Golf Thread (5 Viewers)

I hope you're not this guy...

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Picked up my new irons today and I'm super pumped! Took them to a bay to hit each club on the Trackman. Some background - I'm 67 and with my previous irons, a really good 5 iron would be about 185. 170 was normal. With the new clubs I was averaging (solid hits) over 195, and this was my best shot out of around a dozen hits. Can't wait to hit the course!!!

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Nice:tup:
Slick looking clubs

The actual loft may be stronger vs your old irons.
Best to compare actual club loft instead of number stamped on the sole.
Club makers have been strengthening lofts for years to make it seem like their club goes longer.
The JPX 825 irons have a 26 degree loft 5 iron (2014)
The JPX 900 irons have a 24 degree loft 5 iron (2018)
The JPX 921/925 irons have a 22 degree loft 5 iron (2021-2024)
They basically changed a 3 iron into a 5 iron over the course of about 10 years.
You may actually be hitting a ~4 iron relative to your old clubs depending on what you were using previously.
Have a friend who plays Cleveland irons from the mid 2000s - his 5 iron loft is 27 degrees - my 2017 Taylormade p790 5 iron loft is 23.5 degrees.
 
Nice:tup:
Slick looking clubs

The actual loft may be stronger vs your old irons.
Best to compare actual club loft instead of number stamped on the sole.
Club makers have been strengthening lofts for years to make it seem like their club goes longer.
The JPX 825 irons have a 26 degree loft 5 iron (2014)
The JPX 900 irons have a 24 degree loft 5 iron (2018)
The JPX 921/925 irons have a 22 degree loft 5 iron (2021-2024)
They basically changed a 3 iron into a 5 iron over the course of about 10 years.
You may actually be hitting a ~4 iron relative to your old clubs depending on what you were using previously.
Have a friend who plays Cleveland irons from the mid 2000s - his 5 iron loft is 27 degrees - my 2017 Taylormade p790 5 iron loft is 23.5 degrees.
Not spoiling anything. I'm fully aware that the lofts on newer game improvement clubs are stronger. But there is a lot more going on with these newer clubs than just stronger lofts. My new 7 iron falls in between my old 5 & 6 with regards to loft. And yet I can hit it higher than my old 7, and with longer carry than the old 5. And with a better descent angle, and with more forgiveness. The newer clubs are better than the older clubs in every way, whether compared to the same club, or a club with a similar loft.
 
Amazing! I'm looking at these clubs for my next upgrade. Did you order directly through Mizuno?
No. Over the past few months, I went to my local PGA Tour Superstore and hit every iron I was interested in. I believe I went 4 times and hit 3 different irons each time. Then compared my favorite to my favorite from the previous session. It's completely free to hit in their bays with launch monitors, then the staff will help you analyze the data. After all these sessions, I had pretty well narrowed it down to the JPX hot metals or the Titleist T-350s. (of course, two of the highest priced sets. :D )

After all that, I scheduled a session with one of their fitters. I was expecting to pay $99 for the fitting. I told him which way I was leaning and he had me hit those two, plus gave me few others to hit. He observed me hitting various clubs for over an hour. In the end, he agreed that the Mizunos worked best for me. If I had needed any lie adjustments, he would have measured that as well. But I'm fairly average sized so standard worked for me. I prefer steel shafts, and he suggested the lightweight steel shafts from Nippon - NS Pro 950GH Neo. These are also a standard shaft (no upcharge) from Mizuno. After that they ordered the clubs for me from Mizuno, and I got them back in about 3 weeks. I did select a non-standard grip - Golf Pride midsize CPX. So they asked Mizuno to ship the clubs with the standard grips not installed, then swapped them out for me and put them on at no extra charge. And it turned out they didn't even charge me for the fitting either.

It was a great experience that I would highly recommend if you have one of these stores nearby. I believe my net cost was exactly what you would pay if you ordered direct from Mizuno.

FYI, I played my first round with them today. I struggled on the front nine, but then got the hang of the clubs (or worked off my own rust) and put together a pretty nice back nine with several excellent approach shots with the Mizunos. I absolutely love them!
 
Yeah JPX 923 Hot Metal Pro is my current 7 iron at the moment and it's great! Not sure if it's worth the extra dough as I feel most game improvement irons perform similarly and comes down to feel. I went with it because of the swing feel and weight distribution.

Update on my journey through golf. Picked up a pair of graphite clubs for dirt at the thrift store to practice club head pulling. I tried my first club head pull attempt off of graphite with just a micro torch. I lost patience and hope so I started twisting which I know I am not supposed to do lol. I ended up sawing it up to a SW/Lob length for maybe an epoxy first run. My second run hopefully I don't lose patience without using a puller. I'll try a rubber hammer again with more patience. Maybe I wasn't heating it up long enough in fear of damaging the graphite.

I now switched to jumbo size grips and they perform well on me. It's comparable to a midsize Plus 4, but a bit thicker. I thought about trying JumboMax as I most likely prefer non tapered grips for the back hand gripping. There are other brands to consider to with non-tapered jumbo sizes.

Picked up a Callaway Opus wedge on a deal. I like it so far, but I personally wouldn't pay the retail price for it lol.
 
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