Short Answer - got a Club Champion iron fitting and will be getting the first set of irons that will not be built by myself since 2002. Mizuno JPX 923 Forged with Steelfiber i95 shafts. Have I turned to the dark side? π€π
Things I could not do at home:
- Try nearly as many shafts
- Try nearly as many heads
- No launch monitor at home, would be purely by feel (which would have led me astray)
I was not looking for more distance, I wanted tighter dispersion for my inconsistent swing. But I dislike offset, which puts me into 'players' irons most of the time. Current set is Wishon 575 with Dynamic Gold 105 shafts. I love them, but have become too inconsistent for them as I have aged (55 now).
Scheduled an hour and a half iron fitting - he spent two and a half hours with me.
They dial in the shaft first. Tried about 8 or 9. When he selected them I saw the Steelfiber in the mix and knew how expensive they are. I was quietly hoping something else would be best. I was not so lucky - Steelfiber was easily the best for me, I surrendered quickly. π€£
Now it was to iron heads, where I tried about 10 heads. Going in I was thinking Titleist or Taylormade. The Titleist offerings just were not getting the numbers for me and I let that idea go. The Taylormade P790 and P770 - felt great! I also tried Cobra, Ping, and Callaway offerings. There was just no denying the Mizuno numbers though.
Had I gone purely on feel I would have been in Taylormade P790. But the dispersion was not an improvement at all - I would be better off not getting new clubs. This is where my feel betrayed me. I really wanted to make the P790 work and kept swinging and swinging thinking it was me. No improvement. Went back to the Mizuno - tighter shots. It just fit my swing so much better.
So here I sit - my wallet a lot lighter. But comfortable with where the money is going.
But I've betrayed my club making self. That hurts more. But I just cannot do this at home. The choices, the data, I just cannot get that myself.
Here was the first time around with them - my current Wishon's are the purple, the Mizuno 923 Forged is in blue. The view is left to right for distance. Cut my dispersion (up and down) in half or more. Lets hope it leads to better scores when they arrive!