Blade users thread (NO DEBATING CLUBHEADS! NO Buy Sell Trade!)

[bobbydazzlewazzler]

 

I had the same experience with mp67s and mp60. The mp67s were the better performing iron whether the strike was a mishit or good strike.

 

The cavity design has some serious unforgiving features. Enough to beg the question whether or not the manufacturers are really designing "forgiving" clubs.

 

I found the opposite tbh.. for me, Mp60s are a lot more forgiving esp on the long irons than the 67's. In fact I would rank the 60's as easy to hit as some game improvement clubs (maybe not the 2 or 3 iron) and 67's to be among the harder to hit blades I've got, slightly harder to hit than tournament blades even.. Funny how it's different for different people.

[DeNinny]

 

I had the same experience with mp67s and mp60. The mp67s were the better performing iron whether the strike was a mishit or good strike.

 

The cavity design has some serious unforgiving features. Enough to beg the question whether or not the manufacturers are really designing "forgiving" clubs.

 

I found the opposite tbh.. for me, Mp60s are a lot more forgiving esp on the long irons than the 67's. In fact I would rank the 60's as easy to hit as some game improvement clubs (maybe not the 2 or 3 iron) and 67's to be among the harder to hit blades I've got, slightly harder to hit than tournament blades even.. Funny how it's different for different people.

 

To be clear, my mp60s certainly felt more "forgiving" than the mp67s. Same mishit just felt worse with the mp67s.

 

And LOL I have TBs (Retro version) too and I am back and forth as to which of the two is the better performing backup set. LOL it is a wash and I just split hairs about the differences. Both sets have Rifle 5.0s and really either set performs fine. I would say I like the mp67 sole and leading edge more for really picking the ball nicely, but I like the overall workability of the TBs better. And of course it is no secret I like Miura feel over Mizuno, but that is not about performance.

 

I totally get that different clubs will yield varying and highly subjective performance based on the user. What I find funny is the continued marketing by "forgiving" club manufacturers to market their clubs based on completely unproven skill level by golfer. Blades are continually marketed as clubs for the "elite" player like that is the only player that can actually play blades well to their individual ability. And yet it is obvious by now that golfers play their best golf with ANY style of iron and it has zero to do with skill level defining the type of iron to play. That's the biggest joke in all of golf marketing. LMAO the same science that is in a blade design for that "elite" ballstriker to take advantage of is equally there for ANY skill level golfer. At every skill level in golf there are ALL the types of irons being played. And it is because of different strokes (no pun intended) for different folks just like you said. There's no "class system" for iron types, so I say the manufacturers just insult our intelligence by marketing irons that way.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I am sad to report that I had a blast today hitting a cast cavity back...cast from the finest Chinese plastic around. We were at the beach with my daughter's toy set hitting foam balls. The set has three colours of balls: white, pink and yellow, with yellow being the hardest and white the softest. The yellow balls can really fly: I was getting 50yds+ with the plastic driver (which looks very much like an old Big Bertha).

I was also able to work on a swing problem I have discovered in my efforts to cure my massive hook. I found out recently I have been placing the ball way back in my stance, closer to my right foot than left. I have become so used to it, that moving the ball forward even feels odd to me, so I was practising with that today.

Went to the golf shop afterwards, and hit some real clubs and balls, and having the ball forward feels a bit less alien now. Incidentally, I hit an MP-68 (DGS200) alongside a MP-4 (NSPRO 1050S). I was surprised that the MP-4 felt better. More solid than the 68. Also, I really like that NSPRO shaft, but I'm worried that it will produce too much spin for me and balloon out on the course.

[Nard_S]

What the hell is "Tee" and "Xcg"? who makes them?

 

I lead tape my woods to feel nice coming from my irons. My driver got temporarily better at one point bringing it to a d6.

 

I have a 3 wood that makes my bb 4 iron look like a big bertha. I have shared pics here before..

 

I think I can do a fairly cheap small driver test. If I hit my R7 well it goes as good as my other drivers, but it doesn't feel as hot for sure.

 

It is one thing to add 15 grams of weight to a shaft and another to add 15 grams to a head. Shaft weight, keeps kick point steady or even raises torque characteristics, adding mass to head in effect soft steps the shaft and may make it more unstable even if "feel" of head increases. Hogan used a D8 swing weight but his shaft was XX stiff steel. Tour spec shafts are heavy, those guys hit it plenty far, they are looking for accuracy. The heft benefits them as much as the higher kick point.

 

My feeling is if you play heavy irons, play heavy woods, if they are lighter irons, play lighter woods.....keep it consistent, your hands will be happier.

[Bigmean]

Good idea for my funky build. I am going to find a heavy x shaft for the more transitional sized driver head.

[bobbydazzlewazzler]

 

I had the same experience with mp67s and mp60. The mp67s were the better performing iron whether the strike was a mishit or good strike.

 

The cavity design has some serious unforgiving features. Enough to beg the question whether or not the manufacturers are really designing "forgiving" clubs.

 

I found the opposite tbh.. for me, Mp60s are a lot more forgiving esp on the long irons than the 67's. In fact I would rank the 60's as easy to hit as some game improvement clubs (maybe not the 2 or 3 iron) and 67's to be among the harder to hit blades I've got, slightly harder to hit than tournament blades even.. Funny how it's different for different people.

 

To be clear, my mp60s certainly felt more "forgiving" than the mp67s. Same mishit just felt worse with the mp67s.

 

And LOL I have TBs (Retro version) too and I am back and forth as to which of the two is the better performing backup set. LOL it is a wash and I just split hairs about the differences. Both sets have Rifle 5.0s and really either set performs fine. I would say I like the mp67 sole and leading edge more for really picking the ball nicely, but I like the overall workability of the TBs better. And of course it is no secret I like Miura feel over Mizuno, but that is not about performance.

 

I totally get that different clubs will yield varying and highly subjective performance based on the user. What I find funny is the continued marketing by "forgiving" club manufacturers to market their clubs based on completely unproven skill level by golfer. Blades are continually marketed as clubs for the "elite" player like that is the only player that can actually play blades well to their individual ability. And yet it is obvious by now that golfers play their best golf with ANY style of iron and it has zero to do with skill level defining the type of iron to play. That's the biggest joke in all of golf marketing. LMAO the same science that is in a blade design for that "elite" ballstriker to take advantage of is equally there for ANY skill level golfer. At every skill level in golf there are ALL the types of irons being played. And it is because of different strokes (no pun intended) for different folks just like you said. There's no "class system" for iron types, so I say the manufacturers just insult our intelligence by marketing irons that way.

yh agreed.. a bad swing is a bad swing. Shovels just give no feedback whatsoever. My 4 best rounds of the year have been with mp32, ping eye 2, mp60's and mp68's and the lowest scores happened when my putting average was below 1.7. Maybe I should put the 67's in the bag next time I head out and give them a more thorough going over... actually having said that it's about 5 degrees here at the moment, maybe I'll go with something a bit more mishit friendly for the time being.

[mahonie]

Hitting a blade thin when it's cold is a great way of getting the hands warm. I regularly do it on the first tee...then from the rough to the right of the first fairway...then from the second tee. My hands feel great for the rest if the round ;-)

[DeNinny]

yh agreed.. a bad swing is a bad swing. Shovels just give no feedback whatsoever. My 4 best rounds of the year have been with mp32, ping eye 2, mp60's and mp68's and the lowest scores happened when my putting average was below 1.7. Maybe I should put the 67's in the bag next time I head out and give them a more thorough going over... actually having said that it's about 5 degrees here at the moment, maybe I'll go with something a bit more mishit friendly for the time being.

 

Oh I know that feeling of skulling an mp67 on a cold day well. Too well. LOL that is one thing that prompted me into getting the mp60s in the first place. I thought I would get some benefit on mishits because that's what the Mizuno ads said for my handicap at the time, so it had to be true, right? So I end up having both sets with Rifle 5.0s with the idea being that I would go back to the mp67s when I had some "game" to play them, but in the meantime I had that "forgiveness" ( :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy: ) from the mp60s. Right? (NOT!!!) Well it turned out that I pretty much shot the same scores with either set but my lowest and personal best rounds were always with the mp67s. All the mp60s did for me was make most shots, regardless of quality, feel a little duller and their workability just wasn't as precise as with the mp67s. And don't get me wrong, I like the mp60 and if there is one club that I think could be fine for all golfers (considering those with an irrational fear of blades), it is the mp60. To me it truly is the club for every average Joe golfer, across all skills. But I'll be darned if I'm going to believe that it actually offers a technical and tangible benefit over my mp67s. Sorry, but after 9 years of playing both sets back and forth and having hundreds of rounds and thousands of range ball comparisons using both sets, and at varying handicaps throughout the process, there is no way anybody is going to tell me that the mp60 is the more "forgiving" club and will give me better results than the mp67 just because some charlatan golf designer/marketer said so with HALF-TRUTH "science"....GTFOH to that!!

[bladehunter]

so...... ( yeah another one of those)

 

Our club had our interclub match play tournament today vs our sister club across town.... and i had a pretty good day ball strikng wise... started the day eagle , birdie birdie....4th is a long par 4 water right .. i hit 2 iron off the tee and just dont get it all .. leaves me 5 iron into the uphil green .... Iknew when it left the face it was good... watched it track to teh deep pin not knowing how close it finished.. walked up to find it 5 feet below the hole... miss the putt but halve the hole ... but was so pumped at the 4th stuffed iron in a row i go to 5th tee 2 up.... next 2 holes i lose due to bad tee shots and see my lead erased.... i halved the rest of the front nine and proceed to grind as hard as i ever have making putt after putt for pars.... till i get to the par 5 13.... i layup to 75 yards and stuff lob wedge in about 4 feet.... watch opponent make par putt ( playing full handicaps so he gets stroke on thise hole ) i drain birdie only to halve the hole....and then i realize how many strokes hes getting on the back ( 6) and am pissed .... next tee i hit one of the longest 3 woods of my life... piped one ... wasnt until we got to the other guys balls that i notice mine is laying 20 yards past their drivers..lol i said ( did that hit a sprinkler or something ) nobody laughed ..lol left me 72 yards in... hit lob wedge again to 6 feet .... missed putt .. halved hole ( see a pattern here ?) next hole par 3 i hit 9 iron to 12 feet and make par.. so does he..... im one down at this point after 6 halved holes in a row.... 16th hole i pull drive left into trees and am left with 6 iron directly uphill to a tucked left pin with an alley way to hit out of ... i hit another quality iron that lands 15 feet below the hole.. 2 putt for par.. he gets a stroke on this hole and bogeys to halve..... poop!!!!! 17th hole...... short par 4 slight dogleg left.. i hit another nasty 3 wood over the left bunker and leaves me 40 yards or so in.... hes way right and has about 125 in but a clear shot... he sticks an iron to about 6 feet .... i mean really puts the pressure on me .. its do or die... Im realy focused but at an odd yardage.. i hit a flip sand wedge with intentions of one hop and stop.... it does but i missed my target short by 3 feet .. my ball literally is sitting 4 inches behind and slightly left of his ball.... so im away ! a 6 ft 4 inch slider , downhill left to right ... i knew i could see the fall line , i just had to hit it on it with correct speed.... and i did.. a foot off the putter face i knew it was a good one.... i shat you not i walked it in Eldrick style and said " get in there " rather loudly as it was about a foot out .... Birdie !!! and even with my read he mises his... going to 18 all square.... heres where it really gets bad.... he gets a stroke on 18.... its a 3 shot par 5.... i hit iron off the tee , then layed up to 135.... to my suprise ( not really ) he hits a good tee shot and a good second and his ball is 6 feet from mine and hes away..... as sure as im sitting here he hits a dead straight iron at the pin and drops it 6 feet just below the hole... so im standing in teh fairway knowing i have to hit a stiff iron shot and make a putt to tie this guy .... I did hit the good iron shot... put it again within 2 feet of his ball just below the hole .... But im away ... i make we go to extra holes if he misses .. i miss and he wins basically ..... well i missed.. just an inch or so on the low side... was super bummed at that moment ..... until i disected the round .... guy was a claimed 12 handicap.... but he made pars on near every hole where he didnt get shots .... stats are as follows.. i shot 70 ( par 72) 4 birdies and a eagle.... 27 putts no 3 putts.. plus made birdie to extend the match on 17 after grinding to halve 8 holes in a row before 17.... if i coukdl erase hole 5 and 6 i could have went super low ,and would have won the match pretty early .... but we cant 'what if " it ..... anyway just thought i would share .... the miuras small blade is the real deal.... oh and that Gap wedge is a legitimate weapon of choice... love it from a tight lie chip and a full shot ....

[avguy]

What the hell is "Tee" and "Xcg"? who makes them?

 

I lead tape my woods to feel nice coming from my irons. My driver got temporarily better at one point bringing it to a d6.

 

I have a 3 wood that makes my bb 4 iron look like a big bertha. I have shared pics here before..

 

I think I can do a fairly cheap small driver test. If I hit my R7 well it goes as good as my other drivers, but it doesn't feel as hot for sure.

 

It is one thing to add 15 grams of weight to a shaft and another to add 15 grams to a head. Shaft weight, keeps kick point steady or even raises torque characteristics, adding mass to head in effect soft steps the shaft and may make it more unstable even if "feel" of head increases. Hogan used a D8 swing weight but his shaft was XX stiff steel. Tour spec shafts are heavy, those guys hit it plenty far, they are looking for accuracy. The heft benefits them as much as the higher kick point.

 

My feeling is if you play heavy irons, play heavy woods, if they are lighter irons, play lighter woods.....keep it consistent, your hands will be happier.

 

My two full 14-club sets have finally got together on this 'same weighting' theme recently. I probably play the heavier set at 75 percent clip vs. the other bag 25. Both bags go D-3W-Hyb 18,21,25; 5-PW; 53 & 58W, P.

 

The heavy bag holds my precious JDM irons & shaft combo with the Honmas and Modus 125R (127.5g). Normal driver now is gonna be my shortened sledgehammer, old Callaway RF with its Matrix X-Con 6 (68g) and I put in 12 + 10g headscrews. The 3W-25h all are at least 70g and up to 84g shafts. Stock TT DG Spinner shafts in W, 370g mallet Putter. I'm trying to dial in another JDM club for Driver here, a Bridgestone J715 B5 with GD Tour AD MJ (71g). I can add in 20g of head screws or go down to 12g.

 

My lighter bag has a great set of irons for me: Callaway Razr MBs with PX 5.0F (115g). Normal driver I stuck with stock shaft in the Srixon Z355 + Miyazaki Jinosu S (57g). But, this is a heavier stock head (211g) so it SWs out at D8. Same goes for the TM hybrids in that bag (if you recall the TM 2.0 SF series SW at same D8). All slots from 3W-25h in that bag have shafts around 60g, good counter to the iron set and driver. Wedges are stock TT, putter is a Guerin TS Blade with heavy 370g head.

 

I really like rotating these two bags all season - I only play heavy more often just to keep the old body as golf strong as I can for now.

[Sir Slicealot]

That's pretty riveting stuff there BH. I enjoyed reading it. My ship board golf practice has been mainly form based and trying out stuff from GD articles. Although I have amused myself with chipping foam balls around the room. Tonight as the ship rolled I enjoyed timing and reading the carpet like a magically unpredictable green. Putting into a boot six feet away might as well be landing on the moon at times. You have never seen so much action in a ball travelling six feet. Up to two feet of lateral correction and sometimes there is never enough energy to reach. The good part is the auto return of the ball. If I had more balls I could try to slam a 1 iron into a 50 knot head wind....that would be epic! Hmmm....damn I wish I had brought along those Nitros... :stop: Seriously a bad idea. Somebody would rat me out. :busted_cop:

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

[bladehunter]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

 

yep... hard to say honestly... his swing wasnt pretty to look at .. but he really never hit any ugglies ... and he could putt.. no doubt he could putt.. he didnt 3 putt once either

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

 

yep... hard to say honestly... his swing wasnt pretty to look at .. but he really never hit any ugglies ... and he could putt.. no doubt he could putt.. he didnt 3 putt once either

 

That's what struck me. Obviously, you didn't describe his every shot, but from your account he seemed to be always there or thereabouts, and not have any disaster shots. That level of steadiness is pretty impressive in a 12 handicap. Perhaps he's normally a lousy putter, and you just got him on a good day?

 

If you handicap under your avatar is up-to-date, you shot a net 3 or 4 under, right? Tough to lose with that, but then again, he might have been thinking the same thing as he shot net 4-5 under (maybe), and still got taken down to the last hole.

[bladehunter]

yep.. that prety much describes it... its in the realm of possibilities...yet highly unlikely ...

[Oldplayer]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

I can't tell you how many times have played club matchplay rounds against higher handicap players who tell me after beating me "I can't remember when I played so well".

My theory is inconsistent players lift when they play better players. They watch good shots and putts holed and go along for the ride. Happens too often to be a coincidence.

[justasgood]

Ok,

 

So way back some 30 years ago, I bought my first set of clubs, Hogan Apex PC. Taught myself to play and became obsessed with golf. I have always loved Hogan Irons and two days ago I traded 5 sets of really nice clubs for a set of FT. Worth 15 irons that I have been drooling over for the last year. Did I get hosed on the deal?.....sure. Buuuuut.....man was it worth it.

 

Sexy lines, great finish and boy do they perform!

 

First round yeaterday and I put up a 77 with 3 double bogeys. Every iron shot looked and acted exactly the way I imagined. I am still dialing in carry distances but boy do they feel great.

 

Hard to explain the feel.....it's just awesome! Not a Mizuno buttery feel and not a Vapor Pro crappy cast feel, just solid, firm and explosive.

 

Can't wait to back out in a few hours.

 

Also, my wife is happy to see more space in the garage?

[mahonie]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

I can't tell you how many times have played club matchplay rounds against higher handicap players who tell me after beating me "I can't remember when I played so well".

My theory is inconsistent players lift when they play better players. They watch good shots and putts holed and go along for the ride. Happens too often to be a coincidence.

 

I have experienced both sides. I have played to nett 5/6 under off 12 and heard grumblings about 'false handicap' from opponents (I've had days which I think are equivalent to Furyk shooting a 58 (although my round is a 78!!)...they happen once in a blue moon). The flipside is that I have also lost to 18 handicappers shooting low 80s ;-)

 

My 24 handicap buddy has all the shots you need to shoot low, but his consistency, even from shot to shot (!), is atrocious. Consistency is what defines the level of golfer and sometimes everything comes off...most times it doesn't.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

I can't tell you how many times have played club matchplay rounds against higher handicap players who tell me after beating me "I can't remember when I played so well".

My theory is inconsistent players lift when they play better players. They watch good shots and putts holed and go along for the ride. Happens too often to be a coincidence.

 

That can certainly happen, though I was usually the opposite. I remember playing in the weekly medal at my local club when I was a junior, and I got put into the same three ball as the club champ (who was also the city champ multiple times). I was so nervous I played like a drunken baboon. Probably sounded like one, as well, when stammered out my intro on the first tee.

[Dan Drake]

Callaway Mini, TMAG mini, TEE 11.5, etc.

 

Any general agreement as to what the most low/low driver alternative is?

[bladehunter]

Bladehunter

 

Good read. The guy must have either had the round of his life or be a sandbagger.

I can't tell you how many times have played club matchplay rounds against higher handicap players who tell me after beating me "I can't remember when I played so well".

My theory is inconsistent players lift when they play better players. They watch good shots and putts holed and go along for the ride. Happens too often to be a coincidence.

 

 

true... my opponent was changed at the last minute and the guy i actually played was a very very nice guy ... there was no hint of "cockiness" that ive seen from some sand baggers... I call what he did "drafting" off of me .... and thats exactly what you decribed .. playing up to the opponents play... I myself have done it and love to do it with some of the regulars i play with ... couple ex mini tour guys and our club pro ( who s the most consistant scorer ive seen ) and ive played my best rounds feeding off their good play... so i have to give the guy the benefit of the doubt .. I would have loved to have won.. But hey there will be abother chance .. Im proud if all the good shots and putts i hit on the back nine under alot of pressure... and its something i can go to now for next year when the bigger tournaments roll around ... plus the new irons and 3 wood are battle tested and came out smellig like roses.... win win !

[NRJyzr]

yep.. that prety much describes it... its in the realm of possibilities...yet highly unlikely ...

 

 

It can happen, but it might be best to check past tournament results of your opponent. If they're available.

 

Have a friend who is a 9-10 hdcp, basically has been that level as long as I've known him. If you watched him hit the ball, you would wonder how he manages to score that well, he's not a particularly good iron player, not long, etc. It's short game and putting; we call him Egg Beater, because he's a scrambling machine.

 

Well, my Egg Beater friend put together the round of his life one Friday. I missed it, so I can't speak to how well he was hitting it, but he birdied his first two holes, wound up shooting 5 under on the front. Made a double on #14, and still shot 69 (par 71).

 

If you didn't know the guy, or had only played a handful of times with him, you'd swear you were being bagged.

 

That said, and repeating myself, if you can check your guy's tournament history, it might be a good idea. ;)

[Bigmean]

So hard to say. I buy the drafting theslry and we all know sandbagging exists. I did at one point early this summer shoot 71, and I couldn't break 80 my last 8 rounds of the year or more. I think a 7-12 handicap can look like a lot of different things. Someone that just always shoots about their cap, or someone that can vary wildly. I tend to be the latter, but I do it in 3 hole stretches, not rounds.

[Mitchell]

Callaway Mini, TMAG mini, TEE 11.5, etc.

 

Any general agreement as to what the most low/low driver alternative is?

X2Hot 2Deep ?,of course, been called a contrarian before?

[craz-e]

So gents and ladies, coming into Christmas time any plans to treat yourselves to any new or even old sets of blades???

[3_Jack_Par]

My favorite club in my bag is my Scratch SB-1 4 iron. I have two slots in the bag devoted to bridging the gap between the 3 wood and 4 iron. The lower slot has been occupied pretty consistently lately by a 23 degree Srixon Z u45 driving iron (sometimes a 23* Titleist 913 Hd hybrid, but the DI has been working well). I've been thinking that since I like the 4 iron so much, and when I was testing irons at the Scratch studio, I was hitting a 3 iron head very well, I should think about putting a real deal 3 iron blade in the bag. Since Scratch called it quits, it doesn't look like it would be easy to track down a SB-1 3i, so I've decided to see what all the hype is about and join a certain JDM cult. More to come once it arrives...

[Kingcat990]

So gents and ladies, coming into Christmas time any plans to treat yourselves to any new or even old sets of blades???

 

Come to think of it, since this is such a nice little community in here, we probably could have successfully done a secret Santa in this thread for anyone who wanted to participate.

 

Plans? Nah. I bought 1 of those A-Grind Di's for the hell of it. Should be in this week. On the fence about it. That club head is really girthy.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Well, I'm getting an old set of Mac MT Tour Forged shafted up bit-by-bit, and I am interested in a 3-PW set of Cally Prototypes (..R.. stamping, whatever that means) or a 3-PW set of Yonex TC forged blades. The Callys are super cheap, but some need reshafting. The Yonexes are good to go as they are.

There's also a 52* and 58* pair of A-Grind black wedges that I'm interested in, and a 54* and 60* pair of Kenmochi wedges that would go nicely with the Mac MTs, which have a 50* PW.

[bladehunter]

Callaway Mini, TMAG mini, TEE 11.5, etc.

 

Any general agreement as to what the most low/low driver alternative is?

X2Hot 2Deep ?,of course, been called a contrarian before?

 

Agree ! 2 deep is better than the TM mini driver for sure. But also if you can find a RBZ 13 tour spoon then I'd say is my favorite ! ?..... Sorry had to rub that one in !

[Jonesy]

Well, I'm getting an old set of Mac MT Tour Forged shafted up bit-by-bit, and I am interested in a 3-PW set of Cally Prototypes (..R.. stamping, whatever that means) or a 3-PW set of Yonex TC forged blades. The Callys are super cheap, but some need reshafting. The Yonexes are good to go as they are.

There's also a 52* and 58* pair of A-Grind black wedges that I'm interested in, and a 54* and 60* pair of Kenmochi wedges that would go nicely with the Mac MTs, which have a 50* PW.

 

Get the Prototype's! You know you want to!