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Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

SuperStroke
Wow, just caught up on all of the reviews and videos of the past couple of days. Great job so far everybody. I do love Chunky's shaft/grip set up. It is really a thing of beauty that I commented on immediately when I saw them.
 
So I had about 45 minutes after work today to hit some balls. Went to my normal range this time as I know the clubs that I hit into each green. Took my wedges and started the warm up. I was hitting the ball pretty solidly. Took my 6I and took aim at a flag to the left end of the range. With my Di11's this was a 6I shot. I just wanted to see how close I could get to this green. Hit some warmups with the 6 and I was hitting it well. Stepped up and let one rip. Landed about 5 feet to the right of the flag. Is it possible I did not lose any yardage with these clubs? I did it again and again. Took the 5I and tried hitting a low fade into the same green. 5I was what I used with the 11's. First 5I shot ended up about 15 feet to the left of the flag. Next one was stiff. I need to play a round with these bad boys but so far my yardages are pretty close. Maybe a combination of graphite shaft and dropping down a flex is making up for the loft differences. Ended the round with 8I at the 150 sign. Had a nice grouping of balls all around the sign. As long as it's not raining tomorrow I'm going to go play 18 after work
 
Just got home from a two hour range session and then 27 holes using only 8 irons and a putter. Will write up everything and get it posted later tonight or tomorrow.
Preview: The love affair continues!
 
Chunkylover77 said:
So I had about 45 minutes after work today to hit some balls. Went to my normal range this time as I know the clubs that I hit into each green. Took my wedges and started the warm up. I was hitting the ball pretty solidly. Took my 6I and took aim at a flag to the left end of the range. With my Di11's this was a 6I shot. I just wanted to see how close I could get to this green. Hit some warmups with the 6 and I was hitting it well. Stepped up and let one rip. Landed about 5 feet to the right of the flag. Is it possible I did not lose any yardage with these clubs? I did it again and again. Took the 5I and tried hitting a low fade into the same green. 5I was what I used with the 11's. First 5I shot ended up about 15 feet to the left of the flag. Next one was stiff. I need to play a round with these bad boys but so far my yardages are pretty close. Maybe a combination of graphite shaft and dropping down a flex is making up for the loft differences. Ended the round with 8I at the 150 sign. Had a nice grouping of balls all around the sign. As long as it's not raining tomorrow I'm going to go play 18 after work
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Nice feedback CL! I initially thought that I had lost yardage and it made sense due to the loft differences. What I found out over the past 2 days is that when I actually hit the ball solidly, I think I gained distance over my previous set that was 1 club stronger throughout the bag essentially. Baffling that I could gain 5 yards club per club on a set that is 3-4 degrees weaker per club when also going from graphite to steel but I think that properly struck shots are going to be decently long with these irons.

Not sure if I can squeeze in a range session tomorrow or not but definitely playing Saturday and a solid chance at Sunday also to confirm what I think is happening with my distances. Not to mention from 7-PW it feels like I am throwing darts because everything is just perfectly straight and does not budge off of the target line.
 
mcook77 said:
Nice feedback CL! I initially thought that I had lost yardage and it made sense due to the loft differences. What I found out over the past 2 days is that when I actually hit the ball solidly, I think I gained distance over my previous set that was 1 club stronger throughout the bag essentially. Baffling that I could gain 5 yards club per club on a set that is 3-4 degrees weaker per club when also going from graphite to steel but I think that properly struck shots are going to be decently long with these irons.

Not sure if I can squeeze in a range session tomorrow or not but definitely playing Saturday and a solid chance at Sunday also to confirm what I think is happening with my distances. Not to mention from 7-PW it feels like I am throwing darts because everything is just perfectly straight and does not budge off of the target line.
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Really interesting reading the different write ups and thoughts. I had never stopped to think that different OEM's would have different lofts on their clubs. Never would have crossed my mind before these write ups.
 
Yeah my game plan going into tomorrow is to plan for a club shorter early and see what happens. I'm not going to trust the yardages I was seeing today. Need to see it happen on a course before I can trust it. Interesting that you are seeing something similar though. BW can't wait to read your update man
 
ghsace said:
Really interesting reading the different write ups and thoughts. I had never stopped to think that different OEM's would have different lofts on their clubs. Never would have crossed my mind before these write ups.
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I knew about it from when the guys were testing the Wilson irons. It *appears* that many of the GI or SGI iron sets are created with stronger lofts which equates to more distance with a 7i, etc and guys egos get bigger when they are hitting that 7i into a 175 yard par 3 while his buddy is hitting a 5i. Not always the golfer giving that extra distance...equipment and loft has a big part to do with it.

Quick example:

Old Cobra S9 PW - 44 degrees
New VR Pro PW - 47 degrees

Definitely makes you pay attention so you know where your gaps are as you approach the short end of your bag.
 
Calladidas said:
MCOOK77...... How have the irons been with px and did you hit them with any other shaft?
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I have not hit them with any other shaft. I went into GolfTec for an iron fitting the day I got selected as a tester and this was the recommendation. Unfortunately, I do not have a ton to compare them to. I came out of the Cobra S9's which I launched very high. My typical 6 iron was about 160 and I am seeing 160-165 with the Nike 6 iron.

I have definitely had an adjustment period as I simply can't get away with a semi-fat shot as I did previously. Even though we are still at the beginning of testing I am fairly comfortable with the 5-PW portions of the set. The part that I am struggling with the most is the 3 & 4 irons. I have not carried a 3 iron in many, many years and had recently dropped my 4 iron from my old set and played the Mashie M5. I can still hit the 3 iron about 190 but from a yardage gap perspective I should be closer to 210 I think. I can definitely feel that I am not hitting the 3 and 4 irons "flush" but hopeful that continued time and practice will help with that - definitely not giving up and still trying to hit it on the course even though I have not made the shots happen on the range yet.

The 8-PW "blade" portion of the set is just downright amazing. I am seeing a lower ball flight than I am used to and the ball consistently stops within 1-3 feet of where it lands. They fly dead straight for me and it feels like throwing darts as I eluded to a little bit earlier. I can't wait to get back out over the next 3 days and continue to grow with these clubs. I have learned several flaws that I have through the feedback with these irons and can slowly start to feel that I am becoming a better ball striker.
 
Getting caught up and I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Canadan - That was a very solid review and I enjoyed the random thoughts at the end.

Mcook - Great round! It can be tough to play well with new irons, so that's an especially sweet score

YF - Interesting thought on the shaft change combating the loft difference. Looking forward to seeing some info from the course.

BW - You're a monster dude! Looking forward to your most recent thoughts. You're doing a great job.

Paulo - I weep for you :(
 
Hawk said:
Paulo - I weep for you :(
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haha, don't worry about it man, I'm hoping against hope that today will be lucky. These really need to arrive today or tomorrow, as I'm away from Monday onwards. Would like to get stuck into this as I'm really enjoying the write ups so far, and would be following this thread intently regardless!

I'm impressed that you guys don't seem to be seeing a great distance loss so far. The adjustments going from one set to another seems to be going very smoothly, and that can only be credit to the Nikes!
 
the_paulo said:
haha, don't worry about it man, I'm hoping against hope that today will be lucky. These really need to arrive today or tomorrow, as I'm away from Monday onwards. Would like to get stuck into this as I'm really enjoying the write ups so far, and would be following this thread intently regardless!

I'm impressed that you guys don't seem to be seeing a great distance loss so far. The adjustments going from one set to another seems to be going very smoothly, and that can only be credit to the Nikes!
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Paulo, I hope that the clubs find you today or tomorrow. It would be touture to be away for awhile and not know if they came or not.
 
70% chance of rain makes me sad
 
Chunkylover77 said:
70% chance of rain makes me sad
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We need rain desperately here but it is not happening. Looks to be sunny with highs at 101 all weekend. I am going to sneak out to the range mid afternoon today to continue dialing these in and then play tomorrow morning definitely and Sunday most likely. Excited to get back out there with these!!
 
mcook77 said:
We need rain desperately here but it is not happening. Looks to be sunny with highs at 101 all weekend. I am going to sneak out to the range mid afternoon today to continue dialing these in and then play tomorrow morning definitely and Sunday most likely. Excited to get back out there with these!!
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mcook, you know how Texas is in the summer. Rain doesnt exist
 
Mardin said:
Paulo, I hope that the clubs find you today or tomorrow. It would be touture to be away for awhile and not know if they came or not.
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They'll be delivered to my parents anyway, so I'll know that they've arrived....which might be even worse since I couldn't get to them! I'd just feel bad at being so late on starting the testing.
 
Great reports thus far everyone, keep them coming.

Really surprised by how forgiving these clubs sound. Obviously no Tm Burners or Ping G15's, but for a little more of a "player" iron, them sound to be fairly forgiving.
 
the_paulo said:
They'll be delivered to my parents anyway, so I'll know that they've arrived....which might be even worse since I couldn't get to them! I'd just feel bad at being so late on starting the testing.
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At least you know they will be safe, hope they turn up for you today so you can hit them prior to going away. I can take good care of them if you wish in your absence - hehe
 
MikeF said:
At least you know they will be safe, hope they turn up for you today so you can hit them prior to going away. I can take good care of them if you wish in your absence - hehe
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Oh that's the bit I missed from my post. Since I'll be away, I'll need to hide them somehow from my father-in-law, and MIKE because he'll find out where I live!!
 
Canadan said:
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
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finally catching up on the thread...great writeup, look forward to seeing how things pan out over time with these
 
Raining again today, but only a 30% chance for tomorrow, 50% Sunday, and 40% Monday. I'll definitely be able to get some holes in, but I need the ranges to dry up. The closest aqua range I can think of is Westchase, which is about 30-45 minutes away. I might have to go out there if it stays wet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MikeF said:
Don your wet weather gear and get reporting for us - hehe

I don't really like playing in the rain either
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Problem is that it is a 70% chance of thunderstorms with lots of lightning, not just rain.
 
yorkem said:
Problem is that it is a 70% chance of thunderstorms with lots of lightning, not just rain.
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In that case stay indoors
 
Guys lets keep the weather updates out of the testing threads if possible. We know that everybody wants to get out, but the day to day weather updates can be left unsaid. Thanks for understanding.
 
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