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Taylormade Tour Preferred CB Iron Review Thread

SuperStroke
Just some quick thoughts. I've played 36 holes so far with my new set. Mine are standard L/L and .5* upright, stock KBS Tour. I installed pro soft inserts down the shafts as well.

I haven't compared these to any of the other 2014 offerings, nor do I have time to :). But man I'm really enjoying these clubs. The reason I went with this set was the desire to have more consistent gapping in my 4i, 5i and 6i. It's hard to say if these are longer or shorter than my average distances since I'm out of shape and it's only April. However, I find them incredibly easy to hit. I haven't had many reps on the course yet with the 4i, but have hit a hand full of beautiful shots with the 5i into greens. Even though these are slightly strong lofted I haven't seen any differences in ball flight vs my traditional forged irons.

I definitely see the extra forgiveness in these clubs. Toe shots, thin shots and these balls still fly. Are there more forgiving irons out there? Absolutely. These irons fall into that Players improvement category that has grown over recent years.

The only negative feedback I can think of is the offset. I haven't played an offset iron in oh so long. I'm drawing the ball right now whereas I typically played a fade. It may just all be perception but the offset may have me aligning the club a bit more closed than I traditionally do. Something I'll need to work on, but it's still early and I really only have good things to say about these clubs.

Second day out today this season and shot a 79 at my club. Hopefully only more awesome scores to come.
 
Had a good range session with these the other day and thought I would come back and talk about what I was seeing.

First off paired with the Tour 90's the ballflight is high. Not sure if that will help or hurt me on those windy days. But the ball was certainly higher than what I had seen with my AMP Cell/PX combo. Little worried about the high ball in the lower irons 9-PW-AW. Course time is coming this weekend so hopefully I will get a feel for that. That said I really did like what I was seeing from the 5-7 when it came to height. The ball was flying high with a slight turn to the left, which is what I want. I actually found the 5 iron pretty easy to hit, and that's a club that I have considered dropping from the bag on numerous occasions.

When hit well I think these irons feel really good. I do think there is enough feedback given for you when you miss the center of the face. For me, I felt like I could tell when it was a toe ball and could feel the twisting of the clubhead after impact. They are not the most penalizing club I've ever gamed, but I'm not sold on how much forgiveness is there as well.

Different from what some others are saying, the offset doesn't bother me one bit with these. In fact I barely notice it.

Hoping to get to the range tonight for some more thoughts. Also planning on getting to the course Friday and Sunday to see what these things can really do for me.
 
Dean, to me the offset is minimal as well, esp compared to a LOT of other sets (SpeedBlades included).
 
Jman said:
Dean, to me the offset is minimal as well, esp compared to a LOT of other sets (SpeedBlades included).
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that's how I feel too buddy. In my eyes, it's a non-issue whatsoever. However offset has never really bothered me as much as it does some others I guess.
 
I might have found a club that works in the sand for me in this set. I was in a lot of sand yesterday, and got out nicely the three times I used the AW from this set.
 
ddec said:
that's how I feel too buddy. In my eyes, it's a non-issue whatsoever. However offset has never really bothered me as much as it does some others I guess.
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There's not much in these IMO, yes, more than the MC's, but they are also a hell of a lot more forgiving than the MC's too. Whatever though, all of our eyes are different.
 
Smallville said:
I might have found a club that works in the sand for me in this set. I was in a lot of sand yesterday, and got out nicely the three times I used the AW from this set.
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Its the AWESOME wedge for a reason Smalls!
 
Smallville said:
I might have found a club that works in the sand for me in this set. I was in a lot of sand yesterday, and got out nicely the three times I used the AW from this set.
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sweet! Love a club that I have confidence in out of the sand.
 
These got a small range session last night. Final range session prior to the course debut tomorrow night. Of all the range sessions I've have with them(4) there was always 1 club that I had yet to hit. That was the AW. Not sure why, but I just haven't hit a ball with it yet. So while at the range last night with Nerfny she wanted to take some swipes. She never likes to hit a club of mine before I have done so, so I quickly grabbed the AW and took a swing. Then handed it to her. On her first swing with it the head went flying about 40 yards out in to the range! My first thought was that Ward had shafted my clubs for me:alien: When I get out to the clubhead, there is a contact mark in the dead center of the face. I guess she over-pured it. Anyway excited to get these on the course tomorrow.
 
ddec said:
These got a small range session last night. Final range session prior to the course debut tomorrow night. Of all the range sessions I've have with them(4) there was always 1 club that I had yet to hit. That was the AW. Not sure why, but I just haven't hit a ball with it yet. So while at the range last night with Nerfny she wanted to take some swipes. She never likes to hit a club of mine before I have done so, so I quickly grabbed the AW and took a swing. Then handed it to her. On her first swing with it the head went flying about 40 yards out in to the range! My first thought was that Ward had shafted my clubs for me:alien: When I get out to the clubhead, there is a contact mark in the dead center of the face. I guess she over-pured it. Anyway excited to get these on the course tomorrow.
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That sucks the the AW came off after 2 hits. I had my 52* do that twice in two weeks but i put on the shaft so i could only blame myself
 
Brianbigoats said:
That sucks the the AW came off after 2 hits. I had my 52* do that twice in two weeks but i put on the shaft so i could only blame myself
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yup little bit of a bummer. But the head isn't damaged and I checked it out seems like I can just add some epoxy and get it all ready to go to tomorrows round.
 
Over puring....lol

I too had a range session with mine yesterday and I really enjoy these irons. They are a perfect blend between forgiveness and playability for me. The offset is negligible unless you're used to playing irons with a lot of offset. Love the ball flight with these and the CTLs.
 
Had a phenomenal range session today. I took a lesson a week ago, and this is my second range session since. I've worked to slow down my backswing, and not break down my front leg or "slide". This has really improved my ball striking and accuracy.

Anywho....I couldn't get a bearing on distance today, since I had a 15-20 mph breeze helping me, but every iron felt good today. For the first time since I bought the CB's, I was confident in the 4i. You can definitely feel the speed pocket compress when you hit the ball pure. It seems that it's more noticeable in the longer irons than the shorter, due to a higher club head speed.

In closing, I'm starting to really feel good about my decision to purchase these.
 
Had my best round with these today. First time playing these above 60º and the distance loss on the short irons didn't seem as much. I am really liking them, especially the short irons. Shorter and heavier (they don't feel heavy) is a good thing for me as I am finding the center of the club face pretty consistently. Gives me a lot of confidence. The longer irons are a little more hit and miss for me but when struck well they are a towering shot that get plenty of distance. I am really happy with these right now.
 
New to the site - and my first post . . . . . . . Went to my local Golf shop and got fitted for a new set of irons earlier this week. I've been playing with a custom set of dynacraft muscleback / cavity back mix of forged irons for the past 15 years so it was way past due for a new set. Had my eye on the TM speedblades and Mizuno JPXEZ forged set going into the fitting. Lo and behold, my fitter breaks out the TM TP CB's and MCB's, throws them on a XStiff shaft, 1/2" long and 2* up and I'm loving them. After a few swings with each I settled in on the TM TP CB's and loving every minute of the fitting session. These things have great feel, I can work it left and right, a good smooth swing produces a tiny draw and the dispersion pattern was such I could throw a blanket over every shot. Incredible! Even the mishits were losing only a few mph on ball speed. Absolutely beautiful and can't wait for them to call me to tell me they are in!!!!
 
crdukes said:
New to the site - and my first post . . . . . . . Went to my local Golf shop and got fitted for a new set of irons earlier this week. I've been playing with a custom set of dynacraft muscleback / cavity back mix of forged irons for the past 15 years so it was way past due for a new set. Had my eye on the TM speedblades and Mizuno JPXEZ forged set going into the fitting. Lo and behold, my fitter breaks out the TM TP CB's and MCB's, throws them on a XStiff shaft, 1/2" long and 2* up and I'm loving them. After a few swings with each I settled in on the TM TP CB's and loving every minute of the fitting session. These things have great feel, I can work it left and right, a good smooth swing produces a tiny draw and the dispersion pattern was such I could throw a blanket over every shot. Incredible! Even the mishits were losing only a few mph on ball speed. Absolutely beautiful and can't wait for them to call me to tell me they are in!!!!
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These are some awesome clubs. Everytime I go and hit mine I live them even more. Just perfect in almost every way.

Rap-a-tap Tappin' on my SG4
 
Day late but yesterday my 9-AW CB's arrived. I decided to got with a Speedblades/CB combo. Went back and forth with the 8 iron but ultimately decided to only go with the 9-AW CB's. Ordered them +1/2 long, 2* upright and 2* strong with the SteelFiber i95 shafts (stiff) to blend with the Speedblades lower irons. Was able to get to the range yesterday and only hit the PW but the results were very encouraging. Here are some quick thoughts. I only hit 15 balls with the PW so it's very limited but here's some initial thoughts.

Feel: These are the nicest feeling irons I've hit. I came from the R11's and these feel much softer when struck well. The club does feel a little heavier than the Speedblades or my old R11's.

Trajectory: Even though the lofts on these are a little strong I found them to have a high ball flight. I would say it was higher than my old R11's. However, no ballooning. It was a nice high, piercing flight.

Distance: I was on a range that is tough to tell the exact distance. The depth perception is tough and the markers are limited. However I feel like I was hitting the PW about 5 yards further than the R11's. This may be to the slightly stronger loft and longer shaft.

Look: I really like the look on these. For the 9-AW the have a nice topline and don't feel too big or too small.

Forgiveness: I was hitting the ball real well with this club, probably better than any other club today so forgiveness was tough to tell. However, I think they are pretty forgiving (not as forgiving as the Speedblades). I would say similar to my R11's in this category.

Performance: Overall, I really enjoyed my initial outing with the PW. Hope to hit the 9 iron and AW later in the week. But I'm very happy that I went with these as a combo set. Just thought I'd write a quick write-up on these. More reviews to come. Below are some pictures.










15 shots, all with impact tape. Couple toward the heel and low on the face but found good forgiveness on these shots. I would say on my worst shots today, lost about 5-7 yards.
 
Stan one of the things I noticed is the short irons are a bit shorter distance wise than some others, any trouble with the gap between the 8 and 9 or did making them longer and stronger help them blend well?
 
GolfFest said:
Stan one of the things I noticed is the short irons are a bit shorter distance wise than some others, any trouble with the gap between the 8 and 9 or did making them longer and stronger help them blend well?
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I didn't hit the 9 but I did hit the Speedblade 8 and CB PW. From what I can tell I won't have a distance gap. I do believe that making the lofts stronger and the length of the shaft longer does play a role. With the adjusted loft and length the CB 9 is the loft and length of the stock Speedblade 9 iron. Next time I go to the range I plan on going to one that is very easy to determine distance. I'll hit them side by side and let you know what the gap is.
 
Finally said the heck with it and found a great deal on ebay. Got a set of brand new CB's wiith the project x flighted 5.5 shaft +.50 length. I will get them bent to 2 degrees upright. They will be here next week. Wish I could get them here sooner but I will just have to wait it out. It is the 4-PW so I'm going to look for the Approach wedge that I have read so much about here. If I hit the 4 iron well I will look at getting a 3 iron. Just ahve to see how it goes.
 
GolfFest said:
Stan one of the things I noticed is the short irons are a bit shorter distance wise than some others, any trouble with the gap between the 8 and 9 or did making them longer and stronger help them blend well?
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So today I went to the range and spent a good amount of time with the Speedblade 8 iron and the CB 9 iron. The result is a normal distance gap of 10-12 yards. The Speedblade is still a little more forgiving (the CB is very similar to my old R11 irons in terms of forgiveness) but the distances are similar. With the specs of 2* strong and 1/2 inch long the CB 9 iron is essentially the same specs as the stock 9 iron for the Speedblades. Both have the SteelFiber i95 shafts in them and I was hitting them both a long way. I went to a range that is excellent for identifying distance and the CB 9 iron was flying 160 yards. This was with range balls in 45* weather. My R11 9 iron went 145. I didn't expect this kind of distance increase but today that's what I was seeing when I would shoot the ball with my rangefinder. I'm playing my first round of the year on Monday and I guess that will be the true test but for now I will say the CB's with the specs I have them at are long with decent forgiveness.
 
StanTheCaddy said:
So today I went to the range and spent a good amount of time with the Speedblade 8 iron and the CB 9 iron. The result is a normal distance gap of 10-12 yards. The Speedblade is still a little more forgiving (the CB is very similar to my old R11 irons in terms of forgiveness) but the distances are similar. With the specs of 2* strong and 1/2 inch long the CB 9 iron is essentially the same specs as the stock 9 iron for the Speedblades. Both have the SteelFiber i95 shafts in them and I was hitting them both a long way. I went to a range that is excellent for identifying distance and the CB 9 iron was flying 160 yards. This was with range balls in 45* weather. My R11 9 iron went 145. I didn't expect this kind of distance increase but today that's what I was seeing when I would shoot the ball with my rangefinder. I'm playing my first round of the year on Monday and I guess that will be the true test but for now I will say the CB's with the specs I have them at are long with decent forgiveness.
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Now that I have had a chance to play a few rounds in 60°+ weather I am finding them a little longer than my initial tests. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise.
 
Had a pretty good round with these today. They are coming around, and dropping the 4 and 5 irons and replacing them with hybrids might have been the best thing for me.
 
Could someone please measure the length of the 7 iron at the bottom groove? Metric would be nice :)
 
Really struggling with these irons. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something is just off. I find that I am hitting the ball at least 1 club shorter. They have some real nice things going for them but something is just not a fit for me right now.
 
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