Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

Test Date: 09/10/2011
Testing Club: Nike VR Pro Combo irons with PX Graphite shaft 5.0 flex
Testing Purpose: 18 holes
My Club: I am using the testing clubs but my prior set was the Wilson Staff Di11’s
Ball Used: Bridgestone B330RX
Environment: 90* with a slight breeze

Beautiful day. Get permission from the wife to play golf and have a tee time at Lonnie Poole Golf Course which is NC States home course. First time playing and I’ve heard it is a beast. Truer words have not been spoken. My warmup is a little nasty. I’m hitting everything thin but my last 5 or so balls are very nice. Greens have been punched recently so not really considering a good score. Just want to hit some solid iron shots. Head to the tee.

1st hole—507—Beautiful dog leg right hole with bunkers all over it. Sky my tee ball a little right and it catches a bunker. Get up to see that it is absolutely buried. Take 4I to just try and hack it out and I advance it maybe 2 feet into some nasty cabbage. Stupidly try Mashie and rope hook it into another bunker. Play 9I to just get to 100 yards and that sprays right into another bunker. 100 yards left and I hit ¾ PW which just tails right and sits in some rough pin high. My chip lands softly and rolls into the hole. Easy 6 right there.

2nd hole—186—Pin is in front so I take 5I. Hit a gorgeous towering shot that lands 20 feet past the pin and spins back to 18 feet. Hit that one perfect. First putt just glides by and I tap in for 3

3rd hole—526—Perfect drive right down the middle. Fairway runs out about 150 yards so I punch an 8I to the right edge of the fairway. Really caught this shot a little thin and so I still had 140 left to the hole. Uphill shot so I take 7I and I hit a very poor chunk of a shot that peels off short and right. Probably lost about 15 yards on that swing. Ball is in a bunker and I have about a 25 yard shot. Hit a good shot to about 20 feet and 2 putt for a 6

4th hole—343—Nice little straight downhill Par 4. Hit Mashie to 100 yards. Pin is in the back and there is about 5 yards to land the ball. Hit a knockdown ¾ PW and flight it perfectly. Ball comes up just a little short and I’m left with 15 feet. Tough putt and I hit a poor one. Miss the comebacker and I take a 5

5th hole—419—Gorgeous dog leg right hole with a pretty small landing area that slopes completely left to right. I hit a nice drive and I’m left with 150 but on a severe downhill lie. My 6I goes straight up in the air and balloons on me. Not sure what happened as I feel like I hit it well. Lands in the front bunker. 2 shots later and I’m on the green. 2 putts later and I fume with a 6

6th hole—141—Short par 3 but slightly uphill with a vicious bunker in front. I play a punch 7I out to the right and try and draw it back toward the hole. I catch it just a hair fat and it does not draw back. Right side of the green though and I 2 putt for 3

7th hole—542—A huge par 5. Bunkers up and down the landing areas for each shot. Drive goes right down the pipe. I layup with 6I to 120. This was possibly the best iron shot I hit all day. Just a nice easy draw swing and it drew right back to the middle of the fairway. 120 yards uphill and I take 9I with a ¾ swing to 10 feet. Just miss the first putt and tap in for 5

8th hole—144—This is not 144 today. Played 175 and it is a killer hole. If you miss the green left or right you are dead. I hit a 5I right at the pin but just a little long. First putt slides right and I hit the 3 footer for 3

9th hole—395—Tough finish to the front side. Bunkers to the right of the landing area so I play a draw that overcooks, hits the cartpath and as far as I know goes deep into the woods. Hit my provisional but luckily find the first ball. Trees between me and the green and I have 144 left. Hit rope hook 8I to 20 feet. Just miss making the first putt and tap in the 2 footer for 4

Well not sure what to say so far. Hit some very solid shots with the irons. The 5I on the 8th hole was just as pure as I can hit the ball. It was a towering shot that flew 185 which is further than the norm for me by about 10 yards. Hit a couple of layup 6I’s that were awesome as well. 41 with 4/6 FIR and 6/8 GIR. I feel like I’m striking the ball well so I’m excited for the back.

10th hole—361—Pull the drive a little left and it is gone once I go up there. Drop and I’m hitting 3. I have 115 to the pin and there is a huge bunker guarding the right side and front of the green. I take 9I and go ¾ to about 5 feet. Hit this shot perfect. Ball mark was right in the middle of the face. Even gave it the Hal Sutton be the right club call. Scary downhill putt and I just miss it right. 5

11th hole—582—Brutal par 5. Hit a nice drive into the middle of the fairway. Hit a punch 4I that stays nice and low and runs for days when it lands. Huge bunker guards front and left of the green and I take a ¾ 7I and try a nice draw so as to stay away from the bunker. Shot comes off great but it does not draw enough. I have 20 feet and a huge left to right downhill breaker. Hit a great putt that is tracking and it hits a little piece of dead grass and jumps straight left. Miss the 5 footer and tap in for 6

12th hole—420—Bunkers line the left side of the fairway so I take Mashie to land short of them. I cream it and it just takes off landing in the middle of the fairway and just jumping forward. I’ve got 110 left and I hit ¾ PW to 15 feet. Just miss the bird and clean up the 2 footer for 4

13th hole—364--Huge dog leg right with another huge bunker on the right side of the fairway. Hit a great drive to the middle of the fairway. 145 left and I try to take an 8I very high as a bunker is in front. I really can’t tell you what happened on that shot. Shank it straight right into the woods. Rest of the hole is a mess. 6

14th hole—156—Ho hum par 3. Solid 8I to the middle of the green and 2 putts for par

15th hole—501—Water runs up the left side of the tee shot. I hit it right and it is lost. Awful hole here with nothing remotely good to report. I did 1 putt though for a 7.

16th hole—373—Drive in the middle of the fairway. 120 left and I hit a ¾ 9I that hops and stops to 12 feet. Skim the left edge of the hole and hit the 3 footer coming back for 4

17th hole—123—Pin is tucked all the way to the right with bunkers front and back. I hit a nice high PW that hits and comes back 2 feet. I roll the 10 footer in for a 2

18th hole—441—Difficult finishing hole with trouble the entire left side of the hole. I hit a pathetic ballooning drive that just splats down in the fairway. 250 left and I hit Mashie straight right. 3rd shot lands on the green but rolls over and down a hill into nastiness. Hit a great chip to 5 feet and sink it for 5.

Well the back side was not good. I scored decent but my ball striking was awful. Hit an awful shank on 13. 9I that sunk to the bottom of a lake. Not crisp but I walk away with a 42 on the back. 5/7 FIR and 4/9 GIR. Hit some great layups again and a 9I on 10 that was fantastic. Good shots off these irons just feel so pure. Just a feeling that I crave
 
CL, as usual an unbelievable review. Great work
 
Nice write-up Chunky! Glad to see you take advantage and get that birdie on the back. Sounded like me yesterday, hit irons well but score does not completely reflect it. Solid 83 for you though man - not bad (87 for me yesterday).

I am headed back out for 18 tomorrow afternoon and planning to play AND score well!!


Tappin' from my iPad!
 
Great write-up chunkylover. The pro combos sound awesome. Everyone in this thread seems to love them.
 
Great review Chunky, Sounds like a rough round today...
 
Nice review CL - like your descriptions of the holes etc.

Will remember that if I am fortunate enough to be chosen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Headed out today and it was WINDY!!! Windy enoughy to blow the spots off ya dog. That gave me a good chance to use the pockets (3 & 4 irons) a fair bit today and hit them really well. As already said i think the pocket on these clubs dont do alot in the way of forgivness, but i believe they really do help the ball in the air when stuck well. I found myself haveing to hit a lot of stingers due to the wind today and even though the pockets launch high, out of the whole set i think the 3 & 4 are the easyest when intentanally trying to keep the ball low. Love the 3 off the tee when i need to keep it low.
 
Changing it up a bit.. Sorry about the sniffing and nasaly voice.. Been fighting a cold this week.



Woah. Fantastic video Canadan. Loving this thread!


I wish golf was as easy as Tapatalk.
 
Nice video Canadan, great feedback about those irons.

They do look very nice it's gotta be said!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Great video there canadan. Good stuff. I would agree with most of that :D
 
Changing it up a bit.. Sorry about the sniffing and nasaly voice.. Been fighting a cold this week.



What an incredible post Canadan. Wow! I might just photoshop my face onto yours and post it as mine since I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I was getting ready to do a final review once the dust has settled and I was going to see if I could do it in video but you beat me to the punch. Just fantastic bro!!!
 
What an incredible post Canadan. Wow! I might just photoshop my face onto yours and post it as mine since I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I was getting ready to do a final review once the dust has settled and I was going to see if I could do it in video but you beat me to the punch. Just fantastic bro!!!

^^What he said!! Fantastic video Canadan, I really enjoyed how you walked through the set. I would agree with a lot of what you said, other than my miss is typically a pull, not an over draw. I do agree that the 3&4 are the irons that I fade the most, even on days where I am drawing my other irons. Again, great video man.
 
Wow great stuff by both CL and Canadan.

So overall for testers, would you say after use that the soft feeling(flush feeling) still is there like the quality of the club is still good/great.
 
Great update CHunky, that was another great writeup, then I don't think it can get any better and Canadan comes through with a great video update.

A question for Chunky since you are coming from the same GI set I was playing before these. Having now played this GE irons for a while now, do you believe they are helping or hurting your scores, or no difference? Do you find with more feel that your ball striking has improved?
 
Awesome video Canadan! There is so much good stuff on THP right now that it's hard to keep up with it all.
 
Videos (FINALLY!!)

Videos (FINALLY!!)

As most of you know, I shot a handful of videos this past week but have been struggling to get them uploaded. Well, I finally (FINALLY!!!) got it to work, so here we go. I will put the videos in spoilers to save room and will provide a description/rundown of each video as we go.
For some odd reason, the words "we'll see how it goes" seemed to come out of my mouth before every shot, ha ha, not sure why.

1. A few days ago there was talk about how some testers love to hit a 3/4 PW from 100 yards and have really dialed it in. Personally, I feel more comfortable hitting a full wedge shot, but I wanted to see what the rave was about. Heck, if it was effective, and improved my scoring chances, I'm all for it. I hit three balls with my 56* TM Rac Z TP wedge and then three with a 3/4 PW swing. All balls were ProV1 or ProV1x. The second video is the results.

Spoiler


Spoiler


I will say, the wedge won this round but I was impressed with the 3/4 PW shot and have tried it a few times since. I am still more comfortable and confident hitting a full wedge, but I think with practice the 3/4 PW could be a great shot to have in the bag.

2. Most of the testers have talked about the struggles with the 3&4 irons and have debated replacing them with hybrids. Here are a couple videos of the 3&4 irons vs a 4H.

This is a long par 3, about 205 yards, and I hit 4 balls in the order of 3i, 4i, 4H, 4i. None were great, and two found sand. I did however manage to get up and down with three of the four and bogeyed the fourth. All in all, not bad.
Spoiler



This is a short par 4, about 315 yards, but can be a tough hole if the tee shot isn't in the FW. Thus, any tee shot around 200 yards is a good play and puts you in good scoring position. Here I hit 3i and 4H. One of the grounds crew members decided to mow the grass right behind me towards the end of the video, sorry for the noise.
Spoiler
[video=youtube;sqkYL6-4Rps]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqkYL6-4Rps[/video]



Here is a video of just the 3i from the FW, this shows some of the struggles I have had with it. I hit three balls, one had a slight draw to it, one was pushed/blocked right a bit, and the last had a big fade/slice on it and went OB. :banghead:
Spoiler



3. Trying to show some versatility of the split cavities and blades, here are a couple of shots out of some rough. The splits and blades seem to cut through the rough very well and the distance is still close to 100% most of the time.

Here is a video of the 5i. Ball above my feet.
Spoiler


Here is a video of the PW from the 1st cut.
Spoiler


4. We have all talked about the spin that these clubs can put on the ball. Most of the time it is one hop and stop, which we have provided pictures for in the past, and occasionally they spin back (especially the blades). Well, here is a video of just how much spin the blades put on the ball (not of the shot itself, sorry). This was an 8i.

Spoiler


Hope you guys enjoy the videos as much as I enjoyed shooting them. Let me know if you have any recommendations, as I am always looking for fresh ideas. I will be getting some wear pics this week, hopefully tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.
 
Enjoyed the vids Jeff, thanks for posting them! You may have already mentioned this, sorry if i missed it, but do you hit your 4h the same distance as the 3i?
 
Everyone is covering everything so well I really have no questions and I always have questions. You guys are killin it!
 
Everyone is covering everything so well I really have no questions and I always have questions. You guys are killin it!

your right griff, this has been one of my favourite threads to follow, and i was even lucky enough to get involved.

the testers are doing a great job with this one, would love to hear if Nike give any feedback on these results??
 
What an incredible post Canadan. Wow! I might just photoshop my face onto yours and post it as mine since I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I was getting ready to do a final review once the dust has settled and I was going to see if I could do it in video but you beat me to the punch. Just fantastic bro!!!

For the record, I would really enjoy seeing you do a cutout/dub over haha.. That would be hilarious. Thanks for the comments dude.

^^What he said!! Fantastic video Canadan, I really enjoyed how you walked through the set. I would agree with a lot of what you said, other than my miss is typically a pull, not an over draw. I do agree that the 3&4 are the irons that I fade the most, even on days where I am drawing my other irons. Again, great video man.

Thank you sir!! I have seen pulls but they aren't all that frequent at all.

Wow great stuff by both CL and Canadan.

So overall for testers, would you say after use that the soft feeling(flush feeling) still is there like the quality of the club is still good/great.

Thanks!! I'd love to answer that question but I am not positive what you're asking.. Can you rephrase?

Great update CHunky, that was another great writeup, then I don't think it can get any better and Canadan comes through with a great video update.

Thank you my good man!

Awesome video Canadan! There is so much good stuff on THP right now that it's hard to keep up with it all.

Thanks BBB!!
 
Enjoyed the vids Jeff, thanks for posting them! You may have already mentioned this, sorry if i missed it, but do you hit your 4h the same distance as the 3i?

Thank you.

Yes, I hit the 4H roughly the same distance as the 3i, but more consistent typically.
 
The testers on this thread are amazing. If I'm ever chosen to test I'll definately look here to see how it's done. THP really hit a home run with you guys as testers.


I wish golf was as easy as Tapatalk.
 
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