2020 Ben Hogan Icon blades

[dmeeksDC]

Any updates from the inaugural Icon owners?

[cjblake09]

I have a demo set of the ICON's and they feel great. I really wish you could customize your combo set or at least go 5-PW ICON and then add the 4 iron of your choice. More than likely going to do the combo set over straight ICONS.

[dmeeksDC]

How would you say they compare in degree of difficulty vs other muscle backs you’ve hit?

[cjblake09]

Honestly not that hard to hit at all. I just could not do the 4 and 5 iron and be consistent with them.

[RobotDoctor]

I’ve played one round with mine. My ‘99 Apex blades have similar lofts (6-E) and the 4&5 are just a couple of degrees and a degree different. The shafts on my ‘99 Apex are Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff and my Icons were KBS Tour V 110 stiff shafts. The feel of the Icons are similar to the Apex. I’m not sure about performance because of the difference of shaft profiles. I just reshafted the Icons to Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff as well, standard length. I’ll make sure loft/lie and swing weight are correct and take them out tomorrow.

[RobotDoctor]

I made an error on the weighting of the irons. I based all the weights on a 258g 5 iron with a 7 degree differential. I weighted the club heads accordingly and installed the shafts (with weight plugs). I regripped the irons once the heads cured (24 hours, give or take) and measured the swing weight on all the irons. The 4 iron came in at D4, 5 iron at D3.75 (best guess), 6 through 8 irons at D4.25, 9 iron at D5. Nothing surprising here except the higher than anticipated swing weight. The PW came in at D2 which was surprising to me especially since it was weighed in at 293g total. Not sure why the discrepancy. I realize shafts have an impact on this but I would have thought the 9 iron would have come in around the same swing weight as the others (mid D range). I reshafted with Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff shafts at standard length. I removed the shafts and weight plugs, cleaned and prepped the irons and shafts. I was careful not to destroy the ferrules (but I will use new ferrules when I reshaft). I measured swingweight to be D2 for the 4-9 irons and D2.5 for the PW, some were close to D3 or just a bit higher. I added small strips of lead tape under the grip to get the irons to be around D2. After re-installation of shafts with new ferrules, removed grips and added 3 layers of painter's tape (instead of 4 I had done previously, the irons came in between D2 and D3 or so). They turned out to be 4 & 5 irons at D2, 6-9 irons at D2.25 and PW at just over D3. Now my Icons are ready for play tomorrow.

[golfaddict1015]

Can mid handicap players play these icon irons?

[3_Jack_Par]

I have a pair of demo clubs coming -- when I ordered, I asked in the comments box if they could send me a 4-iron and 8-iron. None of the communications I've gotten since have said anything about which clubs they're sending, so I won't be at all surprised if I get the standard 6/9 iron, but I figured it's worth a shot.

[cg0rd0noo7]

you can play whatever you want but I would never recommend blades to a mid handicaper. If you are interested in hogan irons look at the ptx pro or the combo sets they have.

[RobotDoctor]

I had a so-so ball striking day today but to me the Icons feel much better with the Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff shafts. These play similar to the '99 Apex blades I gamed. Keep in mind that from 6 iron through E (PW) I had the '99 Apex blades bent the same lofts as the Icons. My '99 Apex 5 iron is 27*, 4 iron is 24* and 3 iron is 21*. The Icon 4 irons is 22* and 5 iron is 26*. This will take a bit of getting used to but it shouldn't take long. Overall the feel is very similar to the '99 Apex blades. The biggest difference I have found is the sole/bounce of the Icons. Turf interaction is much better due to bounce designed in the irons that I took out of the '99 Apex blades. Distances for the 6 iron through PW is very similar to my Apex blades. Shots on the sweet spot felt outstanding. I could feel off center hits and knew pretty much were I hit it on the face. Distance loss is noticeable on off center hits, maybe one club when struck on the toe (I tried this on purpose with a second ball to see since driving range is closed). Overall I really like these irons and hope my ball striking will be better tomorrow. I love the look, feel and turf interaction of the Icons. What I do wish is a broader shaft selection from The Ben Hogan Company, as do many others. At this price point I am certainly not going to complain.

I would think so. Depends on your ball striking. If your contact is consistently close to the middle of the blade (or just inside center to the hosel) and are consistently close to that then yes, absolutely. If your strikes are close to the toe more often than not then a perimeter weighted iron might be a better fit. If you are used to playing blades then these should be a good transition. I have only played 2 rounds with mine, one with the KBS Tour V 110 stiff shaft and one with the Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff shaft. With both shafts I felt like these were fairly easy blades to hit. The looks of the blade is striking!

[RobotDoctor]

I've played a couple more rounds with the Icon blades with the Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff shafts. I really love the turf interaction of these. As as I swing good (not cuppy) I take a minimal divot to minor divot. If I take a beaver pelt of a divot it is because my left wrist broke down and I flipped through the ball. It's a bad habit that has recurred as of late but I am working on this. I am still trying to gauge toe 4 and 5 irons as the lofts are a little different than the 3-5 I had with my Apex blades. Iron shots are coming up about 5 -10 yards short but that was the case with my Apex blades (see flipping issue). The Icons feel outstanding on well struck and very good on moderately struck shots. When I hit the ball thin I know it. I am looking forward to my next round (possibly Saturday).

Now I need to address flexibility/strength issues as I am suffering from OMD (Old Man's Disease).

[dmeeksDC]

nice update. Keep ‘em coming. How would you say they compare to the Apex blades in terms of playability and overall size and profile?

[golfaddict1015]

I heard the heads are made in China, how is the quality of the forging compared to the other manufacturers like mizuno, titleist etc.?

[RobotDoctor]

The heads seem ok. No quality issues to note. A lot of companies use heads forged from China. I'd rather have Endo forging a myself.

[RobotDoctor]

The overall size and profile is very comparable to the '99 Apex blades. Maybe slightly larger but not much. Sole is different with the "V" sole. So far I've been able to control draws. I haven't really had a fade shot I needed. I'll manufacture a few controlled draws and fades tomorrow and see what happens. The predominant shot pattern so far is high and straight. I will attempt to hit a few shots controlling trajectory as well. So far the irons are performing well.

[dmeeksDC]

That sounds really good. I would want them about the same size or slightly larger than the Apex blades. Would not want them smaller. Plus the v-sole helps. I’m mainly looking at the PTx Pro/Icon combo set for the long iron ease, but you never know.

[RobotDoctor]

The only iron I would consider as the combo iron would be the 4 iron. I have hit the Icon 4 iron pretty well, both off the tee and from the fairway. I would definitely want to keep the blade for the 5 and 6 irons. I haven't had any difficulty hitting the 4, 5 and 6 irons so far. But then again, I was still hitting my 3 irons decent from my '99 Apex blades.

[3_Jack_Par]

Demo clubs just arrived, and as I expected, they sent the 6/9 irons, I would have liked to compare my current 3 iron to the Icon 4 iron, it's not a big deal. They are very nice looking clubs, and I'll be interested to try them out.

[3_Jack_Par]

I had a chance to hit the demo irons a few times this morning during a round where I was played like complete garbage. But I did come away pretty impressed with the Icon blades. Both clubs are about 2 degrees stronger than the same numbered clubs in my current irons, and that definitely showed -- I was a little surprised how much longer the Icons are. I hit the Icon 6 iron into a par 3, and then hit my 5 iron to compare, and the Icon was just off the back of the green while my 5 iron was a couple yards shorter on the green. I don't really care how far I hit it, as long as it's consistent, but it was one of the big things I noticed. I liked the feel and trajectory I was seeing with the Icons, too. They seemed pretty similar to what I'm used to with my irons, even though my current clubs have Modus3 120x, and the demo Icons have X100.

One negative I noticed was that I was not having much luck turning it over with the Icons. That could be a shaft thing, since I haven't played X100 in several years, but I'm usually able to move the ball both ways with my irons. But, as I mentioned, my swing was terrible today, so it's hard to draw too many conclusions.

 

Has anyone gotten the black version of these yet? I'd be curious to see pictures of them after a few rounds to see how that finish holds up.

[wildcatden]

Any more input from Hogan Icon owners?

[Simp]

I'm going on week 3 of my order so I'll let you know when I get them. I'm getting anxious.

[cg0rd0noo7]

I would have told you today but my set has been stuck in Denver for 3 nights by ups keep saying it will be delayed and now the delayed it till Monday.

[jyamat]

This thread is reminding me of when the Macgregor MT -Pro irons came out several years ago.....such an under the radar iron......

[CC Stryder]

I had the first rendition of the PTx and really liked them. Surprisingly liked the Tour V shaft as well. I gamed them most of the season in Pittsburgh a few years ago but replaced them out of boredom and my fake sponsorship with Titleist (ocd bag matching) with 718 AP2 with Steelfiber 110. Eventually I wanted my Hogan’s back and as I was looking for another set, the PTx Pro came out in chrome. I was excited, but wanted black so I sent BH a note and they had said it’s likely to be released soon. A month or so later the black PTx Pro came out.

I was going to order but ended up waiting and in that time the icons came out. Oh man, I want those but gaming a full set of blades isn’t for me. If only they made a combo set...

Stumbled upon the combo set in mid May but no black. This time an email to BH confirmed they have no intention of making the combo sets in black but gave no explanation as to why.

Despite just getting fit for a set of MP20 combos in February I was too excited to have Hogan’s back in the bag so I ordered the chrome combo set figuring I can always trade them in on black if they come out.

I found a code for an additional 10% off and caved, ordering on May 20th. The confirmation email said up to 4 weeks so hoping end of June...

Based on the prior set I owned it’s hard to beat what you get for the price here. Yes, the shaft and grip selection isn’t great, but that’s likely a significant way to keep the cost down (inventory).

End of the day, the quality is certainly there, the price is great, and I enjoy gaming a set of sticks that are a unique throwback to younger days!

 

 

[wakit300]

CC Stryder - Love the Burgh teams profile pic!

[cjblake09]

Week 2 here. Can't wait.

[CC Stryder]

Thank you sir! City of Champions...and the Pirates post 1979.

CJ - Did you also go combo set?

[cjblake09]

I did. Really wanted to go full ICON but i could not pull the trigger.

[CC Stryder]

Same, I built out all black icons but couldn’t do it either. I really liked my PTx so decided to do a combo set. My 9 holes/week could use a little more forgiveness. I love my MP20 but check my email everyday in hopes of a note from Hogan!!

[smash@gouge]

I ordered the combo set with the new 22*UiHi utility iron on 6/2 with x100s. Been playing px for 3 yrs now and after going through kbs, px, and steelfibers I'm back to what I know works. Love the look of the ICONS but my 3-4 rounds and 6-8 range sessions a month are telling me I could use the extra help. Been a fan of Hogan equipment dating back to the 80s. The new stuff they have put out over the past few years has been calling my name. Don't know how I'm going to make it through the next 3-4 weeks. Reading all the responses to this thread is making it worse yet here I am again. Cant wait to get them in my hands!!!!