New Killer Forged iron from Lynx...Lx Tour Mc!!!

… The Lynx pinnacle of success was achieved when Fred Couples signed on to play their Parallax irons. Arguably the only advance Lynx made after the original offering was the Parallax Tour irons, providing less offset in their full cavity design. The original Parallax irons are still revered by many today. Unfortunately, every new iron released by Lynx put them further and further from the success they had achieved in the players market with their Parallax irons. Some could argue the Black Cats were ahead of their time with technology the market was not ready for. Slowly but steadily Lynx fell further and further from better players acceptance and finally was bought by Golfsmith and became an inexpensive game improvement line up. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but considering they were once at the top of the players irons list, Lynx was never quite ready to throw in the towel on a quality forged iron. The Golfsmith forged Parallax irons were a pretty decent attempt to get back in the game, but fell short of universal acceptance. A few more attempts got them nowhere. Then it seemed like out of the blue, Lynx was releasing a new iron called the Lynx Lx Tour Mc that was featured in the Golfworld December 19' 08 Equipment Preview edition. Of all the irons in that issue including the Idea A4's, Callaway X-Forged, TM Tour Preferred and Titleist AP2's, I was most impressed with the pictures of Lynx Lx Tour MC's. While they looked awesome in a photo, I didn't know if the real irons would look as good in the address position or if they would perform like a players forged iron.

… I finally received a set in July and shafted them with KB Tour shafts. They actually looked better in person than they did in Golfworld. With a straight leading edge, a relatively thin topline, virtually no offset at all and a slightly larger clubface, they were everything I look for in a players iron. I have a reference set in the Cobra CB's and these are the exact opposite in perimeter weighting. The Cobra's look a little smaller than the average players iron head and have most of the weight directly behind the contact area. The Lynx look a little larger than the average players iron head and have most of the weight distributed to the heel and toe. This is a forged design that has fallen out of favor lately, probably because of all the exotic dampening materials hiding the design like the Titleist AP2's or Ping S57's. Someone with a good understanding of iron design will tell you there are two things that enable less twisting on off center contact:

1) A longer clubface from heel to toe and 2) More weight in the heel and toe.

The Lynx incorporate both, creating a very stable clubhead on mishits. The head is made with a 5 step forging of 1035 carbon steel that is CNC milled into several tiers of weighting. This creates enough sole weighting for a slightly higher trajectory in the long irons but provides higher heel and toe weighting in the short/mid irons for a typical players iron trajectory.

… On paper it looks perfect, but the proof is and always will be in the performance. From the very first shot I was pleasantly surprised by the feel. I expected somewhat of a thin face feel since I have been playing the blade like Pro CB's. While the Lynx did not feel quite like the Pro CB's, they were very, very close. They have a dense and sweet forged feel that I would not associate with heavy heel/toe weighting and a thinner face. The trajectory was just a hair higher than the Cobra's and perhaps a hair straighter too. Knockdowns were also surprisingly easy to accomplish. While they do not go quite as low as the Cobra's, again the performance is close. As a rule I do not "work" the ball side to side unless I am escaping trouble. I am not sure there is a difference between these two irons in workability, but if there is, it is minimal. I have never cared for the feel of Project X shafts and sometimes a heads playability is not quite as good with a different shaft than the shafts they were designed with. The Lynx Tour's performed very well with the KB Tour 5.5's I installed. Next, I reshafted them with Aldila's VS Proto 100gm graphite shafts. These are my current favorites and they were equal or even better than the KB Tours. If you like KB Tours and are interested in graphite shafts, the VS Proto's provide the same kind of performance with added dampening for your joints. I think you could put any shaft in these heads and they will perform equally as well given your specific shaft needs.

… Since I am talking to equipment fanatics, there will be comments about the color, the cavity design, etc. To make things easier I will include a picture of the stock iron head and some with the paintfill removed. I went into this hoping the Lynx Lx Tour Mc's would get Lynx back in the game. However, quite honestly I was not prepared to be blown away by them. I now have them in rotation with my Cobra Pro CB's and have to make no adjustments with either set. I have a blade like players iron that does anything I have the skill to pull off and I have a slightly more forgiving set that is equally fun to play with. As some of my playing pards have said "you can play any iron you want and you have LYNX in your bag?". Well, I don't even wear a watch so name brands mean very little to me, I'm just interested in performance and the look at address. And here is the best part. The Lynx Lx Tour Mc's sell for $699! Combine that with a Golfsmith sale and you can get them for even less. If you are in the market for a forged players iron with a slightly larger head that can give you trajectory control with a little more forgiveness than most and that sweet feel only a forged head provides, I cannot recommend the Lynx Lx Tour Mc's strongly enough. Welcome back Lynx. You can click on the link below for info:

http://www.golfsmith.com/products/LX8230/L...Lynx_LX_Tour_MC

I would like to see a pic at address, but so far they look "kind of cheap". Can you post an address picture? Lynx were definitely hot irons in the early 1990's.

[quote name='BEND OF THE RIVER GC' post='2043597' date='Nov 3 2009, 03:35 PM']I would like to see a pic at address, but so far they look "kind of cheap". Can you post an address picture? Lynx were definitely hot irons in the early 1990's.[/quote]
B.O.T.R.
How can you roll out the cheap comment already?
They are new and shiny.

I think they have the same styling as an X-Forged or a R7. With the mill marked looking cavity and all. Even better with some of the paint removed.
I would like to see a sole and address pic also.

But in reality, if the address looks good and they perform the way a person wants isn't that what one should "really" be worried about?

Agree with the X-forged styling. Only these look cheaper. I would have stuck to the simple design of the original Parallax - imagine those but forged - nice. As for the pedigree of the Parallax - anyone recall Ernie being the first player to post 4 sub-70 rounds in the Open (1993)?

... I'm not sure how a solid carbon steel head that went thru a 5 step forging process then cnc milled to exact specifications can look "kind of cheap" but admittedly beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can see where someone may not care for the milling markings while the next guy will think they look very cool. I only care about the function of the heel/toe weighting and look at address. And these have one of the best hosel blends I have ever seen:



[attachment=489641:9i_address.jpg]

[attachment=489642:5i_address.jpg]

Any advance on 3 cheaps?

meh...they look alright i guess

I've always liked lynx irons. These look amazing. Too bad you can't order them left handed

I agree with "Bend.." they look cheap, and over chromed and have deep CB. Aside from one design line similarity they don't look like X-Forged, least my 07 originals.

There's nothing wrong with the OP loving these clubs. I just wouldn't buy them or even suggest them to a mid-hi cap. There was a day when Links had a good product, but that's long gone. My last consideration is buyers won't get bupkus for in the resale market.

Yup. Looks cheap. I remember the days when Lynx was pretty much on top of the golf equipment industry when they had Boom Boom.

[quote name='chisag' post='2043688' date='Nov 3 2009, 05:06 PM']... I'm not sure how a solid carbon steel head that went thru a 5 step forging process then cnc milled to exact specifications can look "kind of cheap" but admittedly beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I can see where someone may not care for the milling markings while the next guy will think they look very cool. I only care about the function of the heel/toe weighting and look at address. And these have one of the best hosel blends I have ever seen:



[attachment=489641:9i_address.jpg]

[attachment=489642:5i_address.jpg][/quote]

Look nice, to me they look like there is very very very little offset from your address pics....what would you say in terms of offset?

I think they look great, even better if the Lynx paint fill was removed.

Great review, as usual, Sam. Is there a Golfsmith 20% coupon floating around somewhere?

I think you're crazy if you think they look cheap. I think they look great, and much better then all the crap that OEM's come out with. They guys that say these look cheap are probably the guys that love the clubs with plastic crap all over them. I agree that the chrome looks a little too "chrome" but I would imagine that would wear off with some use and look really good. I'm really interested in these. I bet if they were from Titleist or Mizuno everyone would love them. Everyone has their own opinion but there is nothing cheap about a 1035 forged and cnc'd iron.

Also, to the OP, maybe I missed this, but can you compare these to any more popular OEM clubs that we may have hit?

[quote name='benz5521' post='2043823' date='Nov 3 2009, 06:09 PM']I think you're crazy if you think they look cheap. I think they look great, and much better then all the crap that OEM's come out with. They guys that say these look cheap are probably the guys that love the clubs with plastic crap all over them. I agree that the chrome looks a little too "chrome" but I would imagine that would wear off with some use and look really good. I'm really interested in these. I bet if they were from Titleist or Mizuno everyone would love them. Everyone has their own opinion but there is nothing cheap about a 1035 forged and cnc'd iron.[/quote]

[url="http://mizunousa.com/equipment.nsf/group?openform&div=golf&cat=10glf1-irons-mp"]http://mizunousa.com/equipment.nsf/group?o...10glf1-irons-mp[/url]
[url="http://www.titleist.com/golfclubs/irons/CB.asp"]http://www.titleist.com/golfclubs/irons/CB.asp[/url]
[url="http://www.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/Products/Clubs/Irons/X-ForgedIrons%2809%29.html"]http://www.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/P...ns%2809%29.html[/url]
[url="http://www.adamsgolf.com/products/irons/problack.php"]http://www.adamsgolf.com/products/irons/problack.php[/url]
[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380172234619&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url]

The above links will speak for themselves.
The Lynx just don't compare imo.

[quote name='benz5521' post='2043823' date='Nov 3 2009, 06:09 PM']I think you're crazy if you think they look cheap. I think they look great, and much better then all the crap that OEM's come out with. [b]They guys that say these look cheap are probably the guys that love the clubs with plastic crap all over them.[/b] I agree that the chrome looks a little too "chrome" but I would imagine that would wear off with some use and look really good. I'm really interested in these. I bet if they were from Titleist or Mizuno everyone would love them. Everyone has their own opinion but there is nothing cheap about a 1035 forged and cnc'd iron.[/quote]


nope. they play: Ping ISI Coppers, Titleist Blades, Mizuno MP62's, and Callaway X Forged.... no "plastic crap" on any of those

EDIT: Moses beat me to it, heh

Look great at address!

They look pretty good at address. The cavity is pretty ugly though.

[quote name='stevenq2105' post='2043778' date='Nov 3 2009, 05:49 PM']Look nice, to me they look like there is very very very little offset from your address pics....what would you say in terms of offset?[/quote]


... You are correct sir. : ) I amended the review to include that info. I am not sure of the specs, but they visually have zero offset.

[quote name='jdanlaw' post='2043818' date='Nov 3 2009, 06:06 PM']Great review, as usual, Sam. Is there a Golfsmith 20% coupon floating around somewhere?[/quote]

... Thanks Dan. I don't believe there is anything going on at the moment, but with the holidays approaching you can bet on a 10-15% discount coming soon. And remember December brings F&F and Lynx is always heavily discounted.

They look to me like if a set of X-Tour's and a set of Mizuno's had a child Not necessarily a bad thing. Kinda remind me of those cnc milled Orlimar protot's that sold on ebay like a year ago.

 

[quote name='BEND OF THE RIVER GC' post='2043597' date='Nov 3 2009, 04:35 PM']I would like to see a pic at address, but so far they look "kind of cheap". Can you post an address picture? Lynx were definitely hot irons in the early 1990's.[/quote]

Don't you just love it,because it doesn't say callaway or taylormade on it, it must look cheap.I seem to recall it was about how a club played,not how it looked.It almost sounds as if it's not expensive,it must not play well.Now if there was only a place on the score card for how it looks.

This cavity back design concept looks a little different and a little interesting. The minimal offset is obviously pretty much for scratch players. Which makes me wonder ... Where does Lynx think they are going to sell enough of these to even break even?

As far as the finish of the cavity back ... I have to agree with others that the moment I saw the first picture the only words that formed in my head were "cheap" and K Mart or Costco. Not being nasty or petty or disrespectful in any way. Maybe it's the lighting or the focus or some photographic anomaly. Maybe try taking the pics again in different lighting and from a slightly different angle. But, if these clubs look in real life like they look in those pics I think these things are doomed from the start.

People who play forged blades, and I'm usually one of them, usually fall in love at first sight and then see if the feel and playability is equal to the look. You don't hear people who play forged blades say, "I absolutely love these blades but I have to squint my eyes slightly out of focus before looking at my bag. That makes it kinda hard to pull out the right club sometimes but these babies are worth it!"

Try the pics again. Maybe we'll yet fall in love.

I noticed they aren't shipping until February.

The large radii/chamfers on the cavity do make them look cheap. They make the chrome stand out too much. Perhaps they should consider sand blasting the cavity similar to the face. From the address position they look better than most GI clubs and top line looks good also. So I guess I would hit them from the top but not from behind

[quote name='ToysRUs' post='2043673' date='Nov 3 2009, 05:00 PM'][quote name='BEND OF THE RIVER GC' post='2043597' date='Nov 3 2009, 03:35 PM']I would like to see a pic at address, but so far they look "kind of cheap". Can you post an address picture? Lynx were definitely hot irons in the early 1990's.[/quote]
B.O.T.R.
How can you roll out the cheap comment already?
They are new and shiny.

I think they have the same styling as an X-Forged or a R7. With the mill marked looking cavity and all. Even better with some of the paint removed.
I would like to see a sole and address pic also.

But in reality, if the address looks good and they perform the way a person wants isn't that what one should "really" be worried about?
[/quote]

The quality of the engraving inside the cavity doesn't look to be really sharp, like say a Taylor Made forged cavity with similar milling.....

I think you're crazy if you think they look cheap. I think they look great, and much better then all the crap that OEM's come out with. They guys that say these look cheap are probably the guys that love the clubs with plastic crap all over them. I agree that the chrome looks a little too "chrome" but I would imagine that would wear off with some use and look really good. I'm really interested in these. I bet if they were from Titleist or Mizuno everyone would love them. Everyone has their own opinion but there is nothing cheap about a 1035 forged and cnc'd iron.

 

Although I am NOT a big fan of TM products, the Japanese OEM forged R7 irons are some of the nicest ever on the market:

 

 

With that in mind, I think that Lynx just tried to do "too much" in that cavity instead of going with keeping it clean and simple.

Yea but I still think they look a lot better then some of their competitors. AP2's for example.

Wow some seriously critical feedback, I think they look much better at address than most, nice looking iron head...BB