Titleist 695 MB

[Jwat381]

Not sure if this is the right thread, just had a question.

They had a blowout on used clubs so I got the 695 MBs for pretty cheap. 4-W I think. I know they're a forged blade and more unforgiving, and I'm prepared for that. I'll either like em and keep em, or spray em and sell them. I'm not worried, considering they were inexpensive.

My question is this: since the sweet spot needs to be hit, can I use these as a training tool of sorts? Or do I have to hone my swing first, then move up to forged blades like these? I've hit a few blades before, and I feel like I hit them well and rather far compared to my game improvement irons. I feel like if I can put in the time with these, start hitting the button routinely as I'll be required to do, then it should result in a good purchase. I shoot anywhere from high 80's to low 90's, and I'm looking to change that.

Your thoughts please.

[sean_miller]

They who? Those are sought after irons (or so I thought) so not sure who'd need to blow those out. Anyway, just do it!

[Jwat381]

Sorry, Golf Steals and Deals. They were used and only 150 for the set. Better price than anything else I've found, so I just tapped into my savings and did it. Can't wait to swing em.

[mdl]

I got a used set in nice condition maybe 4 months ago, 3-PW, for $200.  I absolutely love these clubs.  Played old Ram Pro Maker beginner set for 4-5 years, and it was just an out of this world upgrade.  More distance (yes from strong lofts, but also just more distance), piercing trajectory, good hold on the greens.  My iron shots really finish now like a real player's shot, instead of often sort of petering out at the end.

And they're not blades.  The CB stands for cavity back.  They're forged, but you'll notice that there is clear perimeter weighting, which means if there's one thing you definitely can't call them, it's a blade.  They're more a players' forged cavity back.  I haven't had any problem hitting them consistently.  I've always been a pretty good ball striker, as in I hit near the center of the club face pretty consistently, even when my swing path or the direction the face is pointing at impact isn't what I want.  But I do hit off the toe sometimes, and there's slightly more distance loss with these than the old GI style cavity backs I had.

And for comparison, when I got these irons I was 80-83 on a good day, 84-87 on a solid but not great day, and 88-94 on a crappy day.

[Jwat381]

Thanks for your input! But they're the muscle backs, not the cavity backs. Pretty sure that qualifies them as blades, am I wrong?

Originally Posted by mdl

I got a used set in nice condition maybe 4 months ago, 3-PW, for $200.  I absolutely love these clubs.  Played old Ram Pro Maker beginner set for 4-5 years, and it was just an out of this world upgrade.  More distance (yes from strong lofts, but also just more distance), piercing trajectory, good hold on the greens.  My iron shots really finish now like a real player's shot, instead of often sort of petering out at the end.

And they're not blades.  The CB stands for cavity back.  They're forged, but you'll notice that there is clear perimeter weighting, which means if there's one thing you definitely can't call them, it's a blade.  They're more a players' forged cavity back.  I haven't had any problem hitting them consistently.  I've always been a pretty good ball striker, as in I hit near the center of the club face pretty consistently, even when my swing path or the direction the face is pointing at impact isn't what I want.  But I do hit off the toe sometimes, and there's slightly more distance loss with these than the old GI style cavity backs I had.

And for comparison, when I got these irons I was 80-83 on a good day, 84-87 on a solid but not great day, and 88-94 on a crappy day.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Jwat381

Thanks for your input! But they're the muscle backs, not the cavity backs. Pretty sure that qualifies them as blades, am I wrong?

They're blades.

I played the 690.mb's for 5 years.  Man, I really wish I never got rid of them (traded them in when I got my 735.cm).  If they're anything like my 690 and 735, the sweet spot is about 1/8" inside-center.  Supposedly, the "Z" design was used to bring the sweet spot to the exact center.  The same thing was said about the 735 where Titleist took out some material in the hosel and put in some resin.  Somehow, this was supposed to move it to the dead-center.  IME, while it's closer to the center on the 735 relative to the 690, it's still slightly inside-center.

At any rate, great find and I hope you enjoy them.

[mdl]

Quote:

Thanks for your input! But they're the muscle backs, not the cavity backs. Pretty sure that qualifies them as blades, am I wrong?

Wow.  Must not've gotten enough sleep two nights ago!  Can't believe I misread that in the title.

So you can disregard pretty much everything I said!  Point stands that I absolutely love my 695 CBs, so if the MBs play anything like them (at least when you hit the sweet spot), then you'll love them.

[Jwat381]

They're blades.

I played the 690.mb's for 5 years.  Man, I really wish I never got rid of them (traded them in when I got my 735.cm).  If they're anything like my 690 and 735, the sweet spot is about 1/8" inside-center.  Supposedly, the "Z" design was used to bring the sweet spot to the exact center.  The same thing was said about the 735 where Titleist took out some material in the hosel and put in some resin.  Somehow, this was supposed to move it to the dead-center.  IME, while it's closer to the center on the 735 relative to the 690, it's still slightly inside-center.

At any rate, great find and I hope you enjoy them.

Wow, good stuff now I'm even more excited. I hit closer to the heel anyway.

[JonDavis]

Originally Posted by Jwat381

Sorry, Golf Steals and Deals. They were used and only 150 for the set. Better price than anything else I've found, so I just tapped into my savings and did it. Can't wait to swing em.

Thanks so much for mentioning that site. I've been looking for a site like this for a while. I'm the type of guy who can't justify spending big money on clubs, so a site where I can get high-quality used clubs is excellent. First purchase might just be a new putter.......

[Jwat381]

I'm the same way. Still don't know if I'll be able to hit them very well or not, I'm thinking I will tho after some swing refinement. But regardless, I'm excited to get em!

Originally Posted by JonDavis

Thanks so much for mentioning that site. I've been looking for a site like this for a while. I'm the type of guy who can't justify spending big money on clubs, so a site where I can get high-quality used clubs is excellent. First purchase might just be a new putter.......

[JonDavis]

I'm the same way. Still don't know if I'll be able to hit them very well or not, I'm thinking I will tho after some swing refinement. But regardless, I'm excited to get em!

When would one suggest switching to blades? It seems like they're a more refined club, and more suited to a player of skill. I just bought a new set of extremely forgiving Tommy armor clubs, but I'm not certain I'm in love with the irons. They feel somewhat awkward and clumsy, possibly because of the overly deep cavities and soles. I know that's supposed to make them easier to hit, but it's kind of felt like a step backwards for me. Any thoughts?

[Jwat381]

I'm sure I made the switch to them "prematurely" by most standards, but like I said originally, I'm hoping to use them as a sort of training tool, and if it doesn't workout, then no big and I sell them. I too have some Tommy armour cavity backs that I like but don't love. I have one titleist 6 iron that I found a while back that I can really stripe, so that's the direction I'm trying to move towards. Should be at my door on Monday, so we'll see soon enough!

[Tomboys]

If you really want them as a training tool, learn to hit the 3 iron (695).  Once you can put a hit that club well, the rest of the set will be a cake walk.

Before I got my 690s, I tested them on grass and while I hit the 6 iron really well, I wasn't convinced I should be playing blades.  So, I asked for the 3 iron.  I figured it would be the hardest club to hit out of the set.  If I could hit that club well, then yes, those blades wouldn't be too much club for me to handle.  Sure enough, I could hit it and as it turned out, it eventually became my favorite club out of the whole set.

[Jwat381]

If you really want them as a training tool, learn to hit the 3 iron (695).  Once you can put a hit that club well, the rest of the set will be a cake walk.

Before I got my 690s, I tested them on grass and while I hit the 6 iron really well, I wasn't convinced I should be playing blades.  So, I asked for the 3 iron.  I figured it would be the hardest club to hit out of the set.  If I could hit that club well, then yes, those blades wouldn't be too much club for me to handle.  Sure enough, I could hit it and as it turned out, it eventually became my favorite club out of the whole set.

I like it, thanks.

[Fried Egg]

I've played these for years, and as of today, they are still in the bag. Although they are a blade, they were much easier to hit than I thought they would be. I hit a few range balls with these and the AP2's and didn't notice any difference in distance on solid shots. If you hit it relatively solid, you will probably really like them.

[Jwat381]

If you really want them as a training tool, learn to hit the 3 iron (695).  Once you can put a hit that club well, the rest of the set will be a cake walk.

Before I got my 690s, I tested them on grass and while I hit the 6 iron really well, I wasn't convinced I should be playing blades.  So, I asked for the 3 iron.  I figured it would be the hardest club to hit out of the set.  If I could hit that club well, then yes, those blades wouldn't be too much club for me to handle.  Sure enough, I could hit it and as it turned out, it eventually became my favorite club out of the whole set.

I spent a good part of my time at the range today hitting an old 3i blade I have, in preparation for what you told me haha. It wasn't too bad at all, I was getting some pretty good carry and even hit a few draws. When hit, it felt better than my Tommy Armour 3h. The ball flight was always lower, but it usually always felt better and crisper when hit, and this was just some old crappy "red bird sport" blade.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Jwat381

I spent a good part of my time at the range today hitting an old 3i blade I have, in preparation for what you told me haha. It wasn't too bad at all, I was getting some pretty good carry and even hit a few draws. When hit, it felt better than my Tommy Armour 3h. The ball flight was always lower, but it usually always felt better and crisper when hit, and this was just some old crappy "red bird sport" blade.

That's the way to do it.  When the 695s get there, learn to hit that 3 iron high, low, cut, draw, good lie and bad lie.  Basically, the whole shebang.  You'll be surprised at how easy--well relatively speaking, they are to hit.  When my pro handed me the 690 and told me to hit it, I said to myself, "I wonder how much this is gonna hurt?"  To my surprise, it had very good dampening.  You hear all these stories about how severe the feedback is on mishits.  And, maybe they are on some sets.  But, IME, it wasn't the case.  In fact, I've hit shots that hurt just as much with my (then) set of Tommy Armour 855s.  And, those were full cavity backs.  If there's any concern about playing blades, it's the trajectory.  It has a higher center of gravity, so it launches the ball lower.  That's why the loft on those tend to be a bit higher compared to their cavity back brethren.  So, if you're a low ball hitter to begin with, it may not be a good match.  Other than that, shine those puppies up (windex works great on that chrome), and have fun.

[Jwat381]

They came in the mail this morning right before I had to leave for work, haven't had time to hit them yet. They're all in really good condition, except for the 7i. The face is pretty worn, will that be a problem, and is there anything I can do about it besides searching out a replacement? It's only one club so it wouldn't be that much of a problem, just curious.