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

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Supportive wife is important. Mine.....is not so much, though she's getting better (why? Does she want me out of the house? This should worry me more).

All I can say is that your ranges in Kyoto suck! We have quite a few here that open at 6.00am.

 

And yes, I understand about not being able to play much. My scores vary massively because it's all practice with maybe a round a month. That doesn't help scoring. When I'm on, I can put in a decent score (75-78), when things are off, it's a struggle to break 90, sometimes even a 100.

When I played a lot as a kid on a regular course, even on an off day, I could score 85 (as an 8-9 handicap then) without thinking about it too much.

Not being able to actually play regularly is a massive handicap in itself.

[Jonesy]

Guys I'm afraid I have no cool stories from Glen about the Masters... I will keep working at it though!

 

What was cool was he brought home a whole bunch of Masters ball markers and pencils for all the members of my club, they aren't anything fancy but it's probably the closest I'll ever get to the Masters and Augusta so I'm pretty stoked...

 

BM I have to thank you for talking about the quietening of the hands and wrists in the golf swing, I've been focusing on that of late and my golf game seems to be returning! We have league on Sunday so that will be a good test seeing as we need a win.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Just come back from the local secondhand shop...they have a 3i-PW set of Georges Spirits GT-MB irons in. The shaft is DGS200, so not a total deal breaker. Forged from S20C steel. I hit them (the 3i, 5i, 7i, and 9i), and I love them. For comparison, I hit the Miura MB5003 (?) MBs alongside. Very different feel, but both great. I really want to take the plunge on these George Spirits, but I'm short of golf funds this month (just bought two putters) and I have to shift a set or two before I can get a new one.

 

Googled those George Spirit irons and the ones with the curves muscle are interesting to say the least... But the version with the straight muscle look really good, I'm hoping those were the ones you hit!

 

I hit the one with the curves! To be honest, I wasn't expecting much out of them. But when I hit them, I was well impressed. As a long time blade player, I think my swing has gravitated towards hitting the ball sightly near the heel, so with these blades, the weight was right behind my sweet spot.

Seriously, it was love at first swipe.

[Makuakane_Bear]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

Hogan FT Worth 15's have a pretty nice sole. Clubs are being sold on closeout now.

 

I find the sole design of the Wilson FG 59 to be quite nice, nice radius blends, to them, good thru the turf.

 

Thank You. I did not know the Hogans were on closeout. I will check out the Wilsons as well!

[Makuakane_Bear]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

945's or 965's, and Maltby MMB17.

 

Thank You!

[Makuakane_Bear]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

I think the MP-32 is the highest bounce blade that I have ever come across personally.

 

As to any guidance that I can give you please note the following issues with bounce (all other things equal):

 

1) Higher bounce actually makes the true 'bottom' of the club lower, relatively speaking compared to a lower bounce club, than the leading edge of the face. This is 100% NOT good in terms of avoiding hitting the ground before the face contacts the ball. When, again all other things equal, a higher bounce is implemented on a club and the true 'bottom' of the sole is made lower, then that part that is literally lower will, unequivocally, be prone to contact with the ground when there otherwise would NOT be anything to contact the ground, as is the case with the lower bounce club. So based on this alone, when you play a higher bounce club it is actually MORE prone to ground-before-ball contact.

 

2) Higher bounce does NOT reroute the clubhead. I will repeat: higher bounce does NOT reroute the clubhead. Meaning, it will not help the clubhead "skid" or "dig" less than a lower bounce clubhead (again all other things equal). I know there will be folks up in arms as soon as they read this but I'm sorry, but neither sand nor soft turf will change the forward momentum of a clubhead in the amount of time that it takes to contact the ball and actually "save" a fat shot. It is an aerodynamics problem and the ground and the sand are merely media that get in the way of the clubhead and just SLOW IT DOWN rather than reroute it. So I'm sorry, but if you believe that higher bounce is helping you to reroute the path of the clubhead, it will do NOTHING of the sort. It will only serve to slow the clubhead down through ANY media. When a clubhead takes a normal divot it does not reroute based on the bounce of the club so the same thing happens when the shot is fat: the clubhead does NOT reroute.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and lesson! Really informative. As far as my want, or ask, for a high bounce mb set, it is more so to have something comparable to my S55s. Thanks again for the lesson and the MP-32 suggestion.

 

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

One more (might not be true though), I heard that both Ping and Callaway have higher bounce than most other OEM's. You may want to look into those.

 

Thanks! Will do.

[kadillackountry]

Supportive wife is important. Mine.....is not so much, though she's getting better (why? Does she want me out of the house? This should worry me more).

All I can say is that your ranges in Kyoto suck! We have quite a few here that open at 6.00am.

 

And yes, I understand about not being able to play much. My scores vary massively because it's all practice with maybe a round a month. That doesn't help scoring. When I'm on, I can put in a decent score (75-78), when things are off, it's a struggle to break 90, sometimes even a 100.

When I played a lot as a kid on a regular course, even on an off day, I could score 85 (as an 8-9 handicap then) without thinking about it too much.

Not being able to actually play regularly is a massive handicap in itself.

My new wife let me play on the morning of our wedding. It was the match play tourney!! She also got me a new set of blade's for the wedding (my MP 4's that I had been eyeing forever). This thread should appreciate that.

[Makuakane_Bear]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

I've got the S55s (will be trying the iBlades in the next week or so too!) and have the Cobra Fly Z Pros as my current MBs.

I'll take them to the range at the same time and swap them out here and there and there is no impact on my ball striking (for better and unfortunately for worse) nor do I notice any big difference going through the turf.

 

I have no clue what the bounce is like between them, but that's my experience from playing them the past year and a half, with probably 75 rounds between them. HTH.

 

Awesome and great to hear. I will look into the Cobras as well. Thanks!

[Makuakane_Bear]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

Mizuno MP-14 and MP-11/MS-11 are fairly high bounce. I have a set of the latter, they have 5° to 6° bounce in the 3 iron thru 9 iron, and 7° in the PW. MP-37s have the same bounce numbers as the MP-11.

 

MP-33 don't have a high bounce number, around 3° IIRC, but the sole grind on them was revolutionary at the time. A lot of clubs from that point forward been created in their image, at least in part.

 

edited to add: the Srixon blades of the last couple years, with the V-sole, have a healthy amount of bounce.

 

Nice! Thanks for the suggestions!

[Makuakane_Bear]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Looks like I have quite the selection. When I find something I like, I will be sure to post and let you all know.

 

Thanks again!

[Bigmean]

Bear, why not try Srixon blades for your bounce requirement? Wouldn't they be perfecto? CB would be the expert there, maybe he can chime in, but they have a real intriguing grind.

 

Jonesy, literally coming off one of my best rounds ever and a great day at that scramble, Monday is first day of season/membership and I am really excited to pound some range time working on this more.

 

Reading up on the Wilson v6 thread as I am new to the staff club, couldn't help but notice all the comments about feel in there. I really, really am happy with and love the set(Especially those 130s), and I think if they said titliest or callaway or whatever the fanfare would be tremendously more, they are IMO as good or better than all other heads at a big box. That said, it was really interesting reading all of the praised feel, and that is like my big con on the set.....I mean I am sure they feel sweet for a CB, maybe even feedbacky which is why they have that reputation, though frankly my onoff Miuras destroyed them in both feel/feedback which is probably expected, but destroyed is the proper word for feedback. I dunno, I think as time passes really less and less people have played blades (not hit) enough (years?) and it just seemed weird that feedback was mentioned so much. At the same time I bet if I played ping whatever's for years then they would feel like hollow soft lightning rods, so as is with all in life, it usually comes down to everything is relative.

 

I definitely trust the opinions of feel from this crew though, and on that note, great Segway for a NCN favor......, can you please scour the internet for a pick of the George takei irons you hit and post a link to a photo so I can be sure? I don't care if link is Japanese, English, Spanish, .....preferably not French, but whatever, I just want to see the head shape. Where the heads large? His irons look on large side, but internet pics is rough way to iron shop....

 

 

[A.Princey]

Why is it always a mind f*** to look down on a blade wedge and have complete confidence, but looking down on a 3i instills doubt? I only ask cause my MP-5's came today. I know the blade length is same but not seeing much face like one does with a wedge plays tricks with my mind.... A wedge is CAN"T miss mentality but long irons seem dwarfed by the ball!

[Kingcat990]

Why is it always a mind f*** to look down on a blade wedge and have complete confidence, but looking down on a 3i instills doubt? I only ask cause my MP-5's came today. I know the blade length is same but not seeing much face like one does with a wedge plays tricks with my mind.... A wedge is CAN"T miss mentality but long irons seem dwarfed by the ball!

 

Aim small, miss small. Use that long iron as much as possible.

[A.Princey]

Why is it always a mind f*** to look down on a blade wedge and have complete confidence, but looking down on a 3i instills doubt? I only ask cause my MP-5's came today. I know the blade length is same but not seeing much face like one does with a wedge plays tricks with my mind.... A wedge is CAN"T miss mentality but long irons seem dwarfed by the ball!

 

Aim small, miss small. Use that long iron as much as possible.

 

Yeah, and the other thing I was missing for a long time was proper weighting, D0 long irons seem like toothpicks compared to my D8 wedges, not only that but the static weight too. I want to feel the mass behind the ball as much or more than seeing it.

[dog flog]

Why is it always a mind f*** to look down on a blade wedge and have complete confidence, but looking down on a 3i instills doubt? I only ask cause my MP-5's came today. I know the blade length is same but not seeing much face like one does with a wedge plays tricks with my mind.... A wedge is CAN"T miss mentality but long irons seem dwarfed by the ball!

 

Aim small, miss small. Use that long iron as much as possible.

Let shaft length be your friend, yes. How do you feel about a little more loft on the thing? BTW, this is not just some crass segue into yakking about my seven woods. I'm feeling your pain.

[DeNinny]

Serious question for the blade aficionados here in this thread- Any suggestions for a set of muscle backs with a high bounce? For reference, I love the turf interaction of my S55s but would love a muscle back set with a similar bounce/sole.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

I think the MP-32 is the highest bounce blade that I have ever come across personally.

 

As to any guidance that I can give you please note the following issues with bounce (all other things equal):

 

1) Higher bounce actually makes the true 'bottom' of the club lower, relatively speaking compared to a lower bounce club, than the leading edge of the face. This is 100% NOT good in terms of avoiding hitting the ground before the face contacts the ball. When, again all other things equal, a higher bounce is implemented on a club and the true 'bottom' of the sole is made lower, then that part that is literally lower will, unequivocally, be prone to contact with the ground when there otherwise would NOT be anything to contact the ground, as is the case with the lower bounce club. So based on this alone, when you play a higher bounce club it is actually MORE prone to ground-before-ball contact.

 

2) Higher bounce does NOT reroute the clubhead. I will repeat: higher bounce does NOT reroute the clubhead. Meaning, it will not help the clubhead "skid" or "dig" less than a lower bounce clubhead (again all other things equal). I know there will be folks up in arms as soon as they read this but I'm sorry, but neither sand nor soft turf will change the forward momentum of a clubhead in the amount of time that it takes to contact the ball and actually "save" a fat shot. It is an aerodynamics problem and the ground and the sand are merely media that get in the way of the clubhead and just SLOW IT DOWN rather than reroute it. So I'm sorry, but if you believe that higher bounce is helping you to reroute the path of the clubhead, it will do NOTHING of the sort. It will only serve to slow the clubhead down through ANY media. When a clubhead takes a normal divot it does not reroute based on the bounce of the club so the same thing happens when the shot is fat: the clubhead does NOT reroute.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and lesson! Really informative. As far as my want, or ask, for a high bounce mb set, it is more so to have something comparable to my S55s. Thanks again for the lesson and the MP-32 suggestion.

 

There are simply issues with high bounce and I'm just suggesting to be careful on wanting too much of it. And also there really is no issue with going as low of a bounce as possible. I know you want to match your S55s but there really is no technical need to. In fact, I'm going to suggest that you *may* find that a lower bounce set of blades than your S55s will actually be EASIER for you to avoid hitting it fat in the first place (i.e. give you a higher chance for clean ball contact) and also for you to have an acceptable thin miss hit. The beneficial science of low bounce is in support of this.

 

When the goal of good impact is to try to get the leading edge to be low enough to get well below the ball's equator BUT... not so low as to contact the ground first, every bit of added bounce that makes the true sole bottom of the club lower than the leading edge is going to basically take away the margin of error that you have in getting the leading edge in that proper position. I can't emphasize the issue with 1) above enough. If you compare the bounces of two wedges with the same loft but there is a high and low bounce option, you will find that the higher bounce wedge, when holding both perfectly vertical and setting both leading edges to the same exact height, always has a true "bottom" of the sole a millimeter or so lower than the low bounce wedge. That extra millimeter does nothing but make the chance of the sole hitting the ground before the face hits the ball more likely. Guaranteed (all other things equal).

 

So I know you want to match your S55s, and that is fine, but if you want to improve the chances of making clean ball contact, then going with lower bounce can only help you. Regardless, by going to a blade over S55s, you can't lose, so you are in a win-win scenario!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Biggie, here you go:

http://golfeffort.com/detail.asp?bc=&itemid=2&playerid=1&mdmakerid=336&modelid=9908&shmakerid=80&shaftid=4555&goodsid=529805&storeid=3

 

The top line is a bit thick, but the head itself didn't seem overly large. I didn't compare it with other irons, though.

[cb24]

Bear, why not try Srixon blades for your bounce requirement? Wouldn't they be perfecto? CB would be the expert there, maybe he can chime in, but they have a real intriguing grind.

 

Jonesy, literally coming off one of my best rounds ever and a great day at that scramble, Monday is first day of season/membership and I am really excited to pound some range time working on this more.

 

Reading up on the Wilson v6 thread as I am new to the staff club, couldn't help but notice all the comments about feel in there. I really, really am happy with and love the set(Especially those 130s), and I think if they said titliest or callaway or whatever the fanfare would be tremendously more, they are IMO as good or better than all other heads at a big box. That said, it was really interesting reading all of the praised feel, and that is like my big con on the set.....I mean I am sure they feel sweet for a CB, maybe even feedbacky which is why they have that reputation, though frankly my onoff Miuras destroyed them in both feel/feedback which is probably expected, but destroyed is the proper word for feedback. I dunno, I think as time passes really less and less people have played blades (not hit) enough (years?) and it just seemed weird that feedback was mentioned so much. At the same time I bet if I played ping whatever's for years then they would feel like hollow soft lightning rods, so as is with all in life, it usually comes down to everything is relative.

 

I definitely trust the opinions of feel from this crew though, and on that note, great Segway for a NCN favor......, can you please scour the internet for a pick of the George takei irons you hit and post a link to a photo so I can be sure? I don't care if link is Japanese, English, Spanish, .....preferably not French, but whatever, I just want to see the head shape. Where the heads large? His irons look on large side, but internet pics is rough way to iron shop....

 

I am no expert on the srixon irons yet, but from even my small sample size with the z965 they have a lot of bounce but in a very good way that still interacts well with the turf.

[dennybb]

I shoot high 70's in winter low 70's in good weather. I have 4 sets of blades. 3 are Hogans. Legends, Apex, Radials. I also have a set of Lynx radius sole blades,which are cast. The Radials are in my bag. But The Lynx Radius Soles are so Identical you'd swear they were made by the same company if you didn't know better. I play the Radials but have been sitting on the fence for years if they're my favorites or if the Lynx are my favorite. As luck would have it I have the Lynx 5 Iron in my bag as a replacement for my missing Radial 5 Iron. My Radials are underlined and forged. They also made Radial cast in '92 but I didn't like them.

 

I shoot high 70's in winter low 70's in good weather. I have 4 sets of blades. 3 are Hogans. Legends, Apex, Radials. I also have a set of Lynx radius sole blades,which are cast. The Radials are in my bag. But The Lynx Radius Soles are so Identical you'd swear they were made by the same company if you didn't know better. I play the Radials but have been sitting on the fence for years if they're my favorites or if the Lynx are my favorite. As luck would have it I have the Lynx 5 Iron in my bag as a replacement for my missing Radial 5 Iron. My Radials are underlined and forged. They also made Radial cast in '92 but I didn't like them.

[Bigmean]

Biggie, here you go:

http://golfeffort.com/detail.asp?bc=&itemid=2&playerid=1&mdmakerid=336&modelid=9908&shmakerid=80&shaftid=4555&goodsid=529805&storeid=3

 

The top line is a bit thick, but the head itself didn't seem overly large. I didn't compare it with other irons, though.

 

Whoa, it was those! His wedges have that weird muscle as well, damn. If those felt great I am really intrigued....

 

I was sweating this set before I got my Wilsons: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s506034220

 

And the Sakura cbs:

 

 

I couldn't find pics of Sakura mbs or the new GS MBs but they look awesome.

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Yep, they're a weird looking design, but they felt great. It's not the first set I've seen, either, but previously I was put off by the weird muscle. This time, I thought why the hell not, and gave them a try. I was glad I did.

I like the look of the Sakura CBs a lot (the GS-CBs aren't too shabby either), and I'd be curious to see the MBs. There doesn't seem to much of a website, though.

[ekempin]

Zero handicap who's been gaming Titleist blades for about 10 years. Currently have 714 mbs that I have been using for 3 or 4 years. Love em...i did cheat on them a bit this year since the rounds have dropped and bought a 716 TMB/CB combo set.

 

Always been set at +.5" and 2 degrees flat. But went from tour issue s400 to s300 in the new set.

 

Thinking of using the blades for range sessions and practice mainly now to keep the striking tight then the new set will feel like cheating!

[Bigmean]

Played again today (work is slow). 80 on the button. I am really locking into a level that is much better than where I left last year. Shot 37/43. 3 birdies overall, and a whopping and 3 doubles on the back, one included a nice 15 footer to save double, only putt I made all day, it was pure angst......there was 2 holes in a row I gave up 3 that really should have been par aside from 2 terrible breaks, and that would have had me at 77, but coulda shoulda woulda and that is golf, I also got lucky on some tap in birds so you take the good with bad.

 

SO here is the thing for me. I putted bad, but by that meaning I didn't make anything and a 3 putt, but my birdies were all stuffed inside a yard so putting was fine for avg. Irons as usual, some really good, plenty OK, and a few miscues. Again, avg per what is me (I am really liking the staffs tho, playing the BB next round for a hard comparison, my guess is non scoring factor). So the meat and potatoes, I lost my driving magic some, but not as bad as I was last year. This club really dictates my rounds. From there, I just don't chip like a low handicap player. I have some good, and I am pretty good from weird yardages like 30-80, but bunker and greenside, I am just not good often enough and I can't be getting bogies when 1-8 yards off a green more often than pars. I can't have a 15 yard chip and give myself 10ft, it isn't fair to my putter.

 

So as much as this is an iron thread, big numbers just don't come from irons at a certain level, one most her are probably playing at. Big numbers come from the tee, and NOT scoring low comes from wedges/putting. I know this is no secret, but under a fresh winter, some feeling good swing tune up instruction, and some real thought, I don't feel lost as to why an 83 or 78 and not a 74 or 77. It really is 100% driver and close wedge play. I feel like my entire rounds are coming down to 14 tee balls, and the 6-10 times I miss a green. 75-85 shots, that really are determined by those 20-25.

 

Anyway, that is all got today.

[Bigmean]

I really truly don't want more irons.......

 

But should I get these with my yen balance instead of another putter?

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/u142542269

 

 

[Bigmean]

NCN, I think it is in the best interest of everyone here that you get those and report back to the class. If they had Nippon steel I would be really considering that at 50k yen not wanting irons at all.

 

Here are the Sakura blades for the other 2 people here that care about this George spirits tangent...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/George-Spirit-Sakura-Limited-Edition-Series-MB-2012-Made-In-japan-/282443880495?hash=item41c2f7982f:g:sjQAAOSwWiBY~FEP

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Those Sakura blades at 50,000 yen are slightly cheaper than the set in the shop, though the set in the shop includes a 3i.

I'm tempted to get the GT-MBs, but I need to clear out at least one set first. I think the Masdas will get the chop. I don't get on with them. Could be the shafts (Psi 6.0).

[DeNinny]

...

So as much as this is an iron thread, big numbers just don't come from irons at a certain level, one most her are probably playing at. Big numbers come from the tee, and NOT scoring low comes from wedges/putting. I know this is no secret, but under a fresh winter, some feeling good swing tune up instruction, and some real thought, I don't feel lost as to why an 83 or 78 and not a 74 or 77. It really is 100% driver and close wedge play. I feel like my entire rounds are coming down to 14 tee balls, and the 6-10 times I miss a green. 75-85 shots, that really are determined by those 20-25.

 

Anyway, that is all got today.

 

The thing about a mid to long iron being a factor for scoring is that often it is a function or result of a good drive. Par 3s aside, you simply need a FIR with driver before you even have a chance to put a mid or long iron close. Also if you don't hit driver well, then you end up just needing to get up and down which makes wedges and putting more important. So absolutely irons, especially the mid to long ones in the bag, simply don't play into scoring low as much as the other clubs.

 

Also I've often wondered what the % of total strokes distribution is for each club. For sure putting is the most used club and I will bet that the mid and long irons are some of the least used.

 

Now all that said, I still say it is best to play blades for your irons in particular if you aren't the best driver. When you are in trouble off the fairway from an errant drive, blades are great for pulling off recovery shots. With their superior design for controlling ball spin and trajectory, a blade enables one to more easily pull off recovery shots where you may have to work the ball over, under, and/or around an obstacle.

[Kingcat990]

I really truly don't want more irons.......

 

But should I get these with my yen balance instead of another putter?

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/u142542269

 

Short answer: Yes.

 

Long answer: Hell Yes.

[Bigmean]

Deninny, I played that game a lot of last summer, and while slinging a low hooking 5 iron around a bunch of trees and at the right side of the fairway and coming back to the green area hard may impress some buddies with your ability to work the ball, it gets really old, really frustrating, and really fast. I had probably 10+ rounds last year with 4 shots per round like that. I also didn't break 80 the last 2 months or so of my membership. Blades are more fun seeing flights from the fairway and making those happen than seeing WTF you can do to advance a ball for a chance at an up and down.

 

I am not a stat guy, but I should keep a running tally of # of holes with fairways hit and my relation to par for them, and # of fairways missed and my relation to par. Forget everything else, the longer you tally that, the more your averages of ironplay, chipping and putting will even out and show that discrepancy.

[DeNinny]

Deninny, I played that game a lot of last summer, and while slinging a low hooking 5 iron around a bunch of trees and at the right side of the fairway and coming back to the green area hard may impress some buddies with your ability to work the ball, it gets really old, really frustrating, and really fast. I had probably 10+ rounds last year with 4 shots per round like that. I also didn't break 80 the last 2 months or so of my membership. Blades are more fun seeing flights from the fairway and making those happen than seeing WTF you can do to advance a ball for a chance at an up and down.

 

I am not a stat guy, but I should keep a running tally of # of holes with fairways hit and my relation to par for them, and # of fairways missed and my relation to par. Forget everything else, the longer you tally that, the more your averages of ironplay, chipping and putting will even out and show that discrepancy.

 

Bigmean I agree that 'tis best and more fun to use the blade to get REAL close from a fairway lie, but still you can do no worse and often better (for reasons stated) when you hit a recovery shot. When I played my CBs from out of trouble I had more limited shot options with them simply because I couldn't work them as well. It's not always 100% better but for example with the ability to work a blade around a tree, you may end up just off the fringe in the rough, but with a CB you may have to take a punch out that puts you 75 yds away. Advantage blade (in my experience).

 

And LOL I've come to accept that miraculous blade recovery shots are part of my game and so I enjoy them *almost* as much as pure strikes from the fairway. I get a similar adrenaline rush from either one. What gets old to me is driving it into trouble in the first place.