jsocas

I agree, my irons are still in good shape and I think are the best irons that Nike hase made and I think they are head to head with Mizuno and Titleist in terms of feel and how they play. Although I realize that changing clubs is not going to make any difference unless I change category (either go to traditional blades or to CB more game improvement). But I cannot deny that as any other golfer out there it would be nice to play a new set of irons every now and then, pure vanity I think. I've been lookint at the MP 53 for a while now. But what I've seen is that since there's practically no difference between performance when comparing this year's models with last years models (either irons, hybrids or driver) if you are going to change it would make sence from the economical standpoint to buy last years model that is going to be at least half price than current models (that had a paint job, ie: going white). Unless you are looking for an adjustable driver/FW, I would think that that would justify the investment.

Don't know if this has been addressed before, couldn't find a thread out there with this specific topic. When do you consider it is reasonable and that someone would get a real benefit in your game from changing to new clubs, other than showing off with your friends. My thoughts are that for Drivers there's enough technology improvement every 4 years in order to change clubs. Now, if you are stable in your handicap, my question is when it is reasonable to change the irons? More than anything if you are playing blades or blade like irons. Would you say 5-6 years, sometimes not even that. I have a 5 year old set and I don't think the technology has improved that much in order to justify the cahnge. Even more, if a look at my CCI forged irons they are almost identical to last year Mizuno MP 58 irons. What are your thoughts??

I aagree with both of you Tweeky and Gerald. I don't mind hitting tons of balls in order to improve my swing either. Most likely the best option is to go and try the 910 and 909 side by side and see if they perform the same for me and make a decision then. I would asume that there's not going to be much of a difference. Thanks for your input.

As you said, the local Golfsmith has a Vector machine which to me is crap since I went there to test some clubs and my swing speed there was between 115-120 and per that machine I was sometime carrying the ball 300 yds with 15-20 yards of extra roll. So to answer your question, no, I was not fitted at Golfsmith. The fitting I had was in a golfrange with some pro's which brought a TRACKMAN and as I said before I tested my driver as well as the others I mentioned. Distances there where much more reasonable and concurred with what I see on the course, and the swingspeed there varied anaywhere from 104 to 111, most of them being in the 105-107 range. Regarding the distances I have posted are all the distances I tracked with rangefinder and GPS here during the summer when it is dry and the air is thin. There is almost no altitude here, so that is not a factor. And the 280 distance it is NOT the carry distance if not the TOTAL distance (carry +roll) with a good drive when I get the ball clean. Obviously now during the winter I would be very happy if I can drive the ball 240-250 yds. Does any of you have any comments to the original questions?

HI Brad, I started playing approx 3 years ago and during my first season I bough my set of nike irons as well as the SUMO2 driver and FW#3. Last year I replaced the FW for a Titleist 909 F2 13.5 and there was a huge difference in how consistently I hitted it compared to the Nike. Another thing is that it is starting to anoy me the square head and that's why I was looking for a new driver. I'm hitting it OK although I'm not getting much roll at all. I took it to the fitting day and the spin rate was in the 4000. My swing speed is around 105-107. During the fitting day I tested multiple drivers including the R11, Nike VR pro, Callaway octane, PING G15 and the TItleist. THe one I hit the best was the Titleist D2 910 10.5 degrees with a Ka'ali stiff with the numbers I mentioned before. COmpared to my driver I gained 15-20 yards. The next one in like was the PING G15 with a Serrano stiff. Most importanly I was very consistent with the ball flight driving it to the middle. I hope I answered your question.

I don't know about the feel on the 910, it felt pretty good to me when I hit it during the fitting. Probably the best thing to do is to go to Golsmith and hit the 909 and 910 in the track man and compare and see if there's any difference regarding distance/trajectory/launch angle/spin rate. I don't think the head from the 909 is very different from the 910 except for the adjustable hosel. So if I need standard settings only I not sure is worth it to spend the extra $200, probably I can save that when the time comes for the mp-53s....

I'm looking to replace my Nike SQ5900 driver with a Titleist D2, I was fitted for a 910 D2 9.5 degrees with a Ka'ali stiff and I had a launch angle of 11.2 and the RPM's in the 2300-2400 range. The setting of the club was A1 and had very little dispersion. Now, the question is, since my settings are pretty much standard, should I spend $400 for this driver or buy a 909 D2 9.5 degrees with a Diamina Bulueboard stiff since I can buy it on ebay at half the price of the 910. I just wanted to know what the opinion is form those that have played both. Thanks in advance.

Driver $150 (new on ebay a couple of years ago) 3 wood $130 (used on ebay) 3 hybrid $60 (used ebay) Irons $300 (new from ebay a couple of years ago) Wedges $270 (new set of 3 --> 52-56-60 that I alternate with the 3i) Putter $45 (new on ebay) Bag $110 Rangefinder $300 Total $1365

You'll absolutely love those irons and wedges. I replaced my wedges lately but they have been great too. Enjoy your new set!

I agree that there are a lot of guys there in ebay selling counterfeits. But there are a lot that selll the real thing at excellent prices. As I stated above, I bought a set of irons Nike CCI forged at 1/3 of the original price from Golfetail, I just bought 2 wedged Cleveland CG14 from gppgolf at $65 a piece + shipping. Clubs are great and absolutely genuine. As these two there are several others like dallasgolf, timtheputterman and others. You have to be pretty selective to avoid getting stuck with knockoffs

I bough my set of new nike cci forged 2 years ago, excellent clubs at a really good price ($300), no problems at all. very reliable.

I recently bought 3 of them, the LW is chrome colour is starting to fade already after 5 round in the sweet spot area. Not sure why it happened so fast. Has that happened to the rest of you?

just curious, does the groove sharpener make the grooves deeper?? would this make the grooves too deep and not conform the rules?? talking bout pre and post 2010. I have a groove sharpner for my old wedges and every time I sharpen them I get a shred out of the bottom of the groove. Certainly does make a hudge difference the way the ball spins back after it is sharpened, but I wonder if those clubs will have groove volumes within the rules (either pre 2010 if you have square grooves in your irons or within 2010 rules if you have V shpe groves).

got a full new set of Titleist Vokey wedges 52/8, 56/14 and 60/7 in an Oil can finish. Now, I've used them for 4-5 rounds now and the colour is starting to wear off in the sole and the sweat spot area. Should this happen so soon?? I now that it will happen at one point but was not expecting to happen this fast!

I was reviewing the Mizuno irons and ALL MIZUNO irons including most of the old models (MP 30-32-33-57-62) are conforming with the 2010 groove rule. That means that with the modified U grooves they've been using all this time they have not been maximized the potential spin rate in the short irons. Am I wrong??

Hey BigJohn, first of all you are allowed to carry 14 clubs total (not 13 as you stated above). Now going to the wedge set issue. I currently carry total of 4 weges (PW 47, GW 52, SW 56 and LW 60) although now that I'm improving and controlling distances better with 3/4 swings I'm considering going to a 3 wedge set with PW 47, stron SW 54 and a LW 60. That will allow me to put in play the 3 iron again (which I'm starting to hit better than the hybrid). What I'm doing now is that for short courses I get the 3 wood out of the bag and for long courses I get the 3 iron out, but always carry the 4 wedge set. Hope that helps. Regards.

Now, with all my respect. I think it is a complete nonsense arguing if someone should or should not use a pull cart because of taking advantage. Should you use a caddie instead?? would that be better?? have the caddie give you the appropiate yardage?? I think everyone should be able to play within the rules of golf without other having to judge them, either if they play Clones, use iron covers or use pull carts. I'd rather see a young guy use a pull cart than driving a cart, but that's my bias and I don't think I'm right.

Yeah, that's true. If you have a crappy lie with a lot of grass between the ball and the club face you're going to have a flier no matter what. The issue is when you have an in between lie, in that case the grooves come in play. And most importantly when you try to play a low pitch into the wind with a lot of spin to make it stop I would say that square grooves are a hudge advantage. I don't think grooves would be a problem if all greens would be nice and moist, but when you have hard greens they certainly are beneficial. I know that playing with V grooves makes you play the course a different way and plan how to attack the pin in a different way, but that rule does not affect us until 2024, that's 14 years from now!! Sorry, it was not my intention to argue if using square or V grooves is appropiate or not. I think that whoever wants to keep using the old square grooves until the rule applies to the rest of the mortals should be able to do so whithout being juedged by the rest. My only intention with this thread was to find out how to modify the grooves in the new clubs for those who want to play within the rules, but with square grooves.

Most likely I'll adapt as everyone else will. Most likely m handicap will not be affected either. Although I will consider replacing the PW from the AP2 set with a 48 degrees Vokey with the old grooves.

Thank you all, certainly I'm talking about playing v groove irons from the rough. They usually come out with much less spin and here the greens are pretty hard for what is not very easy to have the ball stop unless you get it high in the air. Probably using a sharpner may make the trick although is going to take a little bit of work. If not I'll have to suck it up and deal with it as one of you sugested.

does anyone know how to modify iron grooves? I'm a weekend player that won't be competing in any PGA event and will not be affected by the new groove rule in any of the events I'll be playing for many many years. The problem is that all new clubs come with either V or modified U grooves. Personally I like the Mizuno MP 58 or the AP 2 but both have the new grooves. Is there any way to modify them to get the ball to hold the green? Sorry if this has been discussed before, I didn't find a thread with this topic.

I switched from a 3w to a #1 hybrid a couple of months ago and I couldn't be happier. I don't know if it is because of different shaft or what but I haven't lost any distance at all. NOw I', playing a #1, #3 and #4 hbrids and I can say that I'm having excellent results.

I agree that there's not much difference from one year to another. More than anything this year I think it's stupid for the weekend golfer to buy this year's clubs. If looking for a new set definetily I'd be looking for 2008-09 irons. They are 1/2 or even 1/3 the price, have basically the same technology and you have the benefit of having sqare grooves. I think it is totally ridiculous for the companies to be releasing clubs for the everyday golfer with no option other than the U grooves. That rule is going to affect us in 14 years. For now I'll stick with my cci's forged for a while. And if I choose to replace them will be for oneds with sqare grooves for sure.

Thanks, they are really great clubs. Because of being an old Nike set I think thay have been greately overlooked. There's a reason why Cink and Glover have been using these sticks last year. Certainly I enjoy them a lot. I don't know if you've noticed that while Nike went frem these to the cavity back, Mizuno released the MP 58s that are just the same as the CCI Forged. Cheers.

180-185 Nike CCI forged TT DG S300