TaylorMade RBZ Irons Review - Forum Testing

[Mardin]

I got a chance to give the 5 iron a go on Wednesday and Thursday and although I love the head/face of the club the shaft wasn't really working for me. I hit a few really nice shots with it but couldn't seem to load the club properly. It's a little bit lighter than my current shaft so that might have something to do with it. I did notice some really forgiveness with the RBZ though. I hit a ball out on the toe that almost seemed to correct itself mid-flight (It was with a "real" ball too. Not one of the polara's i've been testing. lol). Distance was maybe a few yards longer than my current 5 iron but not that noticeable. The club really reminded me of the burner 2.0 except with what looked like a thicker topline.

 

[TMRBZ]

Thanks DawgDaddy! I'll post my experiances with the clubs as soon as i have any.
I'm really curious about the 9 iron though. Seems weird that the white line on the face is missing.

ps. i wanted to post a picture of it but apperantly thats not allowed. how many posts does it take?

 

[Ole Gray]

Thanks DawgDaddy! I'll post my experiances with the clubs as soon as i have any.
I'm really curious about the 9 iron though. Seems weird that the white line on the face is missing.

ps. i wanted to post a picture of it but apperantly thats not allowed. how many posts does it take?

Try going to photobucket and and then posting your pic to THP,

 

[DrPatSr]

>>The main thing that concerned me today was the regular size grips. I struggle more when I play golf with less than medium size grips. I did shoot a really good front side with these irons (37) however the next 18 holes I had some places rubbing my hands a bit tender.<<

Amen, Ole Gray!!!
I've been thinking about that same thing. I recently bought some Adams A12OS with senior flex graphite shafts. Without my asking, they put on a Medium size grip. Now that's good thinking on their part. Seniors I would think would prefer a softer, slightly larger grip because of the changes most Seniors have in their hands by this age. Those folks who weren't golfing when Elvis was drafted can tolerate those skinny ultralight grips better than we can. I like the looks of the RBZ irons, but some of that is based on the color coordinated grips which are thin in comparison to the midsize on my new Adams irons. I wish TaylorMade and others would have the grips made to match in the midsize, etc. It would sure make it easier on those of us who opt for senior flex.

 

[Ole Gray]

>>The main thing that concerned me today was the regular size grips. I struggle more when I play golf with less than medium size grips. I did shoot a really good front side with these irons (37) however the next 18 holes I had some places rubbing my hands a bit tender.<<

Amen, Ole Gray!!!
I've been thinking about that same thing. I recently bought some Adams A12OS with senior flex graphite shafts. Without my asking, they put on a Medium size grip. Now that's good thinking on their part. Seniors I would think would prefer a softer, slightly larger grip because of the changes most Seniors have in their hands by this age. Those folks who weren't golfing when Elvis was drafted can tolerate those skinny ultralight grips better than we can. I like the looks of the RBZ irons, but some of that is based on the color coordinated grips which are thin in comparison to the midsize on my new Adams irons. I wish TaylorMade and others would have the grips made to match in the midsize, etc. It would sure make it easier on those of us who opt for senior flex.

Doc -- midsize grips made a huge difference for me with these irons. I guess us senior golfers have a bit more time with "arthur" visiting our joints too huh .

 

[DawgDaddy]

>>The main thing that concerned me today was the regular size grips. I struggle more when I play golf with less than medium size grips. I did shoot a really good front side with these irons (37) however the next 18 holes I had some places rubbing my hands a bit tender.<<

Amen, Ole Gray!!!
I've been thinking about that same thing. I recently bought some Adams A12OS with senior flex graphite shafts. Without my asking, they put on a Medium size grip. Now that's good thinking on their part. Seniors I would think would prefer a softer, slightly larger grip because of the changes most Seniors have in their hands by this age. Those folks who weren't golfing when Elvis was drafted can tolerate those skinny ultralight grips better than we can. I like the looks of the RBZ irons, but some of that is based on the color coordinated grips which are thin in comparison to the midsize on my new Adams irons. I wish TaylorMade and others would have the grips made to match in the midsize, etc. It would sure make it easier on those of us who opt for senior flex.

That made me lol this morning, good thoughts Doc.

 

[TMRBZ]

Just came back from my first range session. PW - 7 iron WOW!!! The distance, height, forgiveness and sound. These irons are so much better than my previous irons.
6 iron i had to get used to. But after dialing in on this iron, it was as easy as the rest of them.

Like others i had more problems with the 5 iron (4 is on its way from the fitter). Took me 2 buckets to get used to the fact that i was hitting an iron, but not really an iron.
When i put it a bit more in the front of my stance, the ball went straight out of the ballpark... Enormous distance on this iron. There was an old lady asking me how i ever find my ball on the fairway if i hit them that far :bulgy-eyes: LOL...

Forgiveness is much higher on the pw - 7 iron then the rest. It's not difficult to hook or slice that 5 iron. Doing that with the 9 iron seems impossible. Fade or draw seems to be very difficult on these. But maybe it's just the fact that i'm not used to these yet.

Cleveland 588 56-10... insane... Best wedge ever. Period.

 

[TMRBZ]

Jeej! Finally possible to post pictures. Here's my set (still missing the 4 iron).

Not able to see on this picture but does anybody know about "the missing white line on the 9 iron" mystery? Do all of you have a white line on there 9? I don't..

 

[Ole Gray]

Great pics TMRBZ! I took a look at my 9 iron and it has the white line on the last groove, as the other irons do. That's odd yours came without the line.

 

[TMRBZ]

Strange stuff. I actually really miss it. Lining up with this line is very easy...

 

[Ole Gray]

Strange stuff. I actually really miss it. Lining up with this line is very easy...

Maybe you could contact TaylorMade and ask is this something out of the ordinary. Send them a good pic of the missing line and they may replace your nine iron.

 

[TMRBZ]

Problem is i had it custom made... by this company: http://www.hanslemmensgolf.nl/

He fitted a lot of great tour players...

But i'll give it a shot...

 

[Sooner21]

Congrats on getting the irons out on the range for the first time TMRBZ! The 4 and 5-irons take a session or two to get used to but once you do...BOOM! Like OG I have the white line on all my clubs.

Just came back from my first range session. PW - 7 iron WOW!!! The distance, height, forgiveness and sound. These irons are so much better than my previous irons.
6 iron i had to get used to. But after dialing in on this iron, it was as easy as the rest of them.

Like others i had more problems with the 5 iron (4 is on its way from the fitter). Took me 2 buckets to get used to the fact that i was hitting an iron, but not really an iron.
When i put it a bit more in the front of my stance, the ball went straight out of the ballpark... Enormous distance on this iron. There was an old lady asking me how i ever find my ball on the fairway if i hit them that far :bulgy-eyes: LOL...

Forgiveness is much higher on the pw - 7 iron then the rest. It's not difficult to hook or slice that 5 iron. Doing that with the 9 iron seems impossible. Fade or draw seems to be very difficult on these. But maybe it's just the fact that i'm not used to these yet.

Cleveland 588 56-10... insane... Best wedge ever. Period.

 

[TMRBZ]

I've sent TM a message... Let's see what happens...

 

[MWard]

Testing date: April 21st, 2012
Location: Royal St Cloud Links

I was invited to play in a scramble tournament with a buddy of mine on Saturday. It was playing at about 6100 yards and with a lot of wind. Weather Channel said wind was 10-15mph with gusts up to 25 all day.

We wound up using about 9 of my tee shots, as I was driving it really really well and long. We used about 12 of my approach shots. It was a mix of I was closest or I was the person who hit the green. Our group went 14/14 on fairways, and 16/18 on greens to shoot a 65. Irons did surprisingly well in the windy conditions, much better than the previous round out. I hit 15 greens in regulation on my ball, and putted just decently. In a real round, it would have been a mid 70's round without question as well as I was hitting it.

I hit two just stupid awesome shots in the round. One of them was a 6i from 155 out into a 3 club wind that didn't get more than 15ft off the ground and chased up the green and left us with a 25ft downhill putt. 3 of us left it in the mouth, just short. The other was a 5i from 175 out that I punched under the wind and it plugged just short of the putting surface in 2 by about 3yds. We made par because I suck at judging putting through wet bermuda fringe when it's into the grain and we had to take our best attempt at 15ft downhill left to right, with about 3ft of break in it.

 

[bahester]

Great pics TMRBZ! I took a look at my 9 iron and it has the white line on the last groove, as the other irons do. That's odd yours came without the line.

Weird, mine has it too.

Test date: 4/23/12, 9:15 am
Ball type: Range balls
Conditions: Damp grass, 45 F, 5-7 mph wind.

I was feeling adventurous this morning before class so I decided to take the RBZ's for a spin out at the range and figured I should have it to myself since it was cold and kinda early. I finally was able to find a nice spot with some good grass to hit off of and started my warmup routine. I wanted to try something a little different today that my instructor recommended I try last Friday at my latest lesson. He told me to practice like every shot was a shot I'd have to take on a golf course instead of just hitting pointlessly. So, we decided I had to hit every club at a specific target 5 times in a row with a consistent ball flight and distance before I could move on to the next club up. I figured the RBZ irons would be helpful in this drill since I would really have to focus on my tempo to hit consistent, straight shots. I went through the AW, 9i, and 8i perfectly in 15 balls, hitting it exactly where I wanted with just a sweet tempo. I wasn't swinging hard at all, and I could really just feel the ball rocket off the face. I started to get a little overzealous once I got to the 7 iron and as usual, started getting a little quick and swinging a little harder. I wasn't having huge misses, but where I'd been hitting consistently straight I would now push one directly 15-20 yards right instead. This has been my miss all along with these irons and is a key sign for me that I'm started to get too fast. Backed off, took a breath, and got through the 7 and 6 irons with no problems.

The only issues I had today really were when I got to the 5 and 4 irons. I'm not sure if it's a mental thing but I still struggle some hitting these off the turf. I don't know if it's the length that's bothering me, or the look of the head at address or what, but something is just throwing me a little bit off. However, when I tee the ball just slightly up like I'm hitting into a long par 3 or a short par 4, I tend to flush it really well, so it's a mystery what's going on. I think I wouldn't mind having the 4 iron cut down 1" and the 5 iron 1/2" since I'm already a relatively short guy (only 5'9" or so).

However, the drill I did today (did it 3 times total) really helped me hit the RBZ irons well. To me, it really is about tempo with these irons. It feels like Taylormade is really trying to instill that into the target audience for these, as a "GE design" type iron. It's all about taking a good, solid swing and not trying to kill the ball. The results are there if you do that. If you try to get fancy or overpower the ball, you could pay the price by missing left or right. There's no doubt these irons have one of the hottest faces on the market to me. They absolutely scream when you flush a ball, and the feeling is so pure it's unreal. The distance is there, Taylormade is on the right track with these.

 

[JonD]

Just got caught back up with this thread. Great feedback so far guys. OG, I saw your CG16s in the marketplace and figured what had happened, but hadn't had a chance to read up on your reasoning. Glad you found something that works even better for you! I'm still pretty happy with my CG16s, but will keep my ear to the ground for one of the 5Is to check out.

 

[bahester]

Here's a pic comparing the RBZ AW, MP 60 PW, and Cleveland 588 50* AW. Granted, I clean the RBZ's after everytime I use them, and I haven't cleaned the MP60 or 588 in quite a while, haha. The MP60s I also bought used so they have quite a bit more wear on them. But, you can see I really don't miss on the toe much. My miss is typically on the heel but I've been hitting everything pretty square here lately.

 

[Ole Gray]

Just got caught back up with this thread. Great feedback so far guys. OG, I saw your CG16s in the marketplace and figured what had happened, but hadn't had a chance to read up on your reasoning. Glad you found something that works even better for you! I'm still pretty happy with my CG16s, but will keep my ear to the ground for one of the 5Is to check out.

Jon -- I took the CG16 irons off the market and decided to hold on to them. The condition they are in and the price I was going to receive, was not what I had in mind. They are great irons and will always be among my very favorites. So with that said they will stay on board as my back up irons. I have a friend who has five sets of irons in his truck so I figured me having two on board was not a big deal.

I enjoyed my co tester bahesters remarks about tempo with the RBZ irons. That is such a true statement and when you swing smooth within yourself, the RBZs will bust it out there further than any iron you could imagine (IMO). They are just gawd awesome get out of town LONG! You put an ill tempo, hurky jerky, sloppy swing and you get equal results. You know that is pretty much across the board with all brands, if we are honest. I think you will really be impressed with demoing these irons. If you can grab the 5i that would be cool too. Maybe someone on here will let you try it after they are finished demoing it. I know TM sent a boatload out for folks to demo.

 

[Ranger5022]

Testing date: April 21st, 2012
Location: Royal St Cloud Links

Mward
what did you think of that course. I played there in October with Ranger junior...we played all 3 loops of nine....I thought it was a great course....and they were so welcoming to Ranger Junior ...the club pro was watching him warm up on the range and was very complimentary. Just a nice welcoming atmosphere and in excellent condition....would go back there in a heartbeat. I got to christen my new R11 driver and 3 wood there .

 

[Oncourse59]

I don't know what is wrong with me but I am coming from a totally different end of the spectrum. I have been playing my old faithful Ping Eye-2 for years and after reading somewhere on the net that if you are not playing clubs built in the last ten years you are not taking advantage of the new technology decided to pick-up a set of these RBZ's. I am not a happy camper. I don't know where you are all getting extra yardage from but after 36 holes with them the RBZ's consistently play a club to a club and a half shorter for me than the Eye-2 irons.(Glad I still have them)I did buy the RBZ's stock without being fit but so are the Pings and I am usually in the 'standard' category anyway. Any one else have this problem or is it just me? Would the stiffer shafts help? I have regular steel on the Pings. I am leaving now to go hit them another 18 and will return with more info and look forward to any responses.

*UPDATE* After another dismal round with these clubs, dejected I decided to take a week off from playing. After reading so many positive comments here about the RBZ I knew it had to be me and I was determined after the investment to make these work for me. During that week on The Golf Channel I saw a show with Hank Haney teaching the four celebrities (Sugar Ray Leonard, Adam Levine, etc.) and it appeared they were hitting RBZ's (at least the woods were) and he was showing them how to draw their shots and then I remembered seeing somewhere these are 'draw-biased' clubs and it struck me -have been trying to fade them. So I went back out to play a round using the technique Hank was showing them. Now I have hit a fade for 30 years and the limited times through the years I've tried to draw have not been pretty so my expectations were low but wow did these clubs come to life for me! They jumped off the face and drew beautifully! Even into the teeth of the wind that was blowing that day and would normally knock down my fade I was hitting them through it and long. I had to keep dropping a club or two because I was knocking it off the back of the greens. Now I didn't read through all these pages and this all might have been addressed already but to take advantage of what these clubs have to offer I really feel like you must shape it right to left. I'm sure there are some of you that fade these quite well but for me it took a shape change and I was amazed how easy it was to do. I still feel like I may prefer a mid-sized grip on them but that's just about the only change I'd make -the shafts seem fine. When I made the RBZ purchase I decided to go with the 3 & 5 wood, 4-AW irons and keep my Ping Rapture driver for now. Well after hitting draw with the RBZ's decided to try that shape with the Rapture and not only did that club too take to the shape well but I was hitting the drives I've been waiting to see from that club, some of my longest ever! I am 52 and have been losing distance with the fade, it's nice to see it back and then some with the draw. Maybe I could do the same with the Eye-2's but all I care is that I found a way to make the RBZ's work for me and you can count me as a happy camper again.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Very cool that you had an epiphany while watching HH. The times I have hit the RBZ's they have been long and either straight or having a small draw, I have not thought to try and hit a cut with them. When I get my demo iron I will give that a try too to see if I see that same distance loss you did.

 

[FrankA]

Glad you got things figured out Oncourse. Sounds like you may need to get adjusted to a new ball flight.


Tapatalk

 

[Ole Gray]

Oncourse -- It is cool that you found this out via the Haney show. I made a post in this thread shortly after it was started about how I could not fade the ball with these irons. No matter how hard I tried, it was not gonna happen. I have always been a hooker all my life. Once a hooker you are destined to be a hooker, at least for me. If I fade the ball it is not by design. So what you found out being a natural fader of the ball, confirms my thoughts on these irons. They are hard to fade for most folks. Not saying it's impossible as some of the testers in this thread, have had success fading the ball. I am happy to see that these irons are now kicking butt for you with more distance etc. Keep us posted on how they perform. What you posted, might help someone who needs this type of info.

 

[MWard]

Testing date: April 21st, 2012
Location: Royal St Cloud Links

Mward
what did you think of that course. I played there in October with Ranger junior...we played all 3 loops of nine....I thought it was a great course....and they were so welcoming to Ranger Junior ...the club pro was watching him warm up on the range and was very complimentary. Just a nice welcoming atmosphere and in excellent condition....would go back there in a heartbeat. I got to christen my new R11 driver and 3 wood there .

Loved the course because I was getting rollout. Wasn't fond of the staff though at all. Don't book a scramble and then throw tee times in between the groups. There was a 55min backup from one nine to another and they just laughed and said oh well. Not very well thought out IMO.