Sonartec Hybrid MD contest!

[joey3108]

Contestant reviews will be post here!

These guys are the chosen contestant to test this beautiful Sonartec Hybrid MD 19* build by the Tour Van and will put their best effort to put up their writing skill to review this club:

X- Flex Group



MARKHEARDJR - ALREADY TESTED HEADING TO THE NEXT CONTESTANT

CAMERON CIRLCE T 7/28/2006 – 8/7/2006

PUTT4DOH 8/11/2006 -8/21/2006

GOOSE 8/25/2006 -9/5/2006

IGONOGLAST 9/8/2006 – 9/18/2006




Stiff – Flex Group



PHILLYPETE – ALREADY TESTED HEADING TO THE NEXT CONTESTANT

JPORTZ 7/28/2006 – 8/7/2006

REEBUS 8/11/2006 -8/21/2006

HIPCHECK 8/25/2006 -9/5/2006

CLEVELANDERBALLER1028

GIOGOLF 9/8/2006 – 9/18/2006



Regular- Flex Group

MLAMAR – ALREADY TESTED HEADING TO THE NEXT CONTESTANT

MCBUSH25 7/28/2006 – 8/7/2006

KENINCA 8/11/2006 -8/21/2006

JDLAW 8/25/2006 -9/5/2006

CHEETSUPKEEP 9/8/2006 – 9/18/2006



Erik ( SONARTEC1 ) will put up a post under my post about the rules.

I will open this thread as soon as any of the contestant ready to submit/post their review here, or as soon as we pick the date to start posting the review.

Good Luck guys!

Thanks!

Joe

[PCGS / Graphite Design]

Hello to All,

 

The Sonartec 19 MD's are being built today at TPC of River Highlands, CT. I will have the clubs sent overnite to me and out to you all on Tuesday of Wednesday of next week. UST was kind enough to add the GolfWRX logo to each of the shafts. Only 2 of these shaft ever made per flex, pretty cool!!

 

The winners in each class will receive one of these shafts as well.

 

Thank you,

 

Erik :yahoo:

[PCGS / Graphite Design]

I need shipping information from:

 

PUTT4DOH

GOOSE

IGONOGLAST

 

GIOGOLF

CLEVELANDBALLER1028

 

 

JDLAW

 

PLEASE EMAIL [email protected]

 

Thank you,

 

Erik

[PCGS / Graphite Design]

Looking for MARKHEARDJR I have left 2 VM's on cell phone. I need to ship the MD to the next contestant.

 

Thank you,

 

Erik

 

Thank you for calling me back Mark.......

 

Erik

[joey3108]

Hey guys!

 

How is the club testing so far?

 

Any review is in the stove right now?

 

Let us know!

 

THX!

 

Joe Kwok

[Cameron Circle T]

Still waiting on it but Ill certainly have a review for you once I get it in....I think I'm waiting on the one mark had to ship is why, and it has to make it cross country to me in Florida.

[reebus]

I'm still waiting also......

[Gxgolfer]

The Schedule is now posted and will be updated as info comes.

[reebus]

All right! Now I know when it's coming! I'll have to be sure and schedule "extra" outings to completely test the stick!

[HipCheck]

The Schedule is now posted and will be updated as info comes.

 

Ryan, where is the schedule posted?

[mcbush25]

Loook at the top of the page where it lists all of us testers. It gives the week that we have the club.

 

C.J.

[HipCheck]

Loook at the top of the page where it lists all of us testers. It gives the week that we have the club.

 

C.J.

 

:man_in_love: Doh! Thanks.

[mcbush25]

No prob......here to help if I can.

[PCGS / Graphite Design]

I will be out of the office on vacation returning August 7th, 2006.

 

Erik :man_in_love:

[mcbush25]

So are we supposed to have the clubs by the 28th?? If that is the case I haven't recieved it yet....

[Gxgolfer]

MC,

 

MLAMAR should have shipped it by now. Send him a PM to see if he has the tracking number.

[mcbush25]

Ok will do.

[joey3108]

I will be out of the office on vacation returning August 7th, 2006.

 

Erik :man_in_love:

Enjoy your vacation! You deserve it... ;)

 

Joe

[HipCheck]

Hey I just realized I'm fifth in line. I'm getting Sloppy Cincos! :drinks:

[Cameron Circle T]

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

 

My review is a little long but please bear with me as I wanted to be very thorough. Hopefully I will get to play it some more but with TS Chris looming it looks as though it is going to rain badly here. I hope you all find the insight and review informative as I have worked to make it as thorough and all encompassing as possible. So without further guilding the lilly, here is the review:

 

 

Sonartec MD Review by Adam (Cameron Circle T)

 

Appearance:

 

Even at first glance we notice the MD transition “hybrid” stays true to the Sonartec legacy. Having started years ago with the “driving cavity”, we see that Sonartec stuck true to form with this club. It is refreshing that in the day of the marketing giant, who will do anything to sell a club, Sonartec has stuck with what they know works and what they have been known for throughout their existence. The sole has the noticeable cavity just as their fairway woods have for years. The clean understated silver is penetrated by the traditional blackish grey cavity Sonartec is known for in the golfing community. We then look at the face and see the black scoring lines, a nice choice in color as it compliments the overall look of the club quite well. Setting this club up at the address position, we notice the club is a drastic change from many of the hybrids on the market today that you often hear complaints about. Simple, understated and classic, the Sonartec MD boasts an exquisite blackish grey color that gives it quite an appealing look. The "black" (though really more of a blackish grey) color also helps hide the very distinctive sloped back design Sonartec has employed on this club. Looking at the shaft we see the uniquely labeled but very familiar UST Irod shaft in its Carbon Fiber weave pattern. The aesthetics of the head coupled with the unique looking Irod shaft pattern we have all grown accustomed to recently in hybrids, create a very nice golf club, which will appeal to just about any golfer. The traditionalist and the tech junkie will both thoroughly enjoy this utilitarian, yet stylish design.

 

 

Playability:

 

A fascinating chance was offered, in allowing this tester, to try the Sonartec MD with this shaft combination. Having never particularly been a fan of hybrids, and a long time

2-iron user, this hybrid provides a refreshing change from the hybrids I have had the opportunity to try. Never really sure where to play a hybrid, as some are to be played like woods, while others are to be hit like irons, I went online and looked the “how-to play your MD” and it is truly a favor to the consumer in my opinion. This guide took a lot of the adjustment time, I have often found with determining the best position for a hybrid to be played from, out of the picture. Playing .75” longer than my current 2-iron the change to the hybrid length was not a major deal and did not prove to cause any issues as far as ease of use. As I mentioned in the “Appearance” portion of this review this hybrid is one of the few that does not have the huge amount of offset designed for “game-improvement”. As a low handicap golfer, and a person who believes the straight shot isn’t always the “perfect” shot, though there really is no perfect shot, this club offers what has been previously lacking in what I have been able to test since the hybrid craze began. The limited amount of offset coupled with the tightness of the UST shaft offered me quite a compromise from what I currently use, and what I have tested. The forgiveness of a hybrid along with the ease of use of a hybrid, while still maintaining with the workability I have been longing for in a hybrid setup and. The workability is not quite up to what my 2-iron is but that is to be expected from the slight difference in both shaft weight and design. Switching from a blade to a hybrid some loss is expected; however, the small amount of workability given up was not alarming to me. The playability from both the tee and the ground is quite important to me as well. Hitting my driver as far as I do on a regular basis, I find myself hitting numerous 2-irons off the tee on most normal length golf courses. Thus the playability off the tee of whatever club goes “2-iron distance” in my bag is quite important to me. On average I would say that in an 18 hole round I hit about 10-12 2-irons off of the tee, which makes playability from the tee of prime consideration. This club flat out performs. Tee it down low just like you would an iron and make a good swing and this will just go. Rarely, do I ever hit 2-iron off of the ground, mostly due to the fact that I haven’t found any par 5’s of the right length to require this that set up to receive a 2-iron into the green, but it is important nonetheless to have the ability to do so when necessary. Having mentioned the “how to hit your MD” article earlier, I will reiterate the ease with which this club can be used off the ground. For many golfers, I know this is of prime concern when purchasing a hybrid to replace long irons as the trouble with long irons really is their lack of playability from the fairway. Fear not, this club is quite easy to use off the ground and I would certainly say that if the situation ever called for it I would have no problem taking this out and going for a green with it.

 

 

Ballflight:

 

As a high swing speed player this is one aspect I have had trouble with when trying just about every hybrid I have tried. With no avail, I had in many respects “given up” on the hybrid market and said, “This must just not be for me.” The problem I had previously had with the hybrids, currently on the market, were that either the offset was too great, thus causing that lovely duck hook that you can hear quacking as it leaves the face, or the dreaded balloon ball that goes almost nowhere because the slightest 1-2 mph breeze took it out, like an A-10 takes out a hostile threat. Having tried almost every shaft one can imagine, from steel to ultra-heavyweight graphite, I began to think that the combination of my swing and the design of these clubs being intended to “get the ball up” there was just not going to be any feasible way to keep these down without getting a “Tour” hybrid. I have in the past used a few different “Tour” hybrids that a friend of mine was kind enough to LEND me, unfortunately, when he saw how solid I was hitting them and how much I liked them, he decided he wanted to go ahead and try them. Since then I have not been able to achieve that same success. Many factors come into play including my growth of almost 7 inches since I was able to successfully use a hybrid as well as various swing changes over the years. One of those few hybrids hasn’t left his bag since and is currently out there on tour. Ironically, one of the hybrids that he took back was an early Sonartec MD with a DG X100 before the MD had been released to the public. Well it is now time to reconsider my various preconceived notions about the “hybrid craze”. The ballflight on this club is very much what one would think from the design of both the shaft and the head. Providing a mid boring trajectory, that obviously did not spin too much, both from my eye as well as from vector launch monitor numbers (posted below), this club provided a path much more to my liking. Penetrating and not overly high, the MD with Irod is one club I would not fear using on a slightly windy day, whereas before I had said, “Not a chance will I put one of these in play, they just can’t hold a candle to my 2-iron in the wind.” From the tee this club was great in not going to high, which has been a main problem for me with hybrids, in that I use my 2 iron 10 or so times off the tee a round, this aspect is very important to me. Off the ground this club elevates to a trajectory that will hold much better than a normal 2-iron for most golfers, including me even though I hit the ball quite high naturally. I did find, however, that one of my “notions” did hold true. It is something I am not sure you can quite get rid of due to the design of these clubs, and that is ballflight control. I did find that I have a harder time varying the ballflight with this club than I do with my 2-iron. That may be due to the relatively short testing period with which we got to use this or it may be due to the design, I cannot say for certain, but it is definitely not as easy to hit the low stinger or mid puncher with this club; however, the high trajectory is very close to what I would hit a normal 2-iron. Overall, this combination is quite impressive to someone who has been somewhat hostile towards hybrids, and is somewhat similar to the normal trajectory I desire from my 2-iron excluding the slight chore it is to vary the trajectory.

 

 

Feel:

 

This is where this club drastically differs (aside from looks) from the traditional muscleback blade 2-iron I have grown accustomed. The typical solid shot for me gives that standard blade-like feel that those of you who play blades know very well. It is a rewarding feel with that solid “thwack” that lets you know you’ve just hit a good shot with a long iron blade, it is now time to enjoy, lol (Ron John Surf Shop Commercial memories, sorry). The Sonartec MD provides a noticeably more “wood-like” feel to it. Not feeling like either a wood or an iron, the MD still provides a solid feel in its own right. A slightly more “tinny” feel than I am used to the feel did take a bit of adjusting to. Playing a titanium composite three wood and a blade set of irons, the feel was neither here nor there. It truly was a unique feel, even to the hybrid class alone. Feeling much more solid than most hybrids out there, and rivaled only by the TP line as well as the 585H, the MD feels great once the adjustment has taken place. I would say that this feel would be appealing to a wide variety of golfers; however, if you are like me and play a set of blades or blade-like irons (more so blades just because of the muscle behind the ball) this club will take some adjusting too. However, the adjustment is quite worthwhile when considering the performance of the club in relation to the very short adjustment period.

 

 

Distance:

 

This as well as playability and ballflight is an important area for me. With the high usage my 2-iron gets, I have grown quite accustomed to the ease with which I can hit it to almost an exact yardage. Often times used to set me up with a perfect sand wedge in I use my 2-iron for yardages off the tee of about 260-265. Hard to believe, yes I know; however, there are members on here who can attest to the length I hit the ball. Therefore, in replacing or even attempting to replace my 2-iron, it is necessary for me to thoroughly consider the distance I hit a hybrid. Many people would like to gain distance I am sure, I cannot speak to the general result of this club; however, I can speak to my personal experience. This club overall provided me with approximately the right distance I am looking for in an 18*/19* club, either a 2-iron or a hybrid. I did find that I had a bit more distance control with my 2-iron partially due to my ability to vary my ballflight a little bit more than with the MD and thus change how it hits the ground and rolls etc. The MD’s normal trajectory, when compared to my “stock” 2-iron trajectory did go very similar distance. If you are looking for a gain in distance, you may or may not get that, being only .75” longer than my 2-iron I did not find I gained any inordinate amount of distance with this club over my 2-iron. If you are looking for something very easy to use then this is definitely the club to consider. For many golfers this club will in fact add distance purely because the quality of the ballstriking will be greater and thus the solid shot with the MD will travel farther on avg. then your long irons.

 

 

Overall:

 

There is really nothing to say other than that this is one solid club. Sonartec paid attention to detail in the design of this club. Not an ounce of performance nor aesthetics was sacrificed to make this club what it is. It was truly an opportunity to play this club, and I can say that if you are looking for a hybrid, that is one-of-a-kind, then this is definitely something you need to consider. Those who don’t believe, go try one for yourself, but be wary, your wallet will almost undoubtedly be a little bit lighter after trying this club. Clean, smoothe, and effective, this club is the ultimate in hybrid experience.

[easyyy]

This thing is awesome. Sounds like it performs. Confidence all day. I am in love. Here are the Pics of mine...

[Cameron Circle T]

Erik, left you a Voicemail message to get the call tag so that I can ship this on to the next contestant. Please contact me when you can so that I can get this club out on time to the next participant, and comply with the rules you set forth about promptness.

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

 

Adam

[mcbush25]

Erik, left you a Voicemail message to get the call tag so that I can ship this on to the next contestant. Please contact me when you can so that I can get this club out on time to the next participant, and comply with the rules you set forth about promptness.

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

 

Adam

 

Same here. I am ready to ship the regular flex one out and am waiting on what to do next. Thanks.

[PCGS / Graphite Design]

Call tag should have been emailed on Tuesday gentlemen. Let me know if you have not recieved them.

 

Where is Markheardjr's review?

 

Cameron Circle T, Wow !!! What a review!!

 

Erik

[Cameron Circle T]

Golf Club was packed and shipped earlier today.

 

 

 

Thank you for the kind words, I tried to put into words the feeling and thoughts I had when trying this club, considering I play mostly by feel, it is quite important to me what runs through my mind and what I am feeling over a ball and I just wanted to convey to the membership the quality of this club.

 

Thank you again Erik for the opportunity, it is much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Adam

[mcbush25]

Hello Everyone,

 

I want to give my review of the Sonartec MD Transition Club. First off, I would like to thank Sonartec and Golfwrx for allowing me the opportunity to do this review. I have had the honor of reviewing many clubs for Golf Magazine so hopefully I can review this club just as well as I have other clubs.

 

Background

 

Let me start off my review by giving background of me and my game. I am currently playing to a handicap of 15.4 and I have been playing the game for around 6 years now. I have a very strong long game, but a weak short game that hurts my scores. I have played hybrids in my bag for the last 4 years so I am very used to hybrids and their abilities.

 

My current hybrids are a 18* Nike CPR and a 22* Nike CPR. I have had these two hybrids for two years now and there hasn't been any club that has come close to knocking them out...well at least just yet!

 

Sonartec MD Transition Club

 

Appearance:

 

Well, the day that I recieved the club I immediately took it out of the package to examine the look of the club. I currently have one Sonartec club (NP-99 3-wood) so I am familiar with the driving cavity technology that Sonartec uses in their clubs. I had the opportunity about two years ago to test the first Sonartec MD and I wasn't to impressed with the looks, but this model that I recieved seemed much more sharper in design, although I think a lot of that had to do with how shiny it was. Another thing that I noticed is the shaft. I think the shaft is very elegant and matches with the club well. The grip is a standard tour velvet grip which is what I am accustomed to. I was delighted to see that the headcover was long enough to protect the shaft, which is a big plus in my book.

 

Now, when I compared this hybrid side-by-side with my hybrids you can tell a distinct difference. Yes, they are made by two different companies, but my hybrids favor more towards a wood while the Sonartec MD favors more towards an iron. I really like the sleek looks of the MD as it gives a feel of ease at address with the narrow head. The head has enough size to encourage confidence, but not too much to make you think you are swinging a 5-wood.

 

The club itself has a very plain look, which compared with the rest of the hybrid market of today is odd. Most hybrids these days have outrageous desgins and weights that try to make you think their club will help you play better. I am not discounting that these products will not do just that, but Sonartec has taken a classy approach to the hybrid market. Their hybrid is very clean and polished looking. Their technology doesn't jump out at you, which in some cases could be a problem as a lot of golfers these days base their choices on wild a club looks. I extremely urge anyone that reads this review to please try a variety of clubs when you are buying as the clubs you think are too plain could be the club that changes your golf game forever.

 

Playability:

 

Ok, this is where the real test comes in. I was able to take the MD out for a spin on a beautiful Sunday morning and play 36 holes using this club from varying lies so I could get a true judgement of how this club plays.

 

Let's Start with the tee box. The course I played had a couple of short par 4's that had some severe doglegs which required me to tee of with a hybrid. Off the tee this club is a flat out rocket launcher. I teed the ball up slightly as I would with a fairway wood, because I was afraid the ball flight would be slightly lower than my norm. The face is extremely hot. I normally hit an 18* hybrid on these holes and the ball carries around 200 to 205. When I teed off with the MD the ball carried around 210 to 215. The ball just seems to jump off the face of this club so quickly and get up just high enough to fly straight out and roll perfectly down the fairway. My flight pattern of the tee was a slight fade which was intended as the holes where both dogleg rights and I was trying to kick the corner of these holes. Normally, at this course I don't always cut the corner, but while playing the MD that day I cut the corner on both holes. So off the tee I have to give this club a 9 out of 10.

 

Second, we will look at shots from the fairways. The day I tested this club the fairways were very dry and were running. Normally, with my hybrids I am able to sweep the ball off the fairway as my current hybrids hit more like woods than irons, but as I took a few practice shots on the driving range I found myself have to hit down on the ball slightly more to get my desired ballflight. The first couple of shots I hit from the fairway were a little weak as I tried to sweep the ball which came from the normal mindset I have about my hybrids, but after I reminded myself that this club is a little different I was nailing shots off the shorts stuff around 210 yards. My best shot was when I dropped a ball from about 215 yards out on a par 4 and ripped a shot to within 20 feet of the hole. Honestly, I was astonished with how accurate I was on my shots with this club. I was really afraid that the face wouldn't be as forgiving as my CPR hybrids, but I was completely wrong as this club is as forgiving as my hybrids and longer. Fairway shots get a 9 out of 10.

 

The rough is no match for this club either. Now, the course I played didn't have extremely tall rough the day I played, but it was still a challenge to get out of. This club picks the ball out of the rough and gets it up, but I think that this is where I struggled the most. I am normally used to getting the ball a little higher out of the rough with my hybrids and with the MD I didn't seem to get as much distance out of the rough. I think the lower ball flight (which I will get to in a second) was the reason for this. All in all, I give it a 6 our of 10 from the rough.

 

Chipping....Now if I say Sonartec MD most people think of Todd Hamilton's amazing shot at The Open a few years ago. Well, there is a reason for this thought. I think that when the desginers at Sonartec went to the drawing board they weren't intending to develop the best chipping hybrid in golf, but they did. I use my 8 iron around the green a lot since my hybrids are a little big, but I took advantage of the sleek design of the MD and did a lot of chipping with it. The ball rolls very pure off the face and the loft of the club gives it the right amount of jump. I was chipping balls right up next to the holes when I used this. I have never felt so comfortable taking a club out of my bag when I needed to make an important chip as I did with this. Chipping gets a 10 out of 10.

 

Ball Flight and Trajectory:

 

Now this isn't the typical game-improvement hybrid you see on the market these days. This club doesn't have a tremendous amount of offset like a majority of hybrids do that are on the market. This although did not seem to affect the shapes of my shots. My hybrids have a decent amount of offset and I hit them farily straight. Most of my shots were slight fades which is what I prefer to play, but I was able to shape shots with this club. Even though there isn't a large amount of offset the ball really does fly straighter than a typical long iron would.

 

As for ballflight, well, this club isn't going to knock any birds from the sky. My hybrids launch the ball high, but they are designed to do just that. This hybird is deisgned to have a penetrating ball flight. Honestly, after playing this club I am thinking about making the switch to Sonartec as I prefer the penetrating flight more than I do the high ball flight. The reason for this is the ball seems to carry more and doesn't get hung up in the wind and then when the ball lands it has some roll on it instead of just dying when it falls out of the sky. Most of my shots were laser that didn't get too high in the air, but had just enough height. On a windy day these clubs would come in very handy so if you live in a windy area then I would highly ocnsider these.

 

Feel:

 

Now this is a department that differs from person to person. I have never been able to play a long iron and know how it feels to actually pure a 3 iron and I probably never will. Although, when I pured the ball with the MD it seemed like I knocked the cover off the ball. The face is very responsive. You can really tell when you hit a clean, pure shot and you can feel it when you hit a worm burner. This hybrid has much better feel than any other hybrid I have hit and I attribute that to the design in the club like the driving cavity and the narrow club face design.

 

Overall:

 

I would have to say that the Sonartec MD Transition Club rates in my top 3 hybrids that I have ever hit. This club offers many things that most golfers are looking for in long iron replacement. I highly suggest that, if you are looking for a hyrbid, you take this club into consideration and like I said earlier just because it doesn't have the new age looks that some companies are using doesn't mean you should keep this off your list of clubs to try. This club has all the makings of a true winner as you can see by the tour wins it has. Congratulations to Sonartec for making a classy looking hybrid that outpreforms the new age competitors. I urge everyone to try the MD it could be the club you are looking for!

 

Once again I would like to thank Sonartec and Golfwrx for this opportunity. Sorry for the long review, but a short review just wouldn't do this club justice! Everyone have a great day!!!

 

C.J. aka mcbush25

[mcbush25]

The regular flex was sent out today to the next reviewer!

 

Hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

[jportz]

Hey according to this post I should've received the MD over a week ago. I'm guessing everyone is falling behind so is it safe to assume that you will change the dates accordingly? I want to make sure I have PLENTY of opportunities to play while I've got the MD in my possession.

 

I'll PM PHILLYPETE to find out when he mailed it.

[Gxgolfer]

Yes,

 

The schedule will slide. Its there for tracking purposes and to keep people up to date as much as possible

[jportz]

Hey REEBUS...just wanted you to know that I still haven't received our STIFF MD from PHILLYPETE. I've sent PM's to both Eric (SONARTEC1) and also PHILLYPETE to find out the status.

 

I'll keep you in the loop and let you know as soon as I get my hands on it.