Equipment
Nike VR Forged Pro Combo Irons
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.
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.
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.
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- Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 7.2 X
3-wood: Titleist 915F (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist 816 H1 (17 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (3, 4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46-10F @55), Titleist Vokey SM10 (54-10S @53), Titleist Vokey SM4 (60 @59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 w/Sensicore
Putter: Odyssey White Hot No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Grip Rite
Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.
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- Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 TX
Irons: Ping iCrossover (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 56-12D, 60-08M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Bettinardi SS16 Dass
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Alex Fitzpatrick’s clubs here.
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In our forums, our members have been discussing Mini-Drivers and accompanying shafts. WRXer ‘JamesFisher1990’ is about to purchase a BRNR Mini and is torn on what shaft weight to use, and our members have been sharing their thoughts and set ups 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.
- PARETO: “New BRNR at 13.5. Took it over to TXG (Club Champ but TXG will always rule) in Calgary for a fit. Took the head down to 12, stuck in a Graphite Design AD at 3 wood length and 60g. Presto- numbers that rivaled my G430Max but with waaaaay tighter dispersion. Win.”
- driveandputtmachine: “Still playing a MIni 300. The head was only 208, so I ordered a heavier weight and play it at 3 wood length. I am playing a Ventus Red 70. I play 70 grams in my fairways. I use it mainly to hit draws off the tee. When I combine me, a driver, and trying to hit a draw it does not work out well most of the time. So the MIni is for that. As an aside, I have not hit the newest BRNR, but the previous model wasn’t great off the deck. The 300 Mini is very good off the deck.”
- JAM01: “Ok, just put the BRNR in the bag along side a QI10 max and a QI10 3 wood. A load of top end redundancy. But, I have several holes at my two home courses where the flight and accuracy of the mini driver helps immensely. Mine is stock Proforce 65 at 13.5, I could see a heavier shaft, but to normal flex, as a nice alternative.”
Entire Thread: “What’s the perfect Mini-Driver/Shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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Steve Stricker WITB 2024 (April)
Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4...
Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2024 (April)
Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Alejandro Tosti WITB 2024 (April)
Alejandro Tosti what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees...
Drew Brees WITB 2024 (April)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx) Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (10.5 degrees)...
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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.
Pingback: GolfWRX Tech Talk: Nike VR Forged Pro Combo Irons | NG NATION — Nike Golf Fan Blog
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?
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!
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.
Joe
Sep 16, 2013 at 6:18 pm
These remind me of the Bridgestone irons from a few years back
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.
Jordan
Sep 16, 2013 at 10:24 am
Good luck finding a set.
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.
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.
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.
Billy
Sep 14, 2013 at 1:41 am
You can’t see it!
Jordan
Sep 13, 2013 at 9:28 am
That’s a thick top line, no bueno
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
Billy
Sep 12, 2013 at 11:13 pm
Hell yeah, getting these.
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.