Bridgestone J40 Review - THP Demo Day - Full Line

why are you guys doing this to me??? haha


You know how I feel dude. We talked about this(though you might have been dozing during the conversation haha).
 
These irons opened my eyes to the PX flighted in a big way. What a great combo. They blew me away, especially compared to the irons I gamed Sunday.


Man I agree! I'm having trouble not going with the 5.5 flighted. The mizuno optimizer recommends the 5.0 non flighted and I've hit them amazing in some mizuno's (the cb equivalent). The difference is the weighting and having the non flighted in 5.0 with less weight might be the ticket. They should be around the same flex wise too.

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You know how I feel dude. We talked about this(though you might have been dozing during the conversation haha).

haha, I remember the conversation. and I do agree with you. Man, decisions decisions. I still will prob go DPC
 
Hard to go wrong with either. They are both fantastic irons.
 
why are you guys doing this to me??? haha


Lol. Now on my sunday second round, the 5.5 was a little tougher to get through. I wish it was lighter. But my tee game and short game were what killed my round.


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Man I agree! I'm having trouble not going with the 5.5 flighted. The mizuno optimizer recommends the 5.0 non flighted and I've hit them amazing in some mizuno's (the cb equivalent). The difference is the weighting and having the non flighted in 5.0 with less weight might be the ticket. They should be around the same flex wise too.

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I'm thinking 5.5 non-flighted for myself in the DPC. Although that could change in about 5 minutes hehe
 
Guys I think it would be best if we keep all the "which shaft will I choose in the MC" talk to another thread. Lets focus on the actual Bstone gear from this weekend. Thanks.
 
Hard to go wrong with either. They are both fantastic irons.


Agreed Hawk. They both rule! I think some are just scared of the perceived forgiveness of the two irons.

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Guys I think it would be best if we keep all the "which shaft will I choose in the MC" talk to another thread. Lets focus on the actual Bstone gear from this weekend. Thanks.


Sorry dude. I just was really drawn to the pairing and thought bridgestone did a wonderful job in choosing the pairing. The stock combo is quite good.


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J40 Cavity Back Irons - Mid ball flight for me and maybe this was due to the type of shaft in these irons. The notepad I had all my thoughts on the products I was able to try, is yet to be found. Whatever shaft was in these irons, gave me a lower than my average ball flight. For me, they felt a bit more iron than I would desire to game, on a regular basis. I would call them an excellent players iron.
 
Going into the Demo Day, the Bridgestone DPCs were probably the 2nd or 3rd most anticipated club for me. I don’t see them around me very much and was excited to see both them and the CBs would be available. I tried both sets, side by side using 8 iron for both. I would switch back and forth every few swings so I wouldn’t ‘groove’ one club and cloud my thinking. I was impressed by the aesthetics of both clubs, very professional, subtle, and modern.

The DPCs were by far the winner in the head to head testing. They were much more forgiving on toe misses (my usual miss) and weren’t as harsh on thin shots. Distances were pretty comparable to each other on well struck shots, and a few yards shorter than my Burner 2.0s. I did love the feel of both shafts on well struck shots, but the DPCs were a better fit for my inconsistent game. The 5.5s were a flex I game in my non-flighted Project X’s, but they got me to thinking maybe I made a mistake with bypassing the flighted line.

I did not hit the woods much, but killed Marc Awesome’s J40 the one time I hit it on Sunday.
 
From a pure aesthetics view point I really enjoy the J40 driver but with the PX shaft setup, it leaves a lot to be desired.
The ball flight was low and erratic at best. When I did try to get some loft under the ball I got a top spin lib type ball flight. I'm not sure why I want this combo to work but it doesn't and hadn't since day one.
I watch a few Bridgestone sponsored MCrs hit this club very well and they were splitting fairways with it. From their ball flights I can tell you I didn't see a lot of side spin and always a nice high ball flight. Not so much a planed out ball flight but a nice gradual high arc.
As I stated earlier I honestly think its the PX shaft that does not agree with me.
 
J40 CB 6 iron
PX 6.0 shaft

I was quite surprised with this one. I thought I would have a bit more trouble than I did actually hitting it. This club is a pleasure to look down at with a fairly compact profile and a thin top line. I have already been fitted into the PX 5.5 but surprisingly had minimal issues hitting this. I was catching it a bit behind and fat but was surprised at how well the sole of the club got through the turf and to the ball. I was seeing a dead straight, mid-high ball flight probably carrying around 145-150. Shorter than what I wanted but not bad considering how much I was coming in from behind the ball.

For the sake of labels, I would call this a players iron but with more of a GI forgiveness level. I really believe that if I spent more time with them, I could game them but I already know that I prefer the bit more forgiveness that I get from the DPC's.
 
I game the J38 DPC's, so I was really excited to hit both sets of the j40 irons. I hit both sets with the 6.0 flighted, here are my thoughts.

J40 Cavity Back: I never thought I would be able to hit these well. I'm still in shock I hit the J38 DPC as well as I do, so there was no way I thought I could hit the CB, but I was wrong. I was seriously impressed with how easy these were to hit, and how great my ball flight was. I think I tend to hit the mid irons too high with the DPC's, and the little high COG seemed to help some with that problem. Obviously there was some forgiveness missing when compared with the DPC but it was not glaring. Shots towards the toe and heel lost a bit more distance wise than the DPC's did, but shots near the middle still flied straight and true. The one area where forgivness was noticably missing was thin shots. They did not get up near as well, and the feeling you got in your hands REALLY let you know you missed. The feeling on well struck shot was simply out of this world forever, and these irons truly are the best looking on the market in my eyes. They are simply stunning. I would still go for the DPC's, but these should not be overlooked for those single digit cappers who strike the ball a little better than me.

J40 Dual pocket cavities: Coming from the J38, I knew what to expect, and these still blew me away. I hit just about every iron on the range, and these were clearly the best mix between forgiveness and sleek looks. These are not a SGI set, but the forgiveness there is still pretty damn impressive. On all but catastrophic misses you are rewarded with a nice high ball flight that stays flies straight. These are just so sweet feeling on well struck balls its ridiculous. The flighted px shafts really get the ball up in a hurry, and for most people that is a really good thing. These irons are super easy to work in both directions, but they just long to hit the ball straight. It really is too bad these aren't more easily accessible to demo, everyone should get a chance to hit these irons. I think what I enjoy most about these irons is the turf interaction. They blow away most irons, they never bounce no matter how hard the lie, but they don't like to dig in the moment you touch the grass either. I know Bridgestone talks about forward and rear edge relief, and it works perfectly.

J40 4 wood: I spent a short amount of time with this club, and I wish I had come back to it. I hit it really well off the deck, better than I had with any other fairway all day, but I was hitting it high and right off the tee. I think it may have been a temporary swing funk, I went back to irons and never made it back over to the J40. I really would have liked to hit it with the 6.5 shaft as well.

J40 Wedges: So good, I came into the outing knowing I was going to be purchasing a new set of wedges. With that in mind I hit nearly every wedge there. These came out the winner. They felt very solid on full swings, and the spin even with range balls was great. The turf interaction was good, and I didn't seem to struggle with the fats or thins. These were excellent with chipping, I could drop the ball right where I wanted and the turf interaction was great. The weighting felt very nice and they are a beautiful wedge. I ordered the 52* bent to 51 and the 56* in Satin Chrome, I can't wait to get them in my bag.
 
I hit the J40 CB 7 iron and thought it was a great feeling iron. I had a nice high ball flight and soft landing. I was really surprised about this iron. I think I even hit one of Yoccos out on the course. If is the club I am thinking about. I stuck it and really like the outcome shot.

I can't wait for SethO to get his in for the MC, so I can get some more course time with them.
 
J40 4 Wood:
This was the most surprising club to me in the little fairway wood shootout I had at demo day:

Really long, high and straight is how I would characterize this club. To me, it sounds like a Ping wood, that high pitched ting sound and all. But I couldn't argue with the results, probably the 2nd best all around fairway wood I hit that day, probably the best of any fairway wood at getting the ball airborn to land softly, and one of the longest too.

J40 Driver:

The only driver I was able to hit was Tmex's, so it had that uber shaft in it. But that thing sets up so nice with that traditional shape, and launches mid flight missiles. I only had a couple swings with it, and the first wasn't the greatest, but my 2nd swing was up there with the longer drives I hit all weekend. Nice midflight launch and pretty decent rollout.

J40 DPC irons.

Great looking, great performing iron in my opinion. A great mix of forgiviness and performance. I love the beveled edge that gives digging relief while still allowing optimal tight lie performance. It's not as forgiving as many of the GI irons, but its more forgiving than many of the other comparable irons in the GE category. For me personally, my only complaint is the stock flighted 5.5 shafts in the irons we tested. Not sure if its just that the shaft is to whippy for me or what, but I just did not care for the feel of those at all. I would so much like to try these DPC heads in some other shaft offerings. They are definitely a great all around performer.
 
he hasn't chimed in yet, but I know setho did a little CB vs DPC shootout
 
I had the chance to hit the J40 CB.

They were one of my favorites of the day. I like the slim topline at address. They had a nice buttery feel at contact. I also like the mid-high trajectory it provided me.

These were the first time Ive hit any Bridgestone product and was very suprised with my findings. I wish I couldve tried the driver and hybrid. They were truly a demo day favorite by most.

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J40 CB 7iron

Looks: one of the sleekest, cleanest looking irons in the game. Nice top line look with a solid finish to the club. The back of the club with its built up layers makes one think the ball is going to rocket off the face.

Feel: each swing delivered a mid flight arc that stayed nice and tight. I was able to stretch the club to the 164 flag with to much effort and when pumped up I was carrying the flag pretty easy.
As with all clubs struck in the screens the feeling was as if the ball melted into the face. Mis-hits didn't take to much variance due to the smaller head and smaller sweet spot. Misses where not jarring by any stretch but they were still very unpleasant. I was able to feel the toe and heel misses pretty easily. Of course ball flight and direction was effected by off center strikes with significant distance loss.

Playability: I played several different shots while gaming the 7i and was pleased with the results. I played a low 100yd punch shot that spun and stuck after a couple bounces. I played a low trap draw and a low cut knock down. The cut was easier for me than the trap draw.
The knock down cut was very tight as was the trap draw. My trap draw was primarily a straight low ball that hit the ground running.
The one predominant thought I had was you better be on top of your game when playing these irons. This is not a club that just anyone can play effectively. If you want to walk around with bling in the bag, the CB are for you. If you are looking for a forgiving, distance beater then these are for you. They are a very solid offering but the center of the club face will give maximum results. Left to right or top and bottom hits are going to leave you wanting more out of this iron.
 
Freddie - you were playing 588 irons when we play Sat afternoon. How do you think these compared? We had a pretty good discussion on the 588's that round so just wondering how you throw these in the equation.
 
Hey JB,

with Bridgestone expanding and everything, have you heard any rumblings about LH offerings from them? I try to stay out of the Bridgestone review threads because they really depress me.
 
Hey JB,

with Bridgestone expanding and everything, have you heard any rumblings about LH offerings from them? I try to stay out of the Bridgestone review threads because they really depress me.

I'm not JB, but based on some conversations I had in Augusta, not any time soon.
 
I'm not JB, but based on some conversations I had in Augusta, not any time soon.

Good enough for me. Us lefties need to stick together..haha
 
Good enough for me. Us lefties need to stick together..haha

I think Bstone is doing a great job of getting equipment out there, and perhaps one day it will happen. Until then, I believe they make the best golf balls on the market, and they are the easiest company to access for ball fittings. I will always support them in whatever fashion I can.
 
J40 4W
PX 6.0 shaft

Going into Friday, I had recently ordered this exact club except with the PX 5.5 shaft not having yet previously hit it. I was definitely anxious to hit it.

Looks: classic mid sized fairway wood with a solid black head in a traditional shape. It had the stock BStone grip and the pretty good looking blue PX shaft with a flame like design.

Performance: I had no issues hitting this both off of the deck and off the tee. I was a little apprehensive about this being a really good fairway finder for me off the tee because I was afraid the 16* head might launch a little high. That was simply not the case. Both off of the tee and deck I was seeing a mid ball flight with a penetrating trajectory, very similar to the trajectory of the driver, but a tad higher off of the deck. It appeared to be getting out there in the 210-220 range if I had to guess but I will be getting out with it again soon to nail that distance down a bit more.

Overall: love the classic look and I think the 4W is the perfect combo club for both off of the tee and deck as it gives adequate distance for both while still easy to hit off of the deck. I look forward to spending more time with it on the course and being able to elaborate a little more.
 
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