2015 Ben Hogan FT15 Irons and TK15 Wedges: THP Review Thread

[emart2173]

nice thoughts hawk. don't worry about length of the post, i like the amount of info. sounds like the misses are what i was expecting to hear for what i would be my misses.

 

[Hawk]

Moving on to the wedges...

Just a refresher that I have a 48/52/56/60 setup and they all have the same shaft as the irons (Recoil 680). That's a new thing for me. Haven't ever played the same shaft all the way through a set like that. I think I like it. Based on what I saw yesterday I certainly didn't miss anything about my normal shafts, though I didn't have any overwhelming feelings that I preferred the Recoils either. A distinctly different feeling in hand for sure b/c they are so much lighter, but that's easy enough to adjust to.

I like the wedges. If I based my thoughts forever on just yesterday alone I'd say I loved the wedges and I think you'll see why I say that in a second. Really positive results for me from a variety of situations.

Partial Swings

First go I had was on a short par 3 that was playing to 100 yards and a front flag with a pretty stout left/right crosswind. I've been working on some things swing related (as usual) and thanks to the GC2 I had a chance to get a feel for distances with certain swings over the weekend, so I was relatively confident in my club selection of a 9:00 swing 48°. This seemed to produce a lower lauching, spinny flight on the monitor, but I'd not seen it in person to know for sure. Long story short, that's exactly what it was. Very flat trajectory that hit the green, looked like it hopped forward and spun back a foot or so, leaving me 6 feet for birdie. Yay.

The next hole I cut a corner off the tee, leaving me 80 yards in and hit the same shot with the 56° for a 4 footer that I made for birdie. Double Yay. This one was caught just shy of perfect and left a little grass on the club. The outcome was landing a little short of the yardage I expected and about 8 feet of roll out.

I mentioned a feeling of bravado in my last post and this is where it came from. The next hole was the scene of the triple lol.

Moving on, I want to illustrate what I saw at the 8th hole. I hit a drive short and left and laid up to 50 yards out of the rough. This gave me a nice clean lie and I thought a 1/4 swing with the 56° would cut through the wind enough. Again, a flatter flight that produced what you see in the picture below (looking towards the back of the green). Yanked it a bit as you can see. The ball spun and scooted about 3 feet to the left as well. That was a surprise to me, as I don't always expect that type of spin from a shot of that length.

Of course, not all these partial swings were perfect. For example, I did push one to the right that ended up barely on the green and 30 feet from the pin, wasting a great chance from 100 yards. Also hit a very mediocre wedge from 80 in to the par 5 and had 20 something feet for birdie.

Just a note that I'm not saying "the TK15's are super spinners bros!" They are fresh grooves though and the trajctory I was seeing really was pleasing, as was the quickness with which the ball stopped.

Greenside

Greenside shots performed as expected. I've been working on a little more run and less loft, so no real spin stories to tell here. It's not as sexy, but very good for me and distance controle. Had a couple from the rough with mixed results. No surprise there. I did have a lob from below an elevated green to hit with the 60° at one point and getting the ball up was easy enough. Didn't hit it to two feet or anything, but close enough to have a chance at par. Also, had to hit a very low bouncer with the 48° that I pulled off easily.

Full swings

Granted, I don't take a lot of full wedge swings, but I feel like I should with this review, so I went for it on a few occasions. Results to follow.

First was from a rotten lie in the rough with the 52°. I got too much grass and came up short. Boo.

Second was was from 117 yards (some wind at my back) with the 52°. Results are below. I hit this shot twice in the name of testing. The circle on the left was a mis-hit (toe). It made just past the front of the green on the left fringe. It's farther from the front edge than it appears. This was the ball I was actually playing and had to get up and down to save par from a pretty easy spot. The second shot closer to the pin was well struck. Just showing this to illustrate the differences between the two levels of contact. Ball flight here was nice and high. Very pleasing to the eye.

Last was from a decent lie in the rough from 110 yards, again with the 52 and over a tree. Cleaner contact than the first attempt and a 12 footer or so.


I did take some little baby divots too Bigger ones on practice swings (don't kill me course police), but in an actual swing any divot is a good divot. Club really cut through the grass.

I think you'll see why I was pleased with the wedges. Just a good day with them and it's hard not to let that feeling bleed over to your perception of a product. Really liked that I had some spin on the partial swings, but could still get a nice high ball on full swings.

 

[Jman]

Gosh dammit Hawk, great freaking stuff dude.

 

[Hawk]

Gosh dammit Hawk, great freaking stuff dude.

Thanks man. Fun times. It's been a while since I stretched my forum testing muscles out lol.

 

[Jman]

Thanks man. Fun times. It's been a while since I stretched my forum testing muscles out lol.

I know exactly what you mean.

I'm about to get out for another round with mine, looking forward to writing a throwbackvJman novella tonight hahahahah

 

[MPlefty]

great work Hawk, looks like they perform pretty well for you so far.

that was a great read, keep it up

 

[staticline]

JMan/Hawk,

Hawk's 5 iron....er, excuse me, his 24* iron, and it's mishits made me think about when I got my last fitted set from an OEM. I had ordered 2* up and everything was great except for my 7iron. I couldn't hit it to save my life. Another fitter said to bring the irons in for a quick lie check...and the 7 was "off".

So, it made me wonder if either of you thought one of your irons didn't seem to have the consistency that the rest of the set did?

Love reading your stuff. Keep up the great work.

 

[Hawk]

I know exactly what you mean.

I'm about to get out for another round with mine, looking forward to writing a throwbackvJman novella tonight hahahahah

Good luck out there!


I do want to note that the hole shown in the third picture isn't the actual hole for that green. It's an extra one (oversized) for junior golfers. Actual pin is closer to even with where the ball is, but to the right a ways.

 

[Hawk]

JMan/Hawk,

Hawk's 5 iron....er, excuse me, his 24* iron, and it's mishits made me think about when I got my last fitted set from an OEM. I had ordered 2* up and everything was great except for my 7iron. I couldn't hit it to save my life. Another fitter said to bring the irons in for a quick lie check...and the 7 was "off".

So, it made me wonder if either of you thought one of your irons didn't seem to have the consistency that the rest of the set did?

Love reading your stuff. Keep up the great work.

I'll have to keep an eye on it static and it's worth a look for sure. I actually haven't hit the 6 iron yet somewhow, but hit the 7 well.

I think it's likely just me sucking with longer irons. It's a running theme lol.

 

[mancest]

Hawk, great write ups, can't wait to see more in this thread going forward.

 

[adamw238]

These clubs look dead sexy!! I want them.....I don't want them.....I want them.....

 

[mikedean441]

Killing it with these pics and thoughts hawk

 

[Jman]

JMan/Hawk,

Hawk's 5 iron....er, excuse me, his 24* iron, and it's mishits made me think about when I got my last fitted set from an OEM. I had ordered 2* up and everything was great except for my 7iron. I couldn't hit it to save my life. Another fitter said to bring the irons in for a quick lie check...and the 7 was "off".

So, it made me wonder if either of you thought one of your irons didn't seem to have the consistency that the rest of the set did?

Love reading your stuff. Keep up the great work.

Its funny you bring this up, tomorrow I'm going to go have all the lofts and lies checked out of curiosity, at least tha5s the plan.

 

[drp3434]

Hawk that's some great info man.

leaving me 6 feet for birdie. Yay.

for a 4 footer that I made for birdie. Double Yay.

Just a note that I'm not saying "the TK15's are super spinners bros!"

These three lines had me chuckling pretty good too. Always a bonus in reading a Hawk writeup

 

[Hawk]

Haha I maintain a running dialog in my head at all times. The challenge is capturing it in the written word.

 

[Canadan]

It's time to contribute!!! I won't post any exhaustive amount of photos, however I did want to share a couple. I love the way that Hogan packaged the set, as it looks both Texan and American (I dig companies with genuine pride). They are as I had expected after seeing them at the PGA show, but I believe it will come down to how they perform that makes the world of difference.

Some quick thoughts:

- I think there is a mild progression through the set, as you notice a lack of carved out area in the (lack of) cavity with the 60*, however as you progress towards the 20* there is a notable change.
- I love the V-Sole concept and look forward to putting it to the test.
- As much as I think it will take time to understand the lofts rather than numbers, I'll be taking advantage of my bag structure (three to a slot) so it's practically cheating!
- I can confirm they are forged and have ties to Ft.Worth
- I'll be gaming 20* through to 60*
- The shafts are Tour V 110 (stiff)

 

[mikedean441]

those look slick dan!

 

[Hawk]

Have fun Daniel-san. I was impressed with the packaging too. Have received a lot of very blah golf boxes over the years.

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

Great thoughts on the wedges Ryan, and great first thoughts Dan. Sounds like you really enjoyed the wedges Hawk - I am curious though, have you played SCORs before, and if so, how similar are these exactly? Have they evolved from the SCOR wedges at all, or are they pretty much rebadged 4161's?

 

[Hawk]

Great thoughts on the wedges Ryan, and great first thoughts Dan. Sounds like you really enjoyed the wedges Hawk - I am curious though, have you played SCORs before, and if so, how similar are these exactly? Have they evolved from the SCOR wedges at all, or are they pretty much rebadged 4161's?

I hit the SCOR wedges a few times, but that was probably 3 years ago? I really can't say, but based on what I know about them there are some similarities in design for sure.

 

[Canadan]

I grabbed the irons I have kicking around to draw a comparison for those curious.

From the left: Callaway XR Pro - Bridgestone J15 Cavity Back - Bridgestone J40 DPC - Ben Hogan FT15

 

[IceyShanks]

That's one simple looking golf club that's for sure. A blast from the past compared to some of the more aesthetically challenged irons we've seen lately. I don't know how confident I would be putting that behind a ball, personally, can't wait to hear how you like them Dan, well done Ryan and James so far, great info.

 

[Jman]

I grabbed the irons I have kicking around to draw a comparison for those curious.

From the left: Callaway XR Pro - Bridgestone J15 Cavity Back - Bridgestone J40 DPC - Ben Hogan FT15

That's a great pic Dan.

So, I'll have a fill write up and rundown tonight, but I'll leave this here...

Spin is fun.

 

[Jman]

Great thoughts on the wedges Ryan, and great first thoughts Dan. Sounds like you really enjoyed the wedges Hawk - I am curious though, have you played SCORs before, and if so, how similar are these exactly? Have they evolved from the SCOR wedges at all, or are they pretty much rebadged 4161's?

I'll get into this directly tonight as I gamed the scors a long time before I gave them away to a thper.

 

[Canadan]

Thoughts from the course:

- they produce amazing feedback when hit flush.
- they do not produce amazing feedback elsewhere.
- I just flew a flag by 15 yards. Confused by lofts.
- 3 irons are hard to hit.