Two Hour Drive in the Snow for a set of Bridgestone J15 CB's...will they make the bag?

I played a round of golf a few weeks ago at a course about an hour from home, and stopped at their local golf shop afterwords. Being a true WRXer, I hit a bunch of the new stuff...Mizuno MP20 MB, Callaway MB, Mizuno 919T and 919F, etc.. and a very nice set of J15 CB's PW-4i they had marked at $280, but would let me have them for $240. I really enjoyed most of what I hit, but somehow found the strength to go home to my two sets that I really like, my Srixon Z785's shafted with Recoil 110's and my TM P770 shafted with Recoil 95's. For some reason, I could not get the J15's out of my head so yesterday of course I had to leave work and drive 1 hour each way in a hard snow to grab them. They just felt that good.

Today I took the 7i from each set and got on the SIM. To end the session, I decided to hit one shot with each 7i, with the plan of hooding it down just a hair and going after it. All ended within 5 feet of each other at 166yards, 166 yards, and 165 yards. The Bridgestone probably felt the best barely, and the P770 the worst barely. The Bridgestone's have the original 300S shafts and my elbows are telling me about it today. I am trying to decide to shaft them with Recoil 95, 110, or Steelfiber 95.

What shaft would you guys try and do you think they can make the bag against the Z785 and P770?

Ha, I did play with J15CB for several years from 2015 until last October, it is my backup set now. Very good set of irons. Did you drive a hour northeast or southwest in the snow for that set?

Yes they absolutely can make the bag, if the sole design works for you. Currently playing the tour b cb, but they are a smidge smaller than the j15’s. Just like the Srixons, they really come alive as soon as you get them in the dirt.

You have 3 fantastic choices and you really can’t go wrong. As for the shafts, I can’t answer that as I have never hit them. I believe Kuchar played steel fiber in his j15’s for a few years. Sounds like a fun test. Keep us posted.

You sir, are a true WRX’er! This story needs to go in that thread (How Do You Know You’re an WRX’er)

If the Bridgestones don’t make the bag I’ll be first in line to scoop them from you :)

Joplin to Rogers. What did you replace yours with?

I do think the two keys will be getting the right shaft and the sole. I am a big fan of the Srixon sole on the course. The Bridgestone seems to also have the leading edge reduced...just not to the extent of the Srixon sole? I hope they interact with the turf in a similar fashion.

They’re great irons. Very comparable to what you have, maybe a bit longer heel to toe. I’ve had them twice, in stock DG shaft both times, would be fun to hit them with graphite shafts.

You have Recoils. Have you hit Steelfibers? They play a little stiffer. Different feel, both perform. A lot of golfers are reporting the Steelfiber FC series offers better feel. It’s one I want to try.

A nagging wrist injury that finally healed has me testing graphite iron shafts all winter to prevent another. I’ve been impressed with the KBS TGI shafts. Very stable but excellent feel. I am trying them now in the TGI parallel and I may be a touch too strong for this weight. They also have taper tips that are stiffer overall profile in 90g, 95g, 100g etc. and I expect I will end up in the 90 or 95.

The others I like are the Fujikura Tour Spec 95 and the Accra iSeries Tour 90. They hold up well too. I think I could play any of those three but I am liking the steel-like performance in the KBS without the joint stress.

Congrats OP—glad you caved and picked up the J15 CB’s. It is only a matter of time until I reshaft my J15 CB set with the Steelfiber 110. They are such good irons, but I’ll never really play them regularly with the stock DG Pro R300 shafts.

Beat me to it!

I love Bridgestone and Srixon irons both. They both check all my boxes. That's a tough decision, but I would likely lean to the Bstone (see my signature). But I'd be happy playing either. I tried the DG Pro a few years ago and really didn't get along with them. I've never played graphite, but I have tested the Steelfiber and if/when I go to a lightweight shaft it will likely be the SF 110.

Same, hah!I think Bridgestone even edges out Srixon in the "best irons that get no attention" category, especially these days with Srixon gaining some more visibility. I haven't hit the J15CB but I would love to try them. The J40's are just wonderful, soft irons with a great low offset, thin topline player's look at address and some really smart sole designs to add turf forgiveness.

Very informative post and appreciated! I do have experience with Recoil and Steelfiber only...very different as you say. In Steelfiber, R is all I can handle. I guess I could say I prefer the Recoil feel, but maybe the Steelfiber gets the edge in performance...they will hold up to most any swing! I would like to try the KBS among other you mention, but I may jump straight to the SF FC after reading your post. Thank you!

I have smoke Apex Pro with $-Taper 120 in my bag now, got a good deal on them. A friend had Apex Pro Dots and I liked the way they felt then I did any WRX'er would do, oh well. Ha

I did have Bridgestone Tour B X-CB for a while but did not like the PX 6.0 shafts. I wished I had different shafts for those X-CB's but there aren't many sets around. My J15CB has Modus 120 stiff shafts. I have thought about using Steelfibers again someday soon. I had 714 AP1 with Steelfiber 110 stiff in 2014-15 until J15CB replaced them.

I have 3 sets of J15s and a set of 745s so don't be surprised if they beat out the Srixons. You might as well sell the 770s now because I can almost guarantee you they'll never see your bag again. :)

I hope you do. Would like to see more reviews of the Steelfiber FC. I agree that Recoil feels a little livelier, definitely softer, but the Steelfiber is so solid on the golf course. Truly does handle any swing. The KBS has that same quality to me but feels smooth as well. Kim Braly has designed a graphite shaft with steel-like torque values that doesn’t feel awful like old low-torque graphite. Unreal tight dispersion for me. You just have to do the build as I don’t see the TGI 90 taper tip as stock anywhere. You can find the 70 and 80 parallels as stock and those will fit a lot of players. I am just fond of Project X Rifles so am drawn to more of a stable, powerful feel. Can’t discount the Accra or Fuji Pro shafts either. All good for a wide variety of swings.

Companies still are pairing up graphite and heads as if only slower swingers are playing them. Not the case. The 90g KBS graphite feels like a 115g steel shaft.

I love the I110 shafts. I grew up playing S300/X100 and then moved to satin PX 6.0, newer PX 6.0, KBS C taper 125S+, and have loved my I110 more than all of them. Depending on the weight you want 95/110 should be fine.

FWIW I actually hit the I95 lower than the I110 and I already am a mid/low flight so I stuck with I110.

Well done for buying a Classic Set. Re elbow pain i built a set with one and a half inch long wooden dowel in the bottom of shaft 3 years ago.Cost $2

Thats what Titleist were reputed to put in the 681s..yes i sold mine....try dgr300 theyre 4.8 vs 5.6fcm im happy with my set.

I may be throwing another shaft in to the mix, but if you try the Mitsubshi MMT, I think you get something the combines the best features of the Steelfiber with that of the Recoil. (Great review of MMT in Tour & Pre-Release)

I have a set of J15CB with Steelfiber 95s. I decided to switch shafts to the MMT 105s. The Steelfibers are more stout and I like the weight and feel of the MMT better (was able to get a 6 iron shaft to test in the J15). Have played the Steelfiber 110s (swing weight tough to dial in) and Recoil Proto 110 F4. From what I have read and seem to be experiencing the MMTs have a lower balance point than Steelfiber which results in a higher swing weight.

Since I was getting new shafts, I thought it would be nice to get a newer version of the J15's, so I bought a set of heads from this forum and had them sent directly to the Iron Factory to get rechromed which will hopefully be finished by the time the MMTs, which are on back order come in. I took this route because it was less hassle than sending my heads down from Canada.

For me the real test will be hitting my new setup off of real turf. The J15CBs have great turf interaction so I think I have a great combination of head and shaft.

I had j15s and still have 765s. J15s were great. I've always wanted the j40 dpcs. I finally ordered a set yesterday. I've never hit them, but according to everybody on here they're phenomenal. Can't wait to get them.

I am super interested in this build. I don't like the price of the MMT lol, and of course there are not any pulls to be found. I would be very anxious to see how they compare with the Recoil 110's. I like the 110's a lot, but something about it is not perfect. As another poster mentioned, the KBS's are probably a great shaft but as my SS goes down and my age goes up, I don't think I could handle their heavier shafts.

Please post about your MMT once you have the chance to hit them and good luck!

NICE arsenal :-) Honestly, the P770's are one of my all time favorites and after saying that... I believe you. I am going to pull my Recoils out of them this weekend, replace with some steel shafts and put them on the block. It is a little painful because they are in great shape and I had some good rounds with them but they are still going to be moved I imagine :-) I may stick the Recoils on the Bridgestone's before buying another set of shafts to experiment with. If not, I could be missing my best option?

I tried 2 sets of Z785 irons with $-taper 130s and Modus 120X. They were supposed to send the J15CBs with $-Taper 125s to the garage. I also swapped the $-Taper 125s and 130s in each Iron set...didn’t matter-the J15s were better in both weights.

I now have 2 sets of Z785s in the garage and a set of J15CBs back in the Bag. I cautiously say...firmly coz I will surely, again cave to the wicked convincing words of encouragement by fellow Wrx’ers to try something else!

Feel is better in the J15s for me and it’s not close.

The Z785s are a great iron but I just prefer the lines of the j15s, the feel with the $-Tapers and the consistent results. The sole works the best for me of any iron I’ve tried.

Sometimes there just isn’t anything better than the Best!

Hit em well!

Rox

I love this "Sometimes there just isn’t anything better than the Best!"!!

I hope I feel the same way!

Definitely making the bag

J15cb replaced my epon 503 and those are super soft. The bxcb looks nice too!

So agree on how soft many of the Epon forgings are. I hit one(AF Tour CB) a few months ago on trackman and not only did it feel amazing, it gave me my best numbers of the day. I have not hit the 503, but I am sure it is a very nice iron! I love the following the J15 CB's have. I hope I am one of those who appreciate it!

I have not found anything that can beat the J15 CB. At one time I had 4 sets of irons... Ping S55, Srixon Z745 (which I thought would never be beat), Mizuno MP60, and the J15 CB. It only took me a couple of rounds to see what all the fuss surrounding the J15s was about... I wound up selling everything but the J15s. Even bought a back up set at one time... Like an idiot, I traded them for some Srixon 785s. Since I loved the 745s I figured the 785s would be better... and they were, slightly... but just not the J15s. I even tried some 765s as well and could never rekindle the Srixon love with the J15 CBs around, so I sold them and only own the J15 CB.

Long story short, do not write off the Bridgestones before really giving them a go... Feel and forgiveness are top notch and I find the sole design to be better than the Srixon V Sole, for me. As far as shafts, if I were going graphite I would try and find something low to mid launch. I find these irons do like to launch on the higher side. I have DG AMT X100 SS1x with Prosoft inserts to dampen the harshness of the DG feel and I could not be happier with this set up. I highly recommend the Prosoft inserts and tool for anyone playing steel shafts looking for a friendlier feel, they really do work.

Let us know how they work out, if they don't put me in line for the J15s!!! LOL

1 hour each way, that's nothing. I do 2 hour 20 min trips each way to PGA superstore every once in awhile.

Sounds like we have the same taste in irons :-) You have me really excited to give these a go. I think I will throw the 7i on a Recoil 95 this morning. Since I have them at the house, why not start there. I actually liked the DG Pro S300 that is in them, but my elbows were so bad even with injections, etc. that I am afraid to leave them in. The Titleist shaft chart considers the Recoils mid-launch and mid-spin so who knows? Thanks for pumping me up...of course that is easily done when a golf ball is included in the equation.