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

[markymark_Rx]

So.. anybody else tired of these distance marketing campaigns? New ping irons are 'longest' ever because the pitching wedge is actually an 8 iron with a P on the bottom... Then what.. you get to carry 3 gap wedges and a sand wedge?? I am all for new equipment and I love new gear, but this is too much.. 

Do you agree or disagree?

Edited January 13, 2023 by GwrxMod

[iknowbagu]

T400 is 38° ...

 

I don't care, I'm over it, we're not going backwards at this point. If my next set of irons is 6-G³ then it is what it is. 

[GHIN n Juice]

Objection your honor!  Asked and answered.

[kwcsports]

T400 PW at 38 deg is insane haha. Wow

[MtlJeff]

It's gonna be weird in 10 years when an iron set is just a 22 degree 9 iron and then 11 wedges. 

 

Dave Pelz is gonna release a video like "i prefer the 12 wedge system vs the traditional 11 wedge one"

 

Phil like "when i want to hit a 213yd fade i just open up the face of my gap wedge a little bit"

[chollier986]

Isn’t the idea that the people these clubs are marketed towards need the distance help?  Meaning if they hit a traditional 7 iron ~130 yards, then a standard PW is <100 yards.  The 3 gap wedges wouldn’t be a need for this target market.

[Binson]

It should just be an option to custom label your clubs at this point. 

 

After all, it's simply a means for the player to easily discern one club from another within their set. 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Binson

[ALIF]

Lofts only on clubs!!!! 

[Nessism]

1 hour ago, markymark_Rx said:

So.. anybody else tired of these distance marketing campaigns? New ping irons are 'longest' ever because the pitching wedge is actually an 8 iron with a P on the bottom... 

 

Ping has lost me with the G430's.  I've owned almost every G set from G10 to present, but I won't buy these because of the stupid lofts.  

 

Interestingly, Taylormade Stealth HD irons have rolled back the crazy lofts.  PW = 44.5 degrees, which isn't exactly weak, but at least we don't need two gap wedges.  

Edited January 11, 2023 by Nessism

[puresurfr]

Im not going to get all caught up on club numbers, what matters to me is how repeatable and accurate each club is.  I may not be the longest but I have a 46" 8* LW that flies further than most people's 7i

[GHIN n Juice]

37 minutes ago, Binson said:

It should just be an option to custom label your clubs at this point. 

 

After all, it's simply a means for the player to easily discern one club from another within their set. 

I can see this coming in the next decade.  The pendulum is probably reaching its peak on the strong loft side which means it will start back the other way soon.  Custom labels is a smart way for the OEMs to avoid the strong loft reality while allowing players to customize their clubs…for a fee of course.

['Noles2013]

The people these are marketed toward likely have no clue of the lofting on irons. 

[puresurfr]

Didnt Miura release a set of blades and there were no numbers or lofts only dot colors to distinguish clubs......that helps eliminate issues, im going a soft red or a hard blue.   Cant get over that tree with orange dot, I need green dot with face open.

[Cliffy2020]

Whoops..  delete

Edited January 11, 2023 by Cliffy2020
Delete

[Cliffy2020]

14 minutes ago, puresurfr said:

Didnt Miura release a set of blades and there were no numbers or lofts only dot colors to distinguish clubs......that helps eliminate issues, im going a soft red or a hard blue.   Cant get over that tree with orange dot, I need green dot with face open.

I couldn’t remember 10 colors, let alone their order!

 

 “Hey Bones, give me the Chartreuse... I don’t like the Cerulean with this lie”

[CDM]

It is an interesting time we live in for club design..!!

 

* I bought a new set and hand them go one degree weaker to gap right.

 

I finally gave up on the club number / loft.  I know how far each club goes and what distance I need to hit to SCORE...  all that matters to me is gapping is right and what I write on the score card.

Edited January 11, 2023 by CDM

[Kingcat990]

Well, buy 30 years of 7 irons and make a set. 

[bekgolf]

A separate thread might be needed just to keep a running count of loft jacking threads.  I'm guilty of it and I'm still in favor of lofts on the irons.  Ben Hogan tried it awhile back, didn't catch on.

[djohnsonx]

I don't pay much attention to at this point. I know lofts will be jacked so I just research what the lofts are on the irons I want to order. I know a couple of people who only care what the number is on the bottom of the club and how much further it goes past my ball.

[PJE]

I think newer players have an easier time with this than more experienced or perhaps, accomplished, players. Kind of like when those whippersnapper steel shaft players chose not to play hickory shafts. 

Strong iron lofts haven't had much impact regarding scoring. 

For me,  it's an old man yelling out the clouds kind of issue but I understand the angst and passion about it. 

[RogerinNewZealand]

2 hours ago, markymark_Rx said:

So.. anybody else tired of these distance marketing campaigns? New ping irons are 'longest' ever because the pitching wedge is actually an 8 iron with a P on the bottom... Then what.. you get to carry 3 gap wedges and a sand wedge?? I am all for new equipment and I love new gear, but this is too much.. 

Do you agree or disagree?

2033 golfwrx news

Vokey Sm14 are in

40 44 48 52 56 60

Match with your three favourite Titleist irons 35 30 25 degrees😇

[Feelingofgreatness]

I can't figure out why this bothers people? 

 

If my 41* irons goes 140 and it's labeled P, how does that change much if you were to label it 9 or 8? 

 

Sure, you can put lofts instead of numbers... What changes? Nothing. 

I never ask other players what they hit, I couldn't care less. 

 

I think maybe guys playing older sets just hate when someone says they hit a pitching wedge on a par 3 if they were hitting an 8!

 

Super moot point for me, either method of labeling doesn't alter score. 

[Swingingk]

3 hours ago, kwcsports said:

T400 PW at 38 deg is insane haha. Wow

That's a 7-iron in my world.  Guess I'm officially a relic...

[Swingingk]

I took my 71' Wilson Dynapowers on vacation with the family and friends once.  It was a small course called Kukuiolono.  I dropped one onto the green on a 150 yard par 3 over a gorge and my buddy asked, "What'd you hit there?"

"7 iron", says I.

He was playing some kind of modern distance tech thingys.  He reached into his bag and began to pull an iron...

 

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you...", was all I could think of saying.  😆

 

[Nels55]

2 hours ago, ALIF said:

Lofts only on clubs!!!! 

I'm in favor of stamping the loft on the clubs also but there would be nothing to stop the OEMs from stamping a 50 on a club actually  lofted 40 degrees...

[TheOverratedPhotog]

I think for the right user this actually works. If you're a beginner, hitting clubs with shorter shafts is easier so having strong lofts in them makes sense.

 

I also think people need to remember that club face loft isn't everything. The current T300 flies higher than the T200 and T100 despite having a stronger loft

[sailfishchris]

Once they roll the ball back…………

[Tree Levino]

5 hours ago, Feelingofgreatness said:

I can't figure out why this bothers people? 

 

If my 41* irons goes 140 and it's labeled P, how does that change much if you were to label it 9 or 8? 

 

Sure, you can put lofts instead of numbers... What changes? Nothing. 

I never ask other players what they hit, I couldn't care less. 

 

I think maybe guys playing older sets just hate when someone says they hit a pitching wedge on a par 3 if they were hitting an 8!

 

Super moot point for me, either method of labeling doesn't alter score. 

Well the bad thing about it is the big loft gaps in the bottom end of the bag. It’s snake oil for folks that aren’t good at golf or are short. 5-6 degree gapping in the bottom and the normal 3 in the long. Not to mention despite all the help I don’t know how functional the 20 degree 5 iron would play for most. The reason you see the stealth HD and mizuno HL irons with weaker lofts is because loft is your friend and these sets give you less clubs in that part of your bag. People can reference tech all they want but I’ve seen average joe hitting this kind of club in the sim and no low cg tech is magically getting these things to stop with descent angle -they’re still hitting them 50 feet off the ground they just have a higher chance of selling them the club because the 7 iron is suddenly going 170 total after it rolls 40 yards on there. Golf is largely an ego sport and if the 26 degree club stamped 7 goes further than 32 or 34 degree club stamped 7 lots of people will buy the former. I’d also wager a guess that those buying these kinds of clubs are not going to specific custom fit studios most of the time but rather getting “fit” or buying off the shelf in big box.

[bodhi555]

6 hours ago, Feelingofgreatness said:

I can't figure out why this bothers people? 

 

If my 41* irons goes 140 and it's labeled P, how does that change much if you were to label it 9 or 8? 

 

Sure, you can put lofts instead of numbers... What changes? Nothing. 

I never ask other players what they hit, I couldn't care less. 

 

I think maybe guys playing older sets just hate when someone says they hit a pitching wedge on a par 3 if they were hitting an 8!

 

Super moot point for me, either method of labeling doesn't alter score. 

 

I do agree with your post - whilst I prefer traditional lofts I don't get too held up on what loft each club is - as long as I know so I can build the bag round it then I'm not too bothered. I'd just prefer less wedges and more long irons.

 

However where the jacked lofts conversation starts to become a bit more important for me is in two areas:

 

Fittings - if you're comparing one iron to another, it's good to know if one is stronger lofted than the other to compare distances. Before I've gone for a fitting where the fitter was determined to get me into a set of Ping Gs when I was using my Nike OG Blades, and he wouldn't stop going on about how the Ping 8 iron was going as far as the Nike 6 iron. Well, he wouldn't stop until I pointed out they were the same loft....needless to say I didn't buy the Pings and stuck with what I had.

 

On Course Competition - "What did you take there mate?" "7 iron, you?" "Haha I took an 8 you big softie". I've stopped pointing out my 7 iron is the same loft as their 8 and just shake my head and wait for my revenge when I outdrive them by 30 yards. Doesn't stop certain people I play with going on about it though 🙂

[5nowflake]

8 hours ago, puresurfr said:

Didnt Miura release a set of blades and there were no numbers or lofts only dot colors to distinguish clubs......that helps eliminate issues, im going a soft red or a hard blue.   Cant get over that tree with orange dot, I need green dot with face open.

They did, collaboration with linksoul, basically a 4,6,8,P half set but much cooler. 
 

5 hours ago, TheOverratedPhotog said:

I think for the right user this actually works. If you're a beginner, hitting clubs with shorter shafts is easier so having strong lofts in them makes sense.

 

I also think people need to remember that club face loft isn't everything. The current T300 flies higher than the T200 and T100 despite having a stronger loft

Probably does, just wish they would stop numbering them as it’s become silly. 
 

I reckon that an average player would be best served with a three or four club “iron set” covering about 30-45 degrees, hybrids in the 20s, wedges in the 50s.