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2025 GOLF: I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while


nolongerU2horn

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2025 Intentions:

 

Full bag fitting in Feb-March (Barton Creek Fitting Studio--irons are closing in on 20 yrs old)

Break 85 (Current 19 hcp/former 12 hcp, shouldn't be that hard)

Play at least 20 rounds (11 last year)

Make my first hole-in-one after 45 years of playing (Yeah right)

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8 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

what irons are you looking at ?

@nolongerU2horn

Really have no idea. I'm trying to go into the fitting totally agnostic. I would assume I'll be looking at Titleist, Mizuno, TaylorMade, Srixon and Ping. Somewhere between a "player's iron" and a game improvement iron. Not interested in the juiced up/lower lofted sets and would prefer more traditional loft profiles

 

(I do kind of have a negative feeling about Callaway and Cobra, and would never go PXG)

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1 hour ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Really have no idea. I'm trying to go into the fitting totally agnostic. I would assume I'll be looking at Titleist, Mizuno, TaylorMade, Srixon and Ping. Somewhere between a "player's iron" and a game improvement iron. Not interested in the juiced up/lower lofted sets and would prefer more traditional loft profiles

 

(I do kind of have a negative feeling about Callaway and Cobra, and would never go PXG)

 

lot of great irons out there, lot to good options. one will look the best to you, then dial in the shaft. i'm pro strong lofts but i hit the ball high 

id highly recommend a 7 wood, even a 9 wood 

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I'm retiring the old Epic and going to get fitted at PGA Superstore soon.

Initial lean Titleist but love my TM Stealth 3W and last 2 drivers have been Callaway and I am a Ping iron whore.

Should be interesting.  Shaft is key I know...

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I've been swinging Cobra irons since ~2016. Nearly switched to a T100/T150 combo set last year but it just wasn't enough of an improvement to justify $2k+. Been trying to get rid of my even older TM SLDR 3H and have yet to swing something that I was convinced was a big enough improvement (and I've tried a bunch of different options over the years). I'm just not convinced iron or hybrid tech has really evolved much. I'm starting to believe driver tech is stagnating as well.

Or maybe I just suck at this game. 

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On 1/7/2025 at 9:42 AM, nolongerU2horn said:

Really have no idea. I'm trying to go into the fitting totally agnostic. I would assume I'll be looking at Titleist, Mizuno, TaylorMade, Srixon and Ping. Somewhere between a "player's iron" and a game improvement iron. Not interested in the juiced up/lower lofted sets and would prefer more traditional loft profiles

 

(I do kind of have a negative feeling about Callaway and Cobra, and would never go PXG)

Not like we’re pining to add 19 handicaps to the stable 😆. Do second the blended iron set. I’ve got player improvement 4-5i, tour 6-8i and essentially blades 9i-GW. 
 

Plan to replace my driver this year.  Think I’ve aged out of the Epic Triple Diamond with a TX shaft. 
 

IMG_5538.jpeg

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On 1/8/2025 at 10:47 AM, dieucla98 said:

I've been swinging Cobra irons since ~2016. Nearly switched to a T100/T150 combo set last year but it just wasn't enough of an improvement to justify $2k+. Been trying to get rid of my even older TM SLDR 3H and have yet to swing something that I was convinced was a big enough improvement (and I've tried a bunch of different options over the years). I'm just not convinced iron or hybrid tech has really evolved much. I'm starting to believe driver tech is stagnating as well.

Or maybe I just suck at this game. 

I watch a shitton of golf videos, from club fitters like Champion (Ian), 2nd swing and a ton of others with Trackman facilities. They've all done 20 yr v 10yr v new equipment testing, diff stiffness testing, graphite vs steel shafts, same lofts different iron head types, etc. You will be amazed how little difference there has been in the last 10 years for drivers and 20 years for irons (except for hollow bodied). You will see VERY little difference between each generation. For drivers from 10 years older to now, it may be 1 or 2mph ball speed improvement, slight improvement on dispersions, not much improvement on distances, some improvement on spin (lower or more spin, depending on what is needed).

For irons, it's almost a zero improvement as long as your are comparing between club types. Blades are gonna blade. Cavity backs are gonna cavity back. Hollow bodied are "newer" but at the end of the day, it really comes down to loft and spin. 

I gamed Srixon Z565/765 combo irons. I upgraded to ZX5/ZX7 irons. They are absolutely the same. I used to game a Mavrik Max, but 20gram weight moved up so less spin. I bought a Paradym X and saw no difference. I used the same shaft in both. I went back to the Mavrik because the elongated head shape offered enough forgiveness and the 20 gram weight moved up to the heel lowered my spin which I wanted.

My scratch buddy gamed AP2s. He did a fitting and got T150. He's struggling with the T150s. He lost his stock baby fade and has a harder time shaping his shots. Played 2 rounds with him the first 2 times he took out the clubs. Both were the worst rounds he's played in years. Maybe it's between the ears. Maybe he should've been fitted in the T100s. Who knows. 

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On 1/8/2025 at 9:22 AM, huge said:

I'm retiring the old Epic and going to get fitted at PGA Superstore soon.

Initial lean Titleist but love my TM Stealth 3W and last 2 drivers have been Callaway and I am a Ping iron whore.

Should be interesting.  Shaft is key I know...

 

which pga store ?

 

id highly recommend edwin watts westhimer. 

https://wanderinggolfpro.com/about-me

assistant gm, very good guy 

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On 1/10/2025 at 3:55 PM, crash_davis said:

I watch a shitton of golf videos, from club fitters like Champion (Ian), 2nd swing and a ton of others with Trackman facilities. They've all done 20 yr v 10yr v new equipment testing, diff stiffness testing, graphite vs steel shafts, same lofts different iron head types, etc. You will be amazed how little difference there has been in the last 10 years for drivers and 20 years for irons (except for hollow bodied). You will see VERY little difference between each generation. For drivers from 10 years older to now, it may be 1 or 2mph ball speed improvement, slight improvement on dispersions, not much improvement on distances, some improvement on spin (lower or more spin, depending on what is needed).

For irons, it's almost a zero improvement as long as your are comparing between club types. Blades are gonna blade. Cavity backs are gonna cavity back. Hollow bodied are "newer" but at the end of the day, it really comes down to loft and spin. 

I gamed Srixon Z565/765 combo irons. I upgraded to ZX5/ZX7 irons. They are absolutely the same. I used to game a Mavrik Max, but 20gram weight moved up so less spin. I bought a Paradym X and saw no difference. I used the same shaft in both. I went back to the Mavrik because the elongated head shape offered enough forgiveness and the 20 gram weight moved up to the heel lowered my spin which I wanted.

My scratch buddy gamed AP2s. He did a fitting and got T150. He's struggling with the T150s. He lost his stock baby fade and has a harder time shaping his shots. Played 2 rounds with him the first 2 times he took out the clubs. Both were the worst rounds he's played in years. Maybe it's between the ears. Maybe he should've been fitted in the T100s. Who knows. 

 

T200's is the way. forged face, hollow body irons are the truth. 

did he do a titleist or store fitting  ?

im a snob here - 99% of the time, i'd only get fitted by the equipment rep. too many store fittings are done by unqualified people. imo 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fucking incredible return trip to Bandon. Rain and wind our first day but 5 amazing days afterward. Proud of pops who walked all 122 holes on property. Also got an unexpected bonus - last day had 900/910 time on Bandon Dunes. Round was slow. Decided to play a $60 replay at Sheep since it was open and was what we played on the shit weather day. Teed off at 230 hoping to get through 11 but the 3 of us flew and we got the full 18 in for my first Bandon 36 hole day. Played 18 in dark and heavy fog that rolled off the ocean as we were on the tee. Bad for golf but an unforgettable moment and I made bogey anyway ha.

An absolute must do for any golfer. 1d40a2608889633995fa6e5c615202ee.jpg
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  • 2 weeks later...

So starting a year and a half ago, I made a commitment to get my golf game back to better than it was in the 2000-2010 years. I was an 8 HC with below average distance and consistency. Today I'm an 18. Ouch. My plan has three main goals in support of my single HC objective: a) fix my major swing flaw, b) improve my distance signficantly, and c) fix putting/chipping which has always been weak. My plan to do that is to a) play and practice more often, b) get better and more golf instruction, c) get better clubs.

So far, I've made progress on all areas, but am not quite there:

a) Swing flaw - I'd take deep divots and hit fat on occassion. I've made pretty good progress on this and now have a solid inside out swing with a draw and a better divot. However I have to solve a draw that keeps turning into a hook. I achieved this through primarily practice and trying things. For the draw/hook, I'm now working with an in-person instructor and online videos. I think I'm close.

b) Distance - Watching videos and practicing. I've gained iron distance but have screwed up my woods. In the process of fixing that via videos and in-person instruction. I still have a long way to go. I'm still a short hitter, probably partially because of my age.

c) Clubs - I've hit many types of clubs and am not quite sure which direction to head. I have a fairly slow swing speed still, but I like the feel of thinner faced irons. I'm leaning towards Player Distance irons. Under consideration are Ping i530, Titleist T150 or T200, Taylor Made P790, Mizuno JPS925 Hot Metal Pro, Callaway Apex Ai200, Mizuno MP-245, Srixon Zi4/5, or Callaway Elite.

Does anyone have any opinions on these or other irons for someone in my situation? I've hit all of these and they all are good and better than my old Callaway X-18s. I'm also trying to figure out shaft. I'm old (60) but have always resisted graphite shafts for irons. Finally, I used to hit 2 irons until they became impossible to find, and I'm unhappy to find that 3 irons are no longer available. I have no idea what to replace a 3i with. 

 

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Get fitted at Club Champion. They can put you in every combination of shaft and head available on the market. And it’s a fun and enlightening experience even if you don’t buy anything.

There’s no reason to avoid graphite shafts. They’re lighter while offering as much stiffness as you want

Hybrids are why we don’t need 2i and 3i. They’re awesome. I play down to 5h with 6i being my first iron.

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7 minutes ago, Lurch said:

Get fitted at Club Champion. They can put you in every combination of shaft and head available on the market. And it’s a fun and enlightening experience even if you don’t buy anything.

There’s no reason to avoid graphite shafts. They’re lighter while offering as much stiffness as you want

Hybrids are why we don’t need 2i and 3i. They’re awesome. I play down to 5h with 6i being my first iron.

Great tip. I've been unhappy with everywhere I've been considering for a fitting: PGA superstore personnel have been unknowledgeble kids, Golf Galaxy seemed old and out of date, Golf Ranch wasn't bad but their launch monitors had limitations on critical parameters.

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NSIAP. Dude is a genius but system is tangible and he presents it well. 

If you want to shoot lower scores, dedicate 90 percent of your practice to the short game.  It does not take a super athlete with 125+ mph clubhead speed to be skilled from 120 yards and in.

Off-season for me until March in Chicagoland. 

 

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Love the Mizuno hot metal irons . They have an option where you can mix hot metal irons for longer clubs and pros for shorter irons if I recall correctly . I mainly like them  as they have a thinner profile than game improvement clubs and they don’t have inserts that tended to fall out of previous irons I have had . And I’m pretty sure I’ll be on the tour with them soon….

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