'Tweener needs help upgrading G15 irons: i20 vs H4 vs G25 vs CB3

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

[quote name='mantan' timestamp='1366050737' post='6850379']
[quote name='SHORTBUTSTR8' timestamp='1366048636' post='6850039']
CB3s are great clubs, forgiving and cheap. Much easier to look at than G series too.

But, I depends if you want "score improvement clubs" = GIs like G series, CB3s etc or "swing improvement clubs" = player's CBs, blades etc

I was a similar handicap to you last year. Harder to hit clubs have me focus more and now I am hitting better shots and my HC has dropped to about an 8. Depends on your goal as to which to buy. I knew I have swing flaws and wanted to working on better contact. So I got something more demanding to force me to learn. Eventually my scores started reflecting that.
[/quote]

It's interesting how the psychological part of the game differs between golfers.

For you, having a more demanding club makes you focus more on the shot. For me, it's all about having a club that gives me the most confidence to execute a shot. When I have a 177 yard approach into a narrow target area with trouble surrounding the green, I'd rather have a club that I trust will give me a decent result...even if I'm slightly off on my swing. Others want a club that makes them focus on making a great pass at the ball. My normal golf partner is wired that way. Neither is right or wrong, just different.
[/quote]My distances and expectations are a bit more modest but I can think of a clear example from yesterday of that sort of thing. They had the flag tucked on our 11th hole up on a tiny little shelf behind a bunker. Laser said 148 to the flag and I had two options, either go straight at it in which case I had 135 to clear a bunker but only five yards of green and fringe behind the hole before running into the back bunker. Or I could aim at the fat part of the green just a few yards left of the flag in which case the ball would be on the lower level with a very difficult putt up a 2-foot ridge onto the shelf.

With my old Titleist DCI's that would be a very simple decision. Take a 6-iron and play 25 feet left of the hole onto the widest part of the green then hope to 2-putt up and over the ridge. With the Ping G20's, since I was having a pretty good ball striking day, it seemed not too risky to go right at it. As it happens, I actually hit it just past the flag and into the back fringe but I was still only 15 feet of flat putt for birdie.

It's just a more enjoyable game when a basic but slightly demanding shot like that is "just a shot" instead of a idiotic course management decision waiting to happen.

[tucker500]

[quote name='mantan' timestamp='1366050737' post='6850379']
[quote name='SHORTBUTSTR8' timestamp='1366048636' post='6850039']
CB3s are great clubs, forgiving and cheap. Much easier to look at than G series too.

But, I depends if you want "score improvement clubs" = GIs like G series, CB3s etc or "swing improvement clubs" = player's CBs, blades etc

I was a similar handicap to you last year. Harder to hit clubs have me focus more and now I am hitting better shots and my HC has dropped to about an 8. Depends on your goal as to which to buy. I knew I have swing flaws and wanted to working on better contact. So I got something more demanding to force me to learn. Eventually my scores started reflecting that.
[/quote]

It's interesting how the psychological part of the game differs between golfers.

For you, having a more demanding club makes you focus more on the shot. For me, it's all about having a club that gives me the most confidence to execute a shot. When I have a 177 yard approach into a narrow target area with trouble surrounding the green, I'd rather have a club that I trust will give me a decent result...even if I'm slightly off on my swing. Others want a club that makes them focus on making a great pass at the ball. My normal golf partner is wired that way. Neither is right or wrong, just different.
[/quote]


Well said!

That covers it right there. People are wired different.

[Ripken08]

[quote name='mantan' timestamp='1366050737' post='6850379']
[quote name='SHORTBUTSTR8' timestamp='1366048636' post='6850039']
CB3s are great clubs, forgiving and cheap. Much easier to look at than G series too.

But, I depends if you want "score improvement clubs" = GIs like G series, CB3s etc or "swing improvement clubs" = player's CBs, blades etc

I was a similar handicap to you last year. Harder to hit clubs have me focus more and now I am hitting better shots and my HC has dropped to about an 8. Depends on your goal as to which to buy. I knew I have swing flaws and wanted to working on better contact. So I got something more demanding to force me to learn. Eventually my scores started reflecting that.
[/quote]

It's interesting how the psychological part of the game differs between golfers.

For you, having a more demanding club makes you focus more on the shot. For me, it's all about having a club that gives me the most confidence to execute a shot. When I have a 177 yard approach into a narrow target area with trouble surrounding the green, I'd rather have a club that I trust will give me a decent result...even if I'm slightly off on my swing. Others want a club that makes them focus on making a great pass at the ball. My normal golf partner is wired that way. Neither is right or wrong, just different.
[/quote]

For me a thinner club gives me more confidence. I have been down the G15 road (a few times). They are good clubs, but not suited for my swing and my goals. I have playing my Hogan Apexes and MP32s until my i20s arrive. We'll see which ones win the battle.

[evanseze]

CB3's are a great set of irons, however the KBS Tour 90 shafts play like a wet noodle and produce a very high spinny ball flight. They are not a good shaft for faster aggressive swings. If you have a slow to medium smooth swing with a low ball flight, these shafts will work good for you. My CB3's with the Tour 90 stiff shafts flexed out to 4.3 which is around a senior flex. Currently have HS S300's in mine and am in the process of trying to find a set of C Tapers pulls on the Bay.

[valkare]

If you're looking at CB3's and i20's, maybe also consider taking a peek at the A12 Pros.

[g_olson10]

There aren't thay many people that can just switch sets at the drop of a hat. Stick with what you have until you get to single digits then give it a shot. The g series will take you there. Trust in them!

[rcurley55]

I have been shopping for irons and was in a same predicament. I play an older set of cavity backs and was looking at the i20s, CB3s, AP2s, and a few other irons. After reading this thread, I checked the ego and grabbed some G20s. I'm hoping it keeps the game fun since I can't get out very often to play or practice.

[prsgtrman]

if it were me i would do a hybrid set of i20's and g25's. i20's pw, 9 8 7 irons, g 25's 6 5 4.

[ogrehack]

More great info, still mostly in favor of keeping the G15s.

In retrospect, I'm glad they've lasted me to this point. When I purchased them, was 25-ish index, frustrated with my Mizuno MX23s (which I bought off the shelf, no fitting), seriously about to give up the game.

Got the G15s after a couple swings, no fitting, based mainly on the Golf Digest review, thinking these 'big fat hacker clubs' had to help. Nope! Only after lessons did the index start to trickle down.

I always knew pros played them, but am still pleasantly surprised thatI wont need to 'graduate' to 'tweener clubs now. Thanks for all the replies.

Honestly, still wish I didnt kick the forged MX23s to the curb though.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I avoided clubs like the Ping G-series for most of the two decades since taking up the game mostly because I highly valued learning a fairly subtle and sophisticated wedge and short game. The sort of thing where finding some Vokey wedges that I could maneuver easily and having irons with a manageable sole width and amount of offset makes it easier to be creative around the greens.

A few years back I gave up on the quest to ever be "a real player" who can play all the shots. I was about about a 14.something index and dropping but it was obvious that several more years of practice and dedication would needed to even find out if I could move down into shooting in the 70's regularly. I decided I'd rather play more and practice less (i.e. none) even if it meant shooting in the mid-high 80's most rounds.

So I resisted the wide-sole idea for a while after that change but over the last few months I've become a believer. Never say never, I might one day dig out a couple of my Vokey wedges and start spending my lunch hours around the practice green again. But I'm pretty sure my G20's are in the bag to stay as my instruments of choice to "take the ball from right here in the fairway and put it up there on the green". Hard to imagine any clubs that could make that more straightfoward and trouble-free.