The Bridgestone J15 CB's have to be one of the best? Don't they?

Just thought I would start a new thread for the fun of it. I know about the really long one that already exists, I've followed it for a while, and there are a couple of others. But, I just feel strongly that these irons are one of the most playable, great feeling, forgiving, and in a simple looking package in the last several years, plus some years going forward. They can compete with anything that is on the horizon, can't they? Just want to hear some more love for an iron that can look so simple and traditional, but offer way more than what the naked eye can see. Some are turned off by the sole width, but for me, it's a savior. The grind and leading edge are just so good in any condition. I really don't play that often anymore, but love to keep up with equipment. I truly think that they can be played by some weekend hackers, they launch easily especially if you hit down on the ball/ground like I do. Oh yeah, I have to throw in the distance thing since it is the sign of the times, these are definitely club for club the longest "players" type of iron that I have played with, but the distances are controllable, and consistent.

So, let's hear it for the J15 CB's!

Played them for two seasons. They are a great iron no doubt. Agree with most of your points. My one gripe, the 9i and especially PW are way to shovel-ish and also launched way too high regardless of shaft. I loved the set from 4-8. They are gorgeous visually, minimalistic and durable too.

I just needed to go back to blades short irons. 945s provide an easy transition into a full blade set. Also wanted to get away from c tapers which I had in J15CB.

They are a fan favourite on hackers paradise

I am with you op. I played the J15's last season. I thought I wanted to try others this season but nothing really wowed me so the J15's are back in the bag for this season coming up. They really are good at everything and great at most. Lol

Played them for two seasons. They are a great iron no doubt. Agree with most of your points. My one gripe, the 9i and especially PW are way to shovel-ish and also launched way too high regardless of shaft. I loved the set from 4-8. They are gorgeous visually, minimalistic and durable too.

 

I just needed to go back to blades short irons. 945s provide an easy transition into a full blade set. Also wanted to get away from c tapers which I had in J15CB.

 

They are a fan favourite on hackers paradise

Absolutely agree with everything you've said there. Short Irons are a little on the big side to my eye, and they do launch exponentially high in comparison to the longer irons which can create yardage gaps for me, so had to strengthen and weaken lofts accordingly to get the gaps right for me. Actually prefer the overall look of the Titleist 716CB's for blade size, but the 'feel' of the Bridgestones' edge it over the Titleists' for me. Close call between the two sets, but if a slightly smaller blade size is your thing, then the Titleists edge it, but if feel is the one major consideration, then the Bridgestones will probably please more. I would be happy to put either set in my bag......Bridgestones' in my bag for me at the moment, but that is always open to change........it is GolfWrx after all! Haha.

In my bag again for 2017. Usually I'd be looking to ho a new set. Not these. No reason to change and nothing interests me. They are that good

Soles are bit wide, they were decent....similar to my srixon z745.....overall decent iron and if I remember they were also really cheap new....

Though the soles are wide, there is significant camber, which doesn't make them play that wide, imo. They do excel on thin strikes. I agree that the pw and 9i seem a tad large. I slightly more compact version would be ideal. For the price, they have to be considered one of the top players CBs.

Just put these in the bag a couple of months ago. Best combo of looks and feel around, surprisingly long. Keepers!

Anyone who has moved from the J40 CBs to the J15 CBs care to comment? Still playing J40s but a little too much club in the long irons on bad days (I play 5-PW)

Agree; love them! I am a golf club ho too and have been playing these irons for 2 seasons and will again for a 3rd. I have the Steelfiber shafts in mine and they're butter! If you are a "picker or sweeper" of the ball, these are well suited for you.

Anybody on this thread tempted by anything that's out there now that "might" give them a run for their money?

I have my set ready to go again for the spring. In my opinion the best part about these clubs are their look. They may feel really great like many mention but I'm not huge on feel. I'm more interested in how a club looks behind the ball and provides me with the confidence I need to prepare for my next shot. These do exactly that. I don't find the soles to be wide at all but do notice the 9i and PW being larger than the rest of the set. In terms of distance I don't find them that long, I actually lost some yardage coming from my last iron set but it could be the differences in loft. Either way I still hit them plenty long, but I wouldn't consider their length as being one of their major selling features.

Can't go wrong with the J15 CB's. These clubs are beautiful and perform really consistently for me. I haven't had the urge to replace them like other clubs in my bag as I am the ultimate club ho. For now, I have no intent of switching them out for anything new...just yet, anyway! If I found a set of Srixons to demo they may be good competition.

Really thinking about picking up a set. I think they look great. Right now I'm trying to decide between these and iE1's.

i won't be replacing these in 2017 as the cost isn't worth it....but the wilson v6 and mizuno 900 forged have caught my eye. going forward my choice in iron will come down to stock shaft offerings. if nippon is an upgrade in cost i'll pass. i think mizuno is doing a great job offering many options as stock w no upcharge.

Anyone who has moved from the J40 CBs to the J15 CBs care to comment? Still playing J40s but a little too much club in the long irons on bad days (I play 5-PW)

I played the j40 cb, then the j40dpc and then the j15cb. IMO the j15 are a good combination of the both of them. If you struggle a little with the long irons in the j40cb, the j15 will be a little more forgiving and playable. I liked the j40dpc better than the j40cb. They have a little less offset and narrower sole, if they weren't quite so long of a blade length they may be my favorite of all of them. The j15cb are a great blend between the 2.

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried the J015CB and how it would compare to the J15CB?

As some have said. The 9 iron and pw are kind of big looking for for what they are. Must be a Japanese thing as Mizuno's for years have done the same thing as well as some other JDM stuff I've had. Nice irons though.

Yep I love mine

I have had an hour this afternoon on my Pro's Flightscope to look at some numbers. Firstly, I don't carry a J15CB 4 Iron as I use a Callaway Apex UT utility Iron in 24*, as I find that I can flight it better, even from the turf. So I only carry 5-PW in the J15CB's. Now, I know many people have said how easy it is for them to elevate the longer irons but for me, I simply wasn't seeing that, so today proved very worthwhile. Looks like spinning my J15CB 5 iron at only an average of 3600rpm is hefty part of my problem!

Then I tried my 7 iron and my spin rates were averaging 5100rpm, but still launching at around 20*, and PW averaged only 7900rpm but launching a healthy enough 29*. So in short, this low spin is hurting me badly with the longer irons because, the ball is not reaching a high enough peak height due to the low spin, but in the shorter irons the spin is so low, that the carry distances are exponentially high. This alone is creating the gaps in my bag that I can struggle with. Obviously there is a cut off point whereby loft on the club takes over, and the ball flight is fine, and that is with about an 8 iron for me. Any longer club than that and the ballflight is too low due to the very low spin, but any shorter iron than that, and the distances are obscene because of the low spin, but adequate loft is still giving me enough launch angle. Sounds complicated, but hope you all get it?

So what do I do? Change my KBS Tour shafts to the KBS Tour FLT? Or give them up as a bad job and re-invest? Any suggestions guys?

I have had an hour this afternoon on my Pro's Flightscope to look at some numbers. Firstly, I don't carry a J15CB 4 Iron as I use a Callaway Apex UT utility Iron in 24*, as I find that I can flight it better, even from the turf. So I only carry 5-PW in the J15CB's. Now, I know many people have said how easy it is for them to elevate the longer irons but for me, I simply wasn't seeing that, so today proved very worthwhile. Looks like spinning my J15CB 5 iron at only an average of 3600rpm is hefty part of my problem!

 

Then I tried my 7 iron and my spin rates were averaging 5100rpm, but still launching at around 20*, and PW averaged only 7900rpm but launching a healthy enough 29*. So in short, this low spin is hurting me badly with the longer irons because, the ball is not reaching a high enough peak height due to the low spin, but in the shorter irons the spin is so low, that the carry distances are exponentially high. This alone is creating the gaps in my bag that I can struggle with. Obviously there is a cut off point whereby loft on the club takes over, and the ball flight is fine, and that is with about an 8 iron for me. Any longer club than that and the ballflight is too low due to the very low spin, but any shorter iron than that, and the distances are obscene because of the low spin, but adequate loft is still giving me enough launch angle. Sounds complicated, but hope you all get it?

 

So what do I do? Change my KBS Tour shafts to the KBS Tour FLT? Or give them up as a bad job and re-invest? Any suggestions guys?

I think you should definitely try another shaft. If you like the feel of KBS, personally I would stick with them and choose a different model as they have many. The Tour FLT just might make the difference you are looking for, but I am not a KBS person. From the description of those shafts, I would think that they are along the lines of the DG Pro which a lot of people enjoy.

I'm a real big fan of the DG Pro.

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried the J015CB and how it would compare to the J15CB?

I have owned both. The J015cb is definitely a smaller head. I didn't get along that great with it but to be fair, they had KBS shafts and I don't like them as much as my Modus shafts.

From the address position, they look exactly like a small blade. After playing the J15's for a year, it could be intimidating a little. Also, after about two rounds, the J015cb's looked exactly like my J15 cb's that I have played over 100 rounds with. They just didn't holdup that well. But they felt good hitting them as do the J15's.

For me, the J15's looks better also. In fact, the J15 cb's are the best looking irons I have owned but I know that is a personal opinion so take this for what it's worth.b

I have had an hour this afternoon on my Pro's Flightscope to look at some numbers. Firstly, I don't carry a J15CB 4 Iron as I use a Callaway Apex UT utility Iron in 24*, as I find that I can flight it better, even from the turf. So I only carry 5-PW in the J15CB's. Now, I know many people have said how easy it is for them to elevate the longer irons but for me, I simply wasn't seeing that, so today proved very worthwhile. Looks like spinning my J15CB 5 iron at only an average of 3600rpm is hefty part of my problem!

 

Then I tried my 7 iron and my spin rates were averaging 5100rpm, but still launching at around 20*, and PW averaged only 7900rpm but launching a healthy enough 29*. So in short, this low spin is hurting me badly with the longer irons because, the ball is not reaching a high enough peak height due to the low spin, but in the shorter irons the spin is so low, that the carry distances are exponentially high. This alone is creating the gaps in my bag that I can struggle with. Obviously there is a cut off point whereby loft on the club takes over, and the ball flight is fine, and that is with about an 8 iron for me. Any longer club than that and the ballflight is too low due to the very low spin, but any shorter iron than that, and the distances are obscene because of the low spin, but adequate loft is still giving me enough launch angle. Sounds complicated, but hope you all get it?

 

So what do I do? Change my KBS Tour shafts to the KBS Tour FLT? Or give them up as a bad job and re-invest? Any suggestions guys?

I think you should definitely try another shaft. If you like the feel of KBS, personally I would stick with them and choose a different model as they have many. The Tour FLT just might make the difference you are looking for, but I am not a KBS person. From the description of those shafts, I would think that they are along the lines of the DG Pro which a lot of people enjoy.

I may try the KBS Tour FLT, but I fear it may be just a band-aid and although may make a tiny bit of difference if the problem is so severe, then I fear that a shaft change may not be able to cope with the problem. I've had my longer Irons weakened in loft by 2* already and my short irons strengthened by 1*, and there is still this issue, so I can't realistically bend them too much more.

Ironically, I tried a Titleist 716CB 6 Iron and with a KBS Tour shaft the launch angle was 1* higher and spin rates were 5300-5400rpm in comparison to my J15CB 6 iron which was averaging around 4600-4700rpm, so I'm not sure if a simple shaft change will be able to increase those spin rates up another 600-700rpm to match the Titleists'. Maybe a couple of hundred rpm, but 700rpm? Not so sure.

I think I have some head scratching decisions to make for 2017. It would be a wrench to get rid of the Bridgestones' as they're a lovely iron with fabulous feel off the face, but I am having thoughts of them perhaps not being quite right for me. Maybe just having that doubt, alone, is a dangerous thing.

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried the J015CB and how it would compare to the J15CB?

 

I have owned both. The J015cb is definitely a smaller head. I didn't get along that great with it but to be fair, they had KBS shafts and I don't like them as much as my Modus shafts.

 

From the address position, they look exactly like a small blade. After playing the J15's for a year, it could be intimidating a little. Also, after about two rounds, the J015cb's looked exactly like my J15 cb's that I have played over 100 rounds with. They just didn't holdup that well. But they felt good hitting them as do the J15's.

 

For me, the J15's looks better also. In fact, the J15 cb's are the best looking irons I have owned but I know that is a personal opinion so take this for what it's worth.b

That's interesting about the J015 not holding up. I have seen these irons (heads only) and they look impressive, but you have given some food for thought and reading the reviews here it looks like J15 maybe a better option!

I just picked up a lefty set on eBay. I've never been more anxious to try a set of irons as I am with these. I'd say few irons carry the positive feedback on forums as these do. Being in Canada, I have yet to see any in person. Can't wait!

I've tried tons of irons (S55's, iE1, Z745, all kinds of Mizunos since the MP-32) and the J15 CB is my favorite. Phenomenal set of irons from turf interaction, workability and forgiveness.

YES!

Love mine and wont ever change. Looks & performance are perfect for me. I'm done looking for better irons!

That said, I love looking at / hitting new sticks like most of us here. At my age, family / work responsibilities & no longer playing tournament golf. I cannot justify buying different irons. Maybe different shafts eventually as I'm recovering from tearing both my elbow tendons.

I'm shocked that only a few tour pros are using them. I think it would be awesome to see the ex Nike guys use BStone J15s!

Received my set today, fantastic feeling irons. They are a great combo with the KBS Tour shafts. I need to tweak some lies I believe, and I may weaken the lofts a bit.

They are very long compared to my other irons, and launch a touch lower than I like. The feel and overall quality are fantastic though.

I play the J15cb with Nippon shafts and love them! I sold my AP2s after I got them.

Just reshafted mine. Had the KBS Tour S+ and went back to the stock DG Pros. Sounds crazy, but the DG Pros were a much better fit for me.

Yeah, yeah, they really are that good. I had a set last year and have been regretting selling them. Just bought another set. Thanks for making me spend hundreds of dollars.