition, and I understand what people say about feeling mishits finally.  My Diablo Edge irons are very forgiving, but a good shot almost feels the same as a bad one.  With the Hogans, I know as soon as I strike the ball if I struck it well.   I'm looking for a set of his older forged blades to try out and keep for historical reasons.

Joe Paradiso

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted

Glad you found a set of great clubs at a good deal.  Keep track of your scores with the new sticks and post back.  There is a ton of helpful technology in modern GI clubs, that wide sole and larger face help account for the fat and otherwise poor strikes.

There seems to be a ton of groupthink surrounding blades on this board with mid-handicappers.  Perhaps the shots feel different, but I know for certain that if my index were above a 5-7 I'd be playing something other than a muscleback.

In the Bag: TaylorMade R11 TP - TaylorMade R7 TP TS - Cleveland Halo - TM TP 2009 3-PW - Vokey SM 52 - Vokey SM 60 - Rife Barbados CS - ProV1x 


On the Computer:  Analyzr Pro 
 


Posted



Originally Posted by delav

Glad you found a set of great clubs at a good deal.  Keep track of your scores with the new sticks and post back.  There is a ton of helpful technology in modern GI clubs, that wide sole and larger face help account for the fat and otherwise poor strikes.

There seems to be a ton of groupthink surrounding blades on this board with mid-handicappers.  Perhaps the shots feel different, but I know for certain that if my index were above a 5-7 I'd be playing something other than a muscleback.



I hit about the same with blades or cavity backs, but that's because my MBs and CBs have the same grind. The head is a little shallower on the MBs, so they're not as good if the lie is uncertain (some lies in the rough). I definitely use game improvement wedges (cleveland 588s and forged Hogans), a GI driver (PING G10), and a SGI putter (Odyssey WH #7). When I play a longer wide open course, in goes the 3w and 2-H and out come the 2-iron and 3-H. I pick my spots.

Anyway, I recommend blades as an option, but for most players, defintely not as their every day or travelling set - something a little more reliable makes the day more enjoyable on a strange course.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.


Note: This thread is 5424 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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  • Posts

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    • Day 580 - 2026-05-04 Played eight holes. Sometimes golf kicks you in the nuts. 😉 
    • I work with a lot of golfers who want more shaft lean at impact, who currently have AoAs that range from +2° to -2°, and who love to see the handle lower and more "in front of their trail thigh" from face-on at P6. And a lot of these golfers try to solve the issue by working on the downswing. They do something to drag the handle forward. Or they just leave their right thigh farther back so the same handle location "looks" farther forward. Or they move the ball back in their stance. Or they push themselves down into the ground to get the handle lower and increase (decrease?) their AoA (to be more negative). The real fix is often to get wider in the backswing. To do LESS in the backswing. To hinge less, fold the trail arm less, abduct the trail arm less. I had a case of this over the weekend. Before, the player had 110° of trail elbow bend, "lifted" his trail humerus only a few degrees, etc. The club traveled quite a bit around him, and he tended to "pick" the ball from the fairways. In the "after" swings below (which are mild exaggerations — this golfer does not need to end up at < 70° of elbow bend. These were slower backswings with "hit it as hard as you normally would" intent downswings), you can see that he bent his elbow about 70° instead of 110° and lifted his right arm an extra ~15° or more. You can't see how much less this moved his hands across his chest (right arm abduction), but it was also decreased. His hands stayed more "in front of" his right shoulder rather than traveling "beside" them so much. The two swings look like this: The change at P6, without talking about the downswing one little bit (outside of him telling me that he tends to pick the ball), is remarkable: Without 110° of elbow bend to get out (which he gets to 80°, a loss of 30°), the golfer actually loses slightly less elbow bend (70 - 50 = 20), but delivers 30° less elbow bend, lowering the handle and letting the elbow get "in front of" the rib cage… because it never got "behind" or "beside" the rib cage. If you look at this video showing the before/afters of P6, you'll note the handle location (both vertically and horizontally) and the shoulders (the ball is in the same place in these frames). This golfer's path was largely unaffected (still pretty straight into the ball, < 3° path and often < 1.5°), but his AoA jumped to -5° ± 2°. I've always said, and in talking with other instructors they agree and feel similarly, that we spend a lot of time working on the backswing. This is another example of why.
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