Equipment
Forum Thread of the Day: “Those who have changed from forged/blade irons to big game improvers – did it improve your handicap?”
Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from mattd1 who asks whether any fellow members have changed irons from forged/blade to game improvers, and if so, had they seen their handicap improve as a result. Our members share their experiences of making the switch.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- NRJvzr: “Played Eye2+ for a year. Was a seven at the start, was a seven at the end of that calendar year. The only thing that really came of it was a trajectory change; I hit the Eye2+ quite a bit higher than my previous irons and was playing low loft drivers. In bringing down the Ping trajectory, I found I subsequently hit everything lower, and could largely not play my old drivers. LOL”
- Kingcat990: “Nope. I balance between the blades of blades to Cleveland CBX irons and see no change. Like others, I see a difference in ball flight, and I will grab one club stronger when using MB’s. Other than that, it’s pretty straight forward.”
- Chuck905: “I hit the new 790s vs all the blades (mentioned here as well) yesterday, and the difference I saw was a touch higher launch and lower spin, something to keep in mind when you are hitting into greens. Or if you play windy days, the lower spin will be an advantage. Surprisingly, the new 790s felt really good.”
- farmer: “Play hybrids through the 7, to a 5 handicap. Have they helped? Yes. Are they ugly? Yes. Do I care? No.”
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- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
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Richard Douglas
Sep 17, 2019 at 1:55 am
I’m a 5. I play the Sterling single-length irons from Wishon Golf. But before I made the switch, I made another. I switched from I-series Ping irons to G-series. It made a huge difference. I didn’t like the offset, but I loved the lower CG, the enhanced perimeter weighting, and the fact that the G was moved closer to the I.
“Playability” is over-rated. The vast majority of golfers have no business trying to move the ball–except in extreme cases. Hit what will produce good results more often. You’ll be happier.
(Oh, and if Ping would come out with a single-length G-series, I’d come back home in a minute.)
Alex
Aug 28, 2019 at 9:18 pm
Hit an i500 3 iron and i210 4 iron and s55 5/PW. Don’t think I’d like the bigger ones above 5 iron, but in long irons I love having more help and would never go back to an iblade or s55 long iron.
Uncle Buck
Aug 28, 2019 at 2:53 am
Yes, absolutely! I went from Callaway MB’s to Cobra F9 Speedback’s, and yes, my ball striking improved over night! Going from butter knives to shovels will improve anyone’s game dramatically. Had to check my multi-year golfing ego at the door, and glad I did. I was a pretty decent golfer to begin with, 8 hdcp., but shaved some strokes immediately with these bad boys. I’m a solid 4 hdcp. since I put these in the bag last April. I just aim and shoot. When I do miss greens it’s no more than 12-15 yards off.