Equipment

Forum Thread of the Day: “What happened when distance irons seduced me…”

Published

7 years ago

Apr 30, 2019

Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from Popeye64 who has been a blade player all his life but was seduced by distance irons which came at a price. Here’s what Popeye64 had to say on his experience switching to distance irons:

“I have been a career blade style player with pretty close to traditional lofts. I had some KBS 105s shafts in my MMBs, and I just didn’t like the combo. Maltby came out with the TS-2 irons, and I was definitely smitten with the clubs. Feel, ease of playing and wow…did they go far. I played a full season with them and had an excellent GIR last year but wasn’t so close to the hole.

GW was 120y. PW was 140 y, 9i was 158 yards… The issue was I was having to go less than full swing on a lot of holes or step on an iron to get it into a distance window. I am long enough off the tee that most of my second shots are inside 150. So having a set of MMB heads laying around I shafted them up with some Paderson Ts shafts. Love them by the way.

Putting them back in play and being traditionally lofted I now am at 58° 70 Y.. 54° 95 Y.. GW 105.. PW 120.. 9 135.. 8 150. I have been bombing the flag again with the much tighter gaps with the irons. But I’m still using the TS-2 5 and 6 iron. But I am also using MMB 6 iron. There is a 4° gap between the 6 irons, and it’s a nice fit.

So yes I was sucked in on the distance iron craze, but it wound up being a comprise in my game. How many of you guys have gone back to old school lofts?”

Here are a few posts from the thread in response to Popeye64, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

PowderedToastMan: “I think there are flaws in old school and new lofts. Lofts with the longer clubs have always tended to be too close together. I think a 22 degree 4 iron and a 48 degree PW with equal gaps in between would be the perfect set of irons (set of 7) and a nice blend of traditional and current loft setups.”
disco111: “Being a senior, actually a super senior, I have delved into the jacked lofts equation. What I have determined is that if you don’t have enough swing speed, the loft on the club is inconsequential.”
MaxRylie222: “Playing my 4th year, I used to fall for distance irons, had the m4 irons hitting 7 iron around 170-180 but switched to ap2 718 this year and my love for distance goes out the window as the 718 has traditional loft, now hitting 7 irons around 150-155 and very happy.”
FormerBigDaddy: “This is one of the reasons why I have a hard time giving up my Taylormade 2005 TP CB’s. Traditional lofts just make gapping so much easier for me: 48 degree PW and 22 degree 3 iron. The guy I play with has an older set of pings, and I think they play close to mine. He just ordered the new TW irons in the weaker lofts as well. I don’t think I’m losing much with my CB’s and I’m constantly lurking on eBay for replacement irons that are in good shape. Not looking to go stronger in lofts anytime soon. Couldn’t care less what iron I’m hitting around guys with distance irons when I’m smoking my driver 20 yds by them!”

Entire Thread: “What happened when distance irons seduced me…”

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

19 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

19 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

19 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”