132 replies to this topic

[goobers80]

My Mizuno MP-69s says on packing slips  Forged in Japan - CHUO  , Finished in China  ,  Assembled in United States

toddba11, on 01 February 2013 - 10:28 AM, said:

Callaway X forged rated *** stars in feel?  The reviews I read all indicate they have good feel.  They did not rate very high in any category,
but rated GOLD........

I did nots think X Forged were *great* in feels for forged versus a Mizuno MP-69 type club. It is why i wents to Ping clubs. I did nots think any new clubs were as nice feeling as mine. I thoughts X-Forged were *harder* than Mizuno irons. Not as *solids* as the XHot Pro , but at that points , the cast club probably be better for peoples performances wise.

Edited by goobers80, 05 February 2013 - 03:48 AM.

[esketores]

Went to Golf Galaxy this past Saturday... don't know why. I really do know better. All I end up doing is getting miffed at their absolutely crappy left handed selection. Irons I understand.
ZERO Titleist woods or utilities.
ZERO Cleveland woods or utilities.
ZERO Cobra woods or utilites.
ZERO Adams utilities WooHOO 1 driver
Never perused Callaway, PING, or TaylorMade had simply seen enough (actually not enough). Asked a kid (employee) on the way out if they stocked left handed golf balls and shoes.
SO, today I get an email from the box store touting how they are an "Official Hot List" seller. Like I'm going to be giving them any of my money. I think not.

Makes me wonder who really pays for the Hot list to be published.
And yes I now feel better.

[BDoubleG]

drbonesvt, on 04 February 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

BDoubleG, on 04 February 2013 - 03:20 PM, said:

drbonesvt, on 24 January 2013 - 03:56 PM, said:

PZero, on 24 January 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

MarkFromTheUK, on 24 January 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

Same with the blade putters... Ping Scottsdale & Odyssey Metal X (which is actually a 2012 line) get gold, and a beautiful Byron Morgan putter gets silver.

Usually the "demand" factor brings down a product, which is unfortunate because Byron Morgan putters are more than gold worthy.

Biggest crime on that list, the Byron rating - Chinese made scotty cameron over a Byron Morgan.  Next would be the wishon and tour exotics ratings.

Only list that contains more bullxxxx was the CIA report of WMDs in Iraq.

OK, I'm sorry for going slightly off-topic, but where did this come from? Can you back up that Camerons are made in China? I love Byron putters, but making up facts about competitors makes it sort of hard for you to criticize Golf Digest...

Minus their circle T lines, Cameron's are outsourced , but "assembled" in the US.  Just like Apple "designed" in the US not necessarily   made on US shores, but some of the components are. Cameron like Apple is king of marketing semantics, there are more than a couple of threads on cameron production practices if you so care to research, warning many of those are Hatfield and McCoy waring threads, or Chelsea vs Manchester United .  Depending on the industry, product, tariffs and import laws, can determine made in America.  Doesn't mean they are not any good, there are a lot of large OEM equipment manufactures  that use ENDO forged, which one of their pants are in Vietnam.  

I just take issue with the rating, Most of Byron's work is in house vs an assembly line product i.e. the scotty., I don't think they are in the same league, but neither is an inferior product for putting, just the bryon isn't a mass production environment. Actually Scotty used to be stamped and assembled in Near, Chicago IL.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Didn't mean to come across as hostile, I've just never heard that before.

[monkeynaut]

This years edition is missing Editors Choices.
In the past, I didn't think much of them but in their absence, I would actually like to see them.
In theory, it would be great to have a couple of pages of that... "Okay. You heard from the 'experts' and all the testers and OEM's.  Now, gimme 100 words on the one thing, out of everything that YOU REALLY LOVED.  The one thing you would buy with your own money and why?"

In a perfect world, that would be the list.  20 people get access to a few hundred items over a few days, all the identifying marks are covered (brand/model/etc).  They get to hit them on the monitors and play with them. Then, "You get 1 driver. 1 Fairway wood, 1 hybrid, 1 set of irons, two wedges and a putter. Pick from EVERYTHING you have in front you.  Then tell us what you picked and why."

If 5 people picked the same driver or 4 people picked the same iron set, if 10 people picked the same wedge. It would really make you take notice.

[bucknutgolfer]

What, no "Hammer X" on the list? BANG...POW...UGGGHHH!!

Edited by bucknutgolfer, 07 February 2013 - 08:36 PM.

[Dead Solid Perfect]

I'm not a conspiracy type of guy so I don't think the hot list is just for the major OEM's, but could gold mean something. I'm mean if 8 things are gold and 8 things are silver what did you have to do to be gold. Gold should be limited to a maximuim of 3 otherwise it doesn't mean anything.

[scratchswinger]

I can't find this magazine anywhere. Is it on newsstands?

[marckilgore]

Wonder why they consider AP2 irons to be players and AP1 to be GI? Isn't that backwards?

[monkeynaut]

Okay. They're not THAT bad. They wouldn't get the irons wrong. The AP2 are the forged blade. AP1 are cast. This is from Titleist site.

Titleist AP2® irons are advanced performance, multi-material irons that offer playability, the traditional solid feel of a forged iron and contemporary yet classic looks for the skilled to highly skilled golfer.
AP2 irons are technically advanced blades that provide increased forgiveness without sacrificing shot workability while combining traditional blade length and sole width with a more efficient multi-material weight distribution.

Titleist AP1® irons are advanced performance, multi-material irons that offer more forgiveness, solid feel and improved looks for the aspiring to skilled golfer.
Key improvements to the new AP1 irons add forgiveness without sacrificing shot control - factors previously thought to be mutually exclusive. AP1 irons are more forgiving because of their more efficient, high MOI design while also featuring a more traditional appearance with a progressive blade length throughout the set.

[scratchswinger]

marckilgore, on 11 February 2013 - 10:58 PM, said:

Wonder why they consider AP2 irons to be players and AP1 to be GI? Isn't that backwards?

No AP1 are larger, more offset, etc.... more forgiving.

[bullrambler]

Going back about 9 years ago, the launch monitors were fewer in number and cost a pretty penny to have a session with one. Sometimes golfers had to wait till a certain manufacturer came to the store for "special-fitting-sessions". Or, some of the larger golf companies had one in the store and one had to make an appointment with the fitter and pay a fee to go through the measuring process. Often this is still the case I'd like to think that the Launch Monitors have improved, and the fees of being measured by one is a  bit less expensive. As this innovation as moved forward - some of the big box stores let customers try before you buy. Often times you can see some stats from a "hitting booth" where one hits some balls and gets some feedback. This can get golfer in the ball park. Of course there are places where one can pay a fee and get a fitting for irons, drivers, fairway woods, wedges, putters and golf balls.

Well going back 9 years or so, I would take a hand full of drivers and go outside to the range and get a some range balls and hit each one, observe the trajectory, distance and line of the shot coming off the club. For the drivers, if I couldn't hit the club consistently with three swings it got eliminated. Eventually my preferred selection would be narrowed down to two drivers, then, one would be selected for consistency.

Irons would be selected in roughly the same fashion and were wedges too. As mentioned  by previous posters in this thread. I'm not committed to basing my decision on acquiring some new sticks based on someone that Golf Digest selects as a demo guy. This doesn't cut it for me. And besides, I'm more partial to looking at clubs that may have been used consistently over the course of a tour season, and includes majors. I'm not trying to pass myself off as a tour player, but I have a good idea what my fitted clubs ought to be set at for length, lie, loft, and gripe size. So if I were to choose to replace all or part of my golf set, I would consider a Proven set of irons with my specifications.

[195bowler]

Puppetmaster, on 24 January 2013 - 02:28 PM, said:

The flip side of the over-reward criticism is that most equipment on the market now is actually pretty good for most recreational golfers who are not as picky as many of us on these boards, so in some way, GD can justify having so many "award winners".  

I never understood why people got so up in arms about it, GD is just one publication and one source of reviews on equipment, it was never supposed to be the only source for club reviews and ratings. The best way to find something that works is to try it, not go by what a magazine or internet board says. I guess I've long accepted the fact that most major publications are never really going to have perfectly objective or even useful reviews for that matter. They are all pretty much just bathroom reading these days.

I agree. I am fortunate enough to have an on-course retailer in town who has an inventory as good if not better than most big box golf shops.  I use the 'Hot List' as a guide, paying primary attention to the performance category, usually at least 4.5 stars, and then go hit them at the retailer's range.  Last season, a buddy of mine purchased irons in this very fashion.  He let the club fitter find some clubs based on his swing.  He ended up with clubs (Adams) he would never have picked alone.

Edited by 195bowler, 12 April 2013 - 06:20 PM.

[station2station]

Timanator, on 24 January 2013 - 11:22 PM, said:

What's golf digest?

kindling