Looks and Design

From the moment I unboxed this set, I was struck by their classic Callaway aesthetics. The irons boast a sleek, chrome finish that exudes a premium look. The rounded shape of the clubheads, reminiscent of the Apex Pro line, instills confidence at address. Callaway has managed to seamlessly integrate the technology into the design, resulting in a clean and sophisticated appearance.

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The topline is thin, giving them a player's iron look that appeals to better golfers. The minimal offset further enhances the sleek profile, allowing for precise shot-shaping. The badging on the back of the clubheads adds a touch of elegance without being overly flashy. It's a subtle detail that showcases Callaway's attention to detail and their commitment to creating visually stunning irons.

One of the standout features of these irons is how well they disguise the underlying technology. At first glance, you might not realize the level of innovation packed into these irons. The cavity back design is carefully crafted to optimize performance while maintaining a clean and traditional appearance. It's a testament to Callaway's ability to blend form and function seamlessly.

Whether you're admiring them in the bag or setting up over the ball, these irons are a true feast for the eyes. While you may or may not love the back side of these irons, from address they have a timeless beauty that will appeal to a wide range of golfers who appreciate the perfect combination of classic design and modern engineering.

Feel and Sound

Stepping up to the ball, I could not wait to experience the feel and sound at impact. With a well-struck shot, the irons produce an explosive sound, akin to a shotgun blast. It's a satisfying auditory feedback that lets you know you've made solid contact. The sound is crisp and powerful, instilling confidence in your swing.

However, I found that the feel doesn't entirely match the explosive sound. Even when paired with a soft golf ball like the Callaway Chrome Soft, the irons have a slightly clicky sensation. It's not an unpleasant feel by any means, but it might take some getting used to if you're accustomed to the buttery-soft feel of forged irons from someone like Mizuno.

The best way I could describe the feel of these irons is solid and stable. They provide a sense of control and connection to the ball, allowing you to shape shots with precision. Mishits are met with a slightly firmer sensation, providing instant feedback on the quality of your strike.

It's worth noting that feel is a highly subjective aspect of golf equipment, and what feels great to one player might not be the same for another. While the Paradym Irons may not have the most luxurious feel, they offer a reliable and consistent sensation that many golfers will appreciate.

Performance

On the course, these clubs have proved to be reliable performers. Although they didn't provide the most dramatic distance gains compared to my previous set of Mizuno JPX 921 Forged irons, I still noticed a consistent half-club increase in distance across the set. This boost in yardage can be attributed to the advanced technology embedded in the irons, such as the AI-designed Flash Face Cup and the Tungsten Energy Core.

What impressed me more than the distance gains was the tight dispersion from short to long irons. They offer excellent consistency, eliminating the occasional surprise ball that jumps an extra 10 yards. I used to see that a lot with a set of JPX 919 Hot Metals I had used. This predictability is invaluable on the course, allowing you to approach each shot with confidence, knowing that the ball will travel the expected distance.

Forgiveness is another area where these irons shine. Off-center hits are met with minimal loss of distance or accuracy, thanks to the optimized weighting and the forgiving nature of the clubhead design. The irons have a generous sweet spot, making it easier to achieve solid contact even on slight mishits.

One of the other standout performance features of these irons is their ability to launch the ball high. The low center of gravity, combined with the fast face and advanced weighting, helps to get the ball up in the air quickly and effortlessly. This is particularly beneficial for golfers who struggle with low ball flight or those who play on courses with firm greens.

Throughout my testing, I found the Paradym Irons to be incredibly versatile. They performed well from a variety of lies, including the fairway, rough, and even fairway bunkers. The irons maintained their stability and consistency, regardless of the situation.

Paired with the Elevate 95 shafts, the clubs delivered a smooth and controlled feel. The shafts complemented the clubheads well, providing the necessary launch and spin characteristics to optimize performance. As with most clubs in this kind of class, there is a nice combination of peak height, aggressive descent angle which offsets some of the lost spin on the clubs. That isn’t to say these do not spin, but, do not expect a 7 iron to spin 7,000 RPM unless you’re a very high swing speed player.

Overall, the performance of these irons left me impressed. They offer a compelling combination of distance, forgiveness, and consistency that will appeal to a wide range of golfers looking to elevate their iron play.

Comparisons and Target Audience

In many ways, these irons reminded me of the Apex Pro 19 irons I had played in the past. The look at address is quite similar, but the Paradym Irons offer improved forgiveness, distance, and a more explosive sound. While the Apex Pros may have a slight edge in terms of feel, the Paradyms make up for it with their all-around performance.

I believe these clubs can cater to a wide range of golfers, from mid to low handicappers. If you're in search of consistent distance, need help launching the ball high, and appreciate a clean look at address, these irons should definitely be on your radar.

Value and Conclusion

When these clubs first hit the market, the $200 per iron price may have raised some eyebrows. However, with their recent price drop on the secondary market, you can now find these irons for a more palatable $500 to $700. At this price point, I believe this is an excellent value for the performance they deliver.

In conclusion, the Callaway Paradym Irons are a testament to Callaway's commitment to blending classic design with cutting-edge technology. While they may not revolutionize your game overnight, they provide a solid foundation of consistency, forgiveness, and reliable distance. If you're a mid to low handicapper looking to upgrade your irons, these are definitely worth considering. And with their reduced price on the secondary market, there's never been a better time to experience the fusion of classic looks and modern performance that these irons offer.

Check out eBay, 2ndSwing or Callaway Preowned for some great deals on these.

My fascination with driving irons led me down a path familiar to many: the quest for the elusive 2-iron stinger shot. This journey, fueled by visions of piercing low shots cutting through the wind, became an obsession that, admittedly, took a toll on my swing. In my pursuit, detailed in Getting Rid of My Slice, I chronicled the trials and tribulations of tweaking my technique, a testament to the lengths we go to master our game. It's this relentless pursuit of improvement and the allure of a perfectly executed shot that makes the introduction of the New Level Golf NLU-01 Utility Iron so compelling.

With the backdrop of utility irons' rising star on tour and my own experiences tinkering and toiling, the NLU-01 arrives with the promise of unparalleled forgiveness, ball speed, and a design that might just put an end to my quest. But does it live up to the hype? Join me as we delve into the world of New Level Golf's latest offering, a club that aims to redefine what we expect from a utility iron.

Overview

In a game where precision and power can make all the difference, the New Level Golf NLU-01 Utility Iron emerges as a game-changer. This club isn't just another addition to your bag; it's a declaration of intent, a testament to innovation in golf technology aimed at enhancing player performance across the board. My exploration into the utility iron category led me to the 3-U version of the NLU-01, boasting a 21-degree loft and a mere 3mm of offset. Designed for golfers who demand versatility without compromise, this utility iron promises an unparalleled blend of forgiveness and ball speed, appealing to those who find themselves facing tight tee shots or seeking to shape their shots with surgical precision.

Design and Technology

At the heart of the NLU-01's performance is its sophisticated construction, where every detail serves a purpose. The club's body is crafted from 431 stainless steel, known for its strength and durability, ensuring this iron can withstand the rigors of regular play. The magic, however, lies in the seamless integration with a CS455 club face, achieved through precise laser welding. This combination not only enhances the overall structural integrity of the club but also significantly contributes to the optimal sound and feel upon impact, turning each shot into a satisfying experience.

The design philosophy behind the NLU-01 is one of intelligent weight distribution. By strategically relocating mass to the extremities of the club, engineers have unlocked higher launch angles and softer landings, enabling players to approach greens with confidence and control. This unique design feature is a boon for golfers seeking to maintain consistency across varied course conditions, providing a level of predictability and trust in their equipment that can often mean the difference between a good round and a great one.

Further enhancing its appeal to the discerning golfer is the reduced offset of the NLU-01. In a market where utility irons often cater to a wide array of skill levels, New Level Golf has carved out a niche for the better player. This design choice not only aids in the club's shot-shaping capabilities but also ensures it stands out as the ultimate weapon for those critical moments when precision is paramount. It's clear that every aspect of the NLU-01's design and technology has been meticulously considered, resulting in a club that's not just gorgeous to look at but a powerhouse of performance and versatility.

Feel

The feel of the New Level NLU-01 Utility Iron upon a well-struck shot is nothing short of satisfying. The club communicates a pure, almost euphoric feedback when the ball is struck dead center—a sensation that rivals even the most revered forged irons. This delightful response from a utility iron, especially one with a technologically advanced laser welded face, was a pleasant surprise. The technology does not detract from the tactile experience but instead enhances it, offering a level of satisfaction that belies the utility iron's traditionally functional persona.

However, the NLU-01 doesn’t shy away from honesty on mishits, serving up a clear and discernible feedback that is both informative and merciful. Unlike the jarring sensation often associated with off-center strikes on more unforgiving clubs, the NLU-01 provides a gentler nudge, allowing you to quickly recalibrate without the sting of punishment. This blend of positive reinforcement for good shots and constructive feedback on the others makes for a highly effective learning and playing experience, ensuring that each swing, good or bad, contributes to your development as a golfe

Looks

Aesthetically, the NLU-01 Utility Iron is a study in thoughtful design and seamless integration. Drawing heavily from the styling cues of New Level's 623-MB irons, it presents a familiar yet distinct appearance that will appeal to existing fans of the brand. The visual continuity ensures that adding the NLU-01 to your bag doesn’t just expand your playing options; it does so while maintaining a cohesive look across your set. Its presence is felt but not overstated, offering a visual nod to the player’s preference for quality and design coherence.

At address, the club instills confidence without bordering on the intimidating bulkiness often found in utility irons aimed at maximum forgiveness. While its profile is noticeably more substantial compared to sleeker options like the Callaway X Forged UT, it strikes a middle ground that many will find visually appealing. The balance achieved here is noteworthy—offering enough visual substance to inspire confidence at the tee or fairway, without venturing into the "too chunky" territory that might deter the purists. This design choice makes the NLU-01 a versatile option that caters to a wide range of aesthetic preferences while focusing on performance.

Performance

The performance of the NLU-01 Utility Iron shines through its forgiveness on off-center hits. Whether slightly fat or thin, the discrepancies in distance were minimal, a testament to its design catering to real-world playability. Lateral forgiveness is present, though not to the extent of a high MOI hybrid, making the NLU-01 a compelling choice for those, like myself, who struggle with the mental game of using hybrids. The utility iron's beefy sole, while a non-issue off the tee, presented some challenges in turf interaction for my sweeping style, particularly from the fairway. This aspect might be more reflective of my personal play style than a universal experience, underscoring the utility iron's targeted versatility.

Using the NLU-01 as a driving iron on tight par 4s was a standout feature, thanks to its trajectory control and ability to shape shots. Paired with a Matrix Program 95 shaft, the flight was penetrating and controlled, ideal for strategic tee shots. The ease with which I could execute both cuts and draws, and even dial down the shot's height, speaks to the NLU-01’s design focus on providing a tactical advantage in a variety of course conditions.

However, when it came to the less glamorous shots—those punch-outs from under trees and navigating through light rough—the NLU-01's design presented a bit of a mental hurdle. The club's beefiness, a boon in many scenarios, became a stumbling block in these delicate situations. The chunkier profile of the utility iron, which usually instills confidence, in this case, fostered hesitation, making me long for the slender reassurance of a traditional 4 iron. This experience was a pointed reminder of the trade-offs involved in club selection and the importance of matching the club to the shot at hand. Despite this, the overarching lesson might be more about course management and strategic play—namely, the age-old wisdom of steering clear of trouble spots where possible. Yet, the journey of a golfer is one of continuous learning and adaptation, and the NLU-01, with its many strengths and few limitations, remains a valuable teacher on this path.

Conclusion

The journey with the New Level Golf NLU-01 Utility Iron has been both enlightening and revealing, offering a fresh perspective on the utility iron's role in the modern golfer's bag. At a competitive price of $150, available directly from New Level Golf (NLU-01 Utility Iron), this club makes a compelling case for itself with its blend of forgiveness and control, wrapped in a visually appealing package.

While the NLU-01 impresses on many fronts, the quest for the perfect balance between traditional iron playability and utility iron benefits continues. In my ongoing exploration for the ideal club to fill this crucial slot in my bag, I'm now considering the Callaway Paradym 4 iron. With its blend of a compact shape and forgiveness, particularly off the tee, it may just be the solution I'm seeking. This intrigue stems from the Paradym 4 iron's promise to combine the best of both worlds, offering the precision and confidence of a traditional iron with the enhanced playability of a utility iron.

Stay tuned for a comprehensive review on the Callaway Paradym 4 iron coming soon, where I'll dive deep into its performance and whether it indeed offers the blend of features that could make it the preferred choice for my game. As we navigate the evolving landscape of golf equipment, it's clear that the options are as diverse as the players themselves. Whether the NLU-01 Utility Iron or the forthcoming Paradym 4 iron finds a permanent home in my bag, the journey underscores the importance of matching equipment to the individual nuances of each golfer's game.

In closing, the New Level Golf NLU-01 Utility Iron stands as a worthy contender in the utility iron category, offering notable performance at an accessible price point. Its journey through my testing regimen has not only highlighted its strengths and areas for improvement but also sparked a deeper exploration into finding the optimal club for that critical slot in the bag. As the search continues, the dialogue between golfer and equipment evolves, reminding us that in the quest for improvement, the right tools can make all the difference.

Just like my unexpected affinity for PING irons, discovered during a memorable demo day experience way back in the day, the Kirkland Signature Player Irons from Costco piqued my curiosity. I know, what clubs don’t? I decided to order a set one day when I saw they were actually in stock and here we are.

Known more for bulk groceries than golf gear, Costco’s foray into golf equipment with these irons seemed like a wild card. Could these irons, much like the G15s had years ago, surprise me with their performance and value? Let's delve into my journey with these irons, from initial skepticism to the final verdict.

Background

My golf bag has seen a revolving door of irons over the years, from the buttery smooth Mizunos to the dependable PINGs. Each set offered a unique promise, blending forgiveness with playability. When the Kirkland Signature Player Irons came onto the scene, my golfer's heart, always on the lookout for the next game-changer, couldn’t resist. Would these irons, from a retailer not traditionally associated with the sport, find a permanent place in my bag? (Does any club ever do that??🤣)

Looks

The moment I laid eyes on the Kirkland Signature Player Irons, I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu, whisked back to the first time I encountered the Taylormade P790s. There's a certain reverence we golfers hold for designs that set the benchmark, and it was clear these irons aimed to echo that legacy. However, where the P790s opt for a more understated satin, the Kirklands dazzle with a chrome finish so shiny, you could almost see your reflection. It's this glossy allure that sets them apart, offering a nod to tradition while carving out its own identity.

Addressing the ball, these irons exude a confidence that's both comforting and inspiring. It's a delicate balance, achieving a look that's forgiving yet workable, and the Kirklands manage this with aplomb. The design cues they share with the Callaway Apex 19 Pro irons are evident—the bright chrome, the subtly rounded toe—crafting a silhouette that feels both familiar and fresh. It's this marriage of form and function that speaks to the golfer's heart, promising a tool that's as reliable as it is visually appealing.

Yet, for all their visual nods to industry stalwarts, the Kirklands carve out their own niche. They don't mimic; they pay homage, with just enough distinction to remind you that these irons are here to forge their own story. This blend of inspiration and individuality sets the stage for a golfing experience that feels both rooted in tradition and excitingly new.

Feel

Gripping the Kirkland irons for the first time was an exercise in managing expectations. Having swung the latest P790s, I braced for a familiar sensation, but the Kirklands charted a different course. There's a 'dullness' to them, a muted response that, while not entirely unsatisfying, left me yearning for the explosive feedback that characterizes the best player distance irons. It's an odd sensation, particularly given their forged label—a trait that typically promises a certain liveliness upon impact.

This isn't to say the experience was wholly lacking. Mis-hits, often a golfer's bane, were met not with the harsh, unforgiving feedback of blades but with a more tempered response. It was enough to convey the quality of the strike without the punitive after effects, a feature that's undeniably appealing. Moreover, the choice of Lamkin grips and Elevate shafts suggests a thoughtful consideration for the user experience, ensuring that comfort and suitability aren't sacrificed at the altar of affordability.

Reflecting on the feel of these irons, I can't shake the sense of being somewhat spoiled by past experiences—those blissful moments with Mizunos and Miuras that set a high bar for what an iron can deliver. Yet, there's merit in the Kirklands' approach, offering a forgiving, if not electrifying, journey for the golfer willing to engage with them on their own terms.

Performance

Taking the Kirklands to the course was a venture into the unknown, colored by a blend of hope and skepticism. My time with them was a rollercoaster, marked by moments of genuine surprise and bouts of inconsistency. The potential for greatness was there, glimpsed in the well-struck shots that soared with a confidence that belied their price tag. Yet, the journey was punctuated by unpredictability, a reminder of the delicate dance between golfer and equipment.

It was in the realm of performance variability where the irons both intrigued and confounded. The same club could deliver drastically different outcomes, a quirk that left me pondering the nuances of my swing rather than the equipment in hand. This wasn't the case with other clubs I've cherished, like the JPX 921 - Hot Metal Pros, known for their occasional face-melting smash factor rockets. Instead, the Kirklands offered a more subdued experience, reliable yet lacking that edge of excitement.

For the golfer standing at the crossroads of skill and equipment evolution, these irons present an interesting proposition. Their forgiveness and solid distance are undeniable, making them a worthy companion for the high handicapper or the newcomer. Yet, as someone who's tasted the thrill of the game's finer instruments, I found myself longing for a touch more consistency, a bit more soul in the performance. It's a complex verdict, one that acknowledges the irons' strengths while conceding that, perhaps, my expectations were set a tad too high.

Value

In the realm of golf, where the cost of entry can be as daunting as the game itself, the Kirkland Signature Player Irons stand out as a beacon of value. Priced at a point that challenges the status quo, they offer a proposition that's hard to ignore. For $499 — or a bit more on the resale market given their popularity — these irons undercut their premium counterparts significantly, without compromising on the promise of a quality golfing experience.

This value proposition is further bolstered by Costco's renowned return policy, offering peace of mind to those tempted to venture into these waters. It's a feature that shouldn't be overlooked, providing a safety net for those on the fence. Yet, as I ponder the wider market, with options like lightly used Callaway Paradym Irons or Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal Pros within reach around $600-$700, the decision becomes nuanced. The Kirklands undoubtedly offer value, but the quest for the perfect set of irons is as much about fit and feel as it is about fiscal prudence.

At the end of the day, the Kirkland Signature Player Irons are worth consideration, particularly for those on a quest to find quality without breaking the bank. My experience, though mixed, underscores the subjective nature of golf equipment selection—a journey defined by personal preference, performance needs, and, yes, the thrill of the find. On to trying out the next set of irons!

Background

The technology of the G15 Iron provides the high-launching, maximum forgiveness attributes that bring consistency to your iron play.. The stainless steel iron cavity design features a new Custom Tuning Port (CTP) which expands the perimeter weighting and increases the moment of inertia.

Weight savings from a thinner face is re-positioned to the toe for added forgiveness on miss hits and its wider sole produces a higher launch angle. Stronger lofts combine with a center of gravity located low and farther from the face to produce longer shots without sacrificing the higher trajectory required in a maximum forgiveness iron.

Look and Feel

There is no mistaking the G15 for blades, that is for sure. However, even with the wide sole and thicker top-line of a super game improvement iron, the G15 irons are very reassuring at address. As expected, the club face is slightly larger than that of the i15, especially noticeable in the heel to toe dimension at address. Personally, I like this in the longer irons, however, feel a little less confident when it comes to the shorter irons.

Flip the club over and you'll notice the wider sole. Part of the theory behind this design decision is to get the center of gravity lower and further back on the club. This helps launch the ball higher. So, if you are one who has a hard time getting some height out of your irons, you should be able to hit a high ball with these sticks!

There is a nice finish to all PING clubs, the G15 irons are no exception. The almost rough finish to these cast irons is very cool in my book. The graphics on the back of the club face are interesting enough, but not overly distracting. Very similar to the i15 graphics, and even the G10 line to some degree. You will not be seeing them while swinging the club, so the design of the backside of the club rarely influences my decision on a club purchase.

Feel is where I have always found the PING G and I series lacking. The PING i15s, in my opinion, have made a nice step forward in the feel department over the i10 irons. The same can be said for the G15 irons. That being said, a well struck 8 iron is not going to feel as buttery smooth as a Mizuno blade. The flip side on that is when you thin a 5 iron in the early spring, you are not going to feel like you just smacked a cold cinder block.

All that being said, in the super game improvement class of clubs, I think the G15 irons do an admirable job of preserving some level of feel. While you may not feel exactly where you may have miss hit a shot, you will at least know you did. I cannot say this for all super game improvement clubs out in the market.

Performance

Like any club out there, if you try hard enough, you can make these things slice and hook. Now, a gentle draw or fade? That will probably depend on your swing. I have a slight draw tendency, couple that with the offset and draw bias in these clubs, and I was generally hitting these with a few yards of right to left in them. Are they any more or less workable than the G10 irons? Not sure I can say there is a huge difference there.

As I mentioned earlier, these clubs have pretty wide soles. Personally, I always seem to struggle with wide soles, especially when it comes to tight lies. I feel like it is a little more difficult to play these out of a wider variety of lies because of that sole. However, given that these things are so darn forgiving, I found myself in fewer situations that required a club with a little more 'workability'. If you have trouble getting the ball elevated, the wider sole in this set of irons does help get the ball up quickly.

When it comes to forgiveness, you will be hard pressed to find an iron that is this easy on your poor swings. Thin shots carried distance well, as did shots out on the toe and to some degree the heel as well. Sure, come in there with the face wide open, and this club won't help you, but none of them will.

Conclusion

I really loved hitting the long irons, especially when the ball was sitting up on a tee. Standing on the tee box of a long par 3 or a tight par 4, the 3 or 4 iron from this set are superb. As I generally find with most sets of irons, a well struck 3 iron is a pretty amazing feeling. With the G15 irons, I found it relatively easy to find the sweet spot off a tee and could get used to launching my golf ball way up into the sky, hurdling down the middle of the fairway.

That being said, I felt like I gave up a little something in the control and accuracy department with the shorter irons. Now, this is just me, and I am looking for shorter irons I can work and flight. If you are just looking for maximum forgiveness, to hit the ball straight, and make the game of golf a heck of a lot easier, these may make more sense for you! Wait a minute, why do I want to be able to work the ball? But back to those long irons. Today, the longest iron I am playing in my bag is a 5 iron. Anything above that, I am using a hybrid. It is difficult to beat the versatility of a hybrid and the forgiveness. But, a few sweet swings with the G15 3 and 4 irons on the range, and it is hard for me not to want to put them in play. So, we will see, they may make another appearance in my bag soon. Should you be looking at the G15 irons? If you are currently playing something like the TaylorMade RAC OS2 irons and are looking for a little more feel and distance, this would be a nice step up. If you are coming from a set of blades, looking to make your Sundays more enjoyable, I would suggest stepping into something a little more intermediate, like the i15 irons.

The great news is, PING irons generally seem to retain their value well. So, picking up a set of either of these irons for a month or two would not cost you an arm and a leg if you consider the resale value.

Fast forward a year, the HSBC World Match play moved out of the state and the Shop-Rite became the only game in the Garden State. At this point, The Deep Rough had a year under its belt and a pretty good following. So, I thought I would see about getting some better access to the players/venue/organizers and try to learn a little more about how things ticked on the other side of the ropes. At the time, I really enjoyed watching the LPGA and felt like I could better relate to the lady's game than what was going on with the men's game. They used similar clubs, did not hit the ball 350 yards, were not spinning the ball back 20 feet out of the thick stuff, and missed the occasional 10 footer.

So, I was all for doing whatever I could have done to help better expose the game to readers of The Deep Rough. I fired up google, dug around for the form to request media credentials, and kicked that process off. Shortly there after, I received a reply letting me know that my request had been denied. D'oh. Fast forward another couple of years. Carolyn Bivins was given the boot. The LPGA seemed to embrace social media...they have a twitter account, that counts, right? The departure of tournament sponsors has been well documented. The lack of star power has been a problem. So, today, you would think the league would be all over getting whatever positive coverage they could get their hands on, right? Yeah...not so much. The old HSBC World Match play made its way back to Hamilton Farm as the Sybase Classic. I thought, awesome, it's down the street, let's get in there and see how the LPGA has evolved over the past 4 years. So, I sent in my request for media credentials a few months ago. They are more 'social media' friendly now, right? They should welcome some local blogger coverage, right?

Dear Sean, Thank you for your interest in covering the Sybase Match Play Championship. A summary of your organization's media credential request is listed below: Sean - Denied

Alrigthy then...seriously, nothing else.

It really just does not make a whole lot of sense to me. On one side, you have a number of LPGA players generating some amazing content through their twitter accounts. And on the other, you have the apparent desire of the league to control its image through traditional media sources. Does the LPGA embrace the opportunity they have to connect with fans through twitter? Or would they rather control what they players say through these new avenues for communication? Feel free to weigh in on this with a comment. (Unless, of course, you are just trying to sell Ugg boots, in which case, please just save your time...my time...and a little bandwidth..)

You do not have to look any further than Christina Kim's twitter account to see how entertaining some of these ladies can be. I find real content, like she provides, pretty remarkable. A few years ago, you would be lucky to read a half decent interview with a PGA player in Golf Digest. Now, I can get workout advice from Trevor Immelman, get updates from John Daly on his game, and even get recommendations on Hibachi places from Christina Kim. How cool is that?

LPGA, you would be wise to embrace this type of access. If I can relate to your product, I will buy your product. Nike Golf gets it. They have embraced this form of marketing their product. Heck, they have invited me down to The Oven to check it out, meet the guys designing the clubs and then swing on over to Colonial to watch the Crowne Plaza Invitational. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure I will have nothing but positive things to say about that experience!

So, best of luck to the women of the LPGA at the Hamilton Farm this week. Sorry I will not be there to experience it with you!

Background

The TaylorMade Penta TP is the first tour ball with five solid-layers, with each layer engineered to optimize performance in five key shot categories that skilled players need driver, long-irons, middle-irons, short-irons and partial wedges. The five layers of Penta TP include the core, inner mantle, middle mantle, outer mantle and cover, and each one plays a critical role in optimizing the performance of each of the five key shots.

Layer 1 - Cover

The soft Urethane Cover promotes a higher than average spin-rate on the all-important partial wedge shots required in the scoring zone, within 100 yards of the flag. These are the types of shots where many current tour balls fail to deliver the goods because they launch too high and don't spin enough. Instead, most tour pros want a ball that launches lower and spins enough to stop fast after one or two bounces, which gives them maximum control over these types of shots. Penta TP's soft, durable Urethane Cover has the necessary characteristics to deliver that coveted combination of lower launch angle and higher spin-rate, while also providing soft tour feel.

Layer 2 - Outer Mantle

The firm and fast Outer Mantle promotes optimum spin off the short-irons to stop the ball quick without sucking it off the front of the green or drawing it back too far from the hole. The Outer Mantle is the fastest mantle in the ball; because it's positioned just beneath the cover it's easily compressed by slower swingers (ball speeds 120 mph and below), helping them to generate higher ball speed for increased distance.

Layer 3 - Middle Mantle

The semi-firm and fast Middle Mantle, which surrounds the Inner Mantle , promotes mid-launch and mid-spin off the middle irons. Mid-launch promotes control; mid-spin keeps the ball from up-shooting, ballooning and falling short of the target. The Middle mantle consists of a fast material, allowing medium-slow swingers (who average from 120 to 140 mph in ball speed) to generate more ball speed and distance, as they will compress only the two outermost mantles underneath the cover.

Layer 4 - Inner Mantle

The soft, fast Inner Mantle, which surrounds the core, promotes soft feel, high launch and low spin off the long-irons for exceptional distance and high, soft-landing flight that helps the ball sit quickly on the green. The Inner Mantle consists of a fast material, which helps players who average from 140 to 160 mph in ball speed to generate more ball speed and distance, because although they don't swing fast enough to activate the core, they are able to activate the three layers between the core and cover including the inner mantle, which is the deepest of the three.

Layer 5 - Core

The extremely soft, low-compression core is the most critical layer to promoting high launch and low spin off the driver, which are well known to be the launch conditions that promote maximum carry and distance. Despite being soft and low-compression, Penta TP's core is still very fast, which allows players who generate fast ball speed -- in the 140 to 180 mph range -- to generate more ball speed. Which means that if long-hitters who play a tour ball will likely be longer with Penta TP.

Progressive Distance Promotes More Yardage at a Variety of Swing Speeds

The layers of Penta TP are configured strategically to promote “Progressive Distance”, which allows it to deliver terrific distance to all types of swing speeds. That's because, as mentioned above, each layer is exceptionally fast. Slow swingers who generate only enough clubhead speed to activate the Outer Mantle will benefit. Medium swingers who can activate only the Outer and Middle mantles will benefit. Fast swingers who activate the Outer, Middle and Inner mantles will benefit. And of course, very fast swingers who activate every mantle plus the core will benefit.

Added Spin and Control in the Scoring Zone

The added spin Penta TP promotes in the scoring zone is especially important in light of the groove-change rule that will be implemented in high-level competitions by the USGA and R&A in 2010. The new grooves will impart less spin depending on the lie (much less out of the rough) and swing type (shallow swingers will lose more than steeper swingers). Penta TP will help some players recover some of the spin likely to be lost because of the new rule.

Recent testing with TaylorMade Tour Staff pros drew rave reviews from Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Retief Goosen and Justin Rose, who complimented Penta TP's all-around performance and singled out for praise the spin and control on the all-important 30- to 75-yard wedge shot. “That's been the biggest shortcoming in today's tour balls,” says Dean Snell, head of TaylorMade's golf ball R&D department.

LDP Technology for Improved Distance on Driver Miss Hits

Penta TP also incorporates TaylorMade's LDP technology, which uses improved aerodynamics to promote increased lift to keep the ball in the air longer for more distance on the most common types of driver mis-hits, which occur on the top half of the clubface. TaylorMade robot testing shows that LDP improves driver distance on mis-hits dramatically, and that TaylorMade balls with LDP are clearly longer on driver mis-hits compared to competitive balls without LDP. Also, Penta TP's dimple configuration delivers the same hold-the-line stability in the wind that the TP Red and TP Black are renowned for.

Three Years in Development, Five-Layer Penta TP Delivers a New Level of Performance

Penta TP on Tour

Penta TP is already being played on tour, first by Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen, who switched into it at the PGA Championship. Other players who have switched into Penta TP include Y.E. Yang, Justin Rose and Jason Day. “It usually takes players several weeks or even months of trial before they'll change balls,” said Snell. “We're seeing players switch into Penta TP after testing it for nine holes. That's proof that Penta TP offers a dramatic improvement in performance.”

A Great Choice for Every Level of Player

Penta TP was created for our tour pros, yet it's a great ball for every level of player. You don't have to be a fast swinger to achieve excellent distance with Penta TP, and it delivers the kind of spin in the scoring zone that a distance ball can't compete with, giving shorter hitters the added control to get up-and-down more often. The same goes for higher handicappers - the extra spin Penta TP promotes will only improve the quality of their short shots, helping them score lower.

Look and Feel

Usually we go with Look and Feel™ here, but well, it’s a golf ball, Look is pretty similar to most other golf balls on the market! That being said, there are a couple little look related things to discuss. A lot of golf balls on the market these days include a great little alignment aid, much like what the ProV1 is offering with their latest models. The Penta TP does not offer any such alignment aid. In fact, the Penta actually has a little less text on it than the TaylorMade TP Red or Black golf ball. With the Red LDP there is enough text there that one could use it to help in alignment in a pinch. So, that is one small thing I missed. Generally I end up using a little plastic line tool to draw a line on the ball with a sharpie anyway, so not a huge deal. Just nice to have should you forget the line drawing helper (there is probably an official term for such a device, but it escapes me at the moment).

So with the TaylorMade TP Red and Black golf balls (I am always referring to the latest LDP model in this review...I know it gets confusing as the Red/Black seemed to have swapped from the 2007→2008 models, but alas, go with the LDP ones in this review), I found the Reds to be nice and soft off irons and while putting, where as the Blacks were a little firmer and clickier on putts. I always liked the green side spin of the Blacks, but always preferred the feel of the Red. That takes us to the first comparison. I was happy to find the Penta had a nice soft feel to it on putts and on iron shots, similar to that of the Red. I even found the feel off the driver to be nice and soft. Not overly soft like a ProV1, but some solid feel to it on, not mushy.

So yeah, the Penta certainly delivers in the feel department. Now, can it deliver in the performance department?

Performance

First thing I would like to mention here is the LDP technology built into the Penta. This same technology was built into the TP Red and TP Black golf balls, and let me tell you, if you play in windy conditions, this ball is a life saver. If you have played on windy days enough, you know that you either need to keep the ball down and out of the wind or make sure you make dead solid contact. If you get a little side spin on the ball, it turns into a lot of side spin. The LDP technology really seems to help the ball pierce through the wind, even on those shots that are not pured. The LDP also seems to help keep the ball aloft on miss hits on not so windy days. Having played the TP Red or Black balls most of this season, I am going to find it hard to switch to any non LDP ball at this point!

Distance wise I found the Penta to be solid on both drives and irons. With regard to the driver, I found that for me the Penta played at least a few yards longer than the Black consistently. The Penta was pretty similar to the TP Red distance wise.

As mentioned in the Background section, the Inner Mantle layer provides a high launching, low spin trajectory with the long irons, and that certainly seemed to be the case for me. Anything from a 3 hybrid through a 5 iron launched high and landed very soft on the green. Combined with Project-X shafts in my irons, the Penta cut its way through the air, seeming to hang forever, then just drop from the sky nice and soft. Was pretty to watch.

Mid to short irons held the green well and provided a consistent distance on well struck, full swing shots. TaylorMade claims that the Middle Mantle layer should help with these irons and prevent ballooning. I do not generally notice any ballooning with my irons when I play the TP Red or Black, and I did not notice any with the Penta either. Sometimes the TP Black can get up there if I am playing on a windy day. So, based on that, I would put the Penta more in the Red category on the mid irons, good thing for me.

Last, and certainly not least, short game performance. This is one area where I felt the TP Red lacked. I play with a decent amount of spin on my wedges and short irons, but by no means do I generate Tour Quality spin. That being said, I could usually get the TP Red irons to hop and stop or spin back a foot or two on full swings. The TP Black always had a ton of bite in them for me. I started to like using the TP Black for greenside shots, just because of that added spin, however never could get used to the harder feel.

In steps the Penta, which, so far had me feeling like it was a TP Red on the long shots, and the TP Red off the putter face. Now, can it feel the same as the TP Red on pitches and chips, but bite like the TP Black? The answer is: pretty darn close. Full swings with a Pitching Wedge was providing a boat load of back spin, on par with the TP Black. Little chips with the 58 around the green also could one hop and stop like the TP Black. With the Red, on those delicate 5-10 yard chips, I often had to just let the ball release and run out. You can be a little more aggressive with the Penta. Me like!

Conclusion

So where do we stand with all of this? I loved the TP Red off the driver, on the putting green, off my irons, but always felt like I could use a little more spin around the green. The TP Black left a little to be desired off the tee and felt too hard inside 100 yards. For me, at least, the Penta felt like a great compromise between the two. Great distance, control and feel in the long game and great distance, spin and feel on the greens and in the short game.

Given that the Penta is priced around the same point as the TP Red and TP Black it seems like a no brainer to me. Though I do occasionally find deals on the TP Red for $19.99 on various websites. As long as I can get the TP Red at half the price of the Penta I may stick with that ball - I managed to get by with it for most of the year. However, whenever I find a deal on the Pentas, or someone wants to get me some for Christmas...I will happily put a couple sleeves in my bag!

If you are a TP Red or TP Black player, you should most definitely check out the Penta. If you are a ProV1 player looking for a little more distance off the tee, while retaining most of that greenside spin and feel, check out the Penta you may be surprised. If nothing else, I think you will find the LDP technology to be a great addition to your game.

Dave, over at The Orland Golf Blog has also put together a nice review of the Penta TP from a higher handicapper's perspective. If you are in the 25 range, have a look at his review, he does a nice job of explaining it from his perspective

Editors Note: Looking back at this post reminded me of those old TaylorMade TP Red LDP golf balls and I miss them!

Background

The G15 driver is engineered for golfers seeking a maximum forgiveness driver that delivers distance and accuracy. Its 460cc titanium head is longer front to back and features PING’s patented ultra thin crown technology. Weight savings from the thin crown are positioned as an external sole weight to optimize the center of gravity for higher trajectories and reduced spin.

A larger face is designed to increase ball speed and provide consistency across the entire hitting surface. The new PING-designed TFC 149D high balance point shaft allows for a five gram increase in head mass (without increasing swing weight or overall weight) which results in higher ball speeds and an increased moment of inertia.

Look and Feel

The Ping G15 driver is an interesting piece of equipment. At first glance it appears to be a traditionally shaped, large head driver of 460cc. However, upon closer inspection one can make out the triangular geometry of the club head. It is not nearly as pronounced as something like the TaylorMade R7 CGB Max, but it is definitely there. I really liked the shape of it, not quite as clean as something like the Nickent 4DX, but much more pleasing to the eye than so many drivers these days.

The club head is finished in a dark color that is very subtle and does not distract you at address or during your swing. The crown of the club is set with the trademark Ping alignment aid, a reversed crescent moon. Again, nothing distracting about this, the alignment aid is a dark gray that does not stand out significantly, just enough that you can easily align the ball and club face.

Feel off the face is solid when well struck. Heel or toe shots are instantly recognizable, as are hits that are a little thin or fat. Unlike some other drivers today, if you do not hit the ball on the sweet spot, you will not be falsely rewarded with a solid feeling impact. This is a welcome surprise in a driver in this category. Generally I have found that the game improvement drivers always seem to reward you with an awesome feeling...you look up and you have hit a snap hook that nose dives 100 yards off the tee.

For those of you who are bothered by offset and draw bias in a club, you will be happy to know that the G15 sets up pretty neutral and looks quite square at address. There is a draw bias version of the G15 for those of you looking to help ease a slice. That particular model offers up a slightly more pronounced offset. The standard G15, on the other hand, will look quite pleasing to a golfer who naturally hits a draw. No worries about having to hold off the release to avoid those big hooks!

Performance

The day UPS dropped the G15 off at my door, I headed right over to my home course and took the driver out for a spin. I did not even bother to hit up the range, just took it right on the course. Little crazy perhaps, but it worked out pretty well. Lucky for me, the loft and shaft seemed to fit my swing pretty decently. I ended up hitting about 70% fairways, which is well above average for me.

With my swing, the ball launched quite high and seemed to have a pretty good spin rate, as the ball seemed to hang in the air forever and then roll out quite nicely. My driver was fitted with the PING TFC 149D shaft in stiff flex. It seemed to be quite stable and worked well with my particular swing. Nonetheless, you would probably want to be fitted by an authorized PING club fitter to help set you up with the right shaft/head combination to optimize the driver for your game.

I usually play with a Callaway FT-5 driver that has been fit with the proper lie/loft and shaft combination. The FT-5 is a solid performer in the ball speed department, one of the longer drivers out there. Fit to my swing, it should produce about as much distance as I can get on the course. Amazingly enough, I found solid strikes with the stock PING G15 to be not far behind the FT-5. At the same time, it also seemed to be far more forgiving.

As I mentioned earlier, it was very easy to tell where on the face the ball hit on a poor swing. On those hits, distance loss does not seem to be as severe as it is with a driver like the FT-5. While the driver does seem to be quite forgiving, it will not be as forgiving as some of the square faced clubs out there. There will always be trade-offs in the golf equipment market. Do you want more forgiveness? Do you want to maximize distance? Do you want to be able to work the ball? Generally you need to make a compromise somewhere and take whatever you feel will work best with your game. The PING G15 driver seems to settle nicely in the, good amount of forgiveness, lots of distance, and still some workability and decent feel.

Conclusion

I have been playing the G15 for about a month now, and have had some of my better driving days of my golfing career. When struck on the screws, this club can launch the ball a long way. And I suspect, if I were fitted with the right shaft/loft combination, I could eek out a few more yards from this combo. In addition to the great distance, the level of forgiveness has been great for my game. I really do struggle with my driver at times and find playing with drivers more along the player level of driver can be a problem. I still manage to lose a ball now and then with the G15, but have kept a lot more balls in the short stuff (or at least playable) while I have been bagging the G15.

I cannot speak to how the G15 compares to previous generations of the G line, however, I would highly recommend adding the G15 to your list of drivers to hit if you are on the market for a new 'Big Dog'. Coming in at $299 retail (or around $225 on eBay), the G15 is slightly less expensive than some of the high tech, bells and whistle drivers out there. So be sure to find yourself a local authorized PING fitter and take a couple swings with this stick. Let me know how you make out with it!

As with most of our reviews here, Ping has provided the G15 driver used in this review free of charge. As we receive equipment from all of the major golf equipment manufacturers, we try to remain unbiased and provide an honest look at every piece of equipment we review at The Deep Rough, this is nothing new. We would have a much harder time putting together all of these reviews if the manufacturers if we had to go out and purchase all of this equipment at retail prices. And for full disclosure, just about every piece of equipment we receive for a review we end up giving away to charity or as prizes in contests.

The PING G10 and i10 irons and were well received for the most part. The G10 irons continued to improve the game improvement line, while the i10s seemed to take a step closer to the S57/S58 player line of clubs. Some players of the i5 were put off by that, some seemed to embrace it.

Now, in 2009, PING has released the 15 line of clubs, including new i15 and G15 irons (Reviewed here on The Deep Rough). It seems PING has listened to the feedback from their loyal customers and made some welcomed changes to the i15 line. Today we will have a closer look at the i15 irons. Over the next few weeks we will also be having a look at some of the other clubs in this new 15 line. Throughout the review you will see some pictures of the PING i15 irons alongside pictures of Mizuno MP-57 irons, which are targeted at a similar level of player.

As always, we will start with a little information from PING then on to the detailed review.

Background

In the design of the i15 iron, PING engineers focused on the better player who prefers an iron set that offers the control to play a variety of shots. Created as a progressive set, the longer irons are larger for more forgiveness. The mid and short-irons are smaller to ensure workability and control on approach shots.

The stainless steel iron features a tungsten toe insert to add forgiveness to the mid-size design. A stabilizing bar and new Custom Tuning Port (CTP) provides the feel and sound attributes preferred by better players.

Look and Feel

The PING i15 irons feature a relatively compact face size. As you can see in some of the pictures in this review, they are pretty similar to that of the Mizuno MP-57 or Adams Idea Pro Gold irons. They are, however, slightly larger than the previous generation i10 irons. While the backside may look a little busy to the golf purist, at address the irons setup real clean. The top line is relatively thin for an iron with this much forgiveness and the offset in the shorter irons is pretty minimal. When you get up to the 3/4/5 iron, the offset is a little more prominent and the top line is a little more noticeable, but nothing overly distracting. They have designed the clubs this way, where the offset and club head size gets progressively larger as you get up to those long irons.

Feel wise, I would not put these in the same class as a forged iron like the Mizuno MP line or even the Adams Idea Pro Gold irons. However, as with most things, there are always trade-offs. We are giving up a little in that feel department to gain a little in the forgiveness realm. All that being said, by no means are these dead shovels. I always knew where on the face I had hit the ball and I find that level of feedback to be critical to my game, especially while practicing. It was just on the sweet spot shots that I felt like I lost a little of that buttery smooth forged iron feel. Nonetheless, hitting an i15 3 iron on the center of the face, and watching it rocket down the center of the fairway is pretty awesome. They are also actually quite nice feeling on chip shots. I spent a good amount of time hitting 8/9/PW bump and run shots and really liked the feel there.

Performance

The long irons in this set are rock solid. Featuring that slightly thicker top line, slightly bigger offset and slightly larger club face, really add a lot of forgiveness and confidence to your long iron game. In the past a lot of players using a set of irons like the PING i15 series may have been inclined to replace the 3/4/5 irons with hybrids or the G series equivalent. This shift to make the long irons more forgiving, easier to hit, and higher launching make the decision to replace those clubs with an alternative a little difficult. You will certainly want to spend some time at the range comparing your 3 hybrid or 3 iron from the G series verse the performance of the 3 iron from the i15 series. I would probably stick with the 3 hybrid simply because I am just so in love with mine, but the 4 iron is a toss up at this point, and the 5 iron will definitely remain in the bag.

These clubs really get the ball up in the air with the stock AWT shafts. Everything from the 3 iron through the PW, full swing for me results in a very high launch and soft landing shots. That certainly could be a combination of the lower center of gravity of these irons and the flight characteristics of the AWT shaft. I would suspect one could flatten out the trajectory some with a custom fit shaft. I have been playing Project-X shafts in most of my irons recent, so I am accustomed to that flatter trajectory. That being said, it is certainly possible to hit knockdown shots with these clubs and lower the overall flight. I hit a few nice knockdown 7 irons out from under trees that flew just as I expected hoped?

Distance and off center performance, while still being very playable is where these irons really shine. I found these irons to be a good club longer than either the Mizuno MP-57 or Adams Idea Pro Gold irons. Not only were they a club longer, but they were extremely consistent when it came to distance control. Often times when you move up to a more forgiving, game improvement iron, you lose some of that consistency (one shot goes 150, one goes 155, etc). These are most certainly targeted at the consistency needs of a lower handicap player.

While the i15s may not be in the same class as the G15 irons in terms of pure forgiveness, they are several steps ahead of the irons I mentioned earlier. When I first received the i15s, I headed right to my home course, walked out on the first tee without even hitting them on the range. After adjusting to the added distance, I settled into a decent ball striking day. The 18th hole on my home course is a 180 yard par 3, over a lake to a small green. I put a pretty sloppy swing on the ball, and caught the ball a little thin and out toward the toe (speaks to the feel of these clubs). My first thought was water, because if I hit a shot like that with the Idea Pro Golds I had been playing, it would have been in the water. But, much to my surprise, the ball managed to carry the water and end up only about 10-15 yards short of where a well struck ball would have landed. Color me impressed, real impressed. If that wasn't enough, after a few more rounds with these clubs and some driving range sessions, I played in a Member-Guest and decided to use the i15s. I ended up winning the closest to the hole with a well struck 9 iron. Sweet!

The last thing I will mention about the i15s is something I have seen a number of people complain about. The grooves. The i15s conform to the new 2010 groove rules so they are USGA competition ready for events on the PGA Tour. What does that mean for the average golfer? Honestly, probably nothing. Most people do not generate enough club head speed, or make the contact necessary to take advantage of those deep cut grooves in most irons. I had no problem getting 8 or 9 irons to stick from the fairway, even sucked back a few pitching wedge shots. Now, out of the rough? Yeah, the ball is going to lose some of that back spin, but to be honest, I never generated much, if any spin out of the rough even with the pre-rule change groves. Anyway, I do not think it is a big deal, but some might, so keep that in mind.

Conclusion

The only thing that prevents me from completely loving the i15 irons is the cast vs forged feel. That, however, is a personal preference, some people actually prefer the feel of a cast club. Performance wise, these clubs are rock solid and I could certainly see myself playing them They are quite forgiving, are very accurate when it comes to distance control, and I found them to have a very nice feel on chip shots. I had no problem hitting nice high draws or hitting knockdowns under the early fall winds here in the North East. Overall I would say if you are a mid to low handicapper, and are in the market for new clubs, these must be on your list of clubs to demo.

The PING i15 irons retail for $799 fit with the AWT shafts. Purchasing them through an authorized PING retailer is generally your best option, especially if you can do it through a PING club fitter. PING has always done a wonderful job of making sure that players of their irons are fit to the proper equipment, whether that means finding the right shaft, lie angles, down to even the grip size. If you are comfortable with your specifications and do not mind taking a bit of a risk, you could save a few bucks on a used set on eBay, but at this point the prices are still quite high, so it may not be worth it.

Keep your eye open for reviews of the G15 Hybrid and G15 Driver coming soon!

As with most of our reviews here, Ping has provided the i15 Irons used in this review free of charge. As we receive equipment from all of the major golf equipment manufacturers, we try to remain unbiased and provide an honest look at every piece of equipment we review at The Deep Rough, this is nothing new. We would have a much harder time putting together all of these reviews if the manufacturers if we had to go out and purchase all of this equipment at retail prices. And for full disclosure, just about every piece of equipment we receive for a review we end up giving away to charity or as prizes in contests.

Though, I suspect I will be keeping these i15s in my bag for a little while!

Editors Note: It is now 2024 - and I still have these in the basement as a set I go back to from time to time! I also had my first ever eagle on a Par 4 with these irons!

Background

With our Idea hybrids ranking as the most-played on the 2008 PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours, our engineers were able to canvass the tours with hybrid prototypes in an effort to gain feedback from the world’s best golfers. The result is the Idea Pro Gold Hybrid that utilizes advanced geometric shaping (known as Boxer Technology), an improved maraging steel face, and an enhanced weighting system.

Key points:

• Idea Hybrids — #1 on 2008 PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours.

• Improved maraging steel face for a 10% hotter ball flight compared to the Idea Pro.

• Boxer Technology delivers advanced geometric shaping for higher MOI resulting in 5% more forgiveness on off–center hits.

Look and Feel

The first thing that will jump out at owners of the original Idea Pro hybrid is the squared-off shape of the Idea Pro Gold. Adams Golf has integrated their Boxer technology from the earlier generation A3 hybrids into the Idea Pro Gold line.

I was absolutely in love with the sound and feel of the original Idea Pro hybrid. The solid thud you were rewarded with on a hit off the screws was extremely satisfying. I feel like I have lost a little of that with the Idea Pro Gold. The sound is a little more 'metal tingy', though the feel is still quite solid at impact.

Performance

The performance, especially on slight mishits is absolutely phenomenal. The Pro Gold just flat out put the ball where I wanted. I would lose noticeable distance with the Idea Pro on those shots, whereas the Pro Gold really seems to hold its line and still carry an acceptable distance.

The addition of a little forgiveness has not dramatically impacted one's ability to work the ball with this club either. I can still get the ball to bend left or right pretty easily and unlike a lot of hybrids on the market you can also keep the ball low.

The 20 degree Idea Pro Gold really has become my go-to club on those shorter par 4s and I can count on a good swing landing in nearly the same exact spot every time I walk up to those tees. It really is very confidence inspiring.

At first, I was reluctant to drop the 4 iron from my game and replace it with a 4 hybrid, but again...take the two clubs to the range and hit balls with them side by side, and you will be selling that 4 iron in no time. The performance gains are just too great.

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Side note here, if you are interested in the evolution of Adams Golf and the A-Tour irons, there is a great interview on GolfWRX with some of the R&D guys. You may have to register for their forum if you wish to read the interview.

So, now that you have had a little lecture on the evolution of Adams irons, we will be having a look at the Idea Pro Gold Irons. The Idea Pro Golds are sold as a 5-PW set along with a #4 and #3 Idea Pro Gold Hybrid. We have decided to break this into two reviews. So today we will have a look at just the irons. Here we go!

Background

Designed for better players, the Idea Pro Gold Hybrid Iron set features two Pro Gold hybrids that deliver a penetrating ball flight and extra forgiveness along with six forged, tour-quality irons that deliver exceptional feel and workability.

The 5-PW forged irons appeal to better players with a thin top line and sole. An 8620 carbon steel head is finished with a mirror-chrome plating that adds a premium look to the set. The constant offset through the irons offer better control for players wanting to work their ball flight and the 14% volume increase in the face grooves result in better accuracy and feel.

• Forged cavity back irons with a premium look and feel for the better player.

• Tour-inspired design, thin top line and sole.

• An 8620 carbon steel head and milled face grooves with 14% more volume deliver better control, accuracy and feel.

• Constant offset for better control and workability.

• Mirror chrome plating - a perfect choice for golfers looking for a traditional look.

Look and Feel

The Adams Idea Pro Gold irons look extremely clean from address. The thin top-line and blade like head size will really appeal to the lower handicap player looking to control the ball. Minimal offset in the irons is another plus for those who do not struggle with the right side of the course. When I went to my most recent lesson, my instructor (a Callaway staffer) picked up the 7 iron and was really impressed with the look and setup. I agree, at address you could not really ask for much more. Compared to the Idea Pro Forged irons, the club face is a little smaller, and there seems to be slightly less offset. Top lines are pretty similar.

From behind the ball, you get a little more into the technology and marketing of the club. While the Idea Pro Forged iron had a pretty clean cavity back, the Pro Gold has added some additional lines and steps to the weighting in the cavity. As I have said numerous times in iron reviews, I am generally not looking at the back of the club, so it really does not bother me.

A significant area where the Idea Pro Gold has moved from the Idea Pro Forged is in the chrome plating. Where as the predecessor sported a dull, satin finish, the Pro Gold rocks out a chrome plating that is pretty sharp. Some players may prefer the satin in their irons that will prevent reflections in bright sun, but I really have not noticed much of a problem with the chrome. My older set of Idea Pro Forged irons certainly showed wear quicker than these chromed Idea Pro Golds seem to.

The stock Golf Pride DD2 grips in a Yellow/Black color combination are one of the nicer offerings in an off the shelf set of irons. They happen to match the Rocket Tour head covers that come standard with the Idea Pro Gold hybrids as well, not to mention my TaylorMade Spider putter! The grips are nice and tacky and the color scheme is certainly something different.

The Idea Pro Golds are sold with the Project-X steel shaft standard. The previous model, Idea Pro Forged were fitted with the (hot at the time) Black Gold shaft. Project-X seems to have taken over the rifle/premium shaft market at the moment, as numerous PGA Tour players have them fit in their irons. For me, I found them to be a great match with the Pro Gold irons. As with other clubs I have played these shafts in, the ball flight is very penetrating and well controlled. If you have normally played Dynamic Gold shafts, you should give a set of Project-X shafts a try at some point. The trajectory is pretty neat to watch, a well struck shot will seem to just hang in the air forever.

Now, about the feel. I am a big stickler for feel in my irons, and let me say, wow, these clubs were a real shocker. The Idea Pro Forged irons were pretty solid in the feel department, but I think Adams has found a way to up the ante a little with the Pro Golds. I would have to say they have a pretty similar buttery soft feel to the Mizuno MP-57s. Compress the golf ball on the sweet spot, and you will be rewarded with a great ball flight and that super soft feel. As with most clubs in this class, hit the ball a little off the center, and you will know it immediately. In my book, this is a good thing. Playing with Super Game Improvement irons, where a hit on the toe feels no different than one on the screws may be better for your score card that day, but it certainly does not improve your game.

Performance

I really have to think these clubs would be a great option for anything from a professional player through a mid handicapper looking to improve their game. Performance wise these clubs have been spot on. Distance control has been really dialed in and misses have been predictable. I can pretty much count on a consistent amount of yards loss and a lower ball flight when I catch an iron hit a little thin. Given that so much of this game is about managing your misses, knowing that I can almost trust the misses is important to me.

The Idea Pro Forged irons featured a slightly more boxy club face and a flatter sole. The Idea Pro Gold seems to have a little more rounding at the toe and a more machined sole. I find that the Pro Gold is more playable out of a wider variety of lies. The leading edge is not too sharp, so for someone who comes into the ball a little steep at times, it works out pretty well for me.

Knockdown shots, cuts, draws, high, low, throw anything you want at these tools and as long as you have the skill to pull off the shot the irons will be willing to deliver the results. I have had a lot of success with the mid irons and knockdown shots as of late. My driver game has been a little wild at times, so when I find myself in the trees, one really needs to have an iron you can be a little creative with. I played this morning and got stuck under some trees with low hanging branches on the left side of the fairway. About 115 out, with a left tucked pin and a bunker guarding the short-left of the green, I had to hit a low running hook to get a ball up on the green. Take out the 7 iron, a little back in the stance, dead hands, setup for a hook, deliver the club. Ended up on the front of the green and saved the par. Those kind of shots I always find difficult with a clunky game improvement iron.

As I mentioned earlier, distance control is spot on. The pitching wedge in this set is real solid, so solid in fact, I am considering picking up the Idea Pro Gold Gap Wedge to go along with the rest of the set. While a penetrating high draw with a 5 iron from 200 yards out is pretty to watch, a compressed pitching wedge that fades onto the flag is just as glorious. Not a problem with either.

Conclusion

If you are a mid to low handicapper looking for a new set of irons that you can shape, control and absolutely love the feel of...the Idea Pro Golds may be the ticket. As I have said in the past, if you are a mid handicapper (10-20) do not be overly intimidated by a set of clubs like this. Sure they are not going to save you when you hit it on the toe with a wide open club face...but honestly, no club will. Clubs like this will force you to become a better ball striker. Pair the irons up with the Pro Gold hybrids (review coming soon, but I absolutely fell in love with these as well) and you have a great set of clubs that can help you lower your handicap.

The Idea Pro Gold Irons can be found in 5-PW sets or sold in retail stores with a 3 and 4 hybrid. The retail price of the 3-PW set is set at $899 fit with Project-X steel shafts in the irons.

How It Started

Mistake number one: I did not bother to go to my local pro to figure this out, I tried to figure it out on my own from some Golf Digest articles. Around that time, Golf Digest had run a series on Tiger Woods and his stinger 2 iron shot. I had a 2 iron...I can do this, right? So I took the knowledge from that article to the course and started work on destroying my golf swing.

A few thousand golf balls later, I was able to on demand hit a low, piercing stinger shot that was very accurate and ran like crazy down the fairway. I was hitting 250-260 yard low shots with a 2 iron from the tee...awesome right? Yeah, not so much. In the process of learning how to do this, I managed to integrate a severe over the top move in my swing. I had been setting up with the golf ball very far back in my stance, just off my back foot. I would start the swing by taking the club severely inside (unbeknownst to me), get the club in a laid off position, and almost have to take it back outside to get the club on the ball. It produced a nice piercing shot, with a little cut on it, but absolutely destroyed the rest of my game.

Hitting that many golf balls really ingrained this move into my normal swing as well. And it took me quite a while to even realize what it had done. The fall of 2007, I had my little stinger shot, played a couple decent rounds, and then just practiced over the winter. Come spring of 2008, my over the top swing was now full in force. I struggled through the 2008 season with my full swing. My short and putting game got a lot of work and I had to really grind to eek out scores that were not completely embarrassing. I would play with friends that I had played with in the past and they would ask what happened to me. It was a real mess. But, mistake number two, I spent 2008 trying to fix this on my own.

Admitting Defeat - Visit to the TaylorMade Performance Labs

So, that brings us to 2009. Early in 2009 I had an opportunity to visit the TaylorMade Performance Lab at the Grand Cypress Hotel in Orlando, Florida. I met up with Travis Kent, the Manager and Master Club Fitter at the Lab and in no time I was fitted with a slew of infrared sensors and had a 6 iron in my hand. I took a couple practice swings and before I knew it I could see a three dimensional representation of my swing on the computer monitor. Below is a video capture of one of the worst looking swings I took while at the labs.

The TaylorMade Performance Lab can capture your swing like that using a technology called Motion Capture. You may have heard of Motion Capture from the Computer Gaming world or in Computer Graphic enhanced movies, like The Matrix. Basically they fit you with numerous reflective markers, strategically placed around your body: wrists, hips, knees, toes, shoulders, even your head. Those markers are picked up by nine separate infrared cameras positioned around the room. The computer then translates that information into a three dimensional representation of your swing. You can look at it from any angle imaginable and even in super slow motion.

Travis put my swing up on the screen overlapped with Justin Rose. How embarrassing. Instantly you could see just how far inside I was taking the club, and what awful positions I had gotten myself into. Travis gave me a few pointers in the simulator to try and correct...take the club straight back...but alas, attempting to fix this while at the Labs was not possible. So we continued through the 6 iron, to the Driver, then a Sand Wedge and finished up with the putter. I learned that this little loop had worked its way into all of my swings and was even slightly noticeable on my putts. fortunately my putting stroke was pretty solid so it didn't affect my putting too much.

When you have gone through the entire fitting session the guys at the Lab will put together a little packet for you to take home. This includes swing data for each club printed out as well as a CD that includes the video of all of your swings. The CD includes a player utility that lets you view the swings in three dimensions (you can spin the camera around and look at any angle). It is pretty amazing.

At the time, my driver data was as follows: 140mph ball speed, 10.8 degree launch, 1590 rpm of back spin, 232 yards total distance. How awful! (Improved numbers, post lessons can be found later in the article). My six iron data was even more revealing: 80mph swing speed, -5.1 degree in/out path (coming over the top) and -6.8 degree angle into the ball (very steep). Amazingly enough, the average impact location was pretty close to the sweet spot, and I did manage to get the club face square to the target line. So this resulted in playable shots, but I really needed to have my timing on that day to play half decent. The great thing is you get all of this data printed out, and you can refer to it later on (like say 4 months later!).

In addition to all of this info, you will receive club fitting information. That includes the proper lie angles, suggested TaylorMade club models, lofts, shaft stiffness. It is pretty neat. Travis mentioned they would usually take you out onto the range with the suggested clubs and have you hit balls until you are comfortable with a set make up that matches up with YOUR swing. I did not go through this part of the process as my swing obviously needed work, and the suggested clubs were actually pretty similar to what I already had been playing.

Honestly, this was an eye opening, unique experience. Without it, I probably would have gone on struggling with my own swing fixes. Having seen what I saw, I knew I had to get some 'professional' help and get my swing back on track!

Lessons and Developing the Inside Out Path Again

Shortly after returning from our trip to Orlando, I booked a lesson with Fred Glass, the Director of Instruction at the Learning Center at Neshanic Valley. I had not taken a lesson from him in the past, but have heard good things about him and the course is relatively close to home. Fred's first comment was pretty memorable, "You have more planes than Newark Airport." I had to laugh. Well, I explained to him a bit about my past with my swing, how my game had evolved, and what I had learned in Orlando. He had a good understanding of where I was at and where I wanted to be. He also understood that I was one who enjoyed practicing and needed really to feel my swing rather than have technical thoughts.

So, Fred gave me two drills to work on to get my swing back on plane. Drill number one was simple enough. Take a range bucket, flip it upside down and put it about 5 inches away from you past the golf ball, and about a foot away from the target (See picture below). This way, if you do end up swinging outside-in, you will hit the bucket on the way to the ball. Simple enough and a completely free training aid. This proved to be a great drill for me and really got my swing back to inside-outside.

Start with a 7 iron and take little half swings, really focusing on taking the club straight back and then coming slightly inside to out avoiding the bucket. If you find the bucket very distracting, this is a good thing. You will probably hit the bucket on numerous occasions...also a very good thing. Stick with the short irons, 7 iron, 8, 9, PW. Progressively work your way up to a three quarter swing, up to your full swing. As you move from half swings to full swing you will probably notice yourself hitting the bucket again...all good, just try to work on taking the club straight back, and then deliver the club back to the ball from the inside

The other drill involved taking the club severely outside and then severely inside to the ball with a very closed club face. Try to think Jim Furyk and exaggerate the loop. The concept here is to do the complete opposite of what I had been doing and gradually get back to a slight inside-outside swing path and get the club more on plane. I found this drill to be effective early on, but after a session or two I began sticking to the first drill with the range bucket.

The light red line below represents the path you take the club back, the dark red represents the path you take back into the ball. I would lay a 5 iron down on the ground along that dark red line in the picture and try to think about swinging along that path as I took the club back to the ball. Note the blue line there, one should address the ball with a very closed club face much like that. Lay the club on the ground, close the club face up severely, and then grip the club as you normally would. Take the club way out, swing way in, and you'll be surprised at the result. As soon as I started hooking everything like crazy, I moved over to the bucket drill full time.

Editors Note: Somehow I lost the pictures for this in the migration :(

About 6 weeks after taking this lesson, I scored my first hole in one! I had hit some nice shots in the past, been close to a hole in one on several occasions, but never actually dropped one in the cup. I hit a nice little 8 iron (Mizuno MP-57), which hit the front of the green, released, rolled into the cup, it was a thing of beauty. The best part was, I got to share it with my wife as we were playing together that morning.

Developing Lag

So, the inside out path seemed to be on track. I started hitting the ball with a little draw again, and regained some distance. During this process, Mike Pedersen pointed me in the direction of a very interesting article (Focus on Pressure Points to Feel Lag) on generating lag in your golf swing. I had a read through it, and it made a lot of sense. It also seemed to align quite well with the range bucket drill I had been doing.

What I started doing, as suggested by John, was to take my 7 iron and take half shots (sound familiar?) and really try and feel a tremendous amount of pressure on your right index finger on the way to and through the golf ball. So, I lined up the range bucket on the outside (pictured earlier) and worked on getting that feeling. It took a few hundred golf balls before I could reliably feel and apply that pressure without hitting the ball thin. But wow, when you get it...you get it. The ball will just explode off the club face, you will hear that compressed golf ball sound, and wow...never have I spun so many shots back on the green. I would start by trying that 7 iron drill, hit a bucket of balls while trying to feel the pressure. I would also read through that entire article, including the comments, there is a ton of great information there.

The funny thing is, it turns out what I thought was a VERY high shot, really was not all that high. I have also found that I really was not hitting the ball as solid as I thought I was back in 2007. With the lag pressure on that right index finger strong and accelerating through the ball, I can really hear and feel a solid golf shot. I have also found that a compressed, well struck golf ball cuts right through the wind without the need of some super low golf shot (though I suspect a switch to the TaylorMade TP Red LDP ball may have also helped with the wind...have I mentioned I love this ball??).

So...another thing found, another new achievement in my golf game. A few weeks after starting to practice this lag technique, I had my first hole out from the fairway on a par 4. Eagle on hole #1 at Fox Hollow Golf Club. I had hit a nice tee shot down the middle of this dog leg right, which left me about 120 to the pin. Pulled my PING i15 PW and it landed a few feet past the hole, spun back and down into the cup...it may have even been a nicer feeling than the hole-in-one! (Side note here, both of these shots were with the new TaylorMade TP Red LDP Ball, which I absolutely love, and they are quite inexpensive these days...if you play the ProV1, check them out, you'll save some cash).

Fixing the Driver: Another Lesson

Now that my iron game was close to being on, I had to get my driver game back on track. While I had been able to develop that high, solid draw again with the irons, I was still struggling with keeping the driver in play. I found myself sticking to the hybrid off the tee on most holes, sometimes even leaving my driver and 3 wood in the trunk of my car. So, trip number two to the Learning Center at Neshanic Valley.

I setup another lesson with Fred Glass, with the intent of focusing on my driver swing. I met Fred out on the range and took a few swings with a 7 iron: all seemed good. Then I took a couple swings with the driver...and we immediately decided to go inside where he could get my swing on camera. The Learning Center has a nice indoor driving range setup with a simulator (not nearly as sophisticated as the TaylorMade Performance Labe) and a couple high speed video cameras. One can view your swing from behind or face on and also get launch monitor data on your swings.

Once again, the power of video proved itself to be invaluable when it comes to diagnosing a swing flaw. Turns out I was still getting the driver into a very laid off position and coming over the top. To prevent myself from hitting duck hooks, I had really slowed the release of the club and would either hit straight pulls or big 20-30 yard slices. So, Fred showed me my swing vs a couple pro swings, and to my surprise, the take away was pretty spot on. Up to the top of my back swing, you could clearly see the club was laid off (the shaft was aiming about 15-20 yards left of the target line). So coming back down to the ball, I ended up manipulating the club with my hands, taking it outside to try and get the club head on the ball. Then I would chicken wing through impact, trying to keep that club face reasonably square to my strange swing path.

Fred gave me a couple drills to work on, the first being trying to get the club shaft over my left hand rather than horizontal. That is to say, when I get to the top of my back swing, I try to feel as if my left thumb is under the golf club. I want to feel the weight of the club shaft pressing against my left thumb. This works really well with the lag pressure thoughts I have while swinging the irons. So back to the top, pressure on my thumb...and I know that I am probably pretty square to the target. Easy enough to practice, and not really a whole lot to think about technically...I like that! Ok, couple swings like that...balls started out right of target...and went another 20 yards right. I was not releasing the club, leaving the club face open to the target line, which puts a whole lot of slice spin on the ball. So, part two of the lesson: release the club. For me, this means try and roll that right arm over the left as fast as I possibly can. If this is unfamiliar to you, I have found two great drills that work well for it: Buy a Gyro Swing which will FORCE you to feel a proper release, or swing the club parallel to the ground (baseball swing style) and feel that right arm turn over the left at about the impact point.

So, how did it work out? About 10 or so swings in, I hit a 2 yard draw, 285 yards down the pipe on the simulator. 158 ball speed, 12.5 degree launch angle, 2400 rpm of spin. I'll take that any day of the week. Now, granted, that was one swing, and there were still plenty of off line shots. But, now I have something to work on, and have been taking it to the range for some practice sessions. I still do not trust it enough to take it on the course, but it is certainly getting there.

Morale of the story? If you have been working on your swing on your own, and have been struggling with it, fighting a slice, fighting a hook, not really enjoying the game as much as you know you should...do yourself a HUGE favor and visit your local PGA teaching professional. I have found most pros will try and work with what you have, and just try to change a little thing here or there. Take what the pro has to say with an open mind and really WORK on it at the range. Fixing your slice will not take an afternoon, it could take you months or an entire golf season, but trust me, it is possible! Unfortunately you cannot just buy an easy fix!

Hopefully I can get myself out to a TM Performance Lab again soon and see the results of all this swing work on their unique 3D golf simulator!

If you are not familiar, they are regarded as one of the easiest to play muscle back irons created. Of course, they are blades, and while I love them when I am playing well, they certainly are not the most forgiving club in the world. I had tried the MP-60 and MP-32 irons in the past, and did not find them to be as soft feeling or any more forgiving than the MP-33 irons. In comes the MP-57.

When Mizuno released information about the MP-57s, my jaw dropped. Limited off-set, Increased forgiveness, but at the same time a playable sole and the potential for that same buttery soft Mizuno feel. They haven't disappointed. There are a lot of pictures in this review. As always, if you want to see a larger version of the image, just click on it. You can also see most of the MP-57 Pictures I took on my Flickr site.

Background

The New MP-57 irons are a crowning achievement in the evolution of MIZUNO's award-winning Grain Flow Forging® and Cut Muscle technologies. The Product Development team undertook the task of making the MP-57's the first MP iron with a Full Cavity, resulting in a significantly larger sweet area than any other iron in the history of the MP line. Along with increased forgiveness, the MP-57's produce a slightly higher ball flight in the long irons, and a mid trajectory in the scoring irons. They also deliver the solid feel and shot making ability that the MP iron player craves. Most importantly, the MP-57's achieve all these playing aspects, yet in a classic head profile that appeals to better players.

The ideal combination of solid feel and workability, with unbelievable forgiveness, make the MP-57s the most playable MP irons ever.

Features

• First ever Full Cavity MP iron for increased forgiveness with a reinforcing muscle pad for enhanced feel.

• Innovative Cut Muscle design provides ideal COG location, perfect trajectory, enhanced solid feel, and complete ball control.

• Exclusive Grain Flow Forged®, 1025E Pure Select mild carbon steel provides the ultimate soft, solid, consistent feel.

• Durable Double nickel chrome plated finish.

• Modified U-grooves produce the ideal spin rate, for maximum playability in all conditions.

• Rolled leading edge, cambered mid-sole, and rolled trailing edge deliver consistent striking ability from all types of lies.

Specifications

The clubs I am reviewing are fitted with ProjectX shafts. Here are the standard specifications for the clubs. Since these clubs are forged, they are quite easy to have adjusted by your local club fitter.

Looks

As with all of the clubs in the Mizuno MP line, the MP-57 is a clean, elegant looking instrument. Even with the large cavity, there is nothing there to distract you. The club is all about business, and helping you get the job done. The MP-57 is actually pretty similar in size to the MP-33 and MP-67 irons. I did not have an MP-60 on hand to take side by side pictures, however, it is also similar in size and obviously appearance to the MP-60. Even the top line and sole of the MP-57 (MP-57 Top Line Picture - Right) is quite similar to that of the MP-33 and MP-67 irons (Picture - Below). For a forgiving, almost game improvement class iron, there are a lot of playability qualities inherent in this design. The MP-33's top line is slightly less noticeable than either the MP-67 or MP-57. But holding the MP-57 next to the MP-67 at address, it is difficult to distinguish between them. This is a good thing in my book, and I would guess in the minds of anyone who likes the look of a classic blade at address, but wants the forgiveness of modern, technologically 'advanced' irons.

As you can see above, the MP-57 (left) has a slightly beefier heel area than the MP-67 (right). In the Pitching Wedge it is difficult to see, but as you go up in club, the MP-57 is slightly more offset than the MP-67. The MP-67 sticks to 0.110" for most of the irons, where as the MP-57 gets up to 0.160" for the 3 iron. The irons pictured above are all Pitching Wedges. You will have to drop down to the MX series to see a noticeable difference in club head size.

As you can see above, the MX-23 (which is very similar to the new MX-25) is a tad bit larger than the MP-57 and MP-33 from toe to heel. It also adds more weight to the heel, presumably to help promote a draw. There is also considerably more weight on the perimeter and down low to help get the ball up. A little later in the review you'll see a shot of the sole of the MX-23 vs the MP-57 as well, which shows another area of difference.

Feel

I usually combine Look and Feel...but come on now, this is Mizuno. People say feel is subjective. To me, there is no better feeling than a Mizuno forged iron. Well struck, they are soft as butter, smooth as silk. The MP-33 irons are, bar none, the best feeling irons I have ever struck. The MP-57s are similar to the MP-33, though not quite the same. Given the amount of 'meat' behind the ball with the MP-33s, this is not surprising. Now, compared to the MP-32 and MP-60 irons, I really cannot tell a huge difference in terms of feel. The are very, very similar, to me.

When I was playing with the MP-33 irons full time, I was absolutely in love with the pitching wedge, it felt so amazingly soft. I couldn't wait to get 135 yards in so I could hit that club. Well, unfortunately I hit a rock with it at some point and...well that stunk. End result was I replaced it with an MP-67 pitching wedge. The MP-67 felt nice on full swings, though never had the same buttery soft feel on 30-40 yard pitches. The MP-57 is in the same boat. I love it on the full swings, though it's not quite as soft as the MP-33. Again, given the design, that's to be expected. I'll say this much, I'll definitely be playing the MP-57s more often than the MP-33s...and we'll get into why now...

Performance

These clubs really live up to the hype. I was trying to hit the ball all over the face, and while not as forgiving as say the Taylor Made R7 CGB Max irons, anywhere near the center of the club face and you'll get nice distance out of these clubs. The nice thing is, hit them a little off the center, and you know you're off the sweet spot. That was something that always bothered me with the Super Game Improvement irons, I could never tell if I hit the sweet spot, or a little left...little right..how do I 'improve' my game with that kind of feedback?

Again we can see similarities between the MP-57 and MP-67 irons. The leading edge of the MP-57 (seen above) is very similar to that of the MP-57 and even MP-33 irons. I never had a problem with the club digging, and was able to play with the club face open or a little closed quite easily. The sole is also an absolutely perfect width. Knockdown shots are a breeze. The club face is very easy to align. It really is a precision instrument in your hands. If you look back at some of my reviews of super game improvement irons, like the Nike Sumo irons, you'll notice just how huge the soles of these clubs can be. This is great for high handicap players who need some help, but, takes a lot of options out of the bag. I always had a hard time hitting low, high spin shots with clubs with wide soles. You can argue whether anyone but PGA Tour players should be trying such things, but I find it fun!

I was playing these clubs in a Project X 5.5 shaft. So perhaps a little weaker than the Rifle 6.0s in my MP-33s. Distance was pretty similar, not much different. Sure, they're a little shorter than the TM Burner Irons, but they're also at least a degree weaker, with the PW being 47*. In any event, when it comes to irons, distance should not be your primary concern. You can always club up or down, play with the lofts or swap shafts. What I am concerned about with irons is getting the ball close to the hole, with consistent distance. The MP-57s delivered consistency when it came to distance. I never found myself unexpectedly airmailing a ball 15 yards over the green. These really are remarkable clubs. If you have been considering the MP-60s, MP-32s or MP-67s, I would suggest you at least hit the MP-57s. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor on those days where your swing is just a little off.

Conclusion

About a year ago, Terry Koehler (The Wedge Guy) wrote up a great post about Blades vs Cavity Backs. He discusses how people may be doing themselves a disservice by playing so called game improvement irons. Having played the MP-33s for quite some time as well as various game improvement irons, I really do believe these MP-57 irons provide some of the best of both worlds. The iron is very playable, provides instant quality feedback, is very accurate, while at the same time is very forgiving.

Now, I am certainly in no place to be telling anyone what they should or shouldn't play, but if you've been considering playing blades, or are struggling to score playing blades now, do yourself a favor and check out the MP-57s. I certainly cannot see these clubs leaving my bag anytime soon. Find a full set of Mizuno MP-57 irons on eBay between $600 and $700. Just remember, if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. If you are not ready to shell out $600-$900 for a new set of irons, but still want to see what this whole Mizuno feel thing is all about, try and find a set of used MP-33 irons on eBay, a decent set should run you about $200. If nothing else, they're a great set of irons to practice with, you'll get instant, definitive feedback on your shots.

Editors Note: Nearly 20 years later and I still love these MP-33 irons. I had been playing with them the past couple months during the offseason and just was taking the 5/7/9 iron out with me and manufacturing shots. They are a super fun set of irons, and still pretty forgiving for what they are. Regarding the MP-57s, they hold a soft spot in my heart, as I had my first hole-in-one with the 8 iron from that set!

Enjoy your weekend! Looks like rain here in the North East, so unfortunately, probably no golf for me :(

Deep Rough: How did you get into the golf industry?

Terry: I began by working with the Ray Cook Putter Company as their advertising/marketing counsel in 1979. From there I began to meet other niche manufacturers - Otey Crisman, Neumann Leather, Joe Powell to name a few, and expanded my clientele.

Deep Rough: Where did you begin your career in club design?

Terry: In the mid-1980s, I designed a putter called Destiny. It had aggressive weight displacement in a conventional looking shape. I had over 30 tour pros putt with in over about a 15 month period, but my financial partner faded away. Lesson learned. From there I designed putters for Merit Golf then Hogan. I left Hogan in 1995 to start Reid Lockhart.

Deep Rough: What was your inspiration for starting Eidolon golf?

Terry: After selling Reid Lockhart, I wanted to do it differently. I wanted to build the absolute best scoring tools, with no boundaries. I wanted to deal directly with golfers and clubmakers, rather than duke it out with the big companies at the retail level. And I wanted to have fun.

Deep Rough: With so many bounce options available to the average golfer, how does one now how to choose?

Terry: It’s nearly impossible. The industry offers little guidance and less versatility. How in the world do you select in the store exactly the bounce you will need for any given shots on the course. Absurd. Every wedge lie is different; every wedge shot is different. You need a wedge that can do it all.

Deep Rough: How does the V-Sole help solve this?

Terry: Our innovative technology combines two bounce angles into the sole of each wedge so that it has the best characteristics of both high and low bounce designs. It’s unbelievable how good it works.

Deep Rough: Should the average golfer be looking at similar characteristics in a wedge as tour professionals?

Terry: Absolutely not. Tour professionals have extraordinary skills, honed from thousand of hours of practice and extraordinary talent. They also play perfect courses, perfect bunkers, etc. Their wedges are designed to stay out their way, not help them do anything.

Deep Rough: Why do you believe there have been so many technological advances in the distance clubs, while the short game clubs have seemingly been left behind?

Terry: Because golfers are gullible and they don’t practice their short games. Look at any driving range, even during pre-round warm up sessions. Almost every golfer is flailing away with their driver and irons, and no one is hitting little chip, pitches and bunker shots. Yet, once on the course, over 50% of non-putts will be hit from inside 130 yards or so. Also, drivers sell for $400 and wedges for $120 - behind which do you think big companies are going to put marketing dollars?

Deep Rough: If you could give an average golfer one tip to improve their game, what would it be?

Terry: Can I have two? Learn to hit your irons at about 85% of your speed capability, and practice with your wedges twice as much as with all your other clubs combined. Learn how to hit the various scoring shots and your scores will go down dramatically. The key is to make learning fun and experiment hitting different scoring shots. Was that one tip?

Deep Rough: Cleveland Golf is claiming the CG12 wedges are also milled to the maximum conforming dimensions, claiming maximum allowable spin. How do the Eidolon wedges compare?

Terry: EIDOLON V-SOLE wedges push the USGA groove allowances to the maximum, so no conforming wedge can be better. To me, it is deplorable that Cleveland and Titleist have waited this long to give golfers the grooves they could have had all along. That would be like knowing how to make a conforming driver that is 20 yards longer, but just not doing it. To me, irresponsible, and driven by margins. Deplorable. We give the golfer everything we can to make our wedges as good as they possibly can be, from the grooves to our patented V-SOLE to the shaft and our new SCoR grip. That’s another thing - every other wedge on the market comes with a one-size-fits-all shaft, which is a heavy old Dynamic Gold off-number. That’s absurd, too.

Deep Rough: What's in your bag?

Terry: Currently, a custom built Alpha driver, Sonartec 4-wood and 19* hybrid. Reid Lockhart 4-9 irons with tuned graphite shafts. EIDOLON 48, 52, 56 and 60 wedges with prototype composite shafts and a prototype putter I’ve been working on.

Deep Rough: What golf course do you call home?

Terry: My home course is Victoria Country Club, a hidden gem that only gets about 18,000 rounds per year. MiniVerde greens that are rolled firm and putt about 10-12 on the Stimpmeter. Really makes you play.

Deep Rough: What about your favorite course?

Terry: Would have to be The Old Course at St. Andrews, followed closely by Carnoustie, Troon and Turnberry. They really know what golf is about in Scotland, and it’s a trip every golfer should make at least once.

Deep Rough: If you could play with any three golfers, past or present, who would they be?

Terry: My dream group would be my Dad, who passed away when I was just 27, Ben Hogan, who has always been my idol, my brother and our childhood pro, Carl Gustafson, who passed away some time back. I know that’s five, but then I think fivesomes are fun, and I couldn’t imagine who to leave out. I think Mr. Hogan and I would play ‘the rack’ of the other three, maybe give a couple of shots. Dad would have his best round ever and my brother and I would both beat him by one, which would make his round perfect.

Deep Rough: The last word?

Terry: I love this game with all my heart. Many of my best friends were met on the golf course, my best childhood memories were there, and the window to my soul is wide open when I’m out there. It’s a place where all other things take a back seat for a few hours of challenge and triumph.

Deep Rough: Great stuff Terry, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and letting us catch a glimpse of your insight into the game we all love!

Eidolon's V-Sole Technology makes this possible:

First of all, you'll find that the leading edge never digs into the turf. No more trenching! Also, with the two bounce angles working together, each of these wedges functions perfectly from bunkers, rough and other areas where a high bounce is desirable. In no time at all, you'll learn how to "dial in" just the right amount of bounce for any shot you face.

Now what about the spin? Eidolon Golf claims their wedges take full advantage of the currently allowed groove limits by the USGA.

Mass market wedges have grooves that are either cast or stamped into the head. When the face is polished, the grooves might end up being as little as 70% of what the Rules of Golf say you could have had.

To boot, the wedge faces are CNC milled to be perfectly flat and provide further bite with tiny mill marks across the face. You can read more about the spin of Eidolon Wedges here (Note: unfortunately the Eidolon Golf site is no more).

Look and Feel

I have been playing with an Eidolon 56 degree wedge for about a month now and have completely fallen head over heels for this club. As you can see in the pictures in this post, the club is absolutely beautiful...how could you not fall in love?

The clubhead shape is similar to that of my Mizuno irons. I also have a Cleveland Golf, CG11 52 degree wedge, which has a very different shape. Far too rounded. I have never really felt comfortable with that club. But with the Eidolon wedge it just felt right the first time I hit balls with it. What a great feeling!

The weight and balance of the club is just right as well. Perfect for an all purpose sand wedge. Heavy enough to give you enough confidence to get through the thick stuff, yet not so heavy that you do not feel as if you can use it from the fairway comfortably.

As I've mentioned numerous times here on The Deep Rough, I absolutely adore the feel of Mizuno irons. So finding a set of wedges with the same kind of feel has been difficult. Sure, I could just go with Mizuno wedges, but when I have tried them out in the past, I have not been overly impressed. The Eidolon Wedge has great feel for a cast club. Cast of 8620 Carbon Steel, the feel is quite soft. Not quite the same as the Mizunos, but very responsive.

Performance

Wow. Crazy spin. Previous to the Eidolon 56*, I was playing a Callaway X-Tour MD 58*. That club could spin the ball, but it would also completely shred my golf balls. The grooves also seemed to wear out rather quick. The first few months, I had everything spinning all over the place, but gradually that wore off, and I had to start playing the ProV1s if I wanted the ball to come back. I have not had the same problem with the Eidolon. My golf ball covers seem to stay more intact. Spin out of the sand, off the fairway, out of the rough...it's all amazing. At least as good, if not better than the X-Tour. The great thing is, I have switched to using less expensive, lower spinning, Callaway HX-Hot golf balls. I can still get the ball to stop on a dime if need be...and at the same time, I have less spin off the tee.

The other great advantage of this club is the V-Sole. When I first got the club, I really hadn't given bounce much thought. I just always remembered my 58 (11 bounce) wedge digging or bouncing off the fairway or tighter lies. With the V-Sole, wow. Not only have I figured out how to hit these shots with the same club I use out of a bunker, but I've gained a much better understanding of bounce in general, and how much to use and in what types of conditions. Ask anyone I play with regularly, and they'll definitely tell you that my short game has improved tremendously over the past month.

That's not to say I took the club out of the box and instantly was hitting better shots. It takes work and practice. However, I believe the Eidolon was just the tool I needed to help me better understand my short game and work on it.

80-115 yard shots from the fairway have been phenomenal as well. I have been laser accurate at times, getting the ball to stop on a dime. Included with each club, Eidolon Golf provides a book on the SCOR system. This simple system helps you understand your club distances and provides an easy to use method of creating several consistent/repeatable yardages with the same club. It takes time and a lot of practice to completely understand your distances, but once you have invested that time you will always know which club to use and where to grip down in order to hit that 73 yard shot.

Conclusion

I must thank Terry Koehler, aka The Wedge Guy, for letting me get my hands on this amazing piece of equipment. I do not normally give such glowing reviews to golf equipment, but this truly has been a game changing experience. I am sure I will be replacing my 52 degree CG11 with an Eidolon 52 in no time...then once I have mastered that club, perhaps I'll look at adding a 60 degree wedge as well!

If you have not had a chance to check out Eidolon Golf, definitely do so. With a 100% money back guarantee you really can't go wrong with the club. Give it a try, I am sure you'll be impressed.

Editors Note: I ended up buying the 48, 52 and 60 degree wedge and played with those clubs for quite a long time! I miss the v-sole playing with Callaway RAW Jaws wedges these days, though the Z grind is pretty interesting.

I knew I was playing alright, having carded a couple birdies and a bunch of pars. But I really wasn't giving any thought to my total score at any point in the round. I didn't even bother to total up the front nine at the turn.

So how does it feel to break 80? Pretty awesome, what a milestone. The great thing is, I definitely 'left' a lot of shots out there, so there is plenty of room for improvement for sure. I had an awful shot out of some deep rough on the 17th hole, that ultimately led to a bogey. A handful of lip-out putts. A terrible recovery attempt on 14 (though ultimately made a great chip and a very long one-putt to save par) after a poor tee-shot put me under a tree. It was quite windy as well, so accuracy was tough…and well...attempts at knockdown shots on a couple par threes were not so wonderful.

So what went right? For the most part, I was driving the ball well. My driving accuracy stat may not show that, but on almost every hole I was either in the fairway or in the first cut. Again, for the most part my approach shots were decent as well. GIR % may not have been anything to write home about, but I was generally in a spot where I had a decent shot at chipping close. The Mizuno MP-33s are starting to payoff 😊

This brings me to the most important part of the day: my short game was pretty on. Most of my chips left me with a reasonable shot at a one putt. The Wedge Guy had posted a tip a while back about the short game, and I feel as if that has helped me a lot lately. The slight pause has been working great for me. Between the good chipping, pitching and solid putting (31 total putts, no 3 putts) the short game was definitely on.

So...new goal for 2007...break 80 often!

Conveniently enough, there is a Golfsmith right next to CostCo. How could you possibly kill two hours at Golfsmith? Easily, hit balls on the simulator!

So, I did. I hit a few clubs:

• Callaway X-20

• Callaway X Tour

• TaylorMade r7 TP

• Ping i5

• Mizuno MP-67

I had really wanted to hit these X-20 Pro's with the Project-X, but alas, they didn't have a demo model. So, what did I learn? My 6 iron swing speed averaged around 88 mph, which resulted in an average distance, across all the clubs of about 186 yards. Sounds about right. Sounds like I probably should change my 5.0 rifle shafts as well. 88 mph puts me in the 6.0-6.5 range.

Callaway X-20

These are very nice looking clubs from behind. I did not care for the weight or topline of the club. And the feel, just wasn't there for me. But, I hit the ball pretty high, and my average distance. I was leaving a lot of them just right of center, but that is probably just the lie angle.

Callaway X Tour

Oddly enough, I hit these even higher than the X-20s. I would say maybe it's the shafts? But they were fitted with DG-S300s, which I thought were supposed to be lower launch. I managed to hit a few balls in the 190 range, even with the added height. And misses were not too awful. I did like the feel of the X-Tour better than that of the X-20, and the topline was much thinner. But, I don't know, it may seem strange to say, but I can't say I ever really felt comfortable with clubs. Result wise, they were pretty good for me.

TaylorMade r7 TP

The guy at Golfsmith handed me an r7 tp, and said to give that a shot. So, first hit, I nailed a nice rising slight draw 205 yards. I usually hit a 5 iron that distance. So I just figured, oh, they must just be bent strong. But according to the TaylorMade website, the lofts on the r7 TPs are no different than my MP33s. Interesting. Again though, compared to the Mizunos, the feel just isn't there. A caught a couple a little thin, which, I'm sure my Mizunos would have had my hands yelping at me...but these, barely felt anything.

Very nice looking clubs though. Topline was decent. Weight seemed to be a little on the heavy side. But I loved the look of the club. They were, in the end, a little too inconsistent in my hands.

Ping i5

Ick...put these back. Sure, it shouldn't matter, but man these are ugly. I hit a few with them, results were ok, but the feel just isn't there. I actually felt more with the x-20s.

MP-67

Ahh, I picked these up and they felt quite familiar. Nice and well balanced, thin topline. You feel like you're holding an instrument with surgical precision. I hit a couple nice little draws with this. Hit a few awful shots. It felt nice, little lower ball flight than my MP-33s I believe. I wouldn't bother buying them though, I'll just stick with the MP-33s.

Conclusion

All in all it was a fun and informative time. I confirmed my believe that in general, my misses are a pull. That I should have my lie angles checked. And when I swing nice and smooth, with good tempo, my swing speed is at its best, go figure.

Next time I'll have to hit some drivers!

Editors Note (1/3/2024): That Golfsmith is now a Trader Joe’s!

Generally, we all set some sort of resolutions for the New Year, which often seem to be forgotten rather quickly. One resolution that always seems to come up is to lose weight or to get in shape. I'm assuming that since you are here, on a golf site, you probably play golf. So how can we keep that New Years resolution going during the spring, summer and fall? Walk while you play golf!

I found this nifty site powered by google maps that calculate calories burned during a specific walk. So, I made my specific walk a round of 18 at my regular golf course, Warrenbrook.

Warrenbrook Golf Course - 4.18 miles

You can do this with any course that shows up on google maps. Just jump to the location (I just did Warren, NJ, then searched for the course using the Satellite map). Click start recording, then just double click on

the map at the first tee. Then just keep double clicking along the route you walk to play. I took pretty much a straight path, but you could always zig zag it around some, if you think you walk more :)

When you are done, you can click save this route, over on the left, and it will store the route, and give you a URL. Feel free to post it up as a comment here and share your walk with us!

Be sure to turn on calorie counting, put in your weight, add 20-30lb for your bag (since I'm sure you will carry your bag if you're trying to burn some calories) and see how many calories you burn during a round of golf! If you are taking a cart...well...I guess you already gave up on your New Years resolution! :D

For me, a walk on Warrenbrook, with my bag burns about 725 calories!

Enjoy!

I was browsing through Flickr looking for pictures of golf balls and golf courses, and came across this one. There were no comments on it as of yet...apparently no one else finds the predicament too interesting. Would you try to hit out of this? Or just take an unplayable lie.

I remember sometime last month, watching the Shark Shootout at Tiburon, John Daly had some ridiculous lie in some very thick fescue. The line he took would send the ball over a large body of water. So I figured, for sure, unplayable, drop it...whatever. But, he walked up, and took a huge whack at it. Ended up in a green side trap...Gotta be lucky sometimes.

A pre-shot routine is so important to starting to become consistent. Not only does it help you clear your mind, but it helps your body know that it's time to do what it needs to do, and can help you with do things consistently, line up the ball, grip the club the same way, stand the same distance from the ball, get a feel for where the ball should be in your stance.

My pre-shot routine is pretty simple, and I stole it from watching Luke Donald. Then I noticed a bunch of guys do something very similar, Robert Karlsson being one of them).

Grab the club I will be using. Stand behind the ball, looking face on toward my target, think about whatever I need to think of...where do I want to aim, is there wind, what kind of shot do I see, etc. Take a couple loose practice swings to feel the shot I will hit. Then lineup the ball, and the target, with the shaft of the club.

That is to say, I grip the club, the way I will grip it for the shot, but with the club in the air, club face end kind of pointing toward the sky. I then lower the club face, and point the shaft at the target, the other end of the shaft at the ball on the ground, and then find a very small target on the ground, very close to the ball that is in line.

Now, I have a spot to align with on the ground.

With the club already gripped in your hand, I walk around toward the ball...place my feet together at my normal distance away from the ball. I put the club face on the ground, behind the ball, and line it up with the little spot I picked out, very close to the ball. I don't even look at the target at this point. Still feet together...ok, club face aligned, take a little step left with the left foot...make sure it's aligned, a little step right with the right foot…make sure it's aligned...look up at the target, waggle...deep breath, and go.

Sounds complicated, but do it a dozen times at home every night. Just envision yourself lining up a shot, walking through the routine. Then force yourself to do it every single shot at the driving range, or the next time you hit balls...soon enough, it will just become...you guessed it...a routine. And you won't even be thinking about it.

I have found it has helped me with my shot alignment tremendously. It has helped with my rhythm/tempo as well. Not to mention helping ignore distractions/etc.

One thing to note, once you get into this routine...if your concentration is broken during your routine, ie. your playing partner starts talking to you...start it over :)

Here’s a link to a YouTube clip of Tiger Wood’s Pre Shot Routine.