Equipment
Game improvement irons vs Players irons – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been comparing and contrasting game improvement irons with players irons. WRXer ‘ DaveLeeNC’ has seen his handicap rise from single digits to 10.6 as he’s reached his 70s, and says:
“I was considering going to ‘full-blown GI irons’ as an experiment. Are GI irons really that much less controllable? I have hit a few at the range and that was not obvious to me, but I am guessing that my reaction might be different after a couple of rounds.
I can’t be the only guy who has gone down that path, so I was curious about experiences in this regard.”
And our members have been sharing their thoughts on the subject in our forum.
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.
- MOShii: “I think Game improvement irons require less effort to hit, which is definitely a good thing if you are older. They do feel a little jumpy/springy maybe because of the stronger lofts and because of that they do feel like they spin less, but you can always offset this by using a different ball or experiment with graphite shafts to increase your trajectory/peak height or both to get more control with your approach shots. Just because they are “game improvement” doesn’t mean they aren’t workable. If you hit with a draw swing or a slice swing the ball will still curve. It just softens up the curvature a touch.”
- CDLgolf: “I’ve bounced back and forth between Ping g or i series irons for the last 20 years. My scores are the same with either. I don’t find the game improvement irons any less accurate. When I put a good swing on it, the ball goes where I want it to. For me, it’s just what I feel like looking at at the time. Sometimes the larger game improvement irons give me more confidence, and sometimes the smaller i series do. I regularly play with 2 guys 70+ who both shoot in the mid to low 70’s and both use G series irons and play well with them. I’ve never heard them complain that they are not accurate with those irons.”
- martinbns: “I’m 57, play to a 10 on a dozen rounds a year so for me it’s GI irons, I play Mizuno 825 GW to 5I then 3&4 hybrid. Over the years I have played lots of golf with guys sporting “players” clubs and other than them not liking too much offset I never see them bending shots on purpose with any degree of regularity. I have a straight to slight fade natural swing; I can make my 825’s draw but oddly can’t hit a bigger fade. As we all get older our margin for error goes down as we lose distance, why make the game harder?”
- INeedMoreGolf: “I’m 32 next month, and I have the reverse experience that you have.. I started with super gi irons then gi and now players irons. In my experience so far I’ve played best with gi and now the players irons… I have the mp 20 MMC, and although they are players irons, they are quite forgiving but smaller like I like. I think you switching to gi irons will be very beneficial for all the reasons you probably think. I think there is no shame at all in playing a gi iron either. Let’s be honest we can all thin, chunk, shank, push or pull. any iron weather its pi gi or sgi.”
Entire Thread: “Game improvement irons vs Players irons”
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Whats in the Bag
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 4: Some old, some new
We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
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wally detler
Sep 10, 2020 at 8:23 pm
BEst ever!