TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC Review Thread

[Redbird]

Thanks for the comparison!

Are you planning on gaming the Pro Combos then or will you switch to the MCs?

I'm leaving on a golf trip on the 9th for a week in Phoenix. I'm a little torn as to which set I will take, so I plan to hit the range Sat and Sun as well. However, when I get back and I can get both sets on the course at my leisure, I will certainly make a decision which one ends up in the back up bag.

 

[CraftyLefty]

I'm leaving on a golf trip on the 9th for a week in Phoenix. I'm a little torn as to which set I will take, so I plan to hit the range Sat and Sun as well. However, when I get back and I can get both sets on the course at my leisure, I will certainly make a decision which one ends up in the back up bag.

That's got to be a tough situation to be in

 

[Mardin]

I'm leaving on a golf trip on the 9th for a week in Phoenix. I'm a little torn as to which set I will take, so I plan to hit the range Sat and Sun as well. However, when I get back and I can get both sets on the course at my leisure, I will certainly make a decision which one ends up in the back up bag.

You could just take them both as I'm assuming you are playing multiple rounds. Might be a nice head-2-head course comparison.

 

[JB]

For those that chose the MC over the CB, I have a question for you. What made you come to that conclusion?

 

[ddec]

Here ya go, had a chance to hit both the Pro Combo's and the MC's side by sidetonight at the range. I hit the 3, 6, 8 and PW from both sets. 10 balls each iron, all irons shafted with DGS300. Because this is at the range I can only gauge accuracy, distance, feel, and forgiveness. No comment on turf interaction (for the MC).

Looks: It's hard to pick against the Pro Combo, it's one of the most gorgeous sets of irons out. If you like the satin look, which is gorgeous in its own right, the MC's are your thing. They aren't going to appeal to the traditionalists as they are more industrial looking than anything, but they have their own beauty. The top lines of the MC's are thicker than the Pro Combo's, which I don't think is news to anyone, but ironically the soles of the Pro Combo's are wider than the MC's in the long irons and the splits, with the Pro Combo blades having a thinner sole.

Feel: Since both irons are 1025 forged I didn't think there would be too much difference on center hits. The Pro Combo's feel a bit firmer to me than the MC's, as the MC's are some of the softest forgings I've hit. The Pro Combo's provided more feedback, which I believe is a good thing, but it wasn't a punishing bone jarring shock on shots off the toe or heel, but thin shot will be felt to a pretty good degree. The MC's seemed to have a larger sweet spot and provided that buttery feel on more of the club face then the Pro Combo, which can be both a good and bad thing depending upon what you're looking for (more/less feedback). I'll admit, the MC feel is addictive.

Distance: Both irons seemed to be in the same range. I shot a flag with my range finder that is marked as 170yd but was actually 163 from my bay. For me that is a 8iron and both sets easily hit that green. I found both sets easy to control the distance, which for me is priority #1 with my irons. I want to know what my 7iron distance is when I take 1/2, 3/4, full swings without the surprises that some of the "distance" sets can sometimes give you. The thing I did take note of here is that the Pro Combo does provide a higher flight, which I'd attribute to the X3X grooves.

Accuracy: Again, I wasn't anticipating much difference as both sets of irons are gear towards the same level of ball striker. The MC's strayed less off line on off center hits than the Pro Combo's, which I attributed to the seemingly larger sweet spot. Both irons I could draw and fade the ball as I needed to, with the Pro Combo's 8 and PW being slightly easier, but they are blades, so it really isn't a fair comparison in the scoring irons.

Forgiveness: I would give a slight edge to the MC's, again because the distance on off center hits and flight off line was less when you didn't hit the center of the club face. WITH THE EXCEPTION of the 3 (and I'd guess 4 iron), there is a reason why we are seeing tour pro's with the CB's in this spot, some with burner 2.0's. The MC 3iron is not the easiest to get up in the air. This is where the slot cavity of the Pro Combo blows the doors off the MC, but it wasn't that big of a deal to me as I don't find myself hitting many 3 and 4irons on the course. The ball flight of the 3 on the MC was a mid flight screamer vs. the high flight of the Pro Combo.

These are just my initial impressions. I will reserve final judgement till I can get both on grass from both fairway and the rough. Either way though both are excellent irons.

Great stuff Redbird! I agree with a lot of what you said. I hope you decided to take them with you on your trip so that you can get them out on the course. I had difficulty hitting the 3 - 4 iron at the range, which is the reason why I keep hyrbrids in the bag. I also wanted to add that I love the looks of the MCs, esp when addressing the ball.

 

[Redbird]

For those that chose the MC over the CB, I have a question for you. What made you come to that conclusion?

I would answer this but that would only lead to me getting jumped on, so I'll refrain.

 

[TC]

I would answer this but that would only lead to me getting jumped on, so I'll refrain.

Really? You won't get jumped on. I'm assuming that you went that route b/c it was more of a visual thing?

 

[Mark]

For those that chose the MC over the CB, I have a question for you. What made you come to that conclusion?

I had a really tough decision, took me over two hours. When hit well, both clubs are awesome. The MC's felt a tad better (maybe its psychological) but were not as forgiving on mishits (Bad week at the range so far). The main two factors were: AW included in the set and forgiveness. My fitter and I went over all the pro's and con's of each club. There were not that many cons other than the level of forgiveness or that the MC might take a tad longer to become fully acquinted with. I play with a 3H, so the flexibility that the CB's offered was a little better.

Distance was a tad longer with the CB too (not very much from though, at all). I like the look of the MC's (I am smitten with the MB) but I had to think about my game and not vanity of having a players club that perhaps would not work as well (I would have got the MB's).

 

[JB]

I would answer this but that would only lead to me getting jumped on, so I'll refrain.

Huh? A legitimate question about forgiveness and performance. Its an entire thread on these irons.

 

[JB]

I had a really tough decision, took me over two hours. When hit well, both clubs are awesome. The MC's felt a tad better (maybe its psychological) but were not as forgiving on mishits (Bad week at the range so far). The main two factors were: AW included in the set and forgiveness. My fitter and I went over all the pro's and con's of each club. There were not that many cons other than the level of forgiveness or that the MC might take a tad longer to become fully acquinted with. I play with a 3H, so the flexibility that the CB's offered was a little better.

Distance was a tad longer with the CB too (not very much from though, at all). I like the look of the MC's (I am smitten with the MB) but I had to think about my game and not vanity of having a players club that perhaps would not work as well (I would have got the MB's).

Thanks for the solid feedback.

 

[Redbird]

You could just take them both as I'm assuming you are playing multiple rounds. Might be a nice head-2-head course comparison.

I am playing 36 holes 4 of the days and 18 holes the other 3 days, but I really don't wanna lug it all there and turn each every round into a competition (which I know I will). lol

 

[Redbird]

Really? You won't get jumped on. I'm assuming that you went that route b/c it was more of a visual thing?

Combo of visual and performance. The CB's even with DGS300 and X100 hit the ball way too high for my liking. I don't have a problem getting the ball up in the air, so clubs that help you do that tend to hurt me more than help. The MC's generally felt better and softer then the CB's (I hit both side by side 6 irons for a good 45min). The MC and PC's when struck in the center are about as close to a pure feeling as a virgin on her wedding night (good luck finding one of those).

I'm not a huge looks guy. Meaning that you won't hear my poo poo a iron for the simple fact that it looks different (Obviously since I bought the MC's). But when I look down at a scoring iron I want a compact head, thinner topline, thin sole, and something that doesn't remind me of a shovel. When I get one of those in my hand, my only thought is "swing not to hook it". Because to my eye that's what it looks like it wants to do.

 

[Mardin]

Combo of visual and performance. The CB's even with DGS300 and X100 hit the ball way too high for my liking. I don't have a problem getting the ball up in the air, so clubs that help you do that tend to hurt me more than help. The MC's generally felt better and softer then the CB's (I hit both side by side 6 irons for a good 45min). The MC and PC's when struck in the center are about as close to a pure feeling as a virgin on her wedding night (good luck finding one of those).

I'm not a huge looks guy. Meaning that you won't hear my poo poo a iron for the simple fact that it looks different (Obviously since I bought the MC's). But when I look down at a scoring iron I want a compact head, thinner topline, thin sole, and something that doesn't remind me of a shovel. When I get one of those in my hand, my only thought is "swing not to hook it". Because to my eye that's what it looks like it wants to do.

I hit the MC for the hell of it the other day when I was getting fitted for my CB's and I really enjoyed the club. Although the MC is not for my game I enjoyed the look and feel of it. The topline is a little bit thinner which is nice, but with a quick glance it's not that much of a difference from the CB. I hope you take the MC's on your trip so we can hear about how they performed.

 

[JB]

I hit the MC for the hell of it the other day when I was getting fitted for my CB's and I really enjoyed the club. Although the MC is not for my game I enjoyed the look and feel of it. The topline is a little bit thinner which is nice, but with a quick glance it's not that much of a difference from the CB. I hope you take the MC's on your trip so we can hear about how they performed.

That is my feeling. I am holding them both here and the topline just does not look too different to me. Slightly, yes, but in the sunlight on the course, I cannot really tell. Thankfully so, I guess.

I keep hitting them side by side and I just cannot for the life of me get a difference in feel. I want to. I want to feel what everybody keeps saying is the difference, but I just cannot feel it. They feel really similar to me.

 

[TC]

Combo of visual and performance. The CB's even with DGS300 and X100 hit the ball way too high for my liking. I don't have a problem getting the ball up in the air, so clubs that help you do that tend to hurt me more than help. The MC's generally felt better and softer then the CB's (I hit both side by side 6 irons for a good 45min). The MC and PC's when struck in the center are about as close to a pure feeling as a virgin on her wedding night (good luck finding one of those).

I'm not a huge looks guy. Meaning that you won't hear my poo poo a iron for the simple fact that it looks different (Obviously since I bought the MC's). But when I look down at a scoring iron I want a compact head, thinner topline, thin sole, and something that doesn't remind me of a shovel. When I get one of those in my hand, my only thought is "swing not to hook it". Because to my eye that's what it looks like it wants to do.

Fair enough, and thanks for being honest brother. I like my scoring irons to have some sleekness to them, but I really don't pay much attention to them to tell you the truth.

Good luck with them. I can't wait to hit them for myself.

 

[ddec]

That is my feeling. I am holding them both here and the topline just does not look too different to me.

I keep hitting them side by side and I just cannot for the life of me get a difference in feel. I want to. I want to feel what everybody keeps saying is the difference, but I just cannot feel it. They feel really similar to me.

With the few swings I took with the CBs I thought they felt pretty similar. I know when g4l, hanks, and I got together a few weeks ago we were kind of surprised at how similar they looked at address. I thought you could definitely see a ball flight difference between the 2. The CBs had a much higher trajectory than the MCs. Keep in mind they are different shafts.

 

[TC]

With the few swings I took with the CBs I thought they felt pretty similar. I know when g4l, hanks, and I got together a few weeks ago we were kind of surprised at how similar they looked at address. I thought you could definitely see a ball flight difference between the 2. The CBs had a much higher trajectory than the MCs. Keep in mind they are different shafts.

I'm almost positive that's strictly a shaft thing. Apples to Apples bandwagon (that's my nickname for you since you're on Team Paradise)

 

[ddec]

I'm almost positive that's strictly a shaft thing. Apples to Apples bandwagon (that's my nickname for you since you're on Team Paradise)

I would say it's mostly a shaft thing. I would still think that with the same DG S300 shaft that the cb's would fly higher, though not as much as they do now with the XL shafts in them.

 

[TC]

I would say it's mostly a shaft thing. I would still think that with the same DG S300 shaft that the cb's would fly higher, though not as much as they do now with the XL shafts in them.

It would be difficult to distinguish between the two, at least for me, as both have a cavity. I hit everything high, and I sure can't tell much with the naked eye. It's hard to distinguish one, two, three foot discrepancies when the ball is reaching a height of 45-50 feet (with a 6iron).

 

[JB]

I would say it's mostly a shaft thing. I would still think that with the same DG S300 shaft that the cb's would fly higher, though not as much as they do now with the XL shafts in them.

I would too with the different weighting, but I am not seeing a huge difference at all.

 

[SethO]

It would be difficult to distinguish between the two, at least for me, as both have a cavity. I hit everything high, and I sure can't tell much with the naked eye. It's hard to distinguish one, two, three foot discrepancies when the ball is reaching a height of 45-50 feet (with a 6iron).

You can certainly launch the ball. I would call it a gift (except during those windy Florida days).

 

[GrantD]

I hit both the other day at a demo day. I noticed the distance a little longer with the CB and the workability a little bit more with the MC. The feel was pretty close. So close it almost makes me want to go after the MC. I just think the forgiveness of the CB will help in the back nines of rounds.

 

[ddec]

I hit both the other day at a demo day. I noticed the distance a little longer with the CB and the workability a little bit more with the MC. The feel was pretty close. So close it almost makes me want to go after the MC. I just think the forgiveness of the CB will help in the back nines of rounds.

would a combo set be in play?

 

[GrantD]

would a combo set be in play?

I just know if I can handle a combo set. Even though I did like the Nike combo set out there. It was at the demo day too. That would be like having 3-4 CB, 5-8 MC, and 9-PW MB.

 

[TC]

If I were a Taylormade staffer for the Morgan Cup, the MC's would be in my bag. I'm all about carving up Reunion Resort! I could also benefit from the lower ball flight.