41 degree pitching wedge.. "Longest irons ever". Grandma just smoked a 9 iron 200 yards. (MERGED)

klebs01 · January 21, 2023

56 minutes ago, counselor said:

I recently demoed the G 430 irons. I liked the looks, flight and sound. The problem, which I believe has become lost in this discussion, is in constructing a 14 club set.

my longest iron for some time has been a 7 iron. I play 4,5 and 6 hybrids. I also play 54 and 58 degree specialty wedges. I have thus played 7,8,9,w/p and u/g in my setup.

The Ping G430 irons are as follows:

7 iron 37” 29*; 8 iron 36,5 33* 9 iron 36” 37* , w 35.5 41* then 45:5*club and 50 * clubs, both at 35.5”.

The Ping G 425 irons are as follows:

7 iron 37” 30*, 8 iron 36.5” 34.5*, 9 iron 36”,39.5*, w 35.5”,44.5*, u 35.5” 49.5*

If I were to buy the G430s, I would likely have to purchase 6 irons. I don’t see how else I could do it. The 7 iron is only 1* stronger than the G425. The problem comes as you move up the set. If I buy 6 irons, I now have 15 clubs and would have to remove another club from my set. That’s the problem that I see. I thus opted for the G425 irons, 7_U wedge and don’t have to struggle with what other club to remove.

what did you do with the wedge lengths? This is a big issue for me. I want 1/4 inch increments from 9i to 58*. Having all the wedges at 35.5 means more custom adjustments. The thing with this as well is it seems the OEMs really struggle when the spec adjustments vary by club. They can do the whole set -1/4” but pw std and 9-4 -1/4” got messed up on my last order.

Mike_Honcho · January 21, 2023

does it really change how you play golf, tho?

I'_rather_be_golfing · January 21, 2023

9 hours ago, TheOverratedPhotog said:

And yet the average driving distance by year shows an upward trend which is with people who are most likely to hit the sweet spot. So can you tell me how they haven't improved?

I took the liberty of converting those longest driving figures into a chart so you can see how obvious this is.

This is what people would call "a trend".

But there is a lot more to it that needs to be taken in account for. Not just say the technology of the driver is what’s the main factor. You have to take into account from everything has changed along the way. Bet if the current pros use golf balls from the late 90’s with there current driver. Numbers would be a lot different. Honestly, golf equipment is just a large rabbit hole we are stuck in.

Klubster · January 21, 2023

Funny how a thread about iron lofts has morphed into a driver technology thread. If you look as the driving distances from about 2003, they are pretty consistent. Coincidentally, that coincides pretty closely when the limits were placed on driver heads. It is also safe to assume that there have not been leaps and bounds improvements in drivers in the last 20 years.

Mike_Honcho · January 21, 2023

1 hour ago, Klubster said:

Funny how a thread about iron lofts has morphed into a driver technology thread. If you look as the driving distances from about 2003, they are pretty consistent. Coincidentally, that coincides pretty closely when the limits were placed on driver heads. It is also safe to assume that there have not been leaps and bounds improvements in drivers in the last 20 years.

I think there has been improvement in driver tech... It just can't be used freely.

Canyonaro · February 2, 2023

On 1/21/2023 at 2:23 PM, Mike_Honcho said:

I think there has been improvement in driver tech... It just can't be used freely.

COR limit I believe was 2005. Most tour improvement since is from optimization with launch monitors & getting away with somewhat lower-spin driver setups due to the newer balls flying so straight. And also pros are getting more willing to use longer shafts.

For the average player, more of the face is closer to the COR limit than ever before so average distance should improve. But your longest drives won't be any longer. My SLDR is still my longest driver if I button it but my Mavrik Max will crush it on average distance if I hit 10-20 balls with each.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Canyonaro

JosephNewton293 · February 2, 2023

I got sick of it to be honest. Sold a nice set of P790's last fall after winning the 2 man (team) club championship. Went with a custom set of New Level.

P790........45,40, 35, 30.5, 26.5, 23.5,

NL623cb 46,42,38, 34, 30, 27

Quickly becomes a full club difference but my gaps are better. Hitting a 6 iron 200 yards is worthless if it isn't generating enough spin to stop properly.