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Nike VR Pro Combo Irons - Forum Testing Review

SuperStroke
AK jr. said:
today was the first day i got to take my combos to the range. they have been being regripped, ect. and i wasn't in a hurry to put them in play.

Looks- first impressions weren't anything serious, as my brother also plays the combos and I have used players/smaller irons since i started playing. the one thing that i did find exceptional was the way the c tapers looked in the chrome heads....pretty sweet. i only really used the 8 and 5 iron just for a comparison versus my ap2's. this is the first time i have ever seen the ap2's as "bigger" irons.

feel- typical forged feel. pretty solid through the ball and have a bit more powerful feeling than the lighter, wispy feeling i got with the ap2's. this could also be due to the change from s300 buttery feel to kbs c taper solid feel.

distance- this was interesting with all the rave about the c tapers. i found my 8 iron comparable to the ap2's, about 150-155. the long irons are the real deal though. i average about 183ish carry with my ap2 5 iron, but was carrying 195-200 with the combo 5 iron. this coincides with all of the reviews that mention the c tapers really shining in mid and long irons. mishits were decent with the short irons but seemed almost on the money with the longer irons.

cons- the new groove design (more grooves) make them harder to clean haha. other than that theres really nothing to mention.

mini c taper (s+ 125) review: the shafts launch a bit higher than the s300 for me. im still not completely confident in the irons overall only because they havent been out on the course or in competition yet, so some discrepancy is expected. i did find the feel of the shafts to be superb if you like a controllable yet powerful shaft with the slightest hint of stoutness. as far as distance goes, short irons are comparable to other shafts, but mid and long irons really do experience gains which was excellent especially for long par 3's. awesome kbs quality and quite a sweet look with the satin. i had about 3 people as me what the material was because they couldnt figure it out.
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Great writeup AK
 
Went to the range this morning. Didn't go to work on anything in particular, just wanted to keep my swing sharp. Struggled a little with center contact but all in all hit them well. The long irons in this set are sneaky forgiving. I was hitting the 4I really well. Practiced the stinger with the 3I and it was working well today. Might be a shot I become comfortable enough to take to the course. Did a distance test with my old set of irons and these. Took the 6I and took 10 swings with each club. Despite the fact that the loft on the old set was 28.5* loft vs. the 31* of the Nikes, I was hitting them both onto the same green. Probably about a 5 yard difference at most. A good day at the range and I can't wait for my next round. Would love to get out tomorrow but not sure that is going to happen.
 
AK jr. said:
today was the first day i got to take my combos to the range. they have been being regripped, ect. and i wasn't in a hurry to put them in play.

Looks- first impressions weren't anything serious, as my brother also plays the combos and I have used players/smaller irons since i started playing. the one thing that i did find exceptional was the way the c tapers looked in the chrome heads....pretty sweet. i only really used the 8 and 5 iron just for a comparison versus my ap2's. this is the first time i have ever seen the ap2's as "bigger" irons.

feel- typical forged feel. pretty solid through the ball and have a bit more powerful feeling than the lighter, wispy feeling i got with the ap2's. this could also be due to the change from s300 buttery feel to kbs c taper solid feel.

distance- this was interesting with all the rave about the c tapers. i found my 8 iron comparable to the ap2's, about 150-155. the long irons are the real deal though. i average about 183ish carry with my ap2 5 iron, but was carrying 195-200 with the combo 5 iron. this coincides with all of the reviews that mention the c tapers really shining in mid and long irons. mishits were decent with the short irons but seemed almost on the money with the longer irons.

cons- the new groove design (more grooves) make them harder to clean haha. other than that theres really nothing to mention.

mini c taper (s+ 125) review: the shafts launch a bit higher than the s300 for me. im still not completely confident in the irons overall only because they havent been out on the course or in competition yet, so some discrepancy is expected. i did find the feel of the shafts to be superb if you like a controllable yet powerful shaft with the slightest hint of stoutness. as far as distance goes, short irons are comparable to other shafts, but mid and long irons really do experience gains which was excellent especially for long par 3's. awesome kbs quality and quite a sweet look with the satin. i had about 3 people as me what the material was because they couldnt figure it out.
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great writeup, enjoy the clubs!
 
Chunkylover77 said:
Went to the range this morning. Didn't go to work on anything in particular, just wanted to keep my swing sharp. Struggled a little with center contact but all in all hit them well. The long irons in this set are sneaky forgiving. I was hitting the 4I really well. Practiced the stinger with the 3I and it was working well today. Might be a shot I become comfortable enough to take to the course. Did a distance test with my old set of irons and these. Took the 6I and took 10 swings with each club. Despite the fact that the loft on the old set was 28.5* loft vs. the 31* of the Nikes, I was hitting them both onto the same green. Probably about a 5 yard difference at most. A good day at the range and I can't wait for my next round. Would love to get out tomorrow but not sure that is going to happen.
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Good stuff - I am still surprised how well of a shot you can get out of a toe hit shot with these irons (specifically the 3-7). Like you, my next true update will be Monday when I can get back out for either a playing or range session.

After watching some Open golf, I definitely have some different type of shots that I want to try with the flighting of the ball, etc.
 
I too spent some time at the range with mine today, I really don't like ranges as I despise hitting from mats but I needed to spend some time getting used to my new babies, especially seeing as they are set up completely differently than my old set

Split Cavity
I mainly concentrated on hitting the 7i as I wanted to get used to the feel of the clubs and a 7i is my favourite club to hit. I was seeing a nice high ball flight with a slight fade most of the time (despite the wind being hard left to right). Not sure if I was holding the ball up against the wind or not to be honest but I wasn't seeing a huge fade / slice which is what I would have expected. I was hitting towards a green that was around 160 yards away and for the most part I was hitting the front edge of it. Hitting the 6i usually put me just at the back of it with a solid shot, again I was seeing a high ball flight with a slight fade

My miss's were on the toe but still had a nice ball flight and didn't loose that much distance, I would estimate between 10-15yards at most.

Pocket Cavity
I hit a few 5i and was getting a really high ball flight. Again I am not sure if this partially down to the wind or not. The Pocket Cavity on the 5i makes it really easy to get the ball airborne. I think I am going to need to work on hitting a lower shot as well as into the wind I can see he flight being too high. I hit a few 4i but to be honest I was not that impressed with how I hit it, it was towards the end of the session and my back was starting to give me some grief. The few I hit nice were like the 5i and produced s high ball flight.

Blade
What can I say about the blades in these apart from I am in Love. These are easily the best blades I have hit in a fair time. It's just so easy to get the ball in the air and on target. Was hitting the 8i to a green that was 140 yards away and I didn't miss it once in around 20 shots. Getting the same high ball flight with a slight fade. I also tried a few 1/2 shots with the PW to a green that was 75 yards or so away. The feel from a shot stroke dead center is brilliant and can't be beaten.

I need to spend some more time with these to get my distances set but from 1 round and 1 range session I am already in love. I am hoping that the lie adjustement to upright will help to reduce my fade and maybe turn it into a draw. Even with the strong left to right wind at the range I wasn't seeing any shots that went out right so maybe it is already helping. Only time will tell with that one though.

I am hoping to go to a local course on Tuesday evening to work on the short game before my next round on Wednesday evening. Will be using the wedge and my new VR Pro wedges that are due to be delivered on Tuesday

Did I mention that I love these clubs?
 
Great write-up Mike - glad you got them! Your initial findings appear very similar to mine and I would venture to say that after a few range trips you are seeing virtually no loss in distance (if in fact you do not gain some). Hitting off toe...sounding very familiar!!
 
Very nice stuff everyone, I'm slowly reading through to catch up all the way but really have enjoyed everything I have read so far.
 
Sorry I don't have a lot to share about these tonight, but I'll throw my round down and share my results... I hit a lot of wedges in..

Hole 1 :: 443 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 155 - Smooth 8 iron to center green, slight draw. 2 putt par.

Hole 2 :: 370 yards :: par 4 - 3 wood to 150 in bunker - 8 iron played right to draw a bit (water on the left) and it held straight. Kick off mound to fringe. Chip to 15 foot, putt made. par.

Hole 3 :: 185 yards :: par 3 - 6 iron to left green, slight draw. 2 putt par.

Hole 4 :: 551 yards :: par 5 - Driver to center fairway (270 out). 5 wood to 70 yards (was played to fade, stayed straight, doglegs right to the hole). 54* wedge over the green. Chip, chip, 2 putt double bogey.

Hole 5 :: 230 yards :: par 3 - 5 wood to left fringe pin high. 2 putt par.

Hole 6 :: 403 yards :: par 4 - dogleg left - Driver with slight draw to 105 yards. 50* wedge past hole (front pin position) but on line. 2 putt par.

Hole 7 :: 412 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 100 yards. 50* wedge to 15 feet. 2 putt par.

Hole 8 :: 335 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 45 yards. 54* to 8 feet. 2 putt par.

Hole 9 :: 525 yards :: par 5 - dogleg right - Driver to 248 yards. 8 iron to 95 yards. 50* wedge pin high, 5 feet. 1 putt birdie.

Final score :: +1 37.

As mentioned, I had a lot of wedge action tonight, only using my VR Pro irons 4 times. With that said, I had loads of confidence with them in my hands and put solid strikes on every single shot I took with them. This is just the time of the year that I get a decent amount of roll on my driver if I manage to keep it in the fairway, which has seemed to get me into wedge distance a lot.

I'll be playing another 3500 yarder tomorrow afternoon and should have some solid comments regarding these irons. I will say that as I get more and more comfortable with the set, the 3 and 4 iron seem to be getting a bit alienated from the rest of the set as I feel like the feedback is a bit more harsh with them, but I am not going to take away from the overall quality of the irons. When very well struck, they are quite pure.

As always, questions are more than welcomed.
 
Canadan said:
Sorry I don't have a lot to share about these tonight, but I'll throw my round down and share my results... I hit a lot of wedges in..

Hole 1 :: 443 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 155 - Smooth 8 iron to center green, slight draw. 2 putt par.

Hole 2 :: 370 yards :: par 4 - 3 wood to 150 in bunker - 8 iron played right to draw a bit (water on the left) and it held straight. Kick off mound to fringe. Chip to 15 foot, putt made. par.

Hole 3 :: 185 yards :: par 3 - 6 iron to left green, slight draw. 2 putt par.

Hole 4 :: 551 yards :: par 5 - Driver to center fairway (270 out). 5 wood to 70 yards (was played to fade, stayed straight, doglegs right to the hole). 54* wedge over the green. Chip, chip, 2 putt double bogey.

Hole 5 :: 230 yards :: par 3 - 5 wood to left fringe pin high. 2 putt par.

Hole 6 :: 403 yards :: par 4 - dogleg left - Driver with slight draw to 105 yards. 50* wedge past hole (front pin position) but on line. 2 putt par.

Hole 7 :: 412 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 100 yards. 50* wedge to 15 feet. 2 putt par.

Hole 8 :: 335 yards :: par 4 - Driver to 45 yards. 54* to 8 feet. 2 putt par.

Hole 9 :: 525 yards :: par 5 - dogleg right - Driver to 248 yards. 8 iron to 95 yards. 50* wedge pin high, 5 feet. 1 putt birdie.

Final score :: +1 37.

As mentioned, I had a lot of wedge action tonight, only using my VR Pro irons 4 times. With that said, I had loads of confidence with them in my hands and put solid strikes on every single shot I took with them. This is just the time of the year that I get a decent amount of roll on my driver if I manage to keep it in the fairway, which has seemed to get me into wedge distance a lot.

I'll be playing another 3500 yarder tomorrow afternoon and should have some solid comments regarding these irons. I will say that as I get more and more comfortable with the set, the 3 and 4 iron seem to be getting a bit alienated from the rest of the set as I feel like the feedback is a bit more harsh with them, but I am not going to take away from the overall quality of the irons. When very well struck, they are quite pure.

As always, questions are more than welcomed.
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nice typo, I think you mean 7500+ yarder tomorrow
 
mikedean441 said:
what??? Matt said you guys were playing the tips....time to man up Irish Bomber!
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We'll figure it out tomorrow.. I'll be hitting plenty of long iron VR Pros into greens if we are playing 7500 though!!

Sorry about the thread derail folks! Back to your regularly scheduled lovefest of these beauty irons!
 
mcook77 said:
Great write-up Mike - glad you got them! Your initial findings appear very similar to mine and I would venture to say that after a few range trips you are seeing virtually no loss in distance (if in fact you do not gain some). Hitting off toe...sounding very familiar!!
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Interesting that our initial findings are very similar. I have no doubts in my mind that when I get used to the new stix I will be hitting them as far if not further than my old ones. As much as I loved my Titleist 735 cm's these have taken it to another level completely. So much so that I am contemplating getting a 3i for the set.

Canadan said:
As mentioned, I had a lot of wedge action tonight, only using my VR Pro irons 4 times. With that said, I had loads of confidence with them in my hands and put solid strikes on every single shot I took with them. This is just the time of the year that I get a decent amount of roll on my driver if I manage to keep it in the fairway, which has seemed to get me into wedge distance a lot.

I'll be playing another 3500 yarder tomorrow afternoon and should have some solid comments regarding these irons. I will say that as I get more and more comfortable with the set, the 3 and 4 iron seem to be getting a bit alienated from the rest of the set as I feel like the feedback is a bit more harsh with them, but I am not going to take away from the overall quality of the irons. When very well struck, they are quite pure.

As always, questions are more than welcomed.
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Could this be to do with the pocket cavity design I wonder? I was having similar thoughts yesterday on the range when hitting my 4 and 5i with regards to the harsher feel on miss hit shots

I really can't wait to get out on the course with these again as I hit the ball much better when playing than I do on the range. Playing on Weds on a course I have played a few times so should be able to see if I am loosing any distance with these or not
 
So is the stock shaft in these the KBS C-Taper, or is that an upgrade?
 
GamecockGolfer said:
So is the stock shaft in these the KBS C-Taper, or is that an upgrade?
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Upgrade I believe. check out Nike's site for what shafts you can get as standard.

Over in the UK we are limited to TTDG or Project X Graphite as standard options but pay a surcharge for the graphite
 
MikeF said:
Upgrade I believe. check out Nike's site for what shafts you can get as standard.

Over in the UK we are limited to TTDG or Project X Graphite as standard options but pay a surcharge for the graphite
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Says it's an upgrade on the site, but no pricing. Looks like we've got the same options on this side of the pond as well.
 
GamecockGolfer said:
So is the stock shaft in these the KBS C-Taper, or is that an upgrade?
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Yeah I am pretty confident the Dynamic Gold line is the stock for these, although there are a bunch of options that don't come with upcharges if you check out their site.
 
What's weird is that the PX Graphite are no charge, but the PX steels are an upcharge.
 
Played 9 holes again yesterday, making it 8 days in a row I have played at least 9 holes. Shot 38 (+2) and could've been better if I could consistently drive the ball. The irons were great yesterday, as they have been. I am consistently hitting the ball at least 1 club longer than my TM's and more accurate too.

I have come to love the 3 and 4 irons, which were my nemesis for the first week and a half. They definitely have a different sound when you hit them, but it only seems logical because of the pocket cavity. They are very long! I typically carry the 4i about 200 yards, against 185 for my TM 4i. The 3i ranges from 210-220 carry depending on how flush I hit it. Off the tee they are a little longer, and I once hit the 3i 249 yards (total distance). I hit them straight most of the time, with a slight draw occasionally.

Not much else to say about the 5-PW, I am still in love. They are still performing fantastically and give me a TON of confidence standing over the ball.

If anyone has any questions, recommendations, comments, concerns, etc, let me know. Also, I have been thinking about shooting some video but I'm not sure what to shoot, any recommendations or requests? Can do any pics as well.
 
Jeff which Tour Preferred's were you playing before? MB or MC? I'm going back and forth between these irons and a set of Tour Preferred so I'm curious how you would compare the two.
 
INgolfer said:
Jeff which Tour Preferred's were you playing before? MB or MC? I'm going back and forth between these irons and a set of Tour Preferred so I'm curious how you would compare the two.
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I was like that, couldn't decide between these or a combo set of MC/MB. Glad I chose these though as they really are as good as everyone is saying
 
INgolfer said:
Jeff which Tour Preferred's were you playing before? MB or MC? I'm going back and forth between these irons and a set of Tour Preferred so I'm curious how you would compare the two.
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I actually had the 2010 TM Tour Preferred with KBS Tour shafts. They aren't really talked about much, but are great clubs. That being said, the VR Pro Combos are far and away a better set for me. They are longer (with the similar lofts and the same shafts), and more accurate too. I have hit the MC's but only a handful of times so I will not comment on those at this point.

Here is a pic, hope this helps.
 
I think either set I get I am going to slap some KBS Tour shafts on them. I don't want to lose distance from my split cavities that I am playing right now, so I'm curious why he may be getting less distance with the Tour Preferred irons.
 
Jeff Conner said:
I actually had the 2010 TM Tour Preferred with KBS Tour shafts. They aren't really talked about much, but are great clubs. That being said, the VR Pro Combos are far and away a better set for me. They are longer (with the similar lofts and the same shafts), and more accurate too. I have hit the MC's but only a handful of times so I will not comment on those at this point.

Here is a pic, hope this helps.
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Ah I see, OK. Yeah I have hit the '10 TP irons and they were nice, but I also felt I wasn't getting the same distance with those as I am with my Split Cavities. Thanks for clarifying.
 
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