Ben Hogan ICON Irons

[KEV]

I am at my parents house this weekend and my mom saves everything, which is much appreciated in this case because as were going through some things, we came across the the spec sheet and thank you letter that came with the purchase of a set of 1999 Hogan Apex Blades. Thought it would be cool to share it in here with the review of The Icons.
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That's pretty awesome man!

 

[Jeff Spicoli]

That is amazing
Would love to hear the history of that set... did you like them?

They are fantastic. Not the most forgiving obviously, but when my game was in a better place, they were precise and I have lots of fond memories of good shots. And my hands still sting when thinking about the poorly struck ones.
I got these when I was in high school after being fit into them by our pro. I still have them in the garage and am feeling like I may need to dust them off for a round soon.

This is seriously very very cool.

A classy touch.

 

[KEV]

Tonight I took the kids out for some time on the range and 3 holes and I'm starting to get some thoughts on these.

- like I mentioned earlier the V sole is amazeballs. It's so versatile and works so well in any lie.

- I've never tried a blade iron before and I was picturing death on mishits distance wise. I was actually quite surprised by how much distance I lost on mishits, but in a good way. It was a small sample size but I felt like I only lost maybe 5 yards more than I would with my other more forgiving irons, and maybe not even that much.

- Ben Hogan's Progressive Center of Mass Weighting seems to work pretty well. Basically these are designed with weight positioned higher in the head of the scoring irons to help lower flight and produce more control and weight lower in the low lofted long irons to help bring the ball flight up and get more spin. Even with the fact that I've been hitting the ball higher in general lately I've noticed multiple times how well I've been able to elevate the longer irons. The short irons haven't ballooned at all to my eye either.

- you definitely feel it when you miss the center. It's not hand shattering by any means but you get vibration. Have you ever driven a car that has the lane assist feature where if you drift out of your lane the steering wheel shakes a bit and a message says "sharpen up dummy"? It's basically like that.

- I love the shape. The look overall is very much old school but even the shape seems old school to me.




- after multiple range sessions and a few holes played I still don't think they look intimidating at address. Now I'm pretty used to smaller irons but was expecting there to be a bit of a scary factor at address. So far it hasn't crossed my mind at all. Well, other than that crazy 4 iron. Here's the 6 iron for an example.


Overall I'm having a whole lot of fun and can't wait to get some 18 hole rounds hopefully in the near future. Feel free to fire away with questions!

 

[Jman]

You’ve got me giddy to get my combos in Kev.

 

[BigDill]

I need the combo set in DMBeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[Jman]

I need the combo set in DMBeeeeeeeeeee!

You know, call me crazy, but with the Hogan name on them I just can’t make myself want the dark finish. Just seems, off.

But it is a gorgeous finish.

 

[BigDill]

You know, call me crazy, but with the Hogan name on them I just can’t make myself want the dark finish. Just seems, off.

But it is a gorgeous finish.

I hear you and the chrome is awesome. But I have the DMB in the PTx Pros and it’s so sexy. But if I got them, I would put them in the custom Recoil Protos I have coming with those Vice colored ferrules.

 

[ddec]

these are getting some on course treatment this afternoon. Pretty darn excited for that.

 

[KEV]

these are getting some on course treatment this afternoon. Pretty darn excited for that.

Sweet! I'm looking forward to what your thoughts. My match play round is in the air still, waiting to see what the weather is going to do.

 

[Jman]

these are getting some on course treatment this afternoon. Pretty darn excited for that.

LFG!!!!!

 

[ddec]

 

[Popeye]

I try to move away from blades but always come back.

I feel your pain which is why I sold my set last month.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 

[Jman]

That’s a gorgeous picture.

 

[Popeye]

Boy,,, those are right there is in my wheel house. There is a reason I just sold my MMB Blacks. I don't need these.. i don't need these..

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[ddec]

That’s a gorgeous picture.

Thought you’d approve

 

[Jman]

Thought you’d approve

100% approve and made proud.

Framing is everything!

 

[MWard]

That's a filthy looking photo Ddec. Hope you strike em well.

 

[X.Man]

 

[ddec]

Bag is loaded. Clicgear is loaded. Let’s do this.

 

[ddec]

Ok the 5 iron for the first approach was kind of cruel. But the 9 iron on the next hole was pretty darn good.

 

[Thrillbilly Jim]

That DBM finish is so great!

 

[Jman]

I have heard a rumor Dean smashed a 4i....

 

[KEV]

My first round Match Play Championship match is on the books and I was able to squeeze out the W on the last hole and these played a big part in it. I'll have some thoughts later but I'll leave this beautiful 8 iron shot here.

 

[ddec]

I’m home and need to gather my thoughts. Overall though I can’t believe how well I struck the ball with these. At one point my playing partner said “who said you can’t play blades?” That in its own right is a scary thought. Oh and my favorite club of the round? 4-iron. Used it off the tee 3 times, used it twice for position, and used it once on an approach on a par 5.

 

[ddec]

I have heard a rumor Dean smashed a 4i....

Repeatedly





Those are from a tee shot. Below is from approach on a par 5 from 215 out.