Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

you guys really have me thinking about these irons lol, i have wanted a combo set for a couple years now and the Nike's just sound amazing, i loved the original VR Blades from last year and can only imagine these are better

I need to hit these too, I need something a little easier to hit and stay sharp with than what I have now (MP32) but I don't want to give up being able to work the ball some.

I have to bring paper towel with me to computer every time I log on THP now because I can't quit drooling over these....I'm gonna ruin my keyboard

Yesterday, I met three good friends for a skins game. We do this at least once a year and sometimes twice. We are all between 45 and 52 yrs. old and HC are from 6 – 12(mine is or was 12, more on that later) We chose The Covered Bridge Course in Sellersburg Indiana(south near Louisville). This is a championship course Designed by Fuzzy Zoeller and it is beautiful and tough. It is 5943 yds. from the green tees and is 69/122 course. Why am I starting this like this? Because this was my first super serious game using The VR Combos. I will only say there was a good bit of money on the line and I needed to be sure of my game.

My confidence came from the fact that the blades in this set are the best clubs I have ever hit. That includes demoing a number of top line irons. The split cavs perform nearly as well for me in every respect. I have struggled somewhat with the long irons, but that too is coming around.

As soon as we all arrived and started putting practice, one of my buds noticed right away there were no Blue headcovers in my bag. He announced to the others that “wulfie got new sticks” As they each pulled an iron from my bag, the oohs and ahhs were quite cool. They all commented how sweet these clubs look and then it was time for them to perform.

I played the best skins match I have ever played. I won 7 skins outright while tying on three. I won 3 of 4 par 3’s due to the blades, holes 3, 12, and 17. Not one of my tee shots were more than 5 feet from the pin on those holes. I tied the other par 3. Hole 1 and 15 are short par 4’s that I also tied. My other 4 wins were split between par 5’s and 4’s evenly. On the 18th which is a par 5 to a wild green that is shared with 9(but a half mile away(exaggerating)) I was 237 off the tee into first cut left. Good angle to attack, but still 222 away. I hit a 4i crisp and the ball bounced once 25 yds. short of the green and then rolled to about 16 feet. This was my best shot ever with the 4i and I birdied for the skin.

I found myself hitting every shot clean only 1 mishit the entire round (3i). My concentration was rigid, but these skins games are serious to all of us. (We have done this every year since 2001) This was a perfect test for these clubs one month in and they performed flawlessly.

After the match, we went to the range and I let the guys hit my Nike’s (why we went to the range after) Steve uses a 5 yr. old set of Titleist 695 CB’s that he adores. After 10 – 15 balls with the Nikes, he said he is going to consider getting a set as he loved them. They all loved the feel of these clubs. They also loved the THP tees I hooked them all up with before we started. We then went to dinner in Louisville and I have to add that if you like French Cuisine, you have to try Bistro Le Relais at Bowman Field. The grilled Lamb is to die for!
The best golf I ever played I was a 4 hdcp. I was young, strong, limber and in great shape. Add 20 yrs and 65 pounds and I increase to a 12 hdcp. I have not scored any official rounds since I received these clubs as I have been taking mulligans, hitting two or three balls and basically just going through the clubs. Starting Monday I will begin officially scoring with these clubs. Two rounds a week (weather permitting) and I can almost guarantee that I will shave at least 3 from my Hdcp. These clubs are that good.

pjcedog said:

I need to hit these too, I need something a little easier to hit and stay sharp with than what I have now (MP32) but I don't want to give up being able to work the ball some.

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You are not far from me - welcome anytime to meet and try on a real range or course instead of just on a launch monitor, etc.


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- Tappin' in support of Team Hackers!

10YardDraw said:

you guys really have me thinking about these irons lol, i have wanted a combo set for a couple years now and the Nike's just sound amazing, i loved the original VR Blades from last year and can only imagine these are better

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The shafts are a bit beefy on mine (x100's) but you are more than welcome to swing a few next weekend... In the afternoon round hahaha!

hartattack52 said:

I have been wondering the same thing. From the posts I have read, the blades sound fairly easy to hit.

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I want/need the progressive set. 8-PW in blades is perfect. Anyone should be able to pick up these blades and hit them fairly well. It is when you drop down to say the 6I where I might start consistently missing the sweet spot. For me 3-6 is more about distance. 7-PW should be more about accuracy and blades SHOULD be more accurate. If the entire set were blades you would be reading an entirely different ongoing review from me. I would struggle.

hartattack52 said:

Do you find the turf interaction is better with the blades as opposed to a GI iron? I have never hit blades on grass.

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I am coming from the Di11's and I was very happy with the turf interaction with those. I have a pretty steep swing and the wider sole just seemed to skim off the turf for me. With the Pro Combos I have been pleasantly surprised with the turf interaction. I was expecting some big divots but after the first range session my divots have been very nice and shallow.

10YardDraw said:

you guys really have me thinking about these irons lol, i have wanted a combo set for a couple years now and the Nike's just sound amazing, i loved the original VR Blades from last year and can only imagine these are better

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I find the feel of these irons is superior to the original Blades. Plus these irons are of course much easier to hit.

Played a round today at a pretty tough track near me. Went back to the Blue tees because I wanted to test the long irons out a little more. Came away pleasantly surprised. Going to try and finish the writeup tonight but it might be tomorrow.

Great round Beo. Glad you were able to play well in your skins match. If you keep hitting them well, you will most definitely see a decrease in HC.

As for changing the set, that is, having more blades because they are easy to hit: I personally enjoy the way the set is made up. I wouldn't change a thing. More blades? No thank you, the blades are awesome in the scoring clubs, but I enjoy a little extra forgiveness in the mid to long irons. More pocket cavities? No thank you, the split cavities are great; good distance and accuracy with a hint of forgiveness. I agree with CL here that if it were a complete set of blades, the reviews may be quite different. I would love to try them though.

Hello Friday night range session!!

In an attempt to reduce some of my draw tonight, I took a larger backswing and reduced my attack on the ball a bit tonight.. The result was a much higher ball flight, although when well struck there was very little reduction in distance.

My 6/5 were awesome tonight. I had my takeaway going a bit steeper to avoid going to much in to out on the way through, and I was just cooking the ball. While the misses were still there, they were mostly just hitting the ball thin, and the results were basically 80-85% distance, lower, and straight. Few and far between though, as I feel like my swing was in pretty solid shape.

I do find that I need to hit the sweet spot on my scoring irons to get my full distance... There are quite a few shots that are solid in both launch angle and straight angle, yet come up short. Short to the point where they are hitting about a club shorter, so the miss isn't the worst thing that ever happen.

At some point I will be taking my clubs onto the course with a gps to track exact distances and see about doing 3-4 balls with each club to get accurate distances on quality vs mis-hits, but I need to get my GPS situation sorted out first. In the meantime, these are still some of the best looking clubs on the market I think.. So great.

The Preserve at Jordan Lake

Have not been able to get out for an actual round for a while. Weather held up today so I raced to a nice course that is near my work. Today I’m going to play a tee back so that I’m forced to use the longer irons in the set. Lets see what happened.

1st hole—492—Hit driver to the right side of the fairway. Layed up with 6I to the 100 yard marker. Ball was above my feet and it was straight uphill. I hit PW short right in front of the green. Hit the ball a tiny bit fat. Left myself with a difficult chip to a short sided pin. Hit it 15 feet past the hole. Sank the putt for 5

2nd hole—423—Pull my drive to the woods on the left. Find my ball and punch a 7I out to the middle of the fairway. Have 110 yards slightly downhill with a bunker guarding the left front of the green. Take PW and try a ¾ swing. Pull it slightly left and have 15 feet. Leave the first putt just short and tap in for 5

3rd hole—179—Bunkers on both sides of this green. Long multi-tiered green as well. Hit a 4I a little high on the face and the ball lands just to the right of the green. Pitch the ball to about 3 feet but miss the putt. Tap in for 4

4th hole—400—Dogleg right hole with the second shot played to a straight uphill green. Try to play a knucklefade here but pull the drive into a fairway bunker. 175 to the hole but I have a good lie and decide to try a 4I. Hit the ball nicely and it lands just to the left of the green but on a bit of a sidehill lie. Pitch to just past the hole. Well that is what I thought I did but the ball just never stopped and rolled down onto the first tier of the green. Hit the first putt about 5 feet past the hole and make the comebacker. 5

5th hole—351—Nice little par 4. Hit driver and pull it just a little left into the first cut. Pull up to the ball and it is sitting perfect. Problem is the tree that is blocking the flag. I take PW and try to play a little draw into the hole. It does not draw but lands 20 feet to the left of the hole. Unbelievably bad 3 putt gives me 5

6th hole—156—This is a really nice par 3. Big frikken rock that guards the left part of the green. Green is multi-tiered and the flag is on the back level. Take 6I and play a ¾ punch shot. Ball lands right on the top of the tier and rolls down nicely to 12 feet. Just leave the putt short and angrily slam the ball into the back of the cup for 3

7th hole—294—Short par 4 with the fairway ending at about the 250 mark. Take the 3I out for its maiden voyage stinger shot. Hit it perfectly right into the middle of the fairway and have 80 yards left to a slightly downhill green. Hit ½ PW to 20 feet. Nasty downhill putt with pitchmarks all in my way. Ball breaks in the exact opposite direction of my read and I’m left with 7 feet. Burn the edge on that and another 3 putt leaves me with 5.

8th hole—439—This is a brutal hole. Dogleg right and the second shot is completely uphill. Hit the drive to the left edge of the fairway. 220 left to the pin and I pull Mashie. Hit a decent shot but I pull it slightly left into a greenside bunker. Huge lip to a tight pin. Hit a great shot to a foot and tap in for 4

9th hole—509--Hit my drive to the middle of the fairway. Pull a 6I and layup to 125. Hit the 6I perfect. It just felt beautiful. Pin was in the back edge of the green so I actually had 150. Hit 8I but pulled it left. I get up to the green and the ball is actually on the green in a little depression about 40 feet away. I would have been happier to chip. First putt goes straight right off the face and I’m left with 10 feet. Miss the 10 footer and yes it’s another 3 putt. 6

Not really sure what to think about the front 9. I feel like I hit my irons pretty crisply but my direction was a little off. Had a couple of mishits and it cost me in terms of distance. But all in all I think the irons have been good so far. Lets see if I can get the direction part under control

10th hole—438—Slight dogleg right downhill with a bunker right in my landing area to the right of the fairway. Hit a good drive past the bunker and I have 130 to the pin. Hit a ¾ 9I to 12 feet. Just miss the first putt and tap in for 4

11th hole—181—Long uphill par 3. Hit 4I to the right of the green. Pitch to 5 feet and miss the putt. Tap in for 4

12th hole—360—Straight uphill short par 4 that plays a lot longer than it’s yardage. Hit drive to the left side of the fairway. Have 150 left and I’m deciding between 6 or 7I. Decide to hit 7I and come up short onto the first tier of the green. Putt is 40 feet with a hill in the middle of the putt. Come up 6 feet short. Miss the 2nd putt and tap in for 5

13th hole—422—Hit 3W to the left edge of the fairway. I have 185 left with a bunker and water to the right. Deciding between 4 or 5I. 4I brings a bunker and water more into play if I hit the ball to the right. 5I will just dribble onto the green if I hit it perfect but it can’t reach the bunker or water. Hit 5I just short of the green. Putt to about a foot and tap in for 4

14th hole—500—Straight uphill par 5. Hit driver to the middle of the fairway. Layup with 4I to 110. Hit ½ 9I to 8 feet. Just burn the edge and tap in for 5

15th hole—336—Pull Mashie into the woods to the left but it somehow bounces off something and topples down a steep hill to the first cut. Awkward downhill lie to a pin all the way to the left of the green. Hit 8I over the green into a little depression. Chip up and the ball races past the hole. Miss the 10 footer and tap in for 5.

16th hole—574—Hit driver to the left edge of the fairway. Layup with 4I but it fades off to the right rough. Hit that shot pretty high on the face. Can’t see the green but GPS says I have 165 to the pin. Hit 6I over the green. Have a rough chip shot that runs 10 feet past the hole. Miss the putt and tap in for 6

17th hole—185—Slightly downhill and guarded all around with bunkers. Hit 5I a little chunky and it lands in the right front bunker. Short sided with a big lip but I hit a great shot to 2 feet. Miss the putt and tap in for 4. Yes I missed a 2 footer.

18th hole—402—Hit 3W to the right edge of the fairway. Have 170 left and I hit 6I to the middle of the green. 20 feet left and I race it past the hole. Miss the 4 footer and tap in for 5

I walk away from the round pretty frustrated. My putting is simply atrocious. But I have to say that my irons were pretty good today. Had about 5 shots that were mishit pretty badly. All the others were good to very good. Tried a few different shots today and they pretty much all came off well. Stinger 3I found the fairway and was dead straight. A punch 9I that I tried to flight low came off exactly how I wanted it to and left me with a makeable 8 footer. At least 3 of my bad mishits had sidehill lies that made the shots pretty difficult. Hit some nice long irons today as well. All in all a pretty ho hum 84 with a 42/42. GIR were a little low with 44.4%. FIR were a good 71.4%. Putting shall not be talked about any further.

Here are the videos I shot yesterday, sorry for the delay, I had internet issues last night. I had a lot of fun shooting these videos and I hope you like them. Watching them, I see some things I need to work on in my swing but we'll keep that for another thread. Sorry for some of the sound issues and/or cutting off my head. Takes some practice videoing myself.

I used spoilers to help with post size.


Here is what I am working with. Kodak Playsport on Gorilla (name?) tripod attached to my Clicgear.





First video is of a par 3 over water, about 170 yards, pretty strong wind in my face. Hit 5i.



Next is my approach on the next hole. About 150 out, hit 8i.



Next is my 2nd shot on a par 5. 204 yards out, wind in my face and a back pin, hit 3i. Ended up birdieing the hole.



Next is a tee shot on a long par 3. 207 yards with a back pin. Hit 3i, twice. Neither were great shots to be honest.



Next is a 3i out of the rough that the_paulo requested.




I the next three videos, I changed it up a little bit and put the tripod on the ground to get a better idea of the turf interaction, and sound of the different type of clubs.

Here is a tee shot on a weird par 4, 376 yards. 75* dogleg right, must play to about the 150 yard post to have a shot. Hit 3i well.



Next is a 7i out of the first cut from about 160, actually hit this one too far (flyer lie maybe?) hitting it about 170-175. Luckily (kind of!) the green is huge so I was still on the green.



Next is an 8i from 150 in the fairway. Pure buttery goodness.



Last one is showing where the 8i shot ended up, sadly I accidentally stopped recording and I drained the fifteen/twenty footer, go figure.



Here is a pic of a common divot for me.



Lastly a pic of a common ball mark on the green showing the one hop and stop.



Hope you guys like them. Let me know if you would like me to record anything else, I am trying to think of some good ideas for more videos or pictures.

I am working on getting them embedded, and when I figure it out I will edit it to make them that way. But they are linked for now.

Just finished catching up on the last 3 days in this thread, great stuff guys, these irons are definitely on my radar when I purchase new irons next year. I really enjoyed the videos and I am now thinking I might get me some of those skinny pants too. Good job paulo and JC.

Jeff - outstanding job with the videos man! I know how much work that is to get all of it done and uploaded, etc. Great setup with the camera on the cart; I may have to look into that a bit further.

Looks like you were playing pretty well!

mcook77 said:

Jeff - outstanding job with the videos man! I know how much work that is to get all of it done and uploaded, etc. Great setup with the camera on the cart; I may have to look into that a bit further.

Looks like you were playing pretty well!

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Thanks. Yes it was a lot of work, but I had a lot of fun shooting them and look forward to shooting some more. Definitely worth the work.

Any ideas or recommendations are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

PM me if you want more info on my setup. I have had it for a few months and absolutely love it.

Jeff that was outstanding. What is that attachment you got for the Clicgear? I have the 3.0 and the Playsport

Chunkylover77 said:

Jeff that was outstanding. What is that attachment you got for the Clicgear? I have the 3.0 and the Playsport

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Thanks. It is not an attachment for the Clicgear, it is actually just a flexible (very cool) tripod called the GorillaPod by Joby. I picked it up at Fred Meyers, and I know they have them on Amazon. Mine was $19.99 but I had a coupon so I got it for $16. Sweet little tripod.

DawgDaddy said:

Just finished catching up on the last 3 days in this thread, great stuff guys, these irons are definitely on my radar when I purchase new irons next year. I really enjoyed the videos and I am now thinking I might get me some of those skinny pants too. Good job paulo and JC.

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Thanks, and yes, great job Paulo. I tried spandex, but they didn't have the same effect as skinny jeans, not sure why.

Jeff Conner said:

Thanks, and yes, great job Paulo. I tried spandex, but they didn't have the same effect as skinny jeans, not sure why.

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Haha, I won't ask any more questions on that one! Great videos jeff, really enjoyed those. I'm getting to actually like the different sound of the different style of irons. I feel like this is something that would put me off in theory, but in reality it keeps me coming back.

Must add that I'm enjoying the combination of the dg sl shafts and these heads. They feel lighter, but incredibly stay throughout the swing....on every iron. It's great that nike have somehow managed to keep the feel pretty much throughout the set.

I don't think I'd ask for more blades in the set, and that's me coming from a full set of blades. They feel great, sure, but as a golfer you always have a tendency to try for too much. Having the 8-pw is plenty, and the perfect balance of forgiveness.

the_paulo said:

Haha, I won't ask any more questions on that one! Great videos jeff, really enjoyed those. I'm getting to actually like the different sound of the different style of irons. I feel like this is something that would put me off in theory, but in reality it keeps me coming back.

Must add that I'm enjoying the combination of the dg sl shafts and these heads. They feel lighter, but incredibly stay throughout the swing....on every iron. It's great that nike have somehow managed to keep the feel pretty much throughout the set.

I don't think I'd ask for more blades in the set, and that's me coming from a full set of blades. They feel great, sure, but as a golfer you always have a tendency to try for too much. Having the 8-pw is plenty, and the perfect balance of forgiveness.

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Thanks. Yea I don't mind the different sounds at all. In fact, if I'm not deliberately thinking about it I don't even notice anymore. I guess I've just grown accustomed to the different sounds.

I agree that Nike has managed to keep the feel pretty much throughout the set. The only time this isn't true, for me so far, is "mishits" with the 3 & 4 irons. Meaning not exactly in the sweet spot. When mishit, these two irons have a much harsher feel than the rest of the set.

the_paulo said:

Haha, I won't ask any more questions on that one! Great videos jeff, really enjoyed those. I'm getting to actually like the different sound of the different style of irons. I feel like this is something that would put me off in theory, but in reality it keeps me coming back.

Must add that I'm enjoying the combination of the dg sl shafts and these heads. They feel lighter, but incredibly stay throughout the swing....on every iron. It's great that nike have somehow managed to keep the feel pretty much throughout the set.

I don't think I'd ask for more blades in the set, and that's me coming from a full set of blades. They feel great, sure, but as a golfer you always have a tendency to try for too much. Having the 8-pw is plenty, and the perfect balance of forgiveness.

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I would disagree with the feel part Paulo. I think there is a big difference in feel between the 3/4I and the rest of the set. Don't get me wrong as I will take forgiveness over feel any day of the week. But there is a definite difference in feel IMO. BTW your videos have been fantastic. Yours as well Jeff. I need to start making video's.

Man great video's everyone they have been fantastic, and I've enjoyed reading every update as you guys go along.

Would most of you guys choose to get the 3i-4i as splits if it were available as an option? The only thing that I seem to see as a slight negative are the cavity backs.