It's been 6 months Scratch Iron review update!!!

[primo]

So I figure everyone is out playing golf just like I am. Summer is in full swing, and I thought I would post my review of my irons. Now as much as I hate to admit it, I have fallen victim to the honeymoon period. :wah: :wah: :wah:

So I understand when some of my initial review of clubs is often overlooked. If there ever was a ranking of club hoes I'm pretty sure I would rank in the upper echelons. I've owned a major percentage of modern club offerings in a very short period of time. Just about everything I've owned has been a "holy grail" for at least a week or so.

So over the last 6 months or so, I've gone through 3 more drivers, 2 more 3 woods, 4 hybrids, 4 putters. The only constants in my bag have been my Scratch wedges and my Scratch irons. I've hit my friends irons, my friends have hit mine. Although I have seen things I like in other irons, nothing has the complete package to me like my custom Scratch wedges. From address they look almost identical to a tourstage blade. The grind is very Mizuno like. And the finish is also unique, the nickel finish gives it that old school look which I love.

If that were all the irons had to offer, as picky as I am that would probably be enough. I am very much the type of golfer where the club has to be right to my eye. I get a lot of confidence when I like the way a club sets up. :love:

Thankfully, this is not all these irons have to offer. They are truely a shotmakers club. They are balanced extremely well and I shape the ball either way. The feel is incredible. One thing I had to get used to was that on offcenter hits, impact feels kind of weird, yet the ball still flies. It took me a while to figure that out. They are so forgiving, I didn't realize that I wasn't hitting the ball in the center of the face. Those of you that own the wedges, let me tell you that the CB's are incredibly more forgiving than the wedges, yet they make a good match, since the feel is very similar.

I really love my irons and my wedges :love:, and I'm not ashamed to say it. this is really the only place of group therapy where someone my be able to understand that. The right grind to me means that I don't need to worry about the club digging into the ground, or making sure that the club just slices through the grass. It just gives me an incredible amount of confidence when standing over the ball and I don't have to worry about that buried lie in the rough, or chunking it on that thin lie on the fairway. I know that I'm preaching to the choir when I stress the importance of getting the right equipment that fits you.

At nearly the same price as most forged irons, i would think its a no brainer for your dream set of irons. Just out of curiousity I would like to start an open discussion on concerns with going custom. Is it the cost? Potential loss in resale value? Don't know what you want? As happy as I am with my irons, I guess I would just like to hear why others haven't tried the same path.

[Mikey]

Primo....

I agree! I have had my set of the players blades now since the beginning of Spring and have a few rounds in with them and I have to agree that the Scratch irons are one of the best balanced set of irons that I have played to date.

I have the Tour,, Satin finish on mine and just love them.

The only problem I have is not the fault of the irons, but just that I am not really a good enough player to play this very small set of blades day in and day out and be consistent with them.

That is not the fault of the arrow, but the Indian!

I also have a set of the players Cavity backs on order and ARI has promised delivery of them early next week.

I am off to an annual golf outing with friends at the end of the week and plan to take them with me.

In summary.... so far the irons and my wedge has been great. I can only expect that they cavity backs will be just as nice, but more forgiving.

I can post my review.

[jeffy]

I've had my Scratch proto CBs (Project X shafts) and wedges since March and have been very happy with them. They replaced a set of Titleist 962s with Flighted Rifle shafts. I have the brushed nickel finish which looks very elegant and I get quite a few "what are those good looking clubs?"-type of comments. The toe shape (Z101) and sole grind (962) are just what I want and the only possible competition are a set of Scratch proto tour blades I have coming with NS Pro 1050s. Other than these blades, I've haven't for a second thought about switching to anything else. The Gauge Design CBs look very sweet, but, for me, the strong lofts and lack of custom options disqualify them from consideration. To get the 5* loft and 0.625" length progression I play with, the GDs would have to be reshafted and bent all over the place to fit me, and would wind up costing a lot more than the Scratch.

I tend to agree with Primo: if you know as much about clubs as most TSG members do, and playing well is your primary objective, I'm surprised more haven't opted for a set of custom Scratch as opposed to a high-end, off-the-rack club. From my own experience, I suspect that at least some are intimidated with concerns such as: "how do I know what to get", "what if I make a mistake and don't like them" as well as feeling more comfortable with an accepted brand name. Those issues didn't stop me and I'm glad for it.

The wedges are great as well; I've got a T&C grind coming to replace my M-grind 60*, but I love the 55* and 64* without reservation. The only thing I would consider doing to them is refinishing them in antique with white paintfill, which looks awesome in person.

In the mentime, I switched drivers from a Gemini (which I wanted to be square, but I could only get closed) to a Nakashima NP-1, handpicked square, which seems to me to be a lot more solid (in sound and feel), just as forgiving and long (particularly with the HX Tour). I have no plans to change my putter or fairways, as they continue to work just fine.

Jeff

[shoe295]

This question made me think, which normally hurts my head and thus it takes several days to respond. I have thought about going to a custom set of irons on and off for years. The only company I was aware of doing completely custom sets was Kenneth Smith and they were very :money: :money: . This was before the days of the Internet so searching out options were either somebody like KS or your local clubbuilder who would whip you up a component set. The latter was not nearly as expensive but for some reason, maybe aristocratic haughtiness, I could not get interested in components. Nothing "cool" about them and I am nothing if not :cool: :whistle: ..rrriiigggghhhhtttt.

Another reason for avoidance of custom would certainly be ignorance of the process of club manufacture. Hey a club is a club..you buy it, grip it and rip it and that's it. Different lofts, lies, shafts, grinds(which was something that was preceded by bumps) head shapes and swing types was a foreign language. Custom fitting was a big deal when I bought my Hogans. I was not a very informed consumer..for that matter I probably have only enough knowledge now to be dangerous to myself :wink:

As for resale, a non-issue as I seldom sell anything..after all I might need it again...yep a pack rat...

With exposure to information comes expansion of choice and when the stars align and my wallet says so I will order a custom set because I'd like to take the equipment factor out of the equation as much as possible leaving my results to be blamed solely on my physical failings. I think I'm ready to assume that burden of responsibility without dire emotional consequences. If not there's always therapy and a return to my Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridges'

[ethan]

In terms of ordering custom made clubs and being nervous that you don't know what to order, the solution is very simple in my opinion. Find a master clubfitter/club builder and get fit for a set of irons, whether the brand is KZG, Alpha, whatever. Once you have the specs on what is perfect for you, you can order irons from any company and either order them with these specs or fit them to your specs afterward by having a clubfitter alter them. This seems to be the solution.

[ziggy1]

I own two Scratch wedges with a satin chrome finish, and here are my thoughts after playing them for 4 months:

Looks and feel

They came 100% as I expected them. If you tell Ari what you want, he´ll make it. Just be honest and don´t be afraid to use factory wedges to compare (like I did: Nike shape, 60M grind....). These are without any doubt the softest feeling wedges that I every tried. But here comes the downside...

Durability

These things are so soft, that the grooves are already worn out. Ok, I admit that I like to practice my shortgame (that´s where my score comes from..), but they look like 2 years old clubs now. It also looks like the chrome finish comes off and the face almost looks a bit "goldish/yellowish".

Resale value

Another downside.... But the resale value of any worn out wedges is close to zero anyway, so I don´t really mind that.

Performance

They do everything you expect them to do. Spin and distance control is amazingly consistent. And if you specified the right grind for your swing and conditions, you won´t find a reason to complain.

Verdict:

I guess "soft" and "durable" don´t work well together. I´d order and buy new Scratch wedges at anytime again, but I´d be careful with a full set of clubs. Maybe if they improve their finish (chroming), I´d go for them...

To me, if they could offer a forged stainless unplated material, slightly harder and more durable with all the custom grind options, I´d go for that any minute. (I´m not complaining here, it´s just my honest experience.)

[FairwayFred]

I own two Scratch wedges with a satin chrome finish, and here are my thoughts after playing them for 4 months:

Looks and feel

They came 100% as I expected them. If you tell Ari what you want, he´ll make it. Just be honest and don´t be afraid to use factory wedges to compare (like I did: Nike shape, 60M grind....). These are without any doubt the softest feeling wedges that I every tried. But here comes the downside...

Durability

These things are so soft, that the grooves are already worn out. Ok, I admit that I like to practice my shortgame (that´s where my score comes from..), but they look like 2 years old clubs now. It also looks like the chrome finish comes off and the face almost looks a bit "goldish/yellowish".

Resale value

Another downside.... But the resale value of any worn out wedges is close to zero anyway, so I don´t really mind that.

Performance

They do everything you expect them to do. Spin and distance control is amazingly consistent. And if you specified the right grind for your swing and conditions, you won´t find a reason to complain.

Verdict:

I guess "soft" and "durable" don´t work well together. I´d order and buy new Scratch wedges at anytime again, but I´d be careful with a full set of clubs. Maybe if they improve their finish (chroming), I´d go for them...  

To me, if they could offer a forged stainless unplated material, slightly harder and more durable with all the custom grind options, I´d go for that any minute. (I´m not complaining here, it´s just my honest experience.)

Ziggy,

I totally understand your concerns. We have been working the last few months on improving durability of the chrome finishes and we have an exciting announcement! We have just made a deal with a new chromer that does all the OEM chrome work for Cleveland as well as a few others. All of our clubs starting now will be done by this new plater. This new Polished Chrome and Satin Chrome will be alot more durable than our old chrome finishes. That yellowish color you see is the Nickel underlay coming through the chrome which is the first step to wearing through the plating. With enough use any chrome finish will wear but our new finishes will wear like any other OEM chrome wedge! TourSpecGolfer has a set of irons that should be back any day with the new Satin finish. We will get some pics up soon!

As far as resale value, if you order your wedges with no extra stampings you should be able to get $90-$125 for them if you decide to sell them. Thats about the same % that you would make on any other used OEM wedge that you were trying to sell. I have even seen a couple used Satin wedges go for as much as $135.

I really appreciate the feedback guys! If anyone has any other suggestions or concerns that they would like to address with me please feel free to PM me anytime!