Maltby TS2

[TexanIIDriver]

TS4/TE+ combo set built and put in some range time today.  I am very impressed with the quality and performance in every aspect, can't wait to get in a couple rounds this weekend.  Having been a longtime Maltby user, but more recently a Mizuno fanboy, I had demo'd the JPX Tours, MB 243s, and a few others in order to upgrade from my older 919 HMs.  The Hot Metal's were great, but now that my ball striking and scoring is getting closer to my scratch days from my early 20s, I needed some more consistency and shot shaping control with the irons.  Soooooo glad I decided to give the TS4 7 iron a whirl, because the newer Maltby offerings are superb and I definitely made the right choice to have gone in this direction (plus it saved me some dough!)  TE+ 4 iron pics below, absolutely LOVE the pearl finish on these irons!

 

 

[mynameisntshawn]

22 hours ago, charmon said:

I ordered PW-4 iron custom build TS3s on Friday with next day air shipping.  They called me on Sunday (Easter) confirming I ordered the clubs because my billing address and shipping address were not the same because I recently bought a new house.  I confirmed and I noticed that the status changed to "partially shipped."  I called yesterday on 4/2 and talked to a nice lady.  She said they don't partially ship and that typically means they are on back order.  She went through my order and told me I ordered an extra shaft Sku: TT0124K-Y and that is on back order.  However, I never saw that product in my order and could not even find a product with that sku lol Well she supposedly took that shaft off my order and changed my order status to "manual verification needed."  I just checked my order status again and it’s back to "partially shipped."  I know its 7 heads, shafts, and grips, but was hoping I could them by Friday because I paid $50+ for shipping and it does not appear anything is on back order.  Not sure if others have had this issue.

This is similar to my experience. I’ve never had to do so much detective work to determine why something hasn’t shipped. I ordered a Pak on 3/22. No movement at all for a week so I called. Apparently there was a “risk hold” because the addresses for billing and shipping were formatted differently. They never called me about that, but ok. We got that resolved and now it’s in “partially shipped.” So now I will have to call them again to figure out what is back ordered. I’ve never ordered something from an online retailer where I’m expected to call THEM to learn about issues with my order. This has happened any time I’ve ordered something that involves more than 1-2 club heads. I don’t know if they’ve “gone downhill” because I’ve only been using them for about a year but man, their whole fulfillment process needs an overhaul. They all seem like super nice and knowledgeable folks but the logistics side of things takes some specialized knowledge and experience they don’t seem to have. They operate like a catalog sales business (which they used to be) and not an online retailer. There are different tools available to online retailers to manage this stuff, and they should use them.

Edited April 4 by mynameisntshawn

[Double4me]

30 minutes ago, mynameisntshawn said:

This is similar to my experience. I’ve never had to do so much detective work to determine why something hasn’t shipped. I ordered a Pak on 3/22. No movement at all for a week so I called. Apparently there was a “risk hold” because the addresses for billing and shipping were formatted differently. They never called me about that, but ok. We got that resolved and now it’s in “partially shipped.” So now I will have to call them again to figure out what is back ordered. I’ve never ordered something from an online retailer where I’m expected to call THEM to learn about issues with my order. This has happened any time I’ve ordered something that involves more than 1-2 club heads. I don’t know if they’ve “gone downhill” because I’ve only been using them for about a year but man, their whole fulfillment process needs an overhaul. They all seem like super nice and knowledgeable folks but the logistics side of things takes some specialized knowledge and experience they don’t seem to have. They operate like a catalog sales business (which they used to be) and not an online retailer. There are different tools available to online retailers to manage this stuff, and they should use them.

They are extremely busy. I called just to check on my order and it was shipped the next day. The gal I spoke with did remind me that March is Golf Christmas 😂😂. I laughed out loud, that was great. They are busier than they have ever been. A bunch of new customers thanks to forums like this and people helping YouTubers get the word out. I will cut them some slack, especially if everything shows up and built as expected. It took longer than I may have expected, but Amazon and others have skewed my expectations a bit. I will give them kiddos because the gal I spoke with was helpful, cheerful, and knowledgeable. 

[goalie]

41 minutes ago, Double4me said:

 but Amazon and others have skewed my expectations a bit. I

This.  So much this.  I'm old and remember anything "ordered" taking weeks.  No, the instant gratification is both a blessing and a curse.  There's a clothing retailer online I use to get my son cloths that he likes and fit him well, and they ship soooooo slow, but the price makes it worth the wait.  It drives my wife nuts though, as she could order something on Amazon and get it within 2 days, so waiting 10 days for an order drives her nuts even if we don't "need" it sooner.

[vandyfan]

I love my TS1-IMs. They are great. For SOME UNKNOWN REASON (this forum probably) I am dying to know what the TS4s feel like. I don't know why. I am tempted to get a 7 iron (practice club) for some bizarre reason. I am a weirdo, I get it. What's the worst that could happen? You end up buying another set like a moron. 

[Mako J]

5 minutes ago, vandyfan said:

I love my TS1-IMs. They are great. For SOME UNKNOWN REASON (this forum probably) I am dying to know what the TS4s feel like. I don't know why. I am tempted to get a 7 iron (practice club) for some bizarre reason. I am a weirdo, I get it. What's the worst that could happen? You end up buying another set like a moron. 

They feel spectacular. But the IMs feel great too, right?

[bekgolf]

And once again I've placed an order to GW and it has been shipped.  All I needed was one ferrule, lol.

 

One thing that really sucks is when you are prepping to glue up clubs and realize you are 1 ferrule short and it's a very specific ferrule that I don't have a substitute for.  I decided the gap wedge would have to wait because I wasn't putting everything on hold for one ferrule.  Blowing grips on today and hopefully taking a newly built up one length setup out tomorrow.

[vandyfan]

25 minutes ago, Mako J said:

They feel spectacular. But the IMs feel great too, right?

 

Yes, truly nothing wrong with the IMs. It is just curiosity at this point. 

[Cwebb]

1 hour ago, vandyfan said:

I love my TS1-IMs. They are great. For SOME UNKNOWN REASON (this forum probably) I am dying to know what the TS4s feel like. I don't know why. I am tempted to get a 7 iron (practice club) for some bizarre reason. I am a weirdo, I get it. What's the worst that could happen? You end up buying another set like a moron. 

 

Maybe get a higher lofted test iron.  Something you would also consider for chipping, to see if you gain a feel preference there.

 

With the option to do a combo set

[mynameisntshawn]

2 hours ago, goalie said:

This.  So much this.  I'm old and remember anything "ordered" taking weeks.  No, the instant gratification is both a blessing and a curse.  There's a clothing retailer online I use to get my son cloths that he likes and fit him well, and they ship soooooo slow, but the price makes it worth the wait.  It drives my wife nuts though, as she could order something on Amazon and get it within 2 days, so waiting 10 days for an order drives her nuts even if we don't "need" it sooner.

I don’t actually care how long it takes as long as they set expectations and stick to them. And the time to fulfill an order and ship it isn’t an issue either, but in the case of my risk hold issue, that item never would have shipped had I not called in to ask what was up. Same with the time I ordered an item they later discontinued, but didn’t tell me. No matter the time, I shouldn’t have to be calling them a week after every order on the off chance it’s stuck.

 

I order things from AliExpress that take 3 months to arrive, but I’m never left wondering the status of those orders, they never get stuck without informing me, and I don’t have to randomly call them to make sure that the item is, in fact, coming.

 

The people at GW are all super nice and helpful, as I said, but the issues I’m talking about have nothing to do with being busy. They have to do with insufficient processes to manage things like backorders, discontinued items, or almost any irregularity whatsoever.

 

I work in project management, and I know that if I’m not going to deliver the product, or if it will be late, or if it will be over budget, it’s on me to notify the stakeholders. It’s not on the stakeholders to call me every week on the off chance I need some info from them or have an update.

 

I like the products but they really do need some help with these processes. In the same way I don’t get the impulse to do free advertising for Maltby and GW, I also don’t get the impulse for endless apologism on their behalf. It’s ok to criticize the institutions we like. It’s good for them.

[goalie]

28 minutes ago, mynameisntshawn said:

I like the products but they really do need some help with these processes. In the same way I don’t get the impulse to do free advertising for Maltby and GW, I also don’t get the impulse for endless apologism on their behalf. It’s ok to criticize the institutions we like. It’s good for them.

Nobody's saying you can't criticize Golfworks, and, in the same vein, other people can post positive opinions.   Not everybody has had a negative experience with them as a retailer.  

 

 

[mabowden]

Now y'all went and did it.

 

Just bought my first set of new irons.  5-GW TS3 + 54 and 58 milled.  Went with the stock shafts (stiff) for now.  

I've been told on Reddit that new clubs will drastically improve my golf game, right?

[bmckenney]

6 minutes ago, mabowden said:

Now y'all went and did it.

 

Just bought my first set of new irons.  5-GW TS3 + 54 and 58 milled.  Went with the stock shafts (stiff) for now.  

I've been told on Reddit that new clubs will drastically improve my golf game, right?

 

That is likely what my order will be too but waiting for some lessons from golftec over the next month and then a CC iron fitting in Calgary to figure out how to build them and with what shafts and grips.  I think everyone on Reddit and youtube says this is the way to go.  However, I bought my son a stock max milled 54 wide and we did not need any lessons or fitting to realize its money.  

[mabowden]

17 minutes ago, bmckenney said:

 

That is likely what my order will be too but waiting for some lessons from golftec over the next month and then a CC iron fitting in Calgary to figure out how to build them and with what shafts and grips.  I think everyone on Reddit and youtube says this is the way to go.  However, I bought my son a stock max milled 54 wide and we did not need any lessons or fitting to realize its money.  

I'm taking lessons right now from a place similar to golftec (but much better IMHO).  I asked my trainer his recommendation and went from there.  I'm a standard height and I'm not good enough right now for the shaft to make a huge difference.  Having steel, stiff shafts (I think the true temper scores are 105-110g?) alone will be a huge improvement over my regular, graphite 55g sticks.  My swing speed is too fast for these shafts.  When I started I just bought what looked good on offerup and honestly, they weren't bad for a beginner.  Taylormade r7 cgb max irons is what I currently swing.  Getting close to breaking 100, especially with the recent lessons.

[azgreg]

1 hour ago, mabowden said:

I've been told that new clubs will drastically improve my golf game

[Mako J]

2 hours ago, mabowden said:

Now y'all went and did it.

 

Just bought my first set of new irons.  5-GW TS3 + 54 and 58 milled.  Went with the stock shafts (stiff) for now.  

I've been told on Reddit that new clubs will drastically improve my golf game, right?

If you’re focused on improving your game, the TS3 will allow you to remove all doubts about your equipment. They’ll look great, they’ll feel great and they’ll perform when you execute a decent swing. They’ll really perform when you improve your skills. Then you can experiment with different shafts, total weight, swing weight, grips, etc to really fine tune things.

 

Skilled craftsmen have dependable tools. Congrats on obtaining dependable tools.

Edited April 4 by Mako J

[charmon]

8 hours ago, Double4me said:

They are extremely busy. I called just to check on my order and it was shipped the next day. The gal I spoke with did remind me that March is Golf Christmas 😂😂. I laughed out loud, that was great. They are busier than they have ever been. A bunch of new customers thanks to forums like this and people helping YouTubers get the word out. I will cut them some slack, especially if everything shows up and built as expected. It took longer than I may have expected, but Amazon and others have skewed my expectations a bit. I will give them kiddos because the gal I spoke with was helpful, cheerful, and knowledgeable. 

Yes, I talked to that lady the first day and she said the same thing lol However, after she said she took the extra shaft that was on back order off of my order, I noticed the status change back to "partially shipped."  I called back, got another nice rep and she took it off.  Now my order is awaiting shipment!!! I think they handled it perfectly, both reps I talked to were kind and there to help me to make sure we got everything correct.  I'm super impressed by their customer service and hoping I'll be even more impressed by the new irons 😉

[AZstu324]

7 hours ago, vandyfan said:

 

Yes, truly nothing wrong with the IMs. It is just curiosity at this point. 

So they both feel world class for the type of club that they are.. BUT they are completely different feeling from each other. The IM's that you know are a springy soft feeling for obvious reasons. The TS4's are more of a muted dull soft. It's just going to boil down to the finite differences of what you prefer. 

 

Had I only owned the IM's, I could go forever without feeling another iron and be completely satisfied.. but owning both, I prefer the more organic and pure forged feeling of the TS4's. It's just a timeless classic forged blade feel. I say go for it! 

 

 

[AZstu324]

3 hours ago, bmckenney said:

 

That is likely what my order will be too but waiting for some lessons from golftec over the next month and then a CC iron fitting in Calgary to figure out how to build them and with what shafts and grips.  I think everyone on Reddit and youtube says this is the way to go.  However, I bought my son a stock max milled 54 wide and we did not need any lessons or fitting to realize its money.  

 

 

[Bryceslu]

34 minutes ago, charmon said:

Yes, I talked to that lady the first day and she said the same thing lol However, after she said she took the extra shaft that was on back order off of my order, I noticed the status change back to "partially shipped."  I called back, got another nice rep and she took it off.  Now my order is awaiting shipment!!! I think they handled it perfectly, both reps I talked to were kind and there to help me to make sure we got everything correct.  I'm super impressed by their customer service and hoping I'll be even more impressed by the new irons 😉

I’d be wondering if you are going to get the shafts you wanted at this point 😵‍💫

[Bryceslu]

8 hours ago, vandyfan said:

I love my TS1-IMs. They are great. For SOME UNKNOWN REASON (this forum probably) I am dying to know what the TS4s feel like. I don't know why. I am tempted to get a 7 iron (practice club) for some bizarre reason. I am a weirdo, I get it. What's the worst that could happen? You end up buying another set like a moron. 

I’ve got a ts1im and ts4 7 iron waiting for me to hit them. I’ll let you know how they fare to me. 

[azgreg]

[Cwebb]

53 minutes ago, azgreg said:

 

That used to look like a jewel.  Now it has a lot of character

[mustang]

9 hours ago, vandyfan said:

 

Yes, truly nothing wrong with the IMs. It is just curiosity at this point. 

Exactly--  I am a victim for sure.  I was online looking at the Rapport iron shafts I want to put in my Future TS-4.   Well,  I put 7 of them in the cart..  "Inventory will not support this order"......  So-- I took one out of the cart to = 6.   Bingo...  I guess I got the last six stiff flex they had at the time..   

 

If you buy the shaft then you HAVE to buy the head to go in them-- RIGHT?    It worked for me on the TS-1IM..  LOL

[Mike_C]

21 hours ago, Double4me said:

They are extremely busy. I called just to check on my order and it was shipped the next day. The gal I spoke with did remind me that March is Golf Christmas 😂😂. I laughed out loud, that was great. They are busier than they have ever been. A bunch of new customers thanks to forums like this and people helping YouTubers get the word out. I will cut them some slack, especially if everything shows up and built as expected. It took longer than I may have expected, but Amazon and others have skewed my expectations a bit. I will give them kiddos because the gal I spoke with was helpful, cheerful, and knowledgeable. 

 

They make excellent products at reasonable prices, especially now compared to Callaway, Titleist, TM, etc.  An off-the-rack set of irons from the mainline guys are now $1,400-1,600.  You can put together a set of TS1 IM, T3, or TS4 fully assembled for around $700 with all top line shafts/grips, etc.   The word is out, and with the popularity of other DTC brands, people realize you can get real quality stuff and not pay for the marketing of the big guys. 

[groovingrover]

Well, I WAS completely happy with my ts3s but looks like now I'm going to have to try out some ts4s with a lower launching shaft and that will cause a different gapping that will require new wedges and then if I'm getting new wedges.............

But on the real I'm excited to see what the new wedge offering will be later this year/early next year. They hinted at some lefty options for it so I'll finally get to build up something for a couple of lefty friends that I've got. 

[OhioGolf7272]

I have posted the contents here on a different forum, but thought I would share my experience here as well in case it helps anyone else figure things out! 

 

I discovered Maltby after getting some Kirkland signature irons this winter to try for fun and doing some research on DTC brands. I have been playing old Cobra Fly Z XL irons for the last ten years and my ball striking has improved enough that I want something with a better feel. 

 

I live in suburban Columbus so I was able to go out to The GolfWorks for an iron fitting. I hit the KE4 Max, TS1, TS1 IM, TS3, TS4, and the new TE+. Just an FYI to anyone interested in going out to The GolfWorks, the fitting costs $30 and they do not trade out shafts on irons like I am accustomed to from other fitting experiences. For example, the TS3 had Dynamic Gold S300 shafts, the TS1 IM had the TT elevate 95 stiff shaft, and the others had the stock TT Score shafts in stiff flex. The fitter really pushed the Score shafts, which I didn’t mind, but is just something to know going in. Info on my game in case it helps you assess—I swing a 7 iron around 90 MPH and depending on shaft, carry a cut 155-160 and a draw 165-170. If I miss, it is out over the toe.

 

A couple of notes that could help others who won’t be able to go out and hit these clubs based on the location and don’t want to pay $80-100 for a test club: 

 

1) Every iron performed well and consistently. As I have been looking for new irons, I have hit a lot of the big OEM new irons and every Maltby performed as well or better. They were much more forgiving on toe misses than others I have hit with the exception of Mizuno Hot Metals and the new Ping i530s.

 

2) The biggest difference between the models is in feel, and the information you see in reviews online on the feel is pretty accurate. For example, the TS1 IM is just a softer feeling version of other hollow-body irons you can hit out there. The TS4 and TE+ are firmer and you get pretty clear feedback, but both feel incredible when you absolutely pure them. The TS3 and TE+, unsurprisingly based on design features, perform similarly. The KE4 Max felt the best of any similarly designed game improvement iron I’ve hit, with the exception of Mizuno Hot Metals or the Cobra Aerojets. 

 

If you are thinking about saving and getting the original TS1, at my swing speed, the TS1 and TS1 IM performed pretty much the same on better shots. TS1 IM is more forgiving and feels softer on a toe miss, but the TS1 is really solid. 

 

3) Depending on how sensitive you are to different shafts, the TT Score performs well. I would not typically get fit into a high launching shaft, but the TT Score’s weight is decent for me. When I wanted to, I was able to flight the ball down and turn it over left or right pretty easily with these shafts. Unsurprisingly, it was easiest to do this with the TS4. I lose some distance due to height when I hit one pure with the Scores—I have been fit into Dynamic Gold S300 shafts—but if you want to save a lot of money on clubs, you could do worse than these shafts. 

 

After my GolfWorks fitting last month, I was gifted another fitting for my birthday. I got to use the Mizuno shaft optimizer; that was a cool tool for quickly narrowing down shafts. Ultimately, I got the TS3 5-GW with Dynamic Gold S300 shafts. The Mizuno tool suggested Project X LS 6.5, Project X Rifle 6.5, KBS C Taper X, then Dynamic Gold X100/S300, but I saw the most consistent results with the DG S300s. Also trying out a TSW 56 wedge, as my old Vokey SM6’s grooves were so worn that I was playing a Kirkland Signature 56 for a while.  

 

The fitting result was ultimately a toss-up between the new Ping i530 and T200s. Both performed great, pretty much on par with what I saw from the TS3s at GolfWorks, but the Maltby feel won out by a long shot. Just incredible soft feeling irons. Ultimately, between the Maltby choices, I just preferred the feel and forgiveness of the CB options, but you can’t go wrong.

 

Final notes: I would personally be wary of the TS4s and TE+ compared to the TS3s or TS1 IMs if you are not a consistent ball striker. They feel harsh on toe misses.

 

The TS1 IMs are very popular due to the Let’s Play Thru review. I found those extremely similar to the P790s, T200s, and i530s. The i530s were closest to feeling as soft, but the TS1 IMs are softer than other similar irons. For what it’s worth, in my experience, P790s, T200s, i530s, and TS1 IMs offered a similar level of forgiveness. 

 

Don’t sleep on the TS3s—I could not find anything else like them on the market in terms of feel and forgiveness with minimal offset. 

 

Finally, the total price for the custom TS3s was a little less than half the price of the T200s and exactly half the cost of the i530s with the same specs. Finding this company is like finding a 50% off coupon! 

[KCEE]

I have been torn between the TS3 and TS1-IM and then wondered about trying the TS4 and new TE+....maybe I'd even end up with a combo set?  Too much indecision about irons (GW has like 8 different irons I could probably be happy with) so I ordered a Tour TC Pro 7 wood Pak.  I wanted a 7 wood and that's my only choice so I chose the path of least resistance. 

[4dgolf]

Question for those who have ordered the score LT shafts before. I just got in my demo ts1 iron (gorgeous by the way) but I realize now after seeing the order sheet that I totally forgot to request a flex, and they never reached out to ask me for one. Shaft band says S, so I’m assuming they just default built it to stiff, or do all the bands say S even if it is trimmed to Regular flex ?  

[brew4eagle]

9 minutes ago, 4dgolf said:

Question for those who have ordered the score LT shafts before. I just got in my demo ts1 iron (gorgeous by the way) but I realize now after seeing the order sheet that I totally forgot to request a flex, and they never reached out to ask me for one. Shaft band says S, so I’m assuming they just default built it to stiff, or do all the bands say S even if it is trimmed to Regular flex ?  

Best way to be sure is to measure the distance from the hosel to the first step, then add the bore depth of the ts1 to that #.  Compare this to the total tip length of an untrimmed shaft to determine how much was tipped, then check the tip trim chart for the Score LT for the particular iron you ordered to see what flex it was prepared to.