My Story:
It has taken a good long while for me to settle on my current set of clubs. I’ve come a long way from the mixed set of irons and persimmon-headed woods that I started with as a middle schooler. It wasn’t until I got a lesson (only one lesson and only short game tips) from a friend of a friend of my father’s that I had my first set of matching irons- an outdated women’s set of Powerbilt Grand Slam cavity backs that had been a rental set for years. I probably should have just stuck with those irons until I started playing more often, but I had money I earned from delivering the newspaper and I had access to the best used golf store in the world- Roots & Relics in downtown Honolulu. After the Powerbilts came a set of Maxfli forged irons with graphite shafts and leather grips (I think they were about $75). The short irons were true blades and I couldn’t even get them in the air. The mid- and long-irons had a slight cavity and were just forgiving enough for me to hit them. I decided that I needed something more forgiving and traded them in for a set of cast Cleveland TA3s with stiff steel shafts. There I was at 5’5” and 120 pounds trying to swing S300s. It didn’t help that the lie angles were all upright. I hooked the crap out of them and traded them back in as well, vowing to never touch another set of Cleveland irons. Obviously, I had no idea what I was doing. Another friend of my father’s introduced me to the notion of lie angles and I eventually stumbled across my first set of irons that fit me reasonably well. For $100 I found a set of Goldsmith Tour Cavity forged irons with stiff Black Gold shafts that had been bent to 2 degrees flat. I bought them online and when they arrived I quickly realized that the seller didn’t bother to tell me that the shafts were an inch longer than standard. I just choked up on every club, and it all worked out just fine. Then came the ultimate impulse buy: a truly beautiful set of Mizuno MS-11 forged blades with Rifle 5.5 shafts (regular steel) that were 3/4 inch short of standard, and the lie angle at a perfect 1-degree flat. My income had gone way up since I had scored a sweet job as a pizza delivery boy, and I plunked down a full $215 for the mint-condition beauties with the idea that I would have to “play up” to them. The Mizunos were my gamers through college and served me reasonably well. It wasn’t until after college that one of the pros at the golf course where I was working took a look at my irons and taught me another lesson in equipment: the shafts had been tipped, which made them much stiffer than a normal Rifle 5.5. According to his numbers, the shaft flex was closer to a Rifle 6.5 (extra stiff). He was generous enough to reshaft them for me with standard length Rifle 6.0s that he had sitting in his garage. I couldn’t believe what a difference it made. I was immediately a club longer with every iron. But truth be told, I didn’t have a good enough swing to be playing forged blades from the 80s. It wasn’t until a couple years back that I finally gave in and bought a set of, you guessed it, Cleveland cast cavity backs. I found my brand new CG Reds on eBay. They had been a custom-ordered set that the customer never picked up- Dynamic Gold SL S300 shafts, 1-degree flat lie angle, standard length, red New Decade grips. They were originally posted for $250 plus $15 shipping. The auction expired and I messaged the seller. My offer: $200 shipping included. One week later, they were in my bag where I expect them to be for a very long time (honest!).
My Advice:
What might you learn from my experience with iron shopping?
1) Get fitted. My first piece of advice to players looking to upgrade their irons is to get fitted. Your irons should fit your swing- they should be the correct length & lie and should have shafts to match your swing (in the case of irons, you want the stiffest shafts that you can still launch/work the ball with). My lightweight shafts gave me a bump in clubhead speed, which allowed me to stay with a stiff flex. In “normal” weight shafts, I would probably be a regular. For those of you that need upright or flat lie angles, you can always buy a standard set and have them bent. If you do go that route, it should be noted that forged heads are much easier to bend, while cast heads run the risk of cracking if put under too much stress.
2) Buy used. I also recommend that golfers browse the used club market when shopping for irons. In my opinion, iron technology hasn’t changed all that much (certainly not in the way that driver technology has). While newer irons are longer, much of that can be chalked up to strong lofts. The pitching wedge in my Mizuno set is 48 degrees, compared to 46 degrees in my Clevelands. Furthermore, irons tend to lose value very quickly. My custom set of Clevelands were probably selling for $700 - $800 when they first hit the market. Three years later, I paid $200 for the still un-hit set.
3) Choose a set based on your current skill level. While it might be tempting to do what I did and buy a set that’s for the golfer whose game is more advanced than yours, resist the urge. It was not easy playing blades. There are shots that I can hit with my cavity backs that aren’t possible with blades. And while I strike the ball solidly the majority of the time, every round I hit at least half-a-dozen shots that are a little thin or a little off the toe. With my blades, those shots meant missed greens. With my cavity backs, I’m still putting for birdie. In short, if you don’t hit it like a pro, you shouldn’t be swinging the same clubs as the pros.
No comments:
Post a Comment