Buying first set of irons! Help please!

[stomped27]

After reading the forums here for a while I've gathered a lot of helpful information. Ive never owned a nice set of clubs, but feel like I have the potential to become a decent golfer in the upcoming years. I'm 6'4 and have a pretty quick swing. I spent about 4 hours at a pro shop the other day hitting mostly ping irons. Hit some Mizuno 825s but kept coming back to the ping. The g20 set felt great to me, the price was right, and I had my mind made up. I also understand that these are very forgiving irons and that probably yielded a little bit of false confidence. I'm looking at $500 for a set of g20 4-pw customized to my height and lie which I was ready to pull the trigger on, until now. I found a set of Nike VRS Forged irons 4-GW for a great price. They would cost me about 100 less than the pings but I'll have to get them fit somewhere else. From my research the Nike VRS forged are also moderately forgiving, but can also be a good player Iron. I'm thinking I'd have to get the Nike's extended an inch, which really worries me without replacing the whole shaft. What is the general consensus on adding extensions vs replacing the whole shaft? I've also never swung the Nikes. Should I just go the safe route with the pings or would you guys suggest I go with the Nike's which could last a lifetime once I had them set up. I feel like the Nike's are a better bang for my buck, even at this point. FYI, my previous irons were some Dunlop Graphites I picked up at walmart in the late 90s, so anything is better than those! Thanks for reading and hopefully responding!

[irishmike27]

You could hit the nikes to verify, but I'd say stick with your original plan on the pings. You have hit them, and liked them, and you can have them fit/made to your specs. Good luck with your decision!

[cooke119]

The new Callaway XR are coming out on February 20th, you may want to try them. I've hit a demo 7 iron and loved it, I'm going to upgrade my older Ping G15s to the Callaways. BUT, they may be out of your price range, probably in the $800 region with steel shafts. But if you are going to keep them for many years it may be worth it. However, the Ping G20s are a nice club (same as the G15s) as well.

[dkolo]

The new Callaway XR are coming out on February 20th, you may want to try them. I've hit a demo 7 iron and loved it, I'm going to upgrade my older Ping G15s to the Callaways. BUT, they may be out of your price range, probably in the $800 region with steel shafts. But if you are going to keep them for many years it may be worth it. However, the Ping G20s are a nice club (same as the G15s) as well.

I demoed the XR today. It's so good, it ain't fair.

[cooke119]

Did you try the Hybrids? They are really long. I usually don't listen to all the hype about clubs but I think Callaway has something with this Cup Face technology. And I liked the stock shaft as well.

[dwade247]

I would say either irons Nike or PING would be great and for a very long time. If you like the G20s I don't think you will ever "grow" to of them unless your ego takes control of you and you WANT "players" irons.

I would suggest making your choice on whichever one you can get the best custom fit with. Don't buy the Nikes and get a shotty fitting.

However if you can get a great fitting and good craftmanship on the Nikes  for a reasonable price, those would be my choice.

[dkolo]

Did you try the Hybrids? They are really long. I usually don't listen to all the hype about clubs but I think Callaway has something with this Cup Face technology. And I liked the stock shaft as well.

I tried the Big Bertha hybrid instead and the 3H was a little rough for me because it was the last club for me to hit and I was exhausted by that point, haha. Not a reflection on the hybrid, certainly. Literally had flopsweat from all those eager swings, not having been able to take any golf shots for real in a while due to the weather. I held the XR though and the reason I chose to swing the BB over the XR was I found the XR head looked a little too small for me, visually. I'll definitely give them a try back to back in the future in a fairer setting.

[stomped27]

The problem is if I get the Nike's I have to either use extensions or reshaft as I'm 6'4. Extensions could be shotty and reshafting negates the good deal on the clubs. Think I'm gonna go g20.

[cooke119]

G20s are a really good club.Enjoy

[dwade247]

The problem is if I get the Nike's I have to either use extensions or reshaft as I'm 6'4. Extensions could be shotty and reshafting negates the good deal on the clubs. Think I'm gonna go g20.

Then definitely go G20. Don't want to be questioning the craftmanship of you clubs

[cooke119]

I pulled the trigger and purchased the Callaway XR irons, 5 through PW and a 4 hybrid. The hybrid I hit 195 on Golfsmith's launch monitor, with roll-out, my longest poke, usually I was in the 180 to 185 range. Anyway, can't wait to get the irons, they don't ship until the 20th.

[indykappa]

I am eyeballing the same Nike clubs. Golfsmith doesn't have a set that I can hit. I'm a more "traditional" sized golfer though (5'10) so I don't have the same issues with shaft extension I really don't wanna miss out on this deal on what appears to be a really solid set of irons How feasible is getting clubs "post-fit"?? Ya know...purchasing them first, and then getting them fit after the fact? *I'm going to apologize in advance for the thread hijack*

[acerimusdux]

I am eyeballing the same Nike clubs. Golfsmith doesn't have a set that I can hit. I'm a more "traditional" sized golfer though (5'10) so I don't have the same issues with shaft extension

I really don't wanna miss out on this deal on what appears to be a really solid set of irons

How feasible is getting clubs "post-fit"?? Ya know...purchasing them first, and then getting them fit after the fact?

*I'm going to apologize in advance for the thread hijack*

At 5' 10" You can probably play standard size, and so long as the shaft flex is suitable to you, you can probably buy them and you can always get lie angle adjusted later, if you are sure these are the clubs you want.

If you are planning on going at some point for a really professional fitting though, of the sort you might pay a couple of hundred dollars for, it would be best to wait. A good fitter can help you get into a clubhead design that is best suited to you and your swing (considering many attributes like offset, sole width and grind, COG, etc.), as well as fine tuning shaft selection (considering not only flex, but also torque, launch charateristics, etc.)