The lost art of hitting a long iron?

[ALIF]

28 minutes ago, aenemated said:

Ya know ... I've done a lot in this life. Enviable to some. I've played drums for tens of thousands while behind music gods, done every drug, had all the booze, been with some smokin babes, lived all the life. 

 

Not saying this as a humble-brag internet post. It's just simply the truth. 

 

To this day, there is no sensation I love more than the feel of a purely struck 3 iron. 

Not to be nosy, but I’m really curious. Which bands did you play with?

[SPIF]

I used to play at a pretty high level, SS was 115+ mph , and I've played competitively since the mid 90's.  I've never hit a long iron the way a select few can.  In fact, I've only played with maybe 5 guys ever that hit them in a manner that negates using a hybrid or other more appropriate tool.  

 

I get what some of you are saying, but to me a well struck shot is a well struck shot.  They all feel great, and not just with the long irons.  But I think many of us who played a ton in the previous century are starting to show our age by waxing so poetically about certain clubs which no longer exist for a good reason.  I don't have a hard time hitting the sweet spot with any club, and maybe that is why there is no tuning fork that goes off in my loins when I pure specifically a 3 iron.  

 

What aggravates me is that I can't launch my 3 iron and 4 iron with proper gapping beyond my 200 yard 5 iron carry, and on firm greens I'm not going to hold them in what, to me, is a reasonable distance.  Puring a ball does not make it a good shot.  Far from it.  Hitting a 3 iron that ends up reaching a 215 yard hole doesn't really mean anything.  They're merely tools, and for 99.9% of us, to include the vast majority of + handicaps, there are far better options.

 

As to a well-struck long iron being the best feeling some of you have ever experienced, I guess we have very different ways of getting the dopamine dump!  

Edited March 28, 2021 by SPIF

[dlygrisse]

1 hour ago, aenemated said:

Ya know ... I've done a lot in this life. Enviable to some. I've played drums for tens of thousands while behind music gods, done every drug, had all the booze, been with some smokin babes, lived all the life. 

 

Not saying this as a humble-brag internet post. It's just simply the truth. 

 

To this day, there is no sensation I love more than the feel of a purely struck 3 iron. 

Well, I am enjoying a nice glass of wine at the moment.....so I got that going for me. 😂

[Honeybadger]

I don’t know if it’s my steep swing angle or the fact I just feel more confident looking down on an iron, but my 3 iron (18 degrees... crazy) just works. Played this weekend and the 3 tee shots I hit with my 3 iron were as far as my playing partners’ drivers. I hit pretty high too. I’ll probably take the hybrid out of the bag and start carrying a 4th wedge. 

[shoot4par]

9 hours ago, Myherobobhope said:

I’m a decently high swing speed player, and the longest iron I carry is a 5... my 4 utility and 3 hybrid simply offer more value and better options for me on the course.

 

A perfectly struck 2 iron isn’t going farther than a well hit 3 hybrid... the return simply isn’t there... 

The lofts are about the same now but the tech in a hybrid is better. A 2 iron's more useful if you hit down on it a lot or swing it really hard.

[BIG STU]

9 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

OP is right.  Most people taking up the game over the last ten plus years are oblivious to long irons.  Their sets consist of 5i or maybe even 6i as their longest club, balance are hybrids and utilities then woods.  A few of my buddies have bags like that.  They will never know the joy of hitting a pure 3 iron or 2i.  We never say WOW what a strike when one of them hits a solid hybrid because we all know it's designed to accommodate. 

 

I disagree with the sentiment that suggests a pure 2 iron isn't going further than 3 hybrid.  Depends on who is behind the club and how proficient they are at ball striking.  Hybrids to me are like strong lofted irons, neither is needed to score low nor hit the ball well.  Even when I took up the game, I never felt the need to hit the ball as far as humanly possible, and I am physically strong, still.

 

I am 70yrs old, and still play more traditionally lofted 620 series irons, 21' 3 iron, that flew 205yds on a short Par 4, yesterday, also 24' 4i to 200yd Par 3, plus 2 iron 230+yds down the middle of one fairway, and 240yds on another, yesterday.    I walked off with an easy 74 thanks to good ball striking and thinking my way around the golf course.   While my opponent didn't find fairways with his chosen hybrids and woods as he looked for distance, in hopes of out-driving this ole man. LOL 

 

Mind you, I am NOT telling anyone to play my choice of clubs or do what I do.  What I am saying is simple, it's more about ball striking than hitting the ball as far as possible.

 

PS

2i has AV White AM2 Iron S 90g HIGH bend shaft

3i has AV White AM2 Iron S 92g HIGH bend shaft. 

4i has AV White AM2 Iron S 94g HIGH bend shaft.

Well said--- I recently went back to my roots so to speak and put the long irons in and ditched the hybrids and 5 wood. Even though I am swinging 75% or so after my injury I did well with my long irons this weekend. I have a lot more control over them than I do a hybrid. And yes at 64 YOA I do not hit them as high or as long as I used to I can work them better. Even if I miss the green with my blade irons it ain't all that bad. Besides the wind blows a lot here and hybrids tend to hook and baloon with me. I can hit my predictable little cut with the long irons. Yeah I do not get the 2 iron more than 6 feet off the ground anymore but it rolls out good and I predict it better. I also went back to my old school bump and run thing around the greens with a 5 or 8 iron. 

 

PS I know exactly what you are doing with those shafts in those long irons and I agree. One of the reasons I have that Nike shaft in the 2 iron it fits the profile I wanted and it was free. 

[aenemated]

3 hours ago, ALIF said:

Not to be nosy, but I’m really curious. Which bands did you play with?

 

Oh, none especially known. Small time punk rock and the like from SoCal and NV. Never did much. Never sold many records. Had a damn blast though! 

[BIG STU]

11 hours ago, ezpz said:

There is no lost art, just replaced by clubs that give more output on the same input. Though replacement clubs are easier to launch and offer more forgiveness you still have to manage the face and lowpoint so it's not like it takes 0 skill to do, you can give low swingspeed players their long irons back and they will just be hitting it d*ck high all day 🙂 it's not like players, before hybrids, were puring 2-3-4 irons on every hole they just couldnt get anything out of them.

The last guy that made the d*ck high crack at me about long irons went home $500 lighter in his wallet. Yep us old d*ck high players know how to golf our balls--- Now i will admit my set up and methods will not work on some courses like TPC Myrtle Beach ( actually Murrells Inlet) with high forced carries but then again some of us old timers know how to pick our courses. I will also admit some of us old timers have honed our craft to some extent over the years

[ChipNRun]

Loft comparisons:

 

MacGregor MTs (1972)........ 2i =21* / 3i = 24* / 4i = 27*

TE CB Pro Tungstens (2017) 2i = X /3i = 19* / 4i = 22*

 

Now, loft differences don't take into account clubhead design, but my current iron lofts are about two clubs stronger than my old MTs. (And, the CBs have fairly high lofts compared to other current models).

 

Long irons today? I had my 4i refit from steel to a SteelFiber 780 HST hybrid shaft. It now serves as a driving iron. Off the fairway, it's good for approach shots into the wind, keeps ball low and hot.

 

@theothertwo, if you can hit a long iron more accurately than a hybrid, or a high-lofted FW, go for it. But...

 

3 hours ago, SPIF said:

What aggravates me is that I can't launch my 3 iron and 4 iron with proper gapping beyond my 200 yard 5 iron carry, and on firm greens I'm not going to hold them in what, to me, is a reasonable distance.  Puring a ball does not make it a good shot.

SPIF has done what's called gap analysis. (also done to select wedge mix). SPIF has found the point in his iron set at which distances start to overlap.

 

A player needs good clubhead speed and consistent ball-striking to use a long iron effectively.

 

If launches are iffy, player might softstep the long irons and see if this helps launch. Or, go from GI to SGI head to improve launch (if set has long irons).

 

Another problem: how much practice time does a player have? Can you actually learn to hit a long iron well enough to make it worthwhile? Or, would practice time be better used on hybrids and fairway woods?

 

Note on hybrids: Hybrids are the grandchildren of a hickory-shafted trouble club from the late 1800s called a Bulldog (left). It had a loft of from ~ 23-27*, a small head the width of two golf balls, and was great for chopping balls out of junky rough.

[theothertwo]

39 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

Loft comparisons:

 

MacGregor MTs (1972)........ 2i =21* / 3i = 24* / 4i = 27*

TE CB Pro Tungstens (2017) 2i = X /3i = 19* / 4i = 22*

 

Now, loft differences don't take into account clubhead design, but my current iron lofts are about two clubs stronger than my old MTs. (And, the CBs have fairly high lofts compared to other current models).

 

Long irons today? I had my 4i refit from steel to a SteelFiber 780 HST hybrid shaft. It now serves as a driving iron. Off the fairway, it's good for approach shots into the wind, keeps ball low and hot.

 

@theothertwo, if you can hit a long iron more accurately than a hybrid, or a high-lofted FW, go for it. But...

 

SPIF has done what's called gap analysis. (also done to select wedge mix). SPIF has found the point in his iron set at which distances start to overlap.

 

A player needs good clubhead speed and consistent ball-striking to use a long iron effectively.

 

If launches are iffy, player might softstep the long irons and see if this helps launch. Or, go from GI to SGI head to improve launch (if set has long irons).

 

Another problem: how much practice time does a player have? Can you actually learn to hit a long iron well enough to make it worthwhile? Or, would practice time be better used on hybrids and fairway woods?

 

Note on hybrids: Hybrids are the grandchildren of a hickory-shafted trouble club from the late 1800s called a Bulldog (left). It had a loft of from ~ 23-27*, a small head the width of two golf balls, and was great for chopping balls out of junky rough.

Reminds me of the old wooden Cobra Baffler or the Ginty.

[is200LS]

I use my 4I and 2DI off the deck a lot and I mean A LOT, almost every long par 4/par 5 if lie is good enough. I don't have hybrid in my bag, a well struck second shot is a big morale boost and satisfaction. I really wanted to hit my driver well off the deck some day but scared to break the shaft.

[BIG STU]

7 hours ago, ChipNRun said:

Loft comparisons:

 

MacGregor MTs (1972)........ 2i =21* / 3i = 24* / 4i = 27*

TE CB Pro Tungstens (2017) 2i = X /3i = 19* / 4i = 22*

 

Now, loft differences don't take into account clubhead design, but my current iron lofts are about two clubs stronger than my old MTs. (And, the CBs have fairly high lofts compared to other current models).

 

Long irons today? I had my 4i refit from steel to a SteelFiber 780 HST hybrid shaft. It now serves as a driving iron. Off the fairway, it's good for approach shots into the wind, keeps ball low and hot.

 

@theothertwo, if you can hit a long iron more accurately than a hybrid, or a high-lofted FW, go for it. But...

 

SPIF has done what's called gap analysis. (also done to select wedge mix). SPIF has found the point in his iron set at which distances start to overlap.

 

A player needs good clubhead speed and consistent ball-striking to use a long iron effectively.

 

If launches are iffy, player might softstep the long irons and see if this helps launch. Or, go from GI to SGI head to improve launch (if set has long irons).

 

Another problem: how much practice time does a player have? Can you actually learn to hit a long iron well enough to make it worthwhile? Or, would practice time be better used on hybrids and fairway woods?

 

Note on hybrids: Hybrids are the grandchildren of a hickory-shafted trouble club from the late 1800s called a Bulldog (left). It had a loft of from ~ 23-27*, a small head the width of two golf balls, and was great for chopping balls out of junky rough.

Same specs as my 80 VIPs but I did " cheat" a little and bent the 2 iron to 19*. I also have my 99 Apex 2 iron bent to 19*

[Christen_The_Sloop]

 

Last year I hit a par five in two with a pair of one irons (Seve Limited Dunlop w/DGX100). My father in law was playing with me. He didn't say anything at the time. However, he bought the property next to mine right after that and told me that it's going to me in the will.

[dukebasketball717]

take a look athletic this article https://www.golfwrx.com/645080/the-death-of-the-3-iron-and-what-it-means-for-your-bag-setup/

[MtlJeff]

13 hours ago, aenemated said:

Ya know ... I've done a lot in this life. Enviable to some. I've played drums for tens of thousands while behind music gods, done every drug, had all the booze, been with some smokin babes, lived all the life. 

 

Not saying this as a humble-brag internet post. It's just simply the truth. 

 

To this day, there is no sensation I love more than the feel of a purely struck 3 iron. 

 

High level drums

Drugs

Alcohol

Hot babes

 

Big deal, i've done 2 out of 4 of those things

[driveandputtmachine]

7 woods and higher were around in the early-mid 90's.  I am only sure about this because that's when I I was in high school and got serious about the game.  I remember my grandmother had a component 7 wood, it went about as far as a 4 iron but sky high.  I had such good tempo in those days that I could hit a L flex 7 wood no problem.

 

I remember my grand parents gave me one because I hit my grand mothers having fun so often when we played.  I used the one they got me a few times on some up hill par 5's because I have always been a low ball hitter in a few high school matches.  I was an odd ball though, I refused to play Titleist balls then and still don't like them now.  

 

Have hybrids and the like entered more better players bags?  Yep.  I see lots of guys on tour using them and even *gasp* 7 woods.   My current 4 iron(Srixon ZX4) has 21* of loft, that was a three iron in Eye2 and 845 days.  SO it hasn't gone away per say, but been adapted by stronger irons and clubs in between the standard 3 wood and 4 or 5 iron that are needed for todays harder and faster greens. 

 

IN the late 80's and earlier greens were slower and softer, so more low trajectory shots could stop quicker.

[evilelf]

I am playing to a 9/10 now.  If it weren't for hybrids, I think I would have quit golf.  Long par 3's were just as much fun as getting a root canal.  Off a tee, easy to strike one.  Off the deck, I just don't have the clubhead speed.

[mcounci2]

For the art to be lost, it would've had to have been found in the first place

[dlygrisse]

37 minutes ago, driveandputtmachine said:

7 woods and higher were around in the early-mid 90's.  I am only sure about this because that's when I I was in high school and got serious about the game.  I remember my grandmother had a component 7 wood, it went about as far as a 4 iron but sky high.  I had such good tempo in those days that I could hit a L flex 7 wood no problem.

 

I remember my grand parents gave me one because I hit my grand mothers having fun so often when we played.  I used the one they got me a few times on some up hill par 5's because I have always been a low ball hitter in a few high school matches.  I was an odd ball though, I refused to play Titleist balls then and still don't like them now.  

 

Have hybrids and the like entered more better players bags?  Yep.  I see lots of guys on tour using them and even *gasp* 7 woods.   My current 4 iron(Srixon ZX4) has 21* of loft, that was a three iron in Eye2 and 845 days.  SO it hasn't gone away per say, but been adapted by stronger irons and clubs in between the standard 3 wood and 4 or 5 iron that are needed for todays harder and faster greens. 

 

IN the late 80's and earlier greens were slower and softer, so more low trajectory shots could stop quicker.

Trevino carried a custom made 6 wood in his prime. 

[bvanlieu]

Like many I grew up with traditional lofts and blades (Ping Eye 2's where more $ and hard to get).  I was a Staff and Hogan Apex guy. 

 

Can I hit a 3i (todays 4i)? Yes. 

 

Have I ever stood over my 3 hybrid and went man I really wish I had an 3 iron right now? Oh heeeeellllllllll noooooooo

 

If all I had was a 3i, I would practice more but why when the 3H exists. I can spend more time on the short game 🙂 

 

- b

 

 

[bladehunter]

15 hours ago, ALIF said:

Balls don’t spin like the used to. The game has evolved. If we were still playing wound balata, then yes 1, 2, & 3 irons would still be in the bag.

This is the truth and the issue.  
 

They just don’t elevate fast enough for an iron with that little loft and Vcog that high. 21 degrees is about the limit of usefulness off the deck.  . Talking prov1 etc.  now. That being said. You can go back to a low compression ball and make them work.  You then give up things on the driver and wedge spin side that are huge trade offs.  Tour B XS is the absolute best compromise here for that.  
 

 

[lefthack]

I also tend to slice my hybrid and that doesn't happen with my 3 iron. I usually hit my hybrid well, but if I'm not paying attention, it's going left.

[dugue4]

I bought a 2 iron the other day because I have the opposite problem, I can't hit a wood.

[Gsea]

1 hour ago, dlygrisse said:

Trevino carried a custom made 6 wood in his prime. 

 

[Pepperturbo]

19 hours ago, boggyman said:

You my man are definitely a rare breed. Age 70, still bang ya 2 and 3 iron. I’d like to see you hit them both! That’s be awesome. I still love long irons. Only hybrid I don’t hook off the planet is an old antique Precept 18* that is long gone. It’s all me I know, just give me a 3 iron please!!

I suppose.  My son says that too.  He doesn't even play but a few times each year, but smacks my MB 3i even better. :p  Probably has something to do with "if it works, don't fix it."  

[boggyman]

1 minute ago, Pepperturbo said:

I suppose.  My son says that too.  He doesn't even play but a few times each year, but smacks my MB 3i even better. 😛  Probably has something to do with "if it works, don't fix it."  

Absolutely!!

[boggyman]

2 hours ago, driveandputtmachine said:

7 woods and higher were around in the early-mid 90's.  I am only sure about this because that's when I I was in high school and got serious about the game.  I remember my grandmother had a component 7 wood, it went about as far as a 4 iron but sky high.  I had such good tempo in those days that I could hit a L flex 7 wood no problem.

 

I remember my grand parents gave me one because I hit my grand mothers having fun so often when we played.  I used the one they got me a few times on some up hill par 5's because I have always been a low ball hitter in a few high school matches.  I was an odd ball though, I refused to play Titleist balls then and still don't like them now.  

 

Have hybrids and the like entered more better players bags?  Yep.  I see lots of guys on tour using them and even *gasp* 7 woods.   My current 4 iron(Srixon ZX4) has 21* of loft, that was a three iron in Eye2 and 845 days.  SO it hasn't gone away per say, but been adapted by stronger irons and clubs in between the standard 3 wood and 4 or 5 iron that are needed for todays harder and faster greens. 

 

IN the late 80's and earlier greens were slower and softer, so more low trajectory shots could stop quicker.

You’re not an oddball, I don’t like or play Titleist golf balls either! 

[theothertwo]

OP here.  This post was not meant to be a discussion re: long irons v. hybrids or their effect on scoring.  As stated, I also use a 22* hybrid and my longest iron is a 4 iron at 24* which is rarely used.  Having lost distance over the years, my 22 hybrid is used a lot.  The post is just a tribute to the long iron and the art of learning how to hit it before hybrids came along.  The long iron is such a hard club to hit that learning how to hit it properly and seeing it fly is just a thing of beauty in golf.  It's almost like the lost art of persimmon drivers and woods and how satisfying it is to hit those well.  Or with regards to cars, it's like the beauty of a stick shift and engine brake driving as opposed to automatic.  People who experienced it will always remember it fondly.  Thanks for all the replies.

[Pepperturbo]

17 hours ago, mogc60 said:

It is a lost art. Those who have never hit this first thing in the morning wouldn’t know that. 

I have a custom-made set of MacGregor MB Butter knifes, including a 2 iron like that, that I learned with.  First thing in the morning, slightly off the sweet spot, teeth B rattling.

[dukebasketball717]

I added a 4 hybrid into the bag last year and actually like this club because of how versatile it is in the rough.  I have a very hard time hitting a 4 or 5 iron out of the heavy stuff.  What was once most likely a knuckle ball to the left I can advance the ball to a manageable spot on the course.