Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

[JB]

Again the Titleist looks a bit tired, too thick, and a bit clunky.

Are you describing the Titleist or Colin Montguntery?

 

[the_paulo]

Now to the test I was most intrigued by, the 4 iron. Wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one in particular, due to the problems most seem to be having with the pocket cavities, comparing it to a true blade, and to another iron with a regular flex shaft. The Titleist sat out this round, as we didn't have a 4 iron in the set. I was kinda glad of that break this time!

So, the stats -

Club 1 - Nike VR Pro Combo - Dynamic Gold SL S300
Club 2 - Wilson Staff FG59 - Dynmic Gold S300
Club 3 - Mizuno Pro - Dynamic Gold Sensicore R300


Thoughts -

Ball speed - Woah, the Nike VR Pro pocket cavity shows up big time here! Way out in front, some 5.7mph more than the Wilson fg59. The Mizuno sits neatly in the middle of the 3. Way disappointed in the Wilson on this stat, but pleasantly surprised by the Nike.

Launch angle - Low Low Low....all round. This might need some work. Wilsons were scaring the hats off the locals.

Spin - Only thing worth talking about here is how low the Wilson is spinning it. Way below what I'd be looking for. The Mizuno performs best for me on this one, with the Nike just a little behind.

Height - Hello again pocket cavity. Climbing to a nice height in this one, the other 2 are way behind...and the Wilson is really starting to lag here.

Land Angle - As you'd expect after the height stat, the Nike is coming down at the best angle.

Carry - The Mizuno manages to close the gap a bit here, but the Nike is still a couple of yards ahead. I really think that you may see a bigger gap on a calmer day, due to the height difference on the shots. The wind was really knocking the ball out of the sky.

Total Distance - At last we find a use for the Wilson 4 iron...a land vehicle! By far the shortest carry, this thing rolled out like it was trying to get somewhere! The Nikes showed by far the best stopping power, by a good 5 yards! That's a lot on a longer approach.

Dispersion - Mr Pocket cavity, I may have to take back some of the things I said about you. The stats are your friend. Despite hitting it the highest into a strong wind, the stopping power and the accuracy of these clubs combined to give the tightest dispersion.

Trackman recommends -

Dispersion -

The Trackman recommendation jumps about a little, but I'm not interested in total distance over carry....so the Nike is a clear winner in this category.

 

[the_paulo]

Are you describing the Titleist or Colin Montguntery?

haha, awesome! That was a direct quote from my last report card at school.

 

[Nappy]

Really great write up! You are guys are doing great with these reviews! Extremely helpful.

 

[dway]

Lots of great info Paulo.

 

[JB]

After all of that testing Paulo on the trackman, what are your thoughts on what is working best for you?

 

[the_paulo]

Subjective thoughts on the 4 iron -

Feel - As I said above, the pocket cavity in the Nike VR Pro Combos has come through. Head to head testing has exposed just how much is down to my swing and I can confirm, it was quite a lot! When I hit these nice, they are nice. The Wilson 4 iron was a real struggle in comparison. Just so tough to hit it well. The Mizuno felt good, right in between the 2, but still wasn't as nice as the Nike for me.

Looks - Yet again, looking at the Wilson fg59 is a joy. But that said, it is a bit scary too when in the context of preparing to hit a golf shot. The Nike is a lovely looking club in it's own right, and the look isn't too far off the split cavity to me. Laying it behind the ball, Nike have done a great job of keeping this club in proportion to the rest of the set. Sure, it's a pocket cavity and some concession has to be made, but it wasn't like switching from the Wilson to the Titleist DCI. I can confirm that I didn't notice any thick topline, or big offset. I may have just opened my eyes to the joy of these irons.


Ok, I'll leave it there for a bit, before I ramble on with any more thoughts. I've hogged the thread enough for now - but I'd be interested to hear everyone else's thoughts on my stats, compared with their experiences.

 

[the_paulo]

After all of that testing Paulo on the trackman, what are your thoughts on what is working best for you?

That's the million dollar question JB. I'm going over the stats right now in my head, and still finding that difficult to answer. I will answer it though.....in a bit.

(such a tease)

 

[Drumdog]

Very good write up Paulo!
The Trackman is a great tool...and can be confusing with all the info as well.

 

[#Cookie]

Paulo - outstanding review there with the hard numbers to go along with what each of us see and feel on each shot!!

I did mention in my review on Saturday that I was hoping to get back out Sunday if my back felt ok and it did. Headed out about noon and it was about 106 degrees and about a 4 1/2 hour round. Prior to my round, I did hit balls on the range for about an hour specifically working on the longer irons that I was struggling some with on Saturday hitting off of the toe. Made a simple change of standing about 2 inches further from the ball and they seemed to help a ton on the range and started hitting some solid 5 iron shots. While doing this, I did notice a few high on the center of the club that definitely experienced a distance loss like some other reviewers have eluded to with these irons. To the course....

Will not do the shot by shot review as it was an UGLY day on the course all around for me. My swing was just not there after things seemed to clicking decently on the range. Perhaps it was the hit and wait 3 minutes before next shot, etc but I never got into a groove. Was also in a cart and not walking like normal and I do not seem to play as well when cart riding.

I struggled off the tee which led to a ton of just simple punch outs and 3W/5W into the greens. Had some nice iron shots that gave me birdie putts within 20 feet but they were few and far between. My playing partner said that I was simply not keeping my head down on most of my shots and the results showed accordingly. It was hard to stay upbeat about anything after a 3 putt double on the first hole. These very fast bermuda greens just killed me as I had (6) 3 putts for 41 putts total and ended up with a 94 overall.

Feel bad that I could not offer a better write-up but my faults yesterday were not due to the clubs; just had an off day swinging anything in my hands. Over the past 3-4 weeks, I was only able to play once a week and not practice due to back issues but GLAD to see that the issue is minimal now so I can get back to my regular practice routines. Range tomorrow night and playing either Wednesday or Thursday after work so more to come very soon!!

 

[Br1an_g]

good info there paulo, trackman is truly a great tool.

Looks like you should do a combo mixed set of the wilsons, nikes and mizunos to get the best set in the bag

 

[Fairway2Green]

Played 18 on the West at BCC Saturday. The course was actually closed because of the wind, but we still went out. It was too windy to really get any useful info. The one thing though is that I didn't have any of my irons unpredictably balloon into the wind and come up short out there. I still get annoyed with the grooves though. I usually just use a tee to clean my grooves out when I get anything in them on my practice swings, but you have to have a very sharply pointed tee to do that with these. It's not a huge problem and could be solved by carrying a brush on my belt loop or something of that nature, but I'm definitely not looking to do that so I just deal with it.


Using Tapatalk on my phone, so I apologize for any errors or delayed responses.

Cheers,
Tristan

 

[#Cookie]

Played 18 on the West at BCC Saturday. The course was actually closed because of the wind, but we still went out. It was too windy to really get any useful info. The one thing though is that I didn't have any of my irons unpredictably balloon into the wind and come up short out there. I still get annoyed with the grooves though. I usually just use a tee to clean my grooves out when I get anything in them on my practice swings, but you have to have a very sharply pointed tee to do that with these. It's not a huge problem and could be solved by carrying a brush on my belt loop or something of that nature, but I'm definitely not looking to do that so I just deal with it.


Using Tapatalk on my phone, so I apologize for any errors or delayed responses.

Cheers,
Tristan

The groove issue is not a big deal to me anymore. I happen to carry a small squirt bottle of water with me and just spray the club and wipe real quick with a normal towel and that gets it 90% of the time. The other 10% is easily covered by a spray and then using my spotless swing towel.

And my irons still look basically brand new.

 

[Fairway2Green]

The groove issue is not a big deal to me anymore. I happen to carry a small squirt bottle of water with me and just spray the club and wipe real quick with a normal towel and that gets it 90% of the time. The other 10% is easily covered by a spray and then using my spotless swing towel.

And my irons still look basically brand new.

My issue is when I'm away from the cart which has all the brushes, towels, and whatnot. My buddies and I play speed golf, according to some, so maybe that adds to it. It's when I take my practice swings and get something in the grooves that I get annoyed by the grooves, because I'm not going to waste the time to walk back to the cart and clean my grooves or wait for my playing partner to hit his shot and come back with the cart. If I'm playing somewhere that's going to take over three hours to play because of waiting and whatnot I probably won't have an issue cleaning them in-between practice swings (as long as I have a really sharp tee or brush with me).


Using Tapatalk on my phone, so I apologize for any errors or delayed responses.

Cheers,
Tristan

 

[the_paulo]

I carry one of these little brushes, seems to do the trick with the grooves. Inexpensive and handy.

 

[#Cookie]

I carry one of these little brushes, seems to do the trick with the grooves. Inexpensive and handy.

Paulo - do those bristles on the right side of the brush not scratch the face? That was my apprehension about using something like that.

 

[the_paulo]

After all of that testing Paulo on the trackman, what are your thoughts on what is working best for you?

Guess I should answer this, if I can make any sense out of all the thoughts my Trackman session put in my head.

First I should state that my decision takes into account the weather conditions. During this session it was a lot more windy than what I'd term regular conditions.

If I'm going with the stats, 2 out of 3 rounds there went in favour of the Pro Combos. I'd expect the Wilson fg59s to put in a strong performance due to them launching lower and flying lower. They did, but the Nikes still outshone them most times. Total distance isn't really an issue for me, as I'm just using carry distance as a marker. In that case, the Nikes compete too. The 8 iron of the Wilson fg59s was the strongest performer, and probably the only part of the set I'd consider swapping out - but again the conditions played a big part for me. The higher flight of the Nikes worked against them here. On the course, I'd have taken an extra club, and hit it lower, but that wasn't possible in this test.

The pocket cavities of the Pro Combo set really came through for me in this test. I was surprised by just how much they out-performed the competition. I was hitting these smoothly and it seemed to work.

The only bit that has me hesitating on declaring the winner is the split cavity. When hitting balls, without looking at the stats, the VR Pro Combos felt really nice compared to the other 2. I was amazed at how they stood up to even a purely struck shot with the other 2 competitors (despite being the most 'forgiving' club of all 3).
Then I looked at the stats and thought...that can't be right. Maybe my swing was just a bit off with them, as I'm just not seeing the same trend in ball speed numbers as I was with the blades or pocket cavities. I also struggled in these numbers with the Wilsons, but the Nikes at least showed up with good height and spin numbers compared to the rest.

I think I'll be going back to the Trackman with the winning clubs, to put every one of them through their paces, dial in my yardages (on a better day!), and see if the numbers flow smoothly from pocket cavity, split cavity through to blade. Those transitions will be interesting - will there be a jump in spin numbers or ball speed from the 7 iron to the 8? Will there be any change in dispersion? There are still questions to be answered, if you guys can stand reading more!

Overall - The Nike VR Pro Combo comes out on top for me. Not just because of this reviewing process. You guys have read my thought process here and can tell me if I'm being biased. I love the look of the fg59s and would love for them to perform for me, but I'm just not getting the consistent numbers above 8 iron that I'm looking for. The Mizunos performed in the middle clubs, but just weren't stable enough for me with the R flex shaft. The Nikes are guiding me in the right direction, giving me the higher ballflight I was looking for, more spin on the approach shots, more ideal launch conditions over the piece. I'm sure it's partly a fitting thing, with the right shaft and lie angle in these clubs, they simply feel better first, and they perform.

 

[the_paulo]

Paulo - do those bristles on the right side of the brush not scratch the face? That was my apprehension about using something like that.

They soften up pretty quickly and I've not had a problem with them leaving marks. I've never really gone to town on a club face with it though, just a quick brush to clear the dirt and at worst remove it from the hitting area until they can be cleaned later.

 

[#Cookie]

I wanted to provide an update on the wear that I have seen thus far in these clubs. I received them almost exactly 2 months ago and have had probably 20 range sessions and 12 rounds with them. I think they have held up extremely well! From a cleaning perspective, they get wiped down after about 8 shots on the range and then after each shot on the course. I also use iron covers to prevent the chatter when in the bag. The only issue I can see is that the ferrule on the 3 & 8 irons has slightly moved up.

Soles of set:

Grips:

Faces of set:

PW face (most used club):

9i face (2nd most used club):

Back of set:

Back of blades (most used clubs):

8i ferrule:

I will be headed back to the range on Wednesday after work. If there are any photos, videos, or specific feedback that someone wants to see - DO NOT hesitate to ask. Otherwise, I will just show whatever comes to mind.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Great minds think alike Mcook. I was just cleaning the clubs and I'm going to take some pics to show the wear. I really don't notice any but I wonder if the camera will pick it up. Be back in a bit. :brb:

 

[Chunkylover77]

So I thought I would spend a little time talking about the most important part of an iron. Some would say head design. Others might say getting fit is vital to playing well. I say nonsense. It is all about the looks. I thought I would do an update to my first post which basically included me cleaning my drawers after opening the box. Here is how I described them upon first opening the box:

Wow are the first words that jump to mind. I remember during Demo day being blown away by the looks of the Pro Combos and my memory was not faulty. I might be biased but I truly believe these are the nicest looking irons on the market today. Being that this is a combo set, it could have been a jumbled mess of large GI long irons and scalpel like blades in the scoring clubs. This set however does not disappoint. Nike did a fantastic job of making the set flow smoothly from Pocket Cavity(3-5), Split Cavity(5-7), and finally Blade(8-P). None of the clubs look out of place to me. The cavity is pretty understated. You have the VR symbol in a black/red/white color and the iconic Nike swoosh out by the toe. Pretty simple and very nice. The PX graphite shafts are gorgeous. Nice design on the shaft and the Blue NDMC complement it nicely. I couldn’t be happier with how these clubs look.

Lets fast forward to today. Now these clubs are forged from a very soft metal. To me this would mean that after a few weeks they could be scratched and dinged up beyond recognition. Thankfully that is simply not the case here. Granted I am pretty careful with my bag while hauling it around. But once on the course I pretty much don’t hold back. If my ball lands on a sandy area with some pebbles in there I’m hitting the ball. I don’t use headcovers so these do bang around a little while driving the cart or walking.

To my eye they still look fantastic. The face of the iron has held up very well with some scratching from ball marks. The cavity is pretty free of dings with a few exceptions that are not noticeable unless you inspect closely. The soles are the only place that I can really say show significant signs of usage. I took some pictures today after I cleaned them up and I thought I would show you how they have worn after repeated trips to the range and 6-7 rounds with them

 

[JB]

Some awesome pics guys.

 

[#Cookie]

Dang Chunky - great stuff buddy! Knew I should have pulled out the good camera.

I agree with you man; they are OUTSTANDING looking irons whether they are in the bag or position at address. They simply look and feel great. I think the description I used when I first got them was "confidence inspiring" and that still rings true.

 

[the_paulo]

Great pics guys. Even though I have these sitting in my bag in the cupboard right now, I couldn't help but go back over these pics and look again! They really are that pretty!

These irons look to be holding up very well, especially with the possibility of bag chatter on them. I'll need to get some pics of mine too. Hopefully be able to get some comparison pics to go with my earlier stats too.

 

[MattyKrack17]

Nice pix, but the black on the face worry me

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