I’m testing new irons right now. I was hopeful of going to a Calloway demo today at Big Creek, where I’m a member. It’s washed out. The range is pretty much under an inch of water. The practice tees are fine, but it just wouldn’t be right to make the club workers dig practice balls out of the mud.
Our pro, Todd Dunnaway, is awesome and has put me in different demo 7-irons for the last 10 days. This started when I ventured from the putting green to a PING demo.
I have dumped my old driver (for a Callaway Mavrik), my 3-iron for a Mizuo 19 degree hybrid, and my old PING Anser (vintage 1974) for a Scotty Camron Newport Special.
My idea on stopping by the PING demo was to see if I would like one of their new 3-woods over my Calloway Big Bertha 2-wood that’s 20 years old. Of course, I was delighted to learn that the new stuff was tons better than my old fairway and driving club.
I was about to walk away when the PING rep asked about my irons. I told him I wasn’t changing from my PING Eye-2 that are still considered among the best clubs ever made. Shafts are old, but the heads are still great.
He laughed and said, “So, you are one of those! Bring your 7-iron and let me show you the difference.” He pointed to his Track Man device and so I knew I’d get more than ball flight as feedback.
It was a wow moment. All new irons have been delofted, so you are going to add distance if you compare new 7-iron to your old 7-iron. But this was a lot more dramatic than I expected.
Trajectory was great. Some shafts better than others. Nothing like getting a good fit from a pro who knows your game and the difference in equipment. Todd is that.
I thought he was going to give me deep cavity back forgiving clubs, but he handed me their top end Tour stuff, the same i210 irons the college players are hitting at Arkansas. I crushed them dead straight.
We also figured out that I was ready to go from stiff shaft to regular shaft. The other revelation was that I need 2 degrees upright on irons. My bad shot has been a little heavy and this change eliminated the toe ever hitting the ground early. Oh boy.
I was close to pulling the trigger when my pro mentioned that more Demo days were coming with Calloway, PXG, Mizuno, TaylorMade and maybe more. He also said he had a full chest of all the Mizuo club heads and several of the latest Nippon shafts, including those in his bag.
I perked up on the thought of trying Mizuno. I’ve long felt they were among the best irons made, although my brother Butch insists that TaylorMade Sim2 are outstanding, too. He loves his, but didn’t argue that Mizuno’s irons are probably just as good with huge advancement in ball speed for both.
Tiger played Mizuno irons (with a different name on the back) for many years. They make stellar irons. Great ball speed.
So he rigged up two 7-irons and I hit the course the next day. Couldn’t go to range because it was closed because it was too wet. I played six balls off the tee and the fairway. I played three shots on the par fives. Fixed a lot of ball marks.
I figured out that I hit roughly 130 7-iron shots with five heads, some
Mizuno and some Callaway.
When I got to the 13th, I aced the 160-yard hole with the Mizuno. Can’t count an ace with that many practice shot. Interestingly, Todd was in a cart nearby bringing me some other options from Mizuno. Needless to say, I am ordering the one that I made the ace with, a forged JPX921 performance iron. It’s not the Tour blades. I did hit the three different Tour blades. They were great clubs, but I’m more consistent with the 921.
and I tore the muscle on the inside of my right elbow 2 years ago playing. I wear one of those elbow straps now, like Scott McCarron wears on the Champions Tour.