So you added a driving iron. What is your go-to fairway club from 240?

opensupoverthere27 · October 6, 2023

I recently swapped my 4 hybrid for a 2023 u505 4 iron, carrying it around 215. It's so damn good off of a tee as well as off the deck. Thing is a rocket launcher. It's making me want to get one in a 2i and ditch my 3 hybrid...

BraxtonFullerton · October 6, 2023

22 minutes ago, opensupoverthere27 said:

I recently swapped my 4 hybrid for a 2023 u505 4 iron, carrying it around 215. It's so damn good off of a tee as well as off the deck. Thing is a rocket launcher. It's making me want to get one in a 2i and ditch my 3 hybrid...

I'm in the same boat. I had a U500 2i for a while but got rid of it due to gapping, now I wish I still had it; have not been hitting hybrid well at all. so much so that my 4i out-performs it in every way.

joostin · October 7, 2023

On 10/3/2023 at 11:27 AM, RoyalMustang said:

The Apex Pro 3-iron went way, way too high for a 3-iron. For whatever reason, it basically had my hybrid height.

Sounds like you're liking the 225 4 iron, but this 3 iron would've been at the top of my list too. Reason being you're not a fan of hybrid, and you're getting easy height with this Apex Pro 3i. I could see that working well if you can work it lower when needed - setting up a ball back, knockdown or stinger setup. As long as it gets the distance you want, IMO easy height is nice to have as it's something that can always be worked lower - more versatile than the other way around.

20° hybrid (Adams Mini at 3i shaft and length) for me is that carry number for solid strikes at what I consider an on course swing at 100%. That said reality and expectations are very low for hitting the green at that distance, but hopes are always high 🙂

Edited October 7, 2023 by joostin

ANimz · October 7, 2023

On 10/2/2023 at 11:58 AM, RoyalMustang said:

For those of you who moved to a driving iron, what did you replace it with?

I've been experimenting with a couple of driving irons. One is just a forgiving player's distance iron; Cally Apex Pro 3-iron. The other is the Taylor Made 790 2-iron. Since I've made some swing changes this summer, I've gained a ton of consistency off the tee in those long irons, and I'm a lot more likely to be in the fairway with that club vs my 3H. The hybrid goes higher and has more spin, which is not good in windy conditions. It also seems to have more side to side variance in a minor miss; we have 2 holes in particular that are super narrow and intimidating from the tips, and you can run up a score in a hurry with one less than perfect swing.

The issue is that I really need a 230-245 fairway club in my bag. My course has 4 par 5's, 2 of which are quite reachable from our 525 tees. If you hit a good tee shot, you have a great opportunity to get home in 2 if you can fly 220-240. That's the hybrid distance and it's a perfect club for approaches and eagle putts. Given my game, that's where I make up strokes and average under par.

The driving iron is a lot tougher off the fairway, as is the 3-iron. I can only get home with my 4-iron when I really smoke the first drive, and I am not good enough nor able to take enough off my 3-wood to consistently hit 240. Being long on any of these par 4s is a no-no.

I could ditch my 4-iron and just play 3-iron/Hybrid; the only issue is that we have two par 3's from 210, and if the wind is up slightly or quite a bit, I use that 4-iron.

Ideally, I want a tee and fairway club that goes 230-245, has middle trajectory, minimal dispersion, and enough spin to stop on greens while still being accurate.

Have you tried multiple hybrids/fairway woods? If it is only good off the tee, I wouldn't put it in the bag personally.

PlatinumNike · October 7, 2023

On 10/3/2023 at 10:57 PM, PlatinumNike said:

I have 3 options 🫣

Tour edge exotics hybrid

(goes really high and straight but on bad shots I tend to yank it left)

Mizuno fli-hi 2 iron

(new to bag, felt nice on the sim)

Turned a Mizuno Pro 225 3 iron into a driving iron, graphite shaft 1/4” over std.

(new to bag)

Finally hit the ZX5 4 iron off the deck

st1800e · October 7, 2023

Driver, but no one will let me tee it up….

RoyalMustang · October 7, 2023

13 hours ago, joostin said:

Sounds like you're liking the 225 4 iron, but this 3 iron would've been at the top of my list too. Reason being you're not a fan of hybrid, and you're getting easy height with this Apex Pro 3i. I could see that working well if you can work it lower when needed - setting up a ball back, knockdown or stinger setup. As long as it gets the distance you want, IMO easy height is nice to have as it's something that can always be worked lower - more versatile than the other way around.

20° hybrid (Adams Mini at 3i shaft and length) for me is that carry number for solid strikes at what I consider an on course swing at 100%. That said reality and expectations are very low for hitting the green at that distance, but hopes are always high 🙂

Thanks! I played around with that setup yesterday. Kind of a shorter swing knockdown 3 iron. I was surprised that I didn't lose much distance; it was just a lower flight and easy keep in the middle.

I was playing around with a knockdown on my 8-iron as well and was getting really consistent distance and spin, from what I could tell on the range. I play that shot a lot with my wedge/50 degree when it's windy and I need that 115-130 approach shot. Maybe it's worth looking into doing more often; it seems that the shorter swing and lower flight is more accurate than my regular swing.

joostin · October 7, 2023

25 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

Thanks! I played around with that setup yesterday. Kind of a shorter swing knockdown 3 iron. I was surprised that I didn't lose much distance; it was just a lower flight and easy keep in the middle.

I was playing around with a knockdown on my 8-iron as well and was getting really consistent distance and spin, from what I could tell on the range. I play that shot a lot with my wedge/50 degree when it's windy and I need that 115-130 approach shot. Maybe it's worth looking into doing more often; it seems that the shorter swing and lower flight is more accurate than my regular swing.

Hope it works out. Interested to see what club wins.

Yeah I really like the knockdown for almost any club, and feel like I can be really aggressive with it while staying in control - cutoff backswing, cutoff finish, Tommy Fleetwood-ish. I always tell myself to play it exclusively, and forget!

For me it's normally about -10% distance drop from a full swing, but can definitely crank it to my -5% numbers, as posted in my witb thread:

JD3 · October 7, 2023

3 utility iron up to 225. 5 wood is my only fairway which I'd use from 230+.

Rbsiedsc · October 8, 2023

3 utility is my 220-230 club. 7w similar but launches higher and stops fast. This was my utility and this was after it went through some branches.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Rbsiedsc

hook_or_slice · October 8, 2023

On 10/2/2023 at 11:58 AM, RoyalMustang said:

......

I could ditch my 4-iron and just play 3-iron/Hybrid; the only issue is that we have two par 3's from 210, and if the wind is up slightly or quite a bit, I use that 4-iron.

....

I couldn't imagine dropping a club that is needed for a par 3.