Connect with us

Equipment

Nike VR Forged Pro Combo Irons

Published

on

It’s the little things that make Nike’s new VR Forged Pro Combo irons better than the previous model.

For one, the set expands Nike’s use of “Pocket Cavity” irons, which have a hollow area to move the center of gravity lower and deeper away from the face. That change helps with the long irons’ ball speed, forgiveness and most importantly it provides a higher launch.

“Our Tour athletes wanted higher ball flight and better gapping in the long irons,” said Tony Dabbs, Nike Golf global product director.”

The previous Pro Combo irons released by Nike in 2012 had the hollow design in the 3, 4 and 5 irons, but the new set expands the construction to the 6 iron, which will help both Nike’s tour players and consumers hit that club a little higher, farther and with more consistency.

Adding a hollow area to irons doesn’t come without its downfalls, however. While many golfers enjoyed the higher, faster ball flight they got from the Pocket Cavity irons, Nike received feedback from tour players and consumers that the feel was not as solid as they would like. That’s why Nike added a special polymer to the hollow area, solidifying the irons’ feel without having to make changes to the irons’ compact profile.

7037b6544d43db79d74b6972ed57d2b6

Above: Nike’s new VR Forged Pro Combo 6 iron at address 

The set’s short irons (7 iron through pitching wedge) scrap the hollow area for a one-piece cavity-back design, Nike’s “Split Cavity,” which tour players trust for control with their short irons.

Nike pro combo irons

Like Nike’s recently released VR Forged wedges, the VR Forged Pro Combo irons have the latest version of Nike’s high-frequency X3X grooves.

The irons will be available at retail on Nov. 1 for $999 and come stock with True Temper’s DG Pro shafts in R300, S300 and X100 flexes.

Click here to see the full specs of the irons,  and what GolfWRX members are saying about them in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 24
  • LEGIT8
  • WOW6
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

We share your golf passion. You can follow GolfWRX on Twitter @GolfWRX, Facebook and Instagram.

21 Comments

21 Comments

  1. Canes4life

    Jan 14, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    Personally I love these clubs they feel great, don’t judge a club by its cover…

    • Canes4life

      Jan 14, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      They are a smooth club, all brands are the same all on the feel you want nike is under rated I don’t care if you disagree or agree hats off to nike and the covert tour is one of the best out there.

  2. Pingback: GolfWRX Tech Talk: Nike VR Forged Pro Combo Irons | NG NATION — Nike Golf Fan Blog

  3. John Rambo

    Oct 14, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    They took out the blade short irons! I don’t neeed forgiviness in my short irons! They are ugly to boot. Who did they ask when getting feedback for these new irons? 30+ handicaps?

  4. Luke

    Oct 6, 2013 at 6:27 am

    Was seriously considering these until they dropped the blades from the short irons… Hopefully Nike will be doing custom set makeups so I can put them back in, otherwise its a MP4, 54 & H-4 combo set for me!

    • Slaz

      Oct 10, 2013 at 11:13 pm

      Just the Bridgestone J36 Pocket Cavity redone. Nothing new here form Nike!

  5. Ryan

    Sep 18, 2013 at 9:36 pm

    Why did they ever remove the straight blades from the pro combos? If you’re looking to play these irons, you should be able to hit a blade at least up to an 8 iron. Those are scoring clubs. You should be looking for accuracy not forgiveness in the short irons.

  6. Joe

    Sep 16, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    These remind me of the Bridgestone irons from a few years back

  7. Eric

    Sep 14, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    Nice, im just happy because the release will drop the price on the previous model. The older ones look better to my eye.

  8. mr_divots

    Sep 13, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    I don’t see any blade short irons pictured? Still blades in the 8-PW?
    The sound and feel of the pocket is nice to see addressed, but it makes you wonder why they didn’t catch that during the design phase since it was a common complaint. I thought the 7 iron was most out of place in the last set. Just didn’t flow from 8 to 7 to 6 irons. 5 iron should have been pocket in the previous set as well. That said, the VR Pro Combos were one of my favorite sets of the last few years. If they pulled off these improvements, sounds like one solid set.

    • Jon443

      Sep 13, 2013 at 11:29 pm

      No blades in this set, hense the term ” pro combo” really doesn’t fit these and why wrxers aren’t very impressed with this set. It’s pocket cavity and split cavity, that’s all folks.

  9. Milton

    Sep 13, 2013 at 12:17 pm

    I have been a BIG Nike Fan my entire life. I lov-ED Nike, even though they didn’t make a Good Driver (That includes the Covert, The only thing the same w/Tigers Driver and the Driver the public buys is the paint scheme. I bought the VR ProCombos when they first came out. Loved them, Brought me down to a HCP 1.3, however the more I look at Nike it upsets me that there are no real changes to these clubs. I’m not bitter but adding some rubber to the long irons is what you call innovation Nike. I have the CMBs from Adams sitting in my office right not that I’m about to purchase. Nike you use to be my favorite by far. You have Tiger, You got Rory, but now you seem to be using the athletes to sell your product and not the innovation you so claim to bring to the table. It’s hard for me to say this considering I have 3 sets of Nike Irons on my wall because Nike is the only set I’ve ever played. You sat on you name and failed one of your biggest fans!

    • LMB

      Sep 16, 2013 at 8:27 pm

      So if you think Nike failed at their minimal changes, do you say the same thing for Titleist? Their irons haven’t changed in the past 6 years, except for the placement of the “Titleist” and “MB” or “CB” logos. They basically got good feedback just like Titleist did and the players said don’t mess with a good thing. Only complaints were the long irons feel and a little bit with the launch. I feel with the “special” polymer and new shafts, these are the final missing pieces of the puzzle. I don’t think Nike cares if you jump ship Benedict Arnold.

      • t120

        Sep 17, 2013 at 12:37 am

        LMB, I don’t think I could have said it better myself. This is a serious iron, as was the previous iteration. Buy it or don’t. All brands are in the business of pushing “new” to move units, and be thankful NIKE and TItleist, or PING for that matter aren’t pushing 15% or 50 yards, or 100% faster…They all get feedback, improve where they can and release a product that people want to play from the tour on down.

        Take those clubs off your wall and play them.

  10. Brian

    Sep 13, 2013 at 11:31 am

    Why the text out on the toe? Not something I’d want to look at.
    Sort of ruins an otherwise great looking product.

  11. Jordan

    Sep 13, 2013 at 9:28 am

    That’s a thick top line, no bueno

  12. Lloyd

    Sep 13, 2013 at 9:01 am

    Nice irons but wots different from the other pro combo irons the design on the front that’s it

  13. Billy

    Sep 12, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    Hell yeah, getting these.

  14. Jack

    Sep 12, 2013 at 10:47 pm

    Finally happening (well, instead of random clubs inserted at the 3,4 iron range) that better players are getting more forgiving clubs built into their set. Meaning majority of the better golfers are demanding this (and probably for a couple of years) for Nike to make this decision.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

on

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

on

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

Your Reaction?
  • 1
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Equipment

Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

Published

on

With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

Your Reaction?
  • 33
  • LEGIT3
  • WOW1
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK3

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending