Mardin
New member
Keep up the good work CL.
Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review
TC
Keg Thrower
Canadan, chunky, very nice videos, pictures and initial thoughts. Very well done. I knew these irons would leave this kind of impression on folks. I think they are just that good.
Beowulf
Villa Crawl Contestant
OK, I have a couple of three videos to share. Hope you don't expect to much and I am sorry these took so long to get to you. I just put in 4 12 hour days when I only expected to do my usual 2. Kinda threw me totally off track and schedule. This is my unboxing, a PW video showing distance and accuracy, and the 3 and 4 iron. Not much to see really, but there is good audio...lol.
I promise as this testing matures, the quality of videos will improve as well as my commentary. Any way grab some
opcorn: and enjoy!
Unboxing
PW
3i
4i
I promise as this testing matures, the quality of videos will improve as well as my commentary. Any way grab some
opcorn: and enjoy!Unboxing
PW
3i
4i
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
Dang is that how you are supposed to open the box? I just ripped the top and bottom off to get to my precious. Still watching but great stuff so far BW. Be careful with that glass table!!
Fairway2Green
The Obstacle is the Path
No actual rain, but the lightning detector deal had already blown the horn at the club. Plus they had Qualifiers for the FL Open at Feathersound CC today and all the pros from BCC and Biltmore played horribly so everyone was ready to go home. Haha. Tomorrow and Friday are at 60% chance of rain, but hopefully it holds off. I'm dying to really figure out the complete absence of feel/sound I get when I hit these well and translate it better into words. I'll try and find someone to shoot some video of me with my phone too. Cheers!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Moderator
- #308
I am going to try and put some initial on range thoughts on these clubs.. Hopefully they aren't too rough, but tonight was more of a meet and greet than anything else!! I did not touch my VR Pro wedges. Rather, I went straight for the pitching wedge, and worked my way through the set. Because of that, I'll go ahead and group them by club type:
Blades: pitching wedge - 9 iron - 8 iron :: I felt 'home' with these clubs. Having played a blade style iron for a number of years, there was just something about them that seemed to work well for me. I don't really have an idea on distance added or lost, but they came off the club very clean and I was able to play with the flight a bit. That said, I am more of a 'hit it straight and don't bother with all the fancy stuff' kind of guy, so I focused mainly on the ball striking and accuracy, which seemed to be quite solid.
Split cavity: 7 iron - 6 iron - 5 iron :: I really enjoyed these irons. There was a definitive element of forgiveness and coming in square was relatively easy. In fact, these may have been my preferred style out of the three, however, the flight was pretty high. I will certainly make a point to see if it reduces my distance, but in terms of a driving range session, they felt great and I had very few complaints about the way they set up and reacted to each swing. If I had to pick one of the three types of irons to fill my entire bag with, it would likely be these. I really like the look of them and felt the compliment of forgiveness and workability really played well for these.
Full cavity: 4 iron - 3 iron :: I know a lot of people look at these clubs like they are kryptonite, but I am going to be blunt and tell you that I love the lower irons. That said, I would say I rank these as my least favourite of the three styles, but it could have easily been just a bad day with them. It could also very well be that I am not used to playing a cavity iron and as such, didn't get the right kind of response from them. In terms of flight, they played well. Mostly straight, some had a small fade to them. Again I can't really comment on the length but that will come in time. When I hit them really well, there was a baby draw and the club cut through the ball beautifully. If I can continue to build on these and clean up some of the mishits, I will be back to my opinion of 5 years ago that hybrids are silly and don't belong in my golf bag.
Small bits of food for thought:
- I really don't think the ball flight progresses through the set as is shown on the Nike site. I would argue that my 8 iron and 7 iron, along with my 5 iron and 4 iron (the irons that are in between the club style transition) are very close in launch angle, but again that will be something I will have to verify over time.
- These clubs 'clink' differently than my Mizuno MP-63s. This isn't really relevant to anything, I just thought I'd mention it haha
- As mentioned previously, the smaller grooves do make it quite a bit harder to clean after dirt gets into them, but I hope to find out how it changes the ball as it lands on the green rather than the effort I will put forth to make sure they always stay clean...
- It was about 95 and a bit humid today, and the sweat was rolling on the range. I will say that some of the grips got a little slick, which concerns me a bit.
- Next up for me will be taking these to the course to see how they play, and then at some point taking these and my current set to the range to see what seems to work better for me, and which set feels better for my personal game
Blades: pitching wedge - 9 iron - 8 iron :: I felt 'home' with these clubs. Having played a blade style iron for a number of years, there was just something about them that seemed to work well for me. I don't really have an idea on distance added or lost, but they came off the club very clean and I was able to play with the flight a bit. That said, I am more of a 'hit it straight and don't bother with all the fancy stuff' kind of guy, so I focused mainly on the ball striking and accuracy, which seemed to be quite solid.
Split cavity: 7 iron - 6 iron - 5 iron :: I really enjoyed these irons. There was a definitive element of forgiveness and coming in square was relatively easy. In fact, these may have been my preferred style out of the three, however, the flight was pretty high. I will certainly make a point to see if it reduces my distance, but in terms of a driving range session, they felt great and I had very few complaints about the way they set up and reacted to each swing. If I had to pick one of the three types of irons to fill my entire bag with, it would likely be these. I really like the look of them and felt the compliment of forgiveness and workability really played well for these.
Full cavity: 4 iron - 3 iron :: I know a lot of people look at these clubs like they are kryptonite, but I am going to be blunt and tell you that I love the lower irons. That said, I would say I rank these as my least favourite of the three styles, but it could have easily been just a bad day with them. It could also very well be that I am not used to playing a cavity iron and as such, didn't get the right kind of response from them. In terms of flight, they played well. Mostly straight, some had a small fade to them. Again I can't really comment on the length but that will come in time. When I hit them really well, there was a baby draw and the club cut through the ball beautifully. If I can continue to build on these and clean up some of the mishits, I will be back to my opinion of 5 years ago that hybrids are silly and don't belong in my golf bag.
Small bits of food for thought:
- I really don't think the ball flight progresses through the set as is shown on the Nike site. I would argue that my 8 iron and 7 iron, along with my 5 iron and 4 iron (the irons that are in between the club style transition) are very close in launch angle, but again that will be something I will have to verify over time.
- These clubs 'clink' differently than my Mizuno MP-63s. This isn't really relevant to anything, I just thought I'd mention it haha
- As mentioned previously, the smaller grooves do make it quite a bit harder to clean after dirt gets into them, but I hope to find out how it changes the ball as it lands on the green rather than the effort I will put forth to make sure they always stay clean...
- It was about 95 and a bit humid today, and the sweat was rolling on the range. I will say that some of the grips got a little slick, which concerns me a bit.
- Next up for me will be taking these to the course to see how they play, and then at some point taking these and my current set to the range to see what seems to work better for me, and which set feels better for my personal game
drewwood
New member
Great reviews so far. The piggy bank isn't filling up fast enough to buy these irons!
Just got home from an after work round. The range time over the last week has definitely PAID off and I am entering the honeymoon phase I think.
I only hit 1 fat shot all day and that was with a 6i from 160 yards. Ball still traveled on the intended line about 120 yards.
I also hit a few thin shots and did not see any loss in distance just a lower trajectory but the ball still checked up well.
I am still dialing in distances and as so I overshot several greens today. I am now changing my opinion from my original review where I saw an average distance loss of 10 yards. I am now right back to very similar distances as before and even thinking I might have added about 5 yards. I think the main reason for this is that initially what I thought was a decent shot but it was in fact still a hair fat.
One of the things that surprised me the most today is that on well struck shots I am seeing a lower ball flight than I did initially which is a good thing because I hit the ball REALLY high. I was told to expect this at GolfTec with my shaft selection of the PX 5.0 vs the DG's. Even with the lower ball flight though, my ball is consistenly stopping within 1-3 feet of ball mark on green (but not backing up at all).
I also practiced quite a bit today of chipping around the green (within 40 yards) and using the PW and 9i instead of the higher lofted wedges. I am very happy with how the ball reacts off of both of these clubs but good chips are definitely giving more run out than I am used to. On average, running about 10-12 feet past the hole until I made some adjustments to account for how hot the ball comes off of that blade as compared to a cavity back GI PW/9i.
Given how much I was struggling with fat shots and then yanking shots left, I left feeling REALLY good about my progress. Here are a few of the highlights from today:
Hole 2: PW from 118 yds to 33 feet (2 putt par)
Hole 5: 8i from 136 yds to 19 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 6: 9i from 140 yds to 40 feet (pin high just pulled a tad left - 2 putt par)
Hole 8: PW from 110 yds to 20 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 10: 9i from 124 yds to 27 feet (2 putt par)
Hole 11: PW from 48 yds to 4 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 12: 8i from 137 yds to 15 feet (2 putt par)
After hole 12, playing as a single caught me up to a backup on the course and it ended up taking over 4 hours to play as a single. It was very hot and I just kind of got out of a groove and played ok, but nothing great.
Shot 84 with 3 birdies, 6 pars, 3 bogies, and 6 doubles. Those were primarily because of 4 ridiculous 3 putts.
VERY happy with the progression made this week at the range and these are definitely coming around for me.
I only hit 1 fat shot all day and that was with a 6i from 160 yards. Ball still traveled on the intended line about 120 yards.
I also hit a few thin shots and did not see any loss in distance just a lower trajectory but the ball still checked up well.
I am still dialing in distances and as so I overshot several greens today. I am now changing my opinion from my original review where I saw an average distance loss of 10 yards. I am now right back to very similar distances as before and even thinking I might have added about 5 yards. I think the main reason for this is that initially what I thought was a decent shot but it was in fact still a hair fat.
One of the things that surprised me the most today is that on well struck shots I am seeing a lower ball flight than I did initially which is a good thing because I hit the ball REALLY high. I was told to expect this at GolfTec with my shaft selection of the PX 5.0 vs the DG's. Even with the lower ball flight though, my ball is consistenly stopping within 1-3 feet of ball mark on green (but not backing up at all).
I also practiced quite a bit today of chipping around the green (within 40 yards) and using the PW and 9i instead of the higher lofted wedges. I am very happy with how the ball reacts off of both of these clubs but good chips are definitely giving more run out than I am used to. On average, running about 10-12 feet past the hole until I made some adjustments to account for how hot the ball comes off of that blade as compared to a cavity back GI PW/9i.
Given how much I was struggling with fat shots and then yanking shots left, I left feeling REALLY good about my progress. Here are a few of the highlights from today:
Hole 2: PW from 118 yds to 33 feet (2 putt par)
Hole 5: 8i from 136 yds to 19 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 6: 9i from 140 yds to 40 feet (pin high just pulled a tad left - 2 putt par)
Hole 8: PW from 110 yds to 20 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 10: 9i from 124 yds to 27 feet (2 putt par)
Hole 11: PW from 48 yds to 4 feet (made birdie putt)
Hole 12: 8i from 137 yds to 15 feet (2 putt par)
After hole 12, playing as a single caught me up to a backup on the course and it ended up taking over 4 hours to play as a single. It was very hot and I just kind of got out of a groove and played ok, but nothing great.
Shot 84 with 3 birdies, 6 pars, 3 bogies, and 6 doubles. Those were primarily because of 4 ridiculous 3 putts.
VERY happy with the progression made this week at the range and these are definitely coming around for me.
Staples
Dirtydawg67
Great videos BW! The shots sounded pretty darn good.
Canadan, excellent write up man. I look forward to reading about your post when you compare them to your mizzy's.
Canadan, excellent write up man. I look forward to reading about your post when you compare them to your mizzy's.
:alien2::banana::clapp:
I almost wanted to post this in the happy happy joy joy thread because that is how I feel. My Nike VR Pro Combos just arrived and I am ecstatic. I will upload a few pictures to start with and the unboxing a bit later. Unfortunately due to a prior commitment this evening, I will not be taking these to the range until morning. I will at that time give you my "official first impressions." Let me just say for now...
These sticks are AWESOME!!
I ordered these with the KBS Tour Black Nickel shafts
Standard Length 1* upright
Golf Pride Multicompound Red & Black
3 & 4
5,6,& 7
8, 9, PW
The distortion is not on the clubs, it is from my shaking the camera, I am just so excited!
More to come so stay tuned!!
Beowulf. I must say, I love those black nickel shafts you went with!
YouTube works well for me.
Interested to hear what you think of the graphite shafts in your iron set.
Nice unboxing! Looking forward to your thoughts on them.
Great initial write-up CL!
- Moderator
- #314
Thanks guys! I may push it to early next week so I can focus on getting comfortable with these before my 2 (or 3) weekend games so I can game them, but rest assured you will see a great deal of comparison between these and the Mizuno's before too long.
Also, if anyone has any other questions or concerns they'd like me to focus on, PLEASE feel free to let me know through here or PM.. I will say that my more common experience with clubs is more geared towards the muscle back or bladed iron, but if you want me to look for something specific, just let me know!
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
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you have the stock grips don't you?
Great initial impressions, just when I thought I had decided on my next set of irons, reviews like these have me pondering the Nike's again.
the_paulo
Euro target practice
wow, guys, I want to respond individually to each post but there's just so much goodness it's too difficult! Loving the videos so far and the pics, the reviews are of such a high standard I'll really need to pull something special out of the disco bag to keep up!
Today is my first official 'where are my clubs' day! I'll be checking in to see if they've arrived every hour. Fingers crossed, I'm really eager to get some range time with these sticks to compare to the thoughts here as well as my current irons. There's so much great info in this thread already.
Today is my first official 'where are my clubs' day! I'll be checking in to see if they've arrived every hour. Fingers crossed, I'm really eager to get some range time with these sticks to compare to the thoughts here as well as my current irons. There's so much great info in this thread already.
- Moderator
- #317
You are correct. They came with the stock grips on them (Nike VR tour velvet).
I failed to mention this in my round write up from last night but I definitely notice this as well. The grooves are definitely smaller and it is more difficult to get all the dirt out. Even using a tee does not get everything out unless you have like a brand new epoch tee with a sharp point that can get all way to the back of the groove. I may have to try and find something that I can carry and use for groove cleaning that will not scratch the grooves or the face.
Bogey317
SeeMore Addict
I picked up a couple of these at my local Golf Smith. They work great and are the size of a quarter. Great to keep in your pocket.
- Moderator
- #320
A wet towel worked well for me, but I had to give it quite a few more sweeps than I am used to.. Just enough to get the fibers into the grooves haha!
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
Maybe a THP spotless swing towel?
Placed that order week before last via Blind9 but they are on back order. Hopefully it does the trick.
Back on topic - definitely playing again Saturday and maybe Sunday also.....need to sneak out to range tomorrow.
The frogger brush pro is a great tool for getting in the grooves. I have one and it has a retractable groove cleaner and the brush attaches easily to your bag. This thing is awesome!
http://www.froggergolf.com/BrushProSplash.html
Fairway2Green
The Obstacle is the Path
Looks like another rainy day here. Definitely getting some range time and rounds in this weekend as long as the weather permits.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not a tester rather a proud owner.....stock DG shafts were too much for my paltry swing.....went opposite side of the spectrum with TT GS95......nice but couldn't get length/swingweight balanced.....found a set of rifle 5.0 pullouts and fared pretty well.....A friend had set of px 5.5 with new NDMC midsized grips .....figured they would play slightly better in Florida wind.....It turns out that these shafts in the VR PC's are 3/4 inch over standard! Along with wrong grip size the search continued..........OR HAD IT? I read where px made overlength actually stiffens !!! Cut down each club to my standard length....38" 5 iron and added a secret weapon.......HOMEMADE SENSICORE!!!!
Haven't gotten on course yet but the few balls hit have been BUTTA!!!!
To be continued..........
Haven't gotten on course yet but the few balls hit have been BUTTA!!!!
To be continued..........