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Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

SuperStroke
mcook77 said:
Great point about the loft change; forgot about that. My previous irons were 3 degrees stronger throughout the set and I am STILL seeing a 5 yard increase so that would equate to a 15 yard increase when considering the loft change. Wow - had not realized that!!


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Same shaft stiffness?
 
Super Tuna said:
Not I Mike. I might hazard a guess that the distance increase is coming from improved ball striking and and having a set entirely fit to you
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That could very well be it, I hadn't thought of that to be honest. The benefits of being fitted. My previous set was .5" long and stiff shafts too, whera as my Nike's are standard length, Reg shafts and 0.5* upright

Jeff Conner said:
Yes. I hit these almost exactly 1 club longer than my previous set.

Edit: forgot to mention that my previous set had the same lofts (or within 1 degree) and were fitted.
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My previous set were the same lofts too apart from the 4 and 5i which are a degree stronger with the Nike's
 
I am seeing a distance increase Mike. Haven't quite got it dialled in yet, so I couldn't say exactly by how much - but I hit a 9 iron from 140 the other day, to a flag I'd normally be a good 9 iron to, and flew the green completely! Felt like a nice shot, couldn't be disappointed!

I'm sure the shafts and proper fitting are a big factor in this, but for reference the VR Pro Combos are exactly the same lofts as my previous irons.
 
Good stuff guys, as I have said before, Nike has never been on my radar before this thread but I will definitely look at the VR Pro Combo set next year when I replace my irons. Great job everyone.
 
Snuck in 18 in-between rain storms yesterday at The Bardmoor. Irons worked exceedingly well in all aspects yesterday. My only problems were my alignment and shot choices. The VR's had great flight and were very easy to play in the wind. The 8 iron and PW have performed just as I would like for chipping also. I'm very much enjoying the 3 & 4 irons as well. Distance wise I haven't seen any gains just a slight loss since I switched from stronger lofted irons. I was going to do a shot by shot recap, but I'm going to hold off and hopefully get in a round in the next couple of days that won't be so embarrassing to share with everyone.


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My distances have been very close to the same as my previous set, and even a bit longer than I expect in some cases, but my previous set (AP1s) were several degrees strong especially in the short irons. I don't know how but they've been playing the same. I've felt like they're easier to add or take distance off when I need to as well. when I have in between shots I can, if I want hit the club that would come up short and just forward press a bit and make up some yardage...

does anyone else feel as though these maybe cut through wind better?
I know that has alot to do with the ball you play and the flight you have, but against wind hasn't had the same affect on my yardage that I'm used to.

side note: played a few really good short irons into greens today and got plenty of spin on them, but the ball isn't mangled like I'm accustomed to seeing. even with the ball spinnig back 5-10 feet.
anyone finding that these Iron's grooves don't seem chew/scuff the ball as badly?
 
Kale 7 said:
My distances have been very close to the same as my previous set, and even a bit longer than I expect in some cases, but my previous set (AP1s) were several degrees strong especially in the short irons. I don't know how but they've been playing the same. I've felt like they're easier to add or take distance off when I need to as well. when I have in between shots I can, if I want hit the club that would come up short and just forward press a bit and make up some yardage...

does anyone else feel as though these maybe cut through wind better?
I know that has alot to do with the ball you play and the flight you have, but against wind hasn't had the same affect on my yardage that I'm used to.

side note: played a few really good short irons into greens today and got plenty of spin on them, but the ball isn't mangled like I'm accustomed to seeing. even with the ball spinnig back 5-10 feet.
anyone finding that these Iron's grooves don't seem chew/scuff the ball as badly?
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Kale I have not found that these cut through wind any better than other clubs I've played. Then again I am not playing in Texas
I have found that these irons don't seem to scuff balls up. I like that
 
I'm not sure about cutting through the wind better. I will say that hitting knock down shots is relatively easy with these clubs, so that would help in the wind. But as far as full shots, I'm not sure. I hit the ball a mid-high trajectory so I don't think full shots would be good in the wind.

I too agree that these clubs don't chew up balls as much as my previous set, yet still provide plenty of spin.
 
Now that I think about it more I think it has more to do with my shot trajectory, I am playing more knock-down typr shots, but I'm coming form KBS tour shafts(DG S300s in the new ones) and GI irons. Both of those things enourage a higher ball flight, thus less wind penetration... and I have a relatively high ball flight naturally.
I still even hit the 3 and 4 in this set high enough that they are hitting and backing up a foot or so on greens.
 
Have to say that I am not noticing the balls chew or scuff up as easily either. Maybe Nike are on to something else with the new groove layout. What I will say though is the grooves are hard to get the dirt out of whilst on the course if you have a dry towel. I am hoping that the new iCaddie towel that I am fortunate to be testing helps out with this.

Heading away for a week tomorrow to see relatives in Wales and you just know the clubs are going with me for a round or 3 :D
 
Had the irons out on the course again last night. Had a round where the testing really comes into its own - I struggled badly with about every club in the bag. I guess these rounds are valuable to the testing process too though.

I was struggling with the pocket cavities from the tee. Hit a really strange one with the 3 iron at the par 3 2nd. Had about 190 into the wind, struck what felt like a decent shot and I don't know if the wind did this, but it seemed to start out looking like a draw, and end up fading about 10 yards right! hmm. Tried the 3 iron from the tee at 7, hit it pretty high on the face and out the toe - got a terrible result, probably lost 20-30 yards. Seems like I'm starting to experience some of the forgiveness issues others are seeing with these pocket cavities.

I also see the need for some more practice time with the whole set. Probably due to them being slightly better fitted, I've started hitting a small draw with just about every one down to the PW. That'll take some getting used to, as I just flat-out pushed a couple of the blades about 20 yards right...and lost a little bit of distance this time. There's a confidence issue in there I'm sure, but I need to nail down a consistent shot with each of these before I can progress. I'll try again when the rain stops!
 
I also need to note that I don't think I'm getting as much spin with the blades in this set as I did with my fg59s. Further testing needed on this too.
 
I would love to hear from all of the testers on turf interaction. I know it has been discussed here and there, but would love to hear a write up about how it is working for you.
 
JB said:
I would love to hear from all of the testers on turf interaction. I know it has been discussed here and there, but would love to hear a write up about how it is working for you.
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I have not been able to swing in about 2 weeks due to the back issues previously mentioned but prior to that, here was my experience (also stated earlier but in bits and pieces through the review):

In general, I have always typically been a "picker" of the ball and do not take much of a divot, if any.

At the beginning, I was hitting a bunch of fat shots which I attributed to the sharper leading edge of the sole as compared to my previous SGI iron. Anyway you look at it, turf interaction on a fat shot (hitting 3-4 inches behind the ball) is never going to be pretty or that forgiving.

I then started playing with ball positioning (moving it back in my stance some) and my ball striking got much better. When I did that, I did start to see an increase in the amount of divot that I was taking but it was still pretty shallow. Most of my strikes now are just behind the ball and these clubs are able to get through the turf and to the ball with very little problem and still allowing me to hit the shots I expect to see. Now, when I actually hit the ball first and then create the divot (like we all want to) I see an increase in distance but still a fairly shallow divot.

Overall, I am happy with how they were working the last time few times I was out. I do not think they are as forgiving as the rounded sole on a GI or SGI as far as getting to the ball if you initially hit the turf several inches behind the ball.

Hope that makes sense...this is my first time really trying to describe turf interaction so let me know if there are specific things that I can try and elaborate on.
 
I've found turf interaction to be an area where these clubs excel. 3-7 take a very nice small divot after the ball. You can barely feel the actual interaction though as the clubs glide very nicely through the grass. The 8-PW take a healthier sized divot than the other clubs, but still glide effortlessly through turf. I also haven't had any times where the sole of a club bounced off the turf when coming in steep and a hint fat. Overall, in the turf interaction category these clubs are top notch.


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I think the turf interaction with these clubs are actually better than my (now) previous set. The 8-PW will dig deeper than any other club in the set, but not by a long shot, and I suspect it has a lot to do with coming into the ball a bit steeper. I think the bottom of the club offers a very reasonable cut that doesn't overdig upon striking the ground, but there is no question that it can go deep if the need calls for it. I have taken monstrous divots (which I'll partly attribute to wet weather) with the bladed irons.

What I have noticed is that as I progress in the set, the ground cut actually reduces quite a bit. That is pretty normal for me, but not to the extent that I have been experiencing. I usually create a box on the driving range and then hit from the back of the box to limit the amount of turf I cut out in any given session. I am finding that I am now more or less shaving the grass with my 6 and 5 (and sometimes 7) rather than taking a large divot. Obviously that would be slightly different on the course as there is little grass in front of my shot, but it is certainly noticeable in difference.

I have taken a couple days to rest my weary body after playing 14 of the last 16 days. I will likely return to the course today or tomorrow, and will be looking to provide some more detailed information after those sessions/rounds. If someone wants to give me something to keep an eye on, I'll be happy to report back!
 
I'll pay more attention to the turf interaction on my next range session.

My initial thoughts on it are that they're a little lighter on the turf than the fg59s. I would dig quite a bit with the Wilsons, but the Pro Combo blades are more inclined to come through clean. As I expected, the splits are more forgiving on the turf again, but I haven't hit many fat ones with these irons to see if I get away with it! If anything, I've been thin more often.
 
Turf interaction with these is top notch IMO. They typically take a divot the size of a dollar bill (give or take) and not too deep but down to the dirt for sure. The best part of the turf interaction, is the feeling you get when hitting a "pure" shot. Almost a feeling of nothingness as the club glides through the turf but doesn't get caught up at all. That being said, if I get a little steep, I can take a nice "beaver pelt" out of the earth but the club still gets through it and the ball still travels in the correct direction with normal distance. The turf interaction is great with all three types of clubs, but definitely a little better with the blades and the divot is a little deeper. This is to be expected though and could be simply due to being closer to the ball and having a slightly steeper swing with the short irons.
 
Played yesterday and today, will have an update tonight. Struggled yesterday and the front nine today. Caught fire on the back nine today and nearly shot a PR for nine holes. More info later.
 
I still say that this is one of the best looking iron sets on the planet right now.
 
JB said:
I still say that this is one of the best looking iron sets on the planet right now.
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Damn right. Still thinking about gaming them?


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- Tappin' from my iPad in support of Team Hackers!
 
mcook77 said:
Damn right. Still thinking about gaming them?


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- Tappin' from my iPad in support of Team Hackers!
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I have the MC next week, and then finish a review on the R11s. Then I can talk about new irons...hehe. I still love mine, but these are purdy.
 
JB said:
I have the MC next week, and then finish a review on the R11s. Then I can talk about new irons...hehe. I still love mine, but these are purdy.
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i agree, these are one of the best if not the best looking irons on the market, whenever its new iron time for me these are on the list to try
 
Cool - lots going on! Have not hit the z-stars but I think you would really appreciate what the blades do in the scoring irons for your game. They are that good.


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- Tappin' from my iPad in support of Team Hackers!
 
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