2014 RomaRo Ray-H Forged Irons Review

[+TourSpecGolfer]

RomaRo is one of the most well rounded Japanese Golf Brands available today, their entire line up from putters to drivers and grips to apparel and bags is top notch. This is my long term impressions on the 2014 RomaRo Ray H Forged irons their newest and flag ship players CB.

First let's break down the basics of what it is, The Ray H is a fusion of a muscle back and cavity back made of Japanese S20C Forged steel. The weight expanding across the cavity helps produce a fair sized sweet spot yet also provides the benefits of cavity back perimeter weighting.

The top line image shows you just how beautiful these irons look while standing over them, from the thin top line and absolute minimum offset without see'ing the cavity one could easily think it's a blade. In fact we stacked it against many blades and this CB is actually thinner than some of the most popular muscle back's in the Japanese Market.

RomaRo has done an almost perfect job of creating the optimal shape and while we are on the topic of optimal I must say the Ray-H Forged feels sublime at impact, the S20C and overall design gives a very dense soft yet not mushy feel to it. For those who know Japanese Golf Gear it's between TourStage & Miura at impact yet more buttery dense. Medium Rare :)

Besides the impact feeling awesome the shape and curves from every angle of this iron have obviously been well thought out. RomaRo has done a great job from it's curved leading edge to it's sharper and high toe. On the course we found it to be somewhat forgiving considering it's smaller size, off center shots near the toe lose the most distance while center and closer to heel shots fly on line with good distance, the sole has some leading edge relief to help the club make first contact with the turf, really no complaints can be made from a design or feel stand point.

Some will say what about distance? I would say you can't expect big distance from any true players CB or MB, they are just not designed that way and one of the big reasons is that you usually see more traditional lofts on these types of athlete designs. In this case RomaRo pulls back keeping lofts rather weak at 46* in the PW so purists rejoice!

Workability is all there, we stacked up a couple of blades against these and actually found the Ray-H to be more workable and forgiving only giving up a little in terms of feel to a traditional blade design, when compared to the MB's that had a cut out or some new sort of tech we actually preferred the feel of the Ray H over them.

While the sole is a touch bigger than most blades it's tapered wider toward the toe and only slightly bigger by half a mm on average. I would suggest these irons for a pro to 12'ish handicap skill level, someone who likes blade looking and soft forged irons that is looking for accuracy and workability. Available 3-PW as heads only or custom shafted. Click Here for the official product listing in the TSG Pro Shop.

[needmoregolf]

These look great from all angles. Is there a cutout by the toe on the sole or is that just the lighting/angle? If there is a cutout, is that just a design element or something intended for performance? Great review, Chris.

[chiromikey]

These look very good as a player's CB. It's funny how a 46* PW is now considered weak. It doesn't seem like that long ago when we were shocked to find out how strong some of the blade PWs were at 46* instead of the traditional 48*.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

These look great from all angles. Is there a cutout by the toe on the sole or is that just the lighting/angle? If there is a cutout, is that just a design element or something intended for performance? Great review, Chris.

Yup it's a cut out, some brands do that as an easy way to remove some weight moving the CG closer to center or toward the heel.

[xerobound]

The Romaro Ray H has been flying under the radar, but it stacks up against any other forged CB clubs out there. Feel, workability and distance is all there. Very forgiving for what could be called a "players club". I think the 46* PW is a bit too strong for many of the low cappers and professionals. (Although, many companies use this as a standard loft)

[Miuramaniac]

These do look great indeed.

Isn't 46* pretty much std now for PW's in cavity players's clubs? I know Miura uses 47 on almost all of their sets but it seems like TS, Yam, etc all are using 46 mostly.

[chiromikey]

These do look great indeed.

Isn't 46* pretty much std now for PW's in cavity players's clubs? I know Miura uses 47 on almost all of their sets but it seems like TS, Yam, etc all are using 46 mostly.

I think 46* is the new standard for players irons but there are still some 47/48* PWs being made out there...

[+TourSpecGolfer]

We must also really consider our set make up, we can no longer have the same arrangement as back in the day while all the lofts change around us.

I highly suggest for most players:

- Ditch the #3 wood

- Pick up a 4th Wedge

- Add an extra higher lofted wood/utility

[chiromikey]

Totally agree. I play 4 wedges and although I'd never give up my 3w, my lofts are set around the modern 46* PW. My biggest golf wish is that companies would start offering a 50* gap/approach wedge to match the set.

Edited August 6, 2014 by chiromikey

[Baddmnkey]

Would love to see pics of the short irons. Need to see how they blend with the set.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Baddmnkey