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Golf Today 2009 Iron Forgiveness Test


gocchin

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So Golf Today's December issue had a test of 24 of the latest irons to give readers a general idea of forgiveness. As we have discussed in the past, forgiveness is very difficult to measure and can depend on so many factors including different swing styles, speeds, courses played on, shafts etc. Golf Today's test is meant to give consumers a general idea of how these new models perform with toe mis-hits and heel mis-hits as well as the type of iron they are and approximate distances for different types of players. The test used 3 different testers:

Player A 40m/s (90mph) 6i avg 145y (mid handi)

Player B 45m/s (102mph) 6i avg 158y (low handi)

Player C 50m/s (113.5mph) 6i avg 187y (scratch)

There are 4 check points in the test:

Check 1 is distance for the 6i

Check 2 is distance on toe and heel mis-hits as a percentage of a shot off the sweetspot.

Check 3 is whether the testers rated the iron as Automatic or Manual. Automatic meaning pretty much swing away and the ball goes straight or draw, or Manual where the ball flight is controlled and manipulated by the player

Check 4 is whether the iron is available with steel or graphite or both which can affect forgiveness as well

Test was conducted outdoors WITH a launch monitor and distances averaged among useable data ie if the mid capper chunked a shot, it was not used.

I found this useful as I tend to miss towards the toe so looking for an iron with minimal distance loss towards the toe is important to me... (even if it is knowing its the Burner Plus!!)

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200 yard 6irons!!! Even with jacked up lofts this guy is pretty long.

I like how the Japanese test things like this and try to put measurable or at least quantifiable numbers on them just for a good perspective.

G, I can't read Japanese but would you have the raw numbers, just to see what the difference in percentage is? 2% could be 5 yards or it could be 5 feet.

Edited by xxio
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x since its meant to give only a very general idea of forgiveness, the percentages shown are averages of the three players misses based off 100% distance which is their distance shown in Check 1.

So for example JPX E600 Forged

159

162

196

are the distances for the 3 players when hitting dead center. The average would be around 172y and mis-hit of the toe is 93% and heel 95% meaning on average:

100% 172y

93% 160y mis hit off the toe

95% 164y mis hit off the heel

These are averages so it is possible the mid capper brought the averages down while the scratch golfer who swings faster brought it up, I guess that's why its called average. (^_^)

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6 iron - 26-31* spread. That really is a lot of difference between mfg's. I wish everyone would make them the same.

You buddy pulls out a 6 iron and hits it pin high so you pull out your 6 iron and fly the green... the next guy hits his 6 iron and it comes up short even though you all have the same SS.

Great info G, thanks for the post. :)

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Love this kind of info.

Thanks for the post!

Randy

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two clubs i'd like to see the differences are would be the on/off plus and the tourstage gr-c1. i can't get much from this translation, so you could sum up the differences a bit?

thanks

Both are considered manual irons. While the lofts are about the same it seems the GR is a tad longer. Forgiveness wise, the GR is more forgiving on the toe while the Onoff is more forgiving on heel mis hits.

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  • 2 months later...

Its why I will switch and fiddle around with players clubs that all have the same lofts and offset. This way I can compare and see what feels the best and forgives. With the GI clubs the lofts and offsets are all over the place so, a 7 iron in one set has no relevance to a 7 iron in another set as there could be several degrees difference in loft and offset.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Wow...how about Kasco ? super hyten face...Kasco says "Super Hyten is twice as strong and hard as titanium" "The Super Hyten club heads are half the thickness of a normal titanium head, and this enables great sensitivity of head design.

"

they do beat the rest in 172 yeads with swing speed 45 m/s

anyone ever tried them?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wow, very interesting. I love comparing golf gear. I'm currently gaming Bridgestone J36 Pocket Cavities. I'm wondering which of the Tourstage offerings are in the same category. I would also be interested in the Yamaha Impress X V Forged (non Tour) 2010 Version and how they compare to the Bridgestones J36 PC in terms of forgivness. Is there a lot of difference?

Edited by shacco
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