Dynamic Gold 105 R300 vs S300

[dsb0328]

Yesterday I tried out some Mizuno JPX919 Forged irons with Dynamic Gold R300 shafts and hit them well. Then had to go home and figure out if the funds were there for them. So, I went back to the store today, and the same guy that fitted me said he would give me 10% off the already discounted price, so I bought them. Got out to my car and noticed he gave me the iron set with S300 shafts. I went back in and told him, but he said that after thinking about yesterday, he would prefer me in a stiff shaft anyway. (Actually, he said that after he tried to convince me that I hit the S300 yesterday, which I know I didn't.) He said my 7 iron swing speed was around 80-82, but I always thought it was 77-80. Maybe I was swinging faster yesterday. So I asked him if I could compare them to the 7 iron I hit yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't swinging as well today, so I didn't see much difference except that the ball was going a little straighter with the S300, but maybe not as high with it. Just wondering if there will be a big difference between the R300 and the S300. The R300 felt really smooth yesterday, but didn't feel much different from the S300 today. I want to trust the fitter, but not sure if he was just in a hurry or not. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[dsb0328]

Forgot to mention that he also said that there's not going to be a difference in the 2 shafts at all. They're just a piece of steel. Is that correct?

[mikec3672]

obviously he does not know what he is talking about. the R's in that weight are a lot easier to load and elevate. i have a 100mph swing speed w the driver and i play regular to R+. eg -- I play PX LZ 5.5 soft stepped 2x to makes them play like a 5.2-3 which around where I expect the R300's would be.

[Pepperturbo]

DG R300 flex is 127g & S300 flex is 130g. Not sure many can tell if blindfolded 3 gram difference between those shafts, but flex will be noticeable more when you're tired. That depends on your physical conditioning. Taper Tip S300 shafts have a slightly larger butt diameter than R300. Parallel tip shafts have the same size butt diameter.

If R300 felt smoother I suspect it's because "R" allows you transition to the right easier as opposed to S300. That's the case with me and 95g "R" in my 2i as opposed to 110g "S", the latter makes me work a bit harder due to the slightly more stout butt of 110g over 95g.

Personally, not sure I'd trust that fitter - his mistake and how he justifies it is NOT good.

[dsb0328]

Thanks for the reply. I called a different location, same store, and they asked me to come back in to be properly fitted. I will let you know what they say. These exact shafts, by the way, are Dynamic Gold 105 S300/R300.

[Pepperturbo]

105 shaft is a different profile than what I thought you were dealing with. Much lighter but taper tip has only 2g spread between R & S. They also have a bit more tip spin so possibly higher trajectory as opposed to heavier shafts I was talking about. Good luck.

[jeffrey r]

Bear in mind, the DG 105 is simply the stock shaft with the 919 Forged, but may not be the best shaft for you anyway. It is easier for them to sell off-the-shelf, than to truly custom fit. So of course, get properly fitted--but my gut would say, go with the R300 as between those two. Over the 4 hours of a round, the extra effort that may be required to load the S300 could take a toll.

I had demo'd the DG 105, and it was not a great fit for my swing. Launch was a little low, and it felt boardy. At the time, much preferred the Modus Tour 105, and now, I would frankly choose something in the Elevate line (95 or 105). But that is me--good luck getting properly fit.

[mikec3672]

Felt boardy for me too, and what I suspect, was just trying to move the set vs a true fit

[dsb0328]

So I just got back from the other location where a different fitter agreed that I should be in the R300 rather than the S300. They said they can't offer other shafts because Mizuno isn't making the JPX919s anymore. However, he did think the DG 105 R300 was a good fit and I personally felt it was not as stiff feeling as the S300. (Like you described, very boardy.) Like yesterday, the R300 just felt smoother. And my height was much better than the S300 and my old clubs, MX300s.

Another point I forgot to mention before, when I went to a golf show earlier this year, Mizuno tested my swing, and said the DG 105 R was the #4 shaft recommendation. Modus 105 R, KBS Tour 90 S, and C-Taper Lite R were the only 3 ahead of it. So at least it's in the range of the top 6 that the Mizuno guys suggested. Now I just need to fix my outside to inside swing and I should be good to go.

Thanks for all of your feedback. It was very helpful.

[dmeeksDC]

I think you got it right. All those shafts are in same weight category, which is what I notice most. The KBS 90 Tour S is actually a 102 gram shaft, so right in there. I do think you will be happier in the 105 R vs S300 given what the Mizuno fitting showed.

[Chuck905]

Have you brought the S300 to the course?

Club head speed is just one equation in shaft selection. Personally, I have a loop and quick transition in my full swing so stiff 5.8-6.0 can keep up with me.

Yes, I have a tighter shot dispersion pattern and a touch lower ball flight with stiff over regular but I am not worried. Funny enough, a regular will spin too much that I lose half a club of distance.

Weight, find the static weight you are comfortable. I prefer S400 in lofted wedges but 120 grams in my PW-3 iron set. Helps me find the sweet spot the most times.

[jeffrey r]

Glad it worked out. I think you ended up fine. And the guy today was correct about not being able to order custom 919 irons anymore. So, what is out there, is what is out there. Enjoy the new irons!

[dsb0328]

Thanks! I'm going to take them out in a couple days when it stops raining. Here's to hoping I love them!

[dsb0328]

I'm going to take them out in a couple days to test them out on the course, so I'll let you know if I have the same issues with spin as you do. Pretty sure these are the right clubs/shafts for me after seeing the results on the simulator, but the real test will be live action. I know I've lost a lot of flexibility as I get older, so I'm thinking it's time to move into a shaft that's going to help me rather than tire me out... as I think @jeffrey r mentioned earlier. I hadn't even thought about that, but now realize it does happen with my old clubs, which are stiff shafts.

[jubilee_links]

I was under the impression that in the DG line there is not a huge difference between the R and S flexes - the weights are pretty similar (2g difference).

Take them out and play - courses are very different to sims and once you start to factor in wind and real life shot dispersion you might find lower launch helps your scores.

 

[Tommyj]

Based on your swing speed you are probably in between R and S. You were comfortable with the R300 and assuming your dispersion, launch and spin are acceptable, that's what you should go with. Some people can move easily between R and S and not notice much difference. I'm around the same SS as you. For me, and R flex allows me to maintain a nice smooth tempo throughout the round, with an S flex I try to work it if my swing is off and then things start going south.

Pretty nervy of the sales guy to just slip you the S300. I'd have pretty strong words with his manager. Now he's got you wasting a huge amount of time and effort second guessing your original choice, which was probably the correct one.

Edit: Just read most recent posts and saw you went R300, good choice.

[cgasucks]

For me, my 7 iron swing speed is very similar to yours and I have iron sets that are in both DG R300 and S300. Me personally, although it is slightly heavier, I tend to gravitate iron sets that have S300 (or is close to it if they arent DG) and I feel they are a little more accurate, by not by much.

I remember reading somewhere that Karsten Solheim intentionally made all of their early Ping Iron sets with X-Stiff shafts for the sake of accuracy.

[1qwik6]

If you are between R and S you could always hard step +1 and see if thats better for you. Thats what i did in my XP 95s and have been very happy.

[dsb0328]

Very grateful for all of the replies. They are truly helpful. I hope when I play tomorrow it will bring more clarity to what I finally went with. I do believe it's going to help me with fatigue and launch more than anything going with the R300, but we'll see. I'll take a little more distance too if that's the case, but wouldn't we all? @1qwik6 What do you mean by hard step +1? Would you do that to a R flex to make it slightly stiffer, but not as stiff as an S flex? And if so, does that cost a lot to have done? I'm not familiar with this process.

[Chuck905]

Been there done that. Personally, flex wasn’t the issue but fitness and static weight were the culprit. Obviously increasing my fitness helped with double header rounds and so did going with lighter shafts.

I have gone as low as 95 grams steel shafts that I could practice all day but at the trade off losing a full club distance.

Ive learned what works for me and now choose quality over quantity. That translates to quality strikes even if means one round per day or my practice sessions are now two hours not four hours long.

Good luck on your quest.

[Tommyj]

Hard stepping 1X, in the case of taper tip shafts, just means installing a 5 iron shaft in the 4 iron, a 6 iron shaft in the 5 iron, and so on for the whole set. Hard stepping 2X would be a 6 iron shaft in the 4 iron, etc. Each iron ends up with a shorter tip section and more on the butt end, resulting in a very slight increase in stiffness.

You would typically specify hard stepping when you custom order a set. You don't have this option as there are only stock sets of the 919 Forged available. It can be done afterwards but requires pulling all the shafts and then also putting in shaft extensions, because when you pull your 5 iron shaft and reinstall it in your 4 iron it will be 1/2" too short. I would never do this to a new set of irons. Hard stepping firms the shaft up by about 1/3 of a flex, many people can't tell the difference.

Just enjoy the R300's in stock form.

[dsb0328]

Alright, so I went out yesterday, and even though the course was soaked, and my swing still needs a little work, I feel like I hit these clubs very well. They just felt smooth and like I didn't have to work too hard. Also, I was super surprised with the amount of action I got on the ball with the difference in new grooves vs old grooves. I know that would have been the case on both sets, but seems my old clubs were a little too worn down. I was even able to get the ball to check up very nicely on green side chips which helped tremendously with my scoring. So all in all, I'd say I probably went with the right choice in the regular shaft. Glad I questioned the first fitter. Thanks for all of your thoughts and replies.

[dsb0328]

@Tommyj Thanks for the explanation! Doesn't sound like something I should get into with these clubs.

[dsb0328]

I will follow up once more though that the 4 iron isn't the best feeling club in the world. Feels very clunky or hard when I hit the ball. Not at all as soft feeling as my MX300 4 iron is to hit. I just hope it's not a bad iron, or if that's even possible.

[Tommyj]

The MX300 was 1025 grain flow forged while the 919 Forged has the addition of Boron which definitely has a firmer feel and a slightly clickier sound. But if you catch the sweet spot it shouldn't feel that much different.

[dsb0328]

Good to know. I haven't hit it too much yet, so hopefully I will see a difference when I actually hit it right.

[FPSGolf]

Put that 4 iron up for sale. Get yourself a hybrid 4 or 9 wood. 9 wood would be the easiest, high launching, soft landing club you have ever owned. May I suggest the Taylormade M6. You could even try it in a seniors flex. The Atmos 5 will jive well with DG vss 105s.  You don’t know me from the hole in the green on a par 4, but trust me and add the 9 wood to your bag. Get ready to hit this club 12 shots per round. People may say that these are ladies and old people clubs. What they do not realize, is that DJ carries a 7 wood, occasionally a 9 wood, Jason Dufner and many other. Let me reference VJ Singh, carried an 11 wood. 11 wood replaced a 5 iron, 9 wood a 4 iron, 7 wood a 3 iron, 5 wood a 2 iron. With today’s lofts being so strong you can get away with using the 9 wood reg flex tipped 1/2’’ to replace the 3 iron. I am sure there are some wise golfers on here that know what I am talking about. 
 

Mike

On 8/7/2020 at 2:14 AM, dsb0328 said:

Good to know. I haven't hit it too much yet, so hopefully I will see a difference when I actually hit it right.

 

[CMZ24]

On 7/31/2020 at 8:33 AM, Tommyj said:

Based on your swing speed you are probably in between R and S. You were comfortable with the R300 and assuming your dispersion, launch and spin are acceptable, that's what you should go with. Some people can move easily between R and S and not notice much difference. I'm around the same SS as you. For me, and R flex allows me to maintain a nice smooth tempo throughout the round, with an S flex I try to work it if my swing is off and then things start going south.

Pretty nervy of the sales guy to just slip you the S300. I'd have pretty strong words with his manager. Now he's got you wasting a huge amount of time and effort second guessing your original choice, which was probably the correct one.

Edit: Just read most recent posts and saw you went R300, good choice.

What is your swing speed? 

[CMZ24]

On 7/30/2020 at 6:09 PM, dsb0328 said:

So I just got back from the other location where a different fitter agreed that I should be in the R300 rather than the S300. They said they can't offer other shafts because Mizuno isn't making the JPX919s anymore. However, he did think the DG 105 R300 was a good fit and I personally felt it was not as stiff feeling as the S300. (Like you described, very boardy.) Like yesterday, the R300 just felt smoother. And my height was much better than the S300 and my old clubs, MX300s.

Another point I forgot to mention before, when I went to a golf show earlier this year, Mizuno tested my swing, and said the DG 105 R was the #4 shaft recommendation. Modus 105 R, KBS Tour 90 S, and C-Taper Lite R were the only 3 ahead of it. So at least it's in the range of the top 6 that the Mizuno guys suggested. Now I just need to fix my outside to inside swing and I should be good to go.

Thanks for all of your feedback. It was very helpful.

What is your swing speed?