ajaykkr

First of all its not a test...these are irons that I own and play.... (i have purchased and put into play lots of other irons, but they did not make the cut, so they have been given away or sold). So my observations are based on my play, albeit at my home course, so the only variability has been my swing on a given day, but over a number of rounds that should averaged. Grips are different, lofts and lies are different as they are all standard specs... Length is same. Shafts generally has been the Nippon 1150 Stiff flex......but I have experimented in some irons with S400, S300, and x100...In the end, the 1150 Stiff remained in the Miura, Golds, and X Blade 2, the MP 33 and the Mr 23 have the S300, the GD MB the S400 and I have kept the X100 in the fourteens for an experiment... My next set of experimentation is to put the Black golds in these clubs or get new clubs with the Black Gold and keep what works better... I think the black gold is a great shaft ..... I will be writing about my thoughts on each of these irons and why I prefer one over the other....but that writing will happen over time...but I have to say that among the seven on display, I could bag any of four, possibly five and be very happy and have a great round... more to come...

For me yes, but its closer... Epon has better feel / forgiveness.... GD MB has a bit more workability. I am partial to more blade like irons, so that could be coloring my opinion too.

I myself am waiting for the UW....thats one club in my opinion where there is a dearth of competitive offerings (relatively to what one has on irons, wedges, fairway woods, drivers, putters).......Epon hopefully will set the standard here as they have done with their drivers and 3 woods....

Not sure....less offset yes,,, but the Af 301s are forgiving and forgiveness and workability dont go hand in hand beyond a point......My personal preference would be for more workability, but that probably requires less weight distribution towards the perimeter reducing the forgiveness.... the Af 301s are well packaged as other Epons.... better player's clubs that are forgiving, turns heads with their looks and for the level of forgiveness, but have lesser compomises on workability, play from rough with long irons.... the way they are now gives them the biggest addressable market for better player's irons

benefit of a few more rounds since then.... thats why i tend to wait before I post publicly.... Also, if I recall you had asked about the Af 301s vs studio MBs (post above references studio handmades which are cavity backs).....the two (Studio MB and the studio handmades are not the same)

hopefully you stuck with the Black golds for the Af 301s....

i always beleive that you need to hit 3-4 different irons of a set to get a feel for whether it works forr you... most people can hit the 7 iron well.... i tend to play the 3, 5, 7 and PW to try out new irons... pro shops dont usually have that....but at my course,, the pro shop has one set of demo iron set that they allow you to take onto the course.... However, I haven't demoed anything there since I discovered TSG :)

no iron stays in my bag for long.... i tend to rotate irons (unless i am playing with boss/clients or tournaments when I go with the gamers)...but its most likely to be one of the these three blades - MP 33, Miura, or the X blade 2. Af 301s if you are looking for more forgiveness and feel, CB 1006 if you are looking for workability, playing long irons from the rough, varying trajectory etc...but ok with slighly less forgiveness with the long irons...

My Review of the AF -301 w/Black Gold Stiff.. I waited to play several rounds (9) before writing this review.. Some context.... I have been playing blades for 2/3rds of my golfing life (which is all of 2 out of 3 years I have been playing golf)..but I have also played some of the best player cavities....the studio handmades and the CB 1006. What I look in an iron is (i) accuracy and consistency (in terms of dispersion); (ii) ability to hit the ball out of varying degrees of rough (how well the iron digs through the rough); (iii) ability to hit the ball with high or low trajectory at will; (iv) ability to work the ball (v) forgiveness (vi) feel (vii) looks Firstly, the feel is very good.... the black golds probably accentuate the feel, but the feel is more buttery solid (as against the Miura solid hit)... In terms of feel, I would rate them second to the x blade 2, but pretty close.... Second, although if you have above average to good (but not necessarily great) ball striking, these irons are easy to handle....so dont let the fact that these are EPON's offerings for the top player deter you.. In terms of getting the ball up, and distance, these irons are forgiving....much more than say the CB 1006. These irons may be for you even if you have great ball striking skills, but if you can handle a little less forgiveness, then its a tougher call due to the considerations listed below... Third, the short to mid irons are very accurate... the 3 and 4 iron are not as accurate (Note: this may be influenced by the fact that I play blades and maybe the 3 and 4 iron cavities are designed to primarily get the ball up in the air and not lose distance with a lesser focus on accuracy).... but the 3 and 4 iron have much greater dispersion than say the CB 1006 or the studio handmades..compared to those, however the Epon 301s are easier to get up and get the ball moving... its generally gets the job done, but you could be left with a lot of long long putts or chips when you have the 3 and the 4 iron in your hand and you are 190-210 yards away Fourth, Ability to work the ball..... the 6-PW irons are very workable, on par with others, both draws and fades.... from the 5 onwards, they are less so. I have noticed that I generally work the ball with the longer irons 3, 4,5 than the shorter irons.... that is because the cause of working the ball usually starts with an errant drive and in that case I am in the 170-220 yards away zone needing me to bend the ball either around trees 20-40 yards from where I am hitting or 20-40 yards from the green... So ability to work the ball with the longer irons is important. Low trajectory is a challenge, but achievable... Looks - scores really high.....Best looking cavities out there (If only they did not have the "E" in Epon in gold).... but the rest of the iron head....is pure money.... From the rough... I never had opportunity to play anything longer than the 6 iron... but noticed that the loss of distance is minimal...sometimes noticed that the 6 iron had some difficulty in pushing through the rough. .. So in summary.....easy to play for even mid-handicappers in my opinion, great feel and looks, but its offset by the relative lack of accuracy and workability with the longer irons....... that should make low handicappers think harder (forgiveness, feel, looks, and generally very accurate vs the limitations mentioned above......note really is an issue for those players who can hit the green 6-7+/10 times with an iron from 170-200 yards out) Note: Iron play depends on skill level and what works fo me may not work for you and vice versa

Glad to see that the Epon 460 and the tourstage 460 are in the rankings.... wonder where the Mp Craft would have ended up...three of the best drivers currently

yup....... the ones that were worthy enough to keep.....

Pics of Top lines of blades and soles of the 6 iron.... (i play better golf than I take pics, but I will try harder next time and replace these pics, the sky is overcast now and my camera is not the best) from your left to right - MP 33, Mr 23, Fourteen, Miura, Golds Factory, Tourstage X Blade 2, Gauge Design Studio MB from your left to right - Gauge Design Studio MB, Tourstage X-Blade 2, Golds Factory, Miura, Fourteen, Mr 23, MP 33 from your left to right - MP 33, Mr 23, Fourteen, Miura, Golds Factory, Tourstage X Blade 2, Gauge Design Studio MB

played them all, but if they can get the feel of the 301s into their blades (and that does not exist in the tourstage, titliest, nike, possibly others that they forge), i think it will be a winner....although agree that blades dont sell..... Round sole proto sure sounds exciting.... given the temperatures in new york this fall, who knows, i may even have time for a round or two after they come... BTW, the yururi blade lofts are more like that of a cavity....hopefully they will have a more traditional blade lofts - PW - 48/49* and then 4* separation until the long irons

Lets get Endo to make a blade... the MR 23, although good, no longer measures up to other blades

thanks for the offer.... but its not my fav brand.....just the fav blade.... (and I have almost any worthwhile blade out there...).....if it was the fav brand.... my fav cavity would have been the CB 1006, but its the Af 301 (not that I care about cavities).... in short, my fav club is the one that works best.... thats why my bag has the epon (driver, 3 wood, 5 wood (sometimes), g field - 7 wood, hybrid) irons - miura, wedges, chikara, and putter, premium zone.... not all blades are the same.....the MP 33 is different from the Miura blade...as that blade is different from the fourteen...maybe not much different, but enough to make a difference.... your posts about low quality processes of Miura vs high quality processes of other japan forgings tend to by implication (atleast i read that way and i am sure others do too) deprecate Miura's products ....as an end user, i beg to differ.... whatever processes they use, how ever inferior they are, they do produce world class quality products.... and better than most other brands....

Will have to disagree with you on whats low quality vs high quality.... manufacturing capabilities do not decide whats good or bad (it does play a role)... Expensive - does not necessarily mean good quality.... also cheaper .....does not mean bad..... I am a end user, but know a bit or two about irons....Miura produces some of the best irons overall in terms of feel, performance, looks, etc... The Miura blade is the best I have ever played (tourstage x blade 2 comes close)....and is better than endo forged blades despite all that high end technology....... In the end, the final product counts....not how the iron is manufactured...

yeah! thats swell....

yeah, but i dont play on greens as fast and slick....so on those surfaces i am sure it will be more.....(despite that being the high point of my game)...... having said that i am trying....i have figured out with the driver and the woods.....now i just have to will myself not to hit the extra yards from an iron...

with only 1-2 rounds per week and only 6 months of play, how can i ever play all these awesome clubs that i want to play.....

how is your dispersion with the 3 and the 4 iron?

something is not right- for the 6* of loft, you can't get a 30 yard difference... and then have the iron distances you have from PW up... if your PW is 46* your 52* should go 105-110 yards..on a full shot..

right now my bag has a 3 wood (epon 13.5*), #2 hybrid (gfield 18*), and a 7 wood ("gfield) and then 4 iron onwards... the hybrid is only for from the rough to reach the green. on the fairway, its either the 7 wood or the irons... the 7 wood gets replaced by a 2 iron or a 3 iron in the summer....

actually swinging less with my driver and its going further.... takes some getting used to. Took me a year before I could bring myself to not whack it.. irons, i play them full. I am trying to bring the speed down there. i actually should be getting 20 more yards from my driver.... but I need to do a better release of the club....i tend to hang on to it. i can get my 3 wood to 250-260 yards and be on the fairway.... so the driver needs to be 20-30 yards longer.... but thats a project for next year..... i want to shoot par before that... so i end up using the driver on only 7 /18 holes at my course..

Knowing that you desire forgiveness, the AF301s get the vote,, but by a very thin margin... both irons are excellent as you say, but the Af 301s are more forgiving and have better feel (for me) and is more compact. Offsetting that is the fact that the Miura CB 1006 is more workable than the AF 301s and the 3/4 iron seems to be more accurate than that of the AF 301 (in terms of dispersion)... Both irons had the 1150 stiff shaft... CAUTION: Iron play is very personal and performance of iron depends on skill level, ball striking ability, swing and other variables. What works better for me need not work for you

The Miura tournament blade wins hands down...the Golds factory blade is handmade etc. etc. but to me only one thing matters and that is performance on the course in terms of accuracy of shots (dispersion), length, spin (shorter irons), ball flight, ability to work the ball. Both are good, but Miura is simply better. Its easier to work through the ball with the Miura (both draws and fade), less so with the Gold. The Miura is better in the rough even with the longer irons. (i have used upto a 4 iron from rough) and the miura appears to be better at cutting through and getting to the ball and distance loss is less than that of the gold.. Feel is also much better with the Miura my detailed posts will start this weekend (hope to write atleast one per weekend) CAUTION: Iron play is very personal and performance of iron depends on skill level, ball striking ability, swing and other variables. What works better for me need not work for you