Off Brand or non mainstream equipment

[tourpure]

Besides the major companies which irons/woods etc do any of you use?I mean like the Sub70 brand or Bettinardi irons or any other off big brand stuff.Even if its a major company but Japan only like the new Cally XForged line just want to hear how this equipment plays compared to the big companies.

[RoverTiger]

These are my recently purchased Dynacraft irons from Hireko, @tourpure. I had been wanting to move to a hollow-bodied iron, and getting these in 5-PW for about $300 was just too good to pass up. A few weeks in now, and I absolutely swear by them. Insanely good for the money. 

 

On a side note, I really geek out over some of the equipment you can find from various DTC brands now. I think there's a lot of stuff out there that rivals the offerings from the more heralded manufacturers, but there just isn't the marketing behind it to make it as visible to the masses.

Edited May 22 by RoverTiger

[lefthack]

My whole bag is currently Haywood, but I've played Byrdie irons and really enjoyed them. I also have some Toura blades that are pretty incredible. 

[vietnameeh]

Maltby for me

[naj959]

4 hours ago, RoverTiger said:

These are my recently purchased Dynacraft irons from Hireko, @tourpure. I had been wanting to move to a hollow-bodied iron, and getting these in 5-PW for about $300 was just too good to pass up. A few weeks in now, and I absolutely swear by them. Insanely good for the money. 

 

On a side note, I really geek out over some of the equipment you can find from various DTC brands now. I think there's a lot of stuff out there that rivals the offerings from the more heralded manufacturers, but there just isn't the marketing behind it to make it as visible to the masses.

I picked up the driving iron head for $16 on a whim. Shape may not suit a purist but the feel off the face and forgiveness is pretty impressive. I believe it has a forged face. Easy to elevate and well balanced. Wish I had gone with a lower loft but the 21* is a great 3 iron replacement.

 

To the op's question.....I'm a big fan of jdm gear. I'd put my yamaha tour models against any modern players cavity. And my PRGR driver has been super consistent. Not sure how the nabla face compares to the latest driver tech but the dispersion has been really good.

[Maroon_19]

Artisans. Lucky enough to live close to the shop and lucky enough to be able to afford them... 

[Itsjustagame]

Lots of Sub 70 in my bag. Just as good as bigger manufacturers.

[dekez]

4 hours ago, naj959 said:

I picked up the driving iron head for $16 on a whim. Shape may not suit a purist but the feel off the face and forgiveness is pretty impressive. I believe it has a forged face. Easy to elevate and well balanced. Wish I had gone with a lower loft but the 21* is a great 3 iron replacement.

 

To the op's question.....I'm a big fan of jdm gear. I'd put my yamaha tour models against any modern players cavity. And my PRGR driver has been super consistent. Not sure how the nabla face compares to the latest driver tech but the dispersion has been really good.

Which Yamaha irons do you have?

[Ger21]

2015 OnOff forged Kuro, one of the best forged CB's ever made.

Also play Honma TW747 fairways, and a Piretti putter.

And almost forgot about my Fourteen RM-4 wedges.

I've never seen any of these in the bag of anyone I've ever played with.

Edited May 23 by Ger21

[propman]

Maltby for me as well 

[vandyfan]

I have maltby irons now, I had Ben Hogan PtxPros (DTC then and now) before and dabbled with New Level. I also have a LAB putter (swear by that) and have had Pinhawk (Valuegolf) hybrids and fairway woods and all have been good value for the money. It will still take some convincing that the Drivers from DTC companies are up to snuff but everything, in my opinion, has closed or eliminated the tech gap with major OEMs. 

 

Oh, and I even play a Maxfli Tour X ball. The only major OEM stuff I have is Mizuno at the top of the bag (Driver, Hybrid, Driving Iron). 

[Gopher68]

The old Bridgestone stuff (J15, J33, J36, etc.) was great, can still get JDM Bridgestone now that's really good equipment.

[Gabbagool]

I play Maxfli Tour X balls about half the time. Just as good as the prov1s I play the rest of the time. I just happen to find so many mint ProV1s that it’s actually more expensive to play the Maxflis 

[Sp4zRX]

Maltby irons and Evnroll putter. 

[Mike_C]

Maltby irons here for me too, also have a Maltby mallet putter than has seen time in the bag.  I also like the look of their fairways and wedges, but haven't tried them on the course. 

[RangeBaller]

Edel.  The quality is incredible.  I think their retail prices are pretty steep, but I've found very good deals in the secondhand market

[etodd]

Definitely my Fourteen TB7 Irons 4-PW. Hade them rebuilt to my spec with my shafts by a local builder and couldn't be happier. Got them for about 40% off during the Thanksgiving sale and post-build they probably cost me right around $1300. Same as any "stock" forged iron available in the US. Extremely soft, Beautiful, Consistent, and they're Japanese. Love em. Have only been tempted by the new TM "Proto" irons currently floating around, but we'll see if they outperform these guys.

 

[GolfGuy1717]

I am a huge New Level guy.  Their 623 CB's were great and the new 480's are awesome with the weight port.  

The new wedges are sneaky good although I don't have the FF ones.  

I also have a LAB putter which I can't imagine I ever leave.  

 

I have tried others but New Level work's best for me.  

 

 

 

 

[Primo1868]

10 minutes ago, etodd said:

Definitely my Fourteen TB7 Irons 4-PW. Hade them rebuilt to my spec with my shafts by a local builder and couldn't be happier. Got them for about 40% off during the Thanksgiving sale and post-build they probably cost me right around $1300. Same as any "stock" forged iron available in the US. Extremely soft, Beautiful, Consistent, and they're Japanese. Love em. Have only been tempted by the new TM "Proto" irons currently floating around, but we'll see if they outperform these guys.

 

I really want to pull the trigger on a set of fourteens but do not have anywhere local to hit them. Tempted to do a combo set between TB5 in 4/5 and TB7. 

[MN Moose]

5 minutes ago, GolfGuy1717 said:

I am a huge New Level guy.  Their 623 CB's were great and the new 480's are awesome with the weight port.  

The new wedges are sneaky good although I don't have the FF ones.  

I also have a LAB putter which I can't imagine I ever leave.  

 

I have tried others but New Level work's best for me.  

 

 

 

 

I picked up a tri-weight 60* on closeout for $75 and love it so much that I've been considering a combo Set of the 623CB/MB to replace my Snakeyes 600b/c combo set.  With the 623s on closeout, they seem to be a really good deal right now.

[etodd]

7 minutes ago, Primo1868 said:

I really want to pull the trigger on a set of fourteens but do not have anywhere local to hit them. Tempted to do a combo set between TB5 in 4/5 and TB7. 

They are awesome. I went in super blind and came out with a victory. I really don't think the 4i/5i are that hard to hit, and i'm not the worlds best ball striker, but I also do love long irons. I got the whole set bent 2 weak so the 4i is 22 and the PW is 44, which is still crazy strong. I love the offset - there's essentially none. But could be a little intimidating for some people. I've see good reviews on the TB5's as well, but I just didn't love how thick the soles were. The size of the heads on the TB7 is also not that small compared to something like a Mizuno 241/243. They're very nice. Smaller-ish heads, thinner soles, little to no offset, nice top-lines, and modern lofts without a ton of tungsten/speed pockets. Can't get much better for me.

Edited May 22 by etodd

[TKS]

I fit and build Wishon primarily. The DTC model is a race to the bottom of the price scale, then get purchased  - initially starting with open models from various Asian foundries, their logistics and supply status can be all over the place. But outside of the Wall Street controlled brands (new driver model every 9-12 months) there are excellent products available - The aforementioned Wishon brand is my wheelhouse - something for every level of golfer, but Maltby, Hierko, and Swing Science do an excellent job too. The specialty shops like Bettinardi, National Custom, Artisan, Avian, Edel, Xcaliber shafts, Edison wedges and Evenroll putters are good as well.  One thing I like to do is to follow the designers - who is the designer and can I talk to them about how and why this club head /shaft was designed. 

[Springsteennut]

I’ve been very happy with everything I have purchased from Sub 70.

[toastinato]

Another New Level vote for me. Currently have a set of 408 TC/DB combo and their new lineup of wedges I need to build. Their quality control and customer service is top notch. I’m trying to do everything I can to move over to DTC and support these brands. Driver and woods are where I have trouble switching tho. For now I’ll stick with irons and wedges for DTC. 

[alittleoverpar]

I have almost a full bag of JDM equipment, albeit most from Callaway and Taylormade.  I will say that my Diawa OnOff 7 wood will be pried from my cold dead hands.  It's amazing!

[Roejye]

A lot of really good recommendations on here. There are deals to be found on a lot of things. I personally like the more bang for your buck oem's like Cleveland, Tour Edge, Wilson. There are a lot of good wedges out there too. I've got a 60° from Lazrus, which is pretty good for average swing speed players.

 

I've heard great things about sub70, which has very good products throughout the bag. I will admit I'm a little skeptical about the top end, but it seems like the gap has decreased. 

 

When it comes to irons, particularly blades and cb's, there isn't much tech, but a lot of brands are now coming out with the hollow bodied goo filled irons that perform very well. 

 

 

[NYballer]

I play Honma irons, TEE fairways, Seemore putters and Cleveland wedges.  I haven't found anything better in these categories for me.  Gotta stick with Cobra drivers though!