TM P790 3 iron or G430 2-hybrid or 3-hybrid?

[byungwook]

I went through a couple of fitting sessions and bought the following clubs:

 

PXG GEN6 0311P irons 4-G with Dynamic Gold MID 115 (S300)

Ping G430 Max 3-wood (15*) with Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 (S)

Ping G430 Max Driver (9*) with Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 (S)

 

They all are expected to be delivered in the next few days.

 

I wanted to buy a 3 iron, but found that PXG Gen6 doesn't have 3 iron offering.

So I did not buy anything between Gen6 4 iron and G430 Max 3 wood yet.

 

I was originally thinking of buying P790 3 iron, but people said P790 is not as forgiving as PXG Gen6.

So, I'm considering G430 hybrid. But, I am not sure if I should go for 2-hybrid (17*) or 3-hybrid (19*), when PXG 4 iron has 18* of loft.

(I also tried PXG Gen6 hybrids, but I did not like both models that I tried.)

 

I wanted to try the clubs, but the local shops that I went to did not have any P790 3 iron or G430 hybrids with Ventus Blue shaft that I could try and I could not really compare the yardage of the clubs.

(they did not have PXG Gen 6 4 iron that I could try, either)

 

Any suggestion? If there is a better option than these, I'm open to new ideas.

Another possibility might be G430 Max 5 wood, if any of the above isn't a good option.

 

[byungwook]

I was thinking about it more.

 

What if I order another PXG 0311P 4 iron with 2* stronger loft and 3/4 inches longer shaft?

Will that play as a 3 iron substitute? Or, because the head is heavier and bigger than the normal 3 iron, it wouldn't work?

What about 0311XP 4 iron with stronger loft and length?

[Tree Levino]

6 hours ago, byungwook said:

I was thinking about it more.

 

What if I order another PXG 0311P 4 iron with 2* stronger loft and 3/4 inches longer shaft?

Will that play as a 3 iron substitute? Or, because the head is heavier and bigger than the normal 3 iron, it wouldn't work?

What about 0311XP 4 iron with stronger loft and length?

I’m assuming given the fit that you’re a mid to high cap. Playing an iron with less than 18 degrees of loft is likely not going to be beneficial to your game. Id consider the 17* hybrid if you’re going to play the 4 iron in that set but if you want to score better I’d consider playing a 5 or 7 wood and then a hybrid instead of that 4i 

[elwhippy]

I have a G430 17 degree. Very accurate, long and gives a penetrating ball flight. Ideal club for a solid striker. If you want hit it off the tee, fine. Go for loft and a larger clubhead if you want forgiveness. TL is correct. My higher hcp friends use nothing below 19 degrees (driver excluded). Loft is your friend. 

[eric61]

You said you got fitted into the P irons, not the XP, right? The P 4 iron's loft is 20.5 degrees, unless you ordered it stronger than that. (I could easily see a blended set with an XP 4 iron at 18 degrees and then your P 5 iron strengthened a degree to 22 degrees to keep 4 degree loft increments, so correct me if I'm wrong.) 

 

If it's the P 4 iron at 20.5 degrees, I'd go G430 3H or would also potentially look at the G430 Max 7 wood delofted to 20 degrees, which could fit your gap well and also give you an option to hit high and hold greens vs. your 4 iron which is probably going to hit lower missiles. 

[byungwook]

Thanks a lot for your feedback so far. Especially, eric61, for pointing out the wrong loft info that I had. I must have been looking at Gen6 XP irons for the spec.

 

To give a little more info about my golf, I used to carry 5-7 handicap, but stopped playing about 10 years ago and started playing again this year. I played about 12-15 rounds in the last 10 months or so.

(I was busy being a baseball dad coaching and helping with my sons training... I am no longer able to help them much, as I grew older and weaker...)

 

My current set has (yes, they are quite old)

TM R9 TP 9.5* driver with UST Proforce V2 shaft in x-stiff (1.8* torque)

RM R9 TP 15* 3-wood with Fubuki shaft in x-stiff

TM Rocket Bladez Tour with Dynamic Gold X100 (2-PW)

 

I hit the current driver ~285 yards on average on TrackMan with 260-265 carry with average swing speed of 111mph.

My 3-wood has 235-245 yards depending on the lie.

I cannot hit 2 iron consistently anymore and I stopped using it (carrying 13 clubs only).

3 iron distance is about 220-225 yards and 4 iron distance is about 210-215 yards.

 

Given the courses that I play do not have many straight holes and the fairways are narrow, I hit 3 or 4 irons off the tee maybe 5-6 times a round. I've always liked irons better than woods or hybrid for some reason and I hit them decent as well. But, I want to eliminate those 2-3 bad shots a round that turn into double bogeys (or occasional triples).

 

No issues with the distance, but given that I got older and rusty (and weaker), I cannot hit them consistently anymore. Too many double bogeys and my score is low 80's on a good day with many bad days. 🙂

 

That's why I wanted more forgiving clubs and I also decided to go lower on the stiffness in the shaft.

I cannot swing as hard as I used to all 18 holes anymore and I'm starting to swing a little bit easy as well.

 

 

With the feedback and the correct loft info so far, I'm now leaning towards 3-hybrid or XP 4 iron.

Any other feedback would be helpful.

[Pepperturbo]

What fits your skill level better?  If you're a good player, go with PXG 4 iron at 18'.   

 

Three degrees spread between 15' and 18 fits nicely.  I am a long iron player, not into hybrids, thus my 15' 3wd sleeve is set closer to 14' so my 17' 2 iron, 20' 3i and 23' 4i fit nicely.  My long irons are used off tees and fairways.

 

If you go with strong lofted long irons, you may need to practice more to use them off the deck.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Pepperturbo

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I’ve got both-ish. I’ve got a TM p760 3 iron with a graphite shaft built ans a driving iron and the g430 3h.  I use them course and weather dependent so that might be something to consider too. 

[byungwook]

I finally decided to to with G430 3-hybrid. I think I can hit long irons well, but the whole point of changing the clubs was to start using easier and more forgiving clubs for future. From that perspective, hybrid with a graphite shaft is the right direction.

On top of that, I finally got G430 max driver with Ventus TR blue shaft and it was much better at the range today than the fitting session a week ago and I quickly fell in love with the driver. So I wanted to go with a similar make up.

 

Thank you everyone for your help!

[elwhippy]

Excellent club. Enjoy.