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The point of a hybrid is that the larger clubhead, more loft, and improved stability increases forgiveness over the standard iron it replaces. For me it gives me a 3 iron I'm confident in taking out of the bag in situations other than punching it out of the tree line. When I take the hybrid out, I'm confident I will hit the green 7 times out of 10 at 200 yards as opposed to 4 out of 10.

I use hybrids... I have one in a 2 iron loft because I've never been successful with fairway woods. The 2 iron version of the hybrid is getting me more distance than the inconsistency of my 3 wood did. While it's not a replacement for a 3W for most people, it is for me. I replaced the 3 iron with a hybrid as well, I hit the hybrid much straighter than the 3 iron but also much higher, which helps my ball hold greens from the 200 yard range; something I had problems with before. I guess for me the draw was that they fly like fairway woods but I get to swing them like irons, a little more down on the ball.

Nice looking sticks! What type of player is this iron marketed to? I just bought new irons but I'm always looking at what might be next. Looking at these clubs I'm guessing they'd be right up my alley when the CG4's are ending their run; which for me is when my handicap gets to < 10 .

I've made the comparison between the graphics on the website and the example of ductile iron I found elsewhere, the similarities certainly are astounding. But at the same time, I guess my challenge to you would be related to the patent information. You would have a hard time convincing me that the Ductile Iron Society would sit idly by and let Cleveland golf attempt to patent a technology that (if it truly is the same) has been around since 1943. Is the patent related to how the end product produced? If so, is it truly the exact same material? Where we are in agreement, is that they should be great irons. Since your trade is specific to metals, I would imagine there's no better person to ask about the strength of this material, CMM and/or Ductile Iron. In your opinion, how will this material will wear over time in this application; as a golf club? -Mike

Thinner topline, smaller head, less offset, a little less perimeter weighting; it was a little too much for me personally. I bought mine out of the demo van as well, it was an excellent experience having the clubs fit by the guys that work for the mfg. They threw in a free wedge not to mention they let me hit all the balls I wanted while they built them for me

Opinions are like R7's, everyone seems to have one, a good percentage of them have a screw loose... So here's mine: I bought the CG4's after an extremely detailed search for new irons. I played Big Bertha 2002's for six years and was looking for something a little less game improvement oriented. Because of that the X18's were immediately ruled out since their appearance is very similar to the Big Bertha in most respects. I haven't been a big fan of Taylormade irons since the set of 320's I had before the Big Berthas so they weren't really something I was interested in either. I hit the Ping G5's pretty well, but that wide sole was one of the things that drove me away from the BB's, so that ruled them out as well (not to mention they look like a beat up 60's muscle car to me that is driving around, coated in primer). That left me with the Mixuno MX23's, the Titleist 775's, and the CG4's. IMO the 775's are a 600.00 club that's selling for 800 because of the name stamped in the cavity, they felt nice but that's too much dough, not enough technology for my taste. So it really came down to the MX23's and the CG4's. I had CG11 wedges and I loved the feel of them so I was excited about having a whole set of irons that felt similar; that's what I have now There's a little more to the technology in the Carbon Metal Matrix than the broad generalization listed above. What I will tell you is that they feel like butter when you hit the sweet spot, you get feedback when you don't, but there's enough forgiveness that the ball still heads in the general direction and distance you intended. If you're a stronger player, the tour model is certainly something to look at as well...

I'd agree with you on having to wide an area to aim at on the range. What you're perceiving as great shots may have been off due to the fact that aiming and alignment really aren't as critical as they would be if you were to have to drive the ball down a narrow fairway. I read some suggestions prior to this thread about narrowing your focus while on the range, one of which was picking out two net poles to aim between. Personally, I could go either way with the range before playing thing. I've played at some upscale/resort courses where they give you a bag of balls to hit before the round, I usually play on courses where that's an option but you're paying for the balls (= no range for me); there's really no difference in my play. I prefer to spend any free time before the round on the putting green. To me that's the one variable that you can't control from course to course, or even day to day... When I do get to the range between rounds, I'm "that guy" with the club on the ground pointing out my target line. Gives me a better idea of whether I'm pushin, pullin, etc.

My suggestion would be to avoid purchasing the old "all in one box" kit. If you think about it, that's essentially what you're playing right now. Sure the quality might improve a little but the idea is still the same. My wife bought one of those deal very early on in her attempt to learn the game and it has caused more setbacks than if would've just bit the bullet and spent a little more. I have no ties to Callaway either (although I did play their irons until very recently) but they definately make good game improvement irons. I believe most places you could get the 2004 model for under 500.00 brand new. My suggestion with drivers would be to wait until you're confident that you know what you like from a feel perspective, I'd continue using the one that came in your set until you're 100% sure you know what you want (399.99 is a lot of money to spend just to find out you don't care for it) Just my thoughts.... -EDIT Congrats on your purchase, as for fitting, I believe the only value to that with your driver is determining what type of shaft suits your needs (I've heard it's usually a pretty bad idea to have the lie adjusted on woods); , you can have shafts replaced on clubs new or used. best way to do that is try em out while you're there. They should still be able to fit your irons, I know most places now do that as part of the purchasing process. I don't see why they couldn't bend those irons a few degrees if they determine you're flat or upright from standard...

Well ya know... that might be a sliiiiiiiiiight exaggeration But I would be referring to the City of Minneapolis courses, Francis Gross, Meadowbrooke, & Columbia more specifically.

That's good to hear, looks like I'll be taking them out for our first date on Friday, I'm excited to see how they perform on the course.

I've had the CG11 wedges all season. I live in Minnesota and it seems like most of our traps are filled with the same sand they throw on the roads in the winter. My 56's wear pattern is a little different than the others, but nothing that I would count as evidence that it's wearing down overly quickly, nor is anything different than I've seen with Cleveland or Titleist wedges I've had in the past. I'm really enjoying this particular model of wedge because it feels like a wedge should, but I can make a full swing and that little cavity provides just the right amount of forgiveness for me on mishits. -Mike

Mine live in the laundry room right next to the utility sink, where they are washed after every round; that's as much a part of the game as my pre-shout routine. Same temperature as the house, that being said, I've never had any problems with grips breaking down or glue separating. Longest my clubs stay in the car is similar to others, a 9 hour workday, waiting to be let out after leaving the salt mine...

I use my battalion coin from when I was in the service. The only issue I ever run into is that it's fairly large so I end up having to move it from time to time.

In reading the review of the new TP series from Taylormade on this site, I was under the impression the BlackMax might have been the starting point for that ball, if that's true and they're fairly similar, it might be worth checking out... Thanks! (Although I really do love the HX Tour, wish it was just a hair more durable.) Thanks for the compliment, it's nice to feel welcome here. I’m pretty humble on the golf course, I know my skills are lacking in more than a few spots. The only thing an ego did for my game was add strokes; at age 32 I'm older and wiser now. Youth and exuberance is no match for old age and trechary.

I agree completely. Although the one thing I would take out of my rambling post was related to the ProV1x and I'll elaborate a little on that. When I say I didn't like how it felt on my irons, it almost felt clunky (for lack of a better word). After describing that feel to my peers, I was advised that it was more than likely due to my swing speed being too slow to compress this ball with anything other than my driver, which is where I really enjoyed the ball. IMO, the ball discussion can turn into a Ford vs Chevy discussion really quickly so I'll stop now. But seriously, if someone is looking to try something new, that TP ball was pretty impressive, I hope they can keep that line going. OK, I'll really stop now

I'm currenly playing the Callaway HX Tour, it seems extremely long and it's got plenty of spin with the short irons and wedges. Feels really soft on the putter, the only problem I've had with it was the cover getting torn up. I did my own little ball test to see if there was something out there that would work better since I was tired of paying 40.00 and having the balls get all chopped up. My results were: ProV1 = felt similar to the HX Tour everywhere but on the tee where it was shorter for me. The cover got cut within 3 holes. ProV1x = much firmer and long off the tee, although I didn't like the feel off the irons; pretty sure I don't swing hard enough for this one. Cover got cut as well. Taylormade TP Red = firmer than the Prov1, softer than the ProV1x, long off the tee and felt nice on the irons. Putter felt soft on this one too, I'd say I liked this ball almost as much as the HX Tour. This one got cut though too. The end result for me was that I cut all the covers up pretty well within 9 holes and the Callaway was a few bucks cheaper than anything else, so I'm sticking with it. Just my thoughts on balls... -Mike

Have you had a chance to play them much yet? How do they wear? I'm hoping it's similar to the CG11 wedges I've had for most of the season. I've got a 5 year old and a 4 month old at home so I don't get the opportunity to get out as frequently as I'd like, I'm concerned that our first date may be on the course... I'm fairly familiar with the ballflight on the 7 iron, I hit that the whole time I was waiting for them to finish my clubs, the rest of them will be a crap shoot I guess. I'm really hoping the yardages won't be too far off my old ones.

Got an email about the Cleveland demo van being in town this weekend, since I'm left-handed and it's impossible to try anything in the stores, I decided to attend. I really like my HiBore and Halo 2i, but I absolutely love the CG11 wedges I've been playing, something about that whole CMM construction makes them feel really soft. The CG4 irons are made in the same fashion so that was the main reason I was there (I've been getting tired of the super-game improvement appearance and play of my Big Berthas for a while now). Well, I hit a few pure, missed a few, they all felt pretty soft and the bad shots were actually a bit better than the misses with my old irons; still a little confused by that. So I bought, they fit me, and sweetened the deal with a free wedge that they bent to 51 degrees resolve my indecision on 50 versus 52. It was really nice to get fitted by the tech's that actually work for the company, just seemed like they really new their product lines and how they played. After all was said and done, I had saved a large amount of money so I bought another Halo in the 3i loft as well. The only bummer was that they had the HiBore fairway wood on hand and people were raving about how great it was to hit; of course they only had the right-handed version on hand :( -Mike

I live in the north metro as well, BIG fan of The Ponds (they could get away with charging quite a bit more if they wanted to) If you've got any suggestions of other courses in the area, feel free to share as I just moved up from Bloomington. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, I've really enjoyed myself so far, good information here!

I'm almost comfortable with everything in my bag currently: Driver = 3 months, but I clicked with it instantly, never been happier with a driver Hybrid = Same deal, about 3 months, hit it great as soon as the wrapper came off it Irons = 4 years, I hit the short irons really well, I tend to draw-hook the long irons, I'm beginning to think the offset is a little too much Wedges = 3 months, I love the feel there, plus there's enough forgiveness on full swing shots Putter = 3 years, it's the old futura, I still love it. Any suggestions on a new set of irons? I've been eyeing a used set of 804.OS

I had a Taylormade Rescue Dual with a stiff shaft and I sliced it quite a bit, seemed as if the clubhead was just a little too light for my taste. I could have either messed with the adjustable weight thingy's (which they don't give you a tool for, they just assume you've purchased an R7 as well) or I could return it within that 30 day playability guaruntee I had. I returned it for a Cleveland Halo which was perfect for me. It's long and hit dead straight, every time I swing it. (Of course by making the previous statement I've screwed myself for my next round) I guess what I'm saying is, don't overlook the Cleveland Halo :)

I found this site by looking for reviews on a new ball and noticed how much more this site had to offer (forums specifically) so I registered. I live in Minneapolis and work as an EDI Analyst for a small E-Commerce solutions provider. Currently playing a 15 handicap, I stick primarily to the Mpls public courses (Columbia, Meadowbrooke, and Francis Gross). Looking forward to reading up on what's been posted in the past as well as participating in conversations where I might have something relevant to add. Looking forward to meeting everyone! -Mike