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My thanks to Chris for letting me review the new iBrid Chapter 2 from RomaRo. To begin with, I should say that over the years I’ve hit so many hybrids that they threatened to take over my garage at one point. I grabbed the very first one I ever saw (from TaylorMade…) and have had an on/off, love/hate relationship with them ever since. I love my long irons and I love my fairway woods, so although the concept of a hybrid made sense to me, it was always a tough sell. Like many golfers, I found a lot of them to be hook machines, especially off the tee. And the ones that seemed to work well off fairways didn’t seem to be right on the tee, or sometimes from the rough. And with virtually all of them, the hooks would return no matter how promising the feel when new. After endless experimenting, I finally settled on an 18-deg 2-iron and the Miura HB3 20-deg for my bag. I consider the Miura to be the perfect hybrid for me. It sets up like a long iron, is very small in profile, has the dense solid feel of a driving iron that I like, and most of all it goes straight like a long iron. So, I was more than a little curious to hit the iBrid. First test, out of the box and my two cats gave the immediate paws up to this beauty. It’s a gorgeous little club. (see Chris's pics for that) My black and white cat, whose name is Kobayashi Maru (interesting story that involved Tario, but I’ll save that for another time…) especially fixated on the head. Some clubs she immediately hisses at, and I usually find them to be unappealing at address later… As I said, they were both good to go on this baby. So off to the range. First thing I noticed was exactly what Chris describes in the blog. The face of this club, which is a forged cup, has more spring than I’ve ever felt in a hybrid. That same coefficient that measures time on the face -- which I love to be long on drivers and fwy’s -- is there in spades on this club. The ball is sucked in and then ramped out with a delicious feel. And the sound is also unique in my experience for a hybrid. There is a loud audible pop when you hit this thing on the sweet spot – not like an iron, not like a fwy, but like a new kind of weapon. It sounds almost copper-y, if that makes sense. The face shape is more iron-like than many hybrids, and I’d say the center is pushed out slightly toward the toe, making the club very forgiving on off-center hits. Open the face a little, and you get a more muted sound for a fade. Close it slightly and the sound is more staccato, kind of like a bullet firing into a nice draw. For me, sound is a big part of the equation, and this club definitely has its own unique sound which drew inquiring looks at the range, and later at the course. And definitely a forgiving, workable club, this thing, not a hook machine. Two rounds at the home course right next to my HB3 only reinforced the uniqueness of the iBrid. I found I could easily pick shots off the Kikuyu fairway, and when I took it into the rough, it went down for the ball with a growling authority that gave confidence. Off the tee on a couple of long Par 3’s, I also found the club in its own class. I haven’t said yet, but the iBrid is LONG. I wasn’t nuts about the ATTAS EZ shaft, but then I tend to not get along with UST Mamiya shafts so well (except for the Freq Filtered putter shaft…). I’ll say this, the shaft is beautiful to look at – a kind of smooth gunmetal grey – but like Chris, I’d love to try this thing with the new TRPX UT shaft when it’s out... For now though, when you catch this club and shaft right, it blows out shots with a strong piercing trajectory more common to fwy’s that have good run out than a soft landing hybrid. And oh yes, that sound stays equally interesting off of grass. The thing pops (and rocks). It brings smiles to those looking on as well as to you when the ball flies. I remain faithful to my driving iron, as nothing beats the feeling for me of puring a shot with one of those off the tee. But as far as hybrids go – and I would call this more of a hybrid than a driving iron -- the iBrid wants a place in the bag, insisting on its own distinct quality and range advantage. I’m still not giving up my Miura, but this club is a contender, and I applaud RomaRo for introducing something new, unique, and fun into the hybrid family.