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Titleist 714 AP1 Review Thread

SuperStroke
Pulled trigger on the AP1's last week. Went head to head on the machine and they were long and covered up misses for me compared to other "news" as well as my existing wilson and ping.
They felt very nice when you hit them on the screws.....not much worse than my old MB. But the misses went ~90% of the total distance and stayed very straight.

Probably should have waited for the weather to see them outside but they were new, and shiny, and I had lust in my heart.
 
Can't blame you Philly. Congrats!
 
I know it may seem like sacrilege to some, but I have played exclusively my 712s for 2 years and have no interest whatsoever in moving on. These may be a little more forgiving but the changes in lofts would play with my wedge set up and it's something that would take time to get accustomed to.

I didn't play much golf last year, but still have played enough to tell that the finish holds up really well. If these are a step up from the 712s, these are great and very underrated irons. I hope every one here has a positive experience with them.

Last note... I love the AW; It is more versatile than it looks; can be used for longer greenside bunker shots and really does a nice job.
 
Nothing wrong with sticking with what works.
 
Congrats Philly, when you have the urge for new sticks it is pointless to resist.
 
I nearly bought used.
However, I am a little tall, swing a little hard, and hit it pretty high. Needed the fitting. Yes, that is the set of excused I used
 
:clapp: LOL Philly!
 
Started my club build project last night finally. Super excited, though it's pretty involved compared to others I've done and took some time.

Specs I'm shooting for are:

-Replace KBS Tour stiff with KBS Tour 90 Stiff (ended up soft stepping 1x).
-Standard length as the original AP1's.
-Build to D4 swingweight.
-Grip with Champ Grips for a product spotlight - +1 wrap of tape.

Reasons for the switch were:

-A bit more spin, as my numbers were definitely on the low side with the KBS Tours.
-Better feel - I like the feel of a softer iron shaft. Tour 90's are easily my favorite feeling steel iron shaft.
-Building them to D4 swing weight, because the irons that I've consistently had the best results from have always been at that swingweight.

So, I'll spare you all the other details on the build, but it was sort of time intensive with the cutting/measuring/regripping/weighing. I will say that I chose to soft step 1x, though that wasn't my original intention. Ran into some wacky shaft lengths with the pulls I was using and it pretty much became a necessity. That said, I've got no problem with the idea, and if anything it will help me out in the longer irons and that's a good thing.

Bought a set of swing weights to insert into the tips and got the 8 iron finished before I hit the bed. Feels perfect. Couldn't help but hit a few balls this morning before work and it was like a breath of fresh air. Lost all that stiffness and heaviness that the Tours were giving me and really go the sensation of some pop into the ball.



aha7uve3.jpg
 
What is the black tool on the work bench in the picture?
 
That's a swing weight scale.
 
Nice work Hawk.
 
I like it Hawk; I did the same thing a couple weeks ago putting the KBS Tour V's into the DPC's. The Swingweight was all wonkey with those already and had to add quite a bit of weight to the but end. Have about half a dozen range sessions now and liking what I see with a much higher ball flight. Looking foward to seeing what you can do with the 90's in these; sounds like a great match for you.
 
bhilln said:
I like it Hawk; I did the same thing a couple weeks ago putting the KBS Tour V's into the DPC's. The Swingweight was all wonkey with those already and had to add quite a bit of weight to the but end. Have about half a dozen range sessions now and liking what I see with a much higher ball flight. Looking foward to seeing what you can do with the 90's in these; sounds like a great match for you.
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Maybe we can get a round together in June when the courses finally dry out :\
 
Hawk said:
Maybe we can get a round together in June when the courses finally dry out :\
Click to expand...

Count on it; spoke to the pro the other day at Weaver and they are targeting opening the 28th, but we'll see... don't see things drying out for some time here.
 
I definitely want to come down and play Weaver again. Trying to play as many hard courses as possible to challenge myself a little and need a bit of revenge after that last one haha.
 
Hawk how much weight did you need to throw in the tips to get to your desired SW? Also what was the SW of these prior to the reshaft?
 
ddec said:
Hawk how much weight did you need to throw in the tips to get to your desired SW? Also what was the SW of these prior to the reshaft?
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Stock is D1, buuuut I also had shaft in there that were about 20-30g heavier than the stock versions. They had weights in them that I saved just in case. I jumped the gun and didn't weigh them out before pulling them.

So far, only have got the 8 iron done and had to add 4g to the tips. They came out at D2 with no added weight.
 
That's funny Philly!

Here's the finished product. Need to change a sticker on one of them, but turned out nicely.

gyvy5yqe.jpg
 
Philly said:
I plan on telling my wife of your project......

An effective defense when she says I am too into golf......
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That's the post of the day! Well done!
 
great stuff, Hawk..
 
Enjoyed the new setup today. Very much so. Shaft change really lets me smooth out things and my contact was very good overall. Some misses obviously as well. Just a great all-around iron that meets just about every criteria I can think of for my own needs.

Even with the shaft change to something lighter and higher launching I was seeing a trajectory that handled the wind far better than anticipated. Was able to really put a smooth turn on the ball and saw some good accuracy, anticipated distance, and good performance laterally and low on the face. The AW was used a couple times, both for bigger and smaller swings with success.
 
Congrats Hawk, sounds like the shaft change was a good move.
 
Good stuff Hawk, real cool project. That is a sweet head/shaft combo.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Glad to hear it Hawk. I know that switching to the lighter shafts this year is going to be a game changer for me. I no longer feel like I need to give that little extra umph to get the ball going.
 
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