Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

So after getting these irons last night, I absolutely could not wait to try them out. So much so, that my girlfriend and I went and played 9 holes this morning so I could try them out on the course. Probably not the best idea, as I should have worked with them on the range first, but what the heck, why not?

First impressions:
Looks - As stated above, and as most people have said, these are some of the most beautiful irons I have seen. I have not met a person that does not like the looks of these irons. Nike has a real winner in this aspect. The only thing that took a little getting used to was the different groove pattern; smaller grooves and more of them. This didn't affect me at all, and I didn't notice it at all once I started playing. At address, these clubs look very aggressive. They wreak confidence and make me feel like I can pull off whatever shot I want to attempt. I especially liked the looks of the short iron blades; at address, I felt like I could go right at the pin.

Feel - Being forged (I know, I know, it doesn't matter) I went in with some high expectations as to how these should feel. I was flat out impressed with how good they felt when I hit the ball in the middle of the face. They felt "crisp" with a nice sound to back it up. This was true throughout the set, but the sound was a little different with the different types of clubs (pocket cavity, split, and blade). On mis-hits, you knew it real quick. Mis-hits still traveled in the desirable direction, but had quite a bit less distance, probably 15-20% (if I had to guess). I hit a couple "fat" shots that still had some decent distance, and again stayed straight which was nice; I hit a 3I a little fat and it still traveled 180 yards. Like I said before, I probably should have gone to the range first instead of straight to the course, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play these. I think with a little range time I will be able to hone in on the sweet spot and get that excellent feeling most of the time. When hit well, these feel better than my current irons.

Performance - After just 9 holes, I believe these can be some very accurate clubs for me. Distances were very similar to my current irons, as the lofts are similar and the shafts are the same. When hit well, these irons were right on line, and had a great mid ball flight. I will know more about performance after my range session and afternoon round later today.

Overall first impression - Very pleased. With just 9 holes, I wasn't able to get a good grasp on just how good these irons may be, but I liked what I saw and enjoyed how they performed. I feel like after getting used to the different types of irons, these may be the perfect clubs for me.

I am going to the range in about two hours, and playing some twilight golf from about 6:30 to dark. This will give me a better idea as to how these clubs fit my game, and I cannot wait to hit them some more. What a perfect day to have off work! I will

Please ask any questions you may have, or recommend anything you would like me to try with these clubs. I will try to be as honest and clear as I can, if you need clarification please don't hesitate to ask. As others have said, some things are hard to put in words, but I try to do my best.

P.S. The video is about 50% uploaded, and I will post that when it is done.
 
Here is the unboxing video. It is almost 5 mins, and kind of boring IMO, sorry for that. Keep in mind it was after 11PM and I had just gotten off of work, and played before work, so it was a long day. Pair that with the torture I had to endure between 6:30 (when I found out the clubs came in) and 11 (when I got home) and the video didn't turn out as well as I hoped. Such is life, I will post more pics and videos this weekend.

 
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At the range now to do some side by side comparisons with my current/previous irons. I will update in a bit.
 
I love the dedication to drive out to a covered range. That is a great write up to go along with it


Tap tap taparoo
 
Good initial reviews so far, love how the blades look.
 
Very nice, JC. Those pics are great.
 
Weather permitting I have a tee time tomorrow to finally get these things out there with no range time. Ranges around here close once they get any rain because every range ball plugs. The weather has been killing me. I'm playing with no driver tomorrow, so I will give the 3 & 4 irons a good testing. I'm very interested to hit them, because as I mentioned before I have never hit a 3 or 4 iron. I'm stoked!!


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Just caught up on this thread a bit. Great stuff so far, guys! These irons are visually stunning and I'm glad to see a few of you are having some early success.
 
So yesterday afternoon I went to the range for about an hour and a half, then went and played some twilight golf (got about 13 holes in).

Range session:
I did a little side by side, but hit probably 90% of the balls with the VR's. I started with the PW and worked my way up through the set, hitting about 10 balls with each club. I also let a few people hit these to get their feedback, and will go into this later in the post.

Blades (8,9,PW) - Honestly, I am in love with these short irons. I thought they would be difficult to hit; but so far, they are not. I did hit a few fat shots, which traveled probably 75% of the normal distance, but they were straight. Other than that, I was hitting them excellent and in the middle of the club face for the most part. I was hitting them a few more yards than my current irons, and very straight. Ball flight was high, which I was fine with. After hitting all of my irons, I went back to the PW because I wanted to try hitting some knock down shots to see if I could control trajectory. This was easily accomplished, and it felt really good to know that if I need that shot, it is available. These short irons feel amazing. They are definitely more "solid" feeling than my current irons, which I personally like.

Split Cavity (5,6,7) - These clubs were excellent as well. I was hitting a mid-high ball flight and again a few more yards than my current irons. I was hitting the ball great with these, and I was impressed with the way the ball came off of the face of these irons. It is hard to explain but I'll try. It wasn't that "trampoline" feeling that you get with (some) cavity backs, but it wasn't as "hard" feeling as a blade. The ball came off soft, but you could feel exactly where you hit on the club face. I love this feeling.

Pocket Cavity (3,4) - I found these to be the hardest to hit in the set, which surprised me. I know that long irons can be hard to hit, but I typically hit my long irons pretty well. I am guessing it is the fact that these are smaller club heads than the long irons I have had previously (pics coming soon). At first, I was either straight and short, or off one way or the other. After a little while, and some tweaking of my setup, I was hitting them decent. Not in love with these irons, but we are at least on speaking terms. I am going to focus a little more attention on these at my next range session, this afternoon, to see if I can get them dialed in. When you hit them good, they do feel good. They have a little spring effect, but you still know where the ball hit the club face.

Overall impression - In love with the 5-PW, and am ok with the 3 & 4. The look of these clubs at address, and the feel of these clubs at impact, are absolutely fantastic. Also, they seemed very accurate, and consistent distances as well. I am very pleased that it hasn't taken a too long to "get used to" this set, as that was something I was afraid of, honestly.

Others who hit these - A few people I know were at the range and I told them about this fantastic opportunity that THP and Nike has given me (thank you again). They instantly wanted to hit these clubs and I suggested they hit all three types. For the most part, their results were similar to mine; excellent with the blade and split cavity, and a little struggle with the pocket cavity. Only three people hit them, but all of them said they liked the looks of them, and they also said the clubs felt good at impact.

I will cover my twilight round in another post to keep this from being a monster.
 
So after my morning 9, and my afternoon range session, I played 13 holes of twilight golf. I played with a friend who is a scratch golfer. We did a 9 hole match play, where he played from the black tees (furthest back) and I played from the blues (2nd furthest back), the tees we normally play. No strokes given. This was quite fun but I ended up dormie 2, even though I was only 2 over through 7. On to the review of the clubs.

Pocket Cavity (3,4) - I hit these ok out there, but only had a few shots with them. The first shot I hit with the 3I was was on a the par 5 second hole, and I hit it fat, so I dropped a ball and hit again. This time I hit a low screamer that ended up pretty good, not great but much better than fat. On one hole, after we had teed off, my friend asked to hit the 3I because I told him I wanted his opinion on these clubs. WOW. We were standing on the teebox that had a 381 marker and he hit it 15-20 yards past the 150 yard marker, 245-250 yard 3I. Instantly, the "why can't I do that?" thought popped into my head. The reason I brought that up is because I know that with a little range time, I should be able to hit these irons consistently. Not 245-250, but consistent. I'm just not there yet with the long irons.

Split Cavity (5,6,7) - I hit these irons very well today and walked away very impressed with them. They were very accurate, and distance seemed to be consistent throughout the round. Other than a chip in, I hit my shot of the match with the 7I. I was 155 out into a slight breeze, not much but it was there. I hit a smooth but solid 7I that had a mid-high ball flight and was dead straight, right at the pin. I ended up 5 feet past the pin, but missed the putt for birdie. Doh. These clubs just give me an added confidence boost when I am standing over the ball and I love it.

Blade (8,9,PW) - As mentioned above, I have fallen in love with these short irons. They look amazing, feel great, and are accurate. Before we played our 9 hole match, we were just out on the course playing a few practice holes and I hit an 8I from 150Y to 2'. It seemed like wherever I aimed, these went. They were straight as an arrow. Not much else to add about these short irons, they are just great.

All in all it was a great 13 holes and even though I ended up losing the match, I was hitting the ball good. I am really enjoying this opportunity and want to know what else I can do to make it better? I am going to the range this afternoon, and probably playing twilight again, so if anyone has any questions or anything they want me to look at or work on, let me know. I want to do the best job I can with this testing and encourage constructive criticism, or suggestions.
 
have to say these are very, very good looking sticks.

loving the updates so far.
 
I'm not dead! I am just trying to not read everyone elses thoughts so that i have a clear mind when I get these. From the looks of the thread I have some big shoes to follow. Great job so far guys!
 
I'm not dead! I am just trying to not read everyone elses thoughts so that i have a clear mind when I get these. From the looks of the thread I have some big shoes to follow. Great job so far guys!

Glad to hear CL, I was starting to wonder.
 
I just got done playing 18 at Cove Cay CC. I played with no driver, a three wood I'd never hit before, irons I'd never hit before, and wedges I'd never hit before. I was expecting a pretty bad round. I shot a 73 with a bogey on the par 3 18th. I'll have much more later, but coming from much stronger lofted A7s and having these shortened .5" I was expecting to lose quite some distance, but that just wasn't the case. The 8-PW are sick. I hit one four iron, out of the whole round, on a par 3 220 to the back edge with the pin in the back and the ball flew nice and high landed flag high and rolled onto the back fringe. Obviously I'll be back with more later, but if you have any questions in the meantime fire away and I'll answer them via TapaTalk while I'm out. Cheers.
 
220 out of a 4 iron?! with that much control (little long) That's sick!!
 
Hey testers,
I am curious, are you finding the hex grooves adding more or less spin on the scoring clubs? I have yet to play these on course but found when struck well they kinda chew the ball.
 
220 out of a 4 iron?! with that much control (little long) That's sick!!

Carried about 215ish and rolled out some, but that was the first time I'd ever hit any 4 iron in my life. A little downwind too, 7-8 mph winds. I was about as stoked as could be. The par three is over a lake probably 150-160 to carry the water and I was expecting to definitely end up in there.


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Hey testers,
I am curious, are you finding the hex grooves adding more or less spin on the scoring clubs? I have yet to play these on course but found when struck well they kinda chew the ball.

I didn't have any problem with balls getting chewed up, but the PW spins like crazy. I had a few zip left when they hit the green with draw spin. We have had quite a bit of rain so the greens were soft. Every ball left a huge ball mark on the greens.


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Hey everyone - quick update. Out of town until Monday but did play 18 this morning. Ball striking was better (only had 2 fat shots) but I was pulling EVERYTHING left and I do not know why. Distance is improving with solid contact; not seeing the consistent 10 yard loss that i was previously. Wish I could comment on spin, etc but I was not hitting greens from any distance to be able to tell. I will have multiple range sessions again starting Tuesday before I play again as this has to get figured out. More coming but wanted to give an update ASAP since I played this morning.


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What's the trajectory like with the mid irons - 7i etc?

I find with my current irons that they get up a little too high at times which can be a hindrance especially into the wind
 
What's the trajectory like with the mid irons - 7i etc?

I find with my current irons that they get up a little too high at times which can be a hindrance especially into the wind

I'm sure a lot of the trajectory is shaft related. I have hit the 6iron with S300's and found the flight to be a mid trajectory.

tapatalk: even available for lefties!
 
I'm sure a lot of the trajectory is shaft related. I have hit the 6iron with S300's and found the flight to be a mid trajectory.

tapatalk: even available for lefties!

I have S300's in my current set but at times the ball just flies way too high with the mid irons.

I am interested to see what everyone sees with the different shafts they selected
 
im really tempted to go and demo these irons. its between these and the burner 2.0s for my next set im worried i might be going from my gi irons to these could be too early.
 
220 out of a 4 iron?! with that much control (little long) That's sick!!

+1 I have to agree, very nice results


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