TaylorMade RBZ Irons Review - Forum Testing

[Sooner21]

I had a good ball striking day today with my irons. I hit the 4 iron on my approach on #1 (190 to the pin) and was just short of the trap. I used it off the tee on number two and busted it down the fairway with a slight draw approx 210 yds & hit my attack wedge in and birdied the hole. Used it again on number seven (200 yds) and hit another attack wedge in to 12 feet and 3 putted. Four 3 putts today or I would have shot 76. I used the 4i again on number 18. After crushing DawgDaddy's driver on the par 7 18th I had 192 to the center of the green per Dawg's laser device. Now this is the funny part as I actually mis hit the four iron and made the green with a putt for eagle. Another 3 putt.

My mid irons were solid today with a nice high draw and either on the greens or very close by. I am feeling more love for the mid irons as they are easy to hit and provide a nice high with great carry type of ball flight. Unlike other testers my ability to work the ball with these irons, my ability to do so, is not up to par. It's hard for me to fade the ball but that is nothing unusual. The thing I like most is the ball flight is either straight or with a slight draw which is my go to shot.

The AW or gap wedge was money all day. I hit it consistently well which gave me several looks at birdie to only three putt and end up with bogie. I ended up with two birdies for the day and should have easily had two more with missing a three footer for one and three putted the par 5 18th. I hit the pitching wedge on number 15 from 139 yds downhill into a slight breeze and came up short by about 5 ft. I was smoking the pitching wedge and gap wedge when necessary. I used the 9 iron from 135 on number 16 however we were hitting into a gusty wind and I came up 10 yds short behind a green side bunker. The short irons in this set are so much fun to hit and that gap wedge with the fancy technology, is my favorite!

Sounds like my putting day yesterday. You'll like the RBZ's a little better when your new grips get put on...I know I do.

 

[Ole Gray]

Sounds like my putting day yesterday. You'll like the RBZ's a little better when your new grips get put on...I know I do.

Yea buddy as I am looking forward to my mid size tour wrap grips! IMO the way you grip a golf club is critical in the golf swing. If you start out with a grip that is too small, you will tighten your hands on the club during the down swing, which is not what you want. The results can be anything but consistent. I liken the grip as the engine to begin a good swing so it is important that your equipment is fitted to individual specs.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Were they physically longer than your irons or roughly the same length? I know the change in length, if any, takes a few swings to adjust to them hehe

I actually game a 4H & 5H so they are probably longer, but to be absolutely honest, I did not compare them side by side.

 

[bahester]

DD and OG, great feedback guys! I'll be going to the range tonight everybody, despite being still sick. If anyone has an specific questions or shots they'd like me to attempt, please ask here and I'll answer them on video at the range!

 

[Ole Gray]

DD and OG, great feedback guys! I'll be going to the range tonight everybody, despite being still sick. If anyone has an specific questions or shots they'd like me to attempt, please ask here and I'll answer them on video at the range!

You are a real trouper my tester team mate! You went out the first night you received them at 10:00 p.m. and posted a great video and now you are going out all sick and stuff. You da man and I'm sure everyone appreciates your dedication and hard work :clapp:

 

[MWard]

DD and OG, great feedback guys! I'll be going to the range tonight everybody, despite being still sick. If anyone has an specific questions or shots they'd like me to attempt, please ask here and I'll answer them on video at the range!

Try hitting pitch shots with the AW. I was going to after work but there's this dark stuff in the sky that I haven't seen in a while and it's confusing me

 

[bahester]

Try hitting pitch shots with the AW. I was going to after work but there's this dark stuff in the sky that I haven't seen in a while and it's confusing me

Haha, okay! that's one I wanted to try anyways since you mentioned it the other day. I'll let you know what I see

 

[Thechosen1]

I'm sure this is a skim but I did have a question...

How is the forgiveness in these? More so going from the wedge to the 7 all the way to the 4. Do you see a drop off or just overall how is the forgiveness in general?
Also I'm sure no one did, but any testers using the RBZ max? (silly question I know)

 

[bahester]

I'm sure this is a skim but I did have a question...

How is the forgiveness in these? More so going from the wedge to the 7 all the way to the 4. Do you see a drop off or just overall how is the forgiveness in general?
Also I'm sure no one did, but any testers using the RBZ max? (silly question I know)

Hey buddy, from my 1 range session and 1 playing session so far, I'd say these are very forgiving. Miss hits really don't produce a huge distance lost for me, but you can really feel it when you've hit it in the sweet spot. I know when I haven't, but the results are still pretty good.

 

[Ole Gray]

I'm sure this is a skim but I did have a question...

How is the forgiveness in these? More so going from the wedge to the 7 all the way to the 4. Do you see a drop off or just overall how is the forgiveness in general?
Also I'm sure no one did, but any testers using the RBZ max? (silly question I know)

I think the 6 - gap wedge are very forgiving and the 4 & 5 irons are the least forgiving. No RBZ Max testers .

 

[Sooner21]

I'm sure this is a skim but I did have a question...

How is the forgiveness in these? More so going from the wedge to the 7 all the way to the 4. Do you see a drop off or just overall how is the forgiveness in general?
Also I'm sure no one did, but any testers using the RBZ max? (silly question I know)

Agreed with both answers so far. The 4 and 5 aren't unforgiving by any means though.

 

[MWard]

I'm sure this is a skim but I did have a question...

How is the forgiveness in these? More so going from the wedge to the 7 all the way to the 4. Do you see a drop off or just overall how is the forgiveness in general?
Also I'm sure no one did, but any testers using the RBZ max? (silly question I know)

You can still mishit these and get good distance out of them. I'd say they're very forgiving.

 

[Buckjob]

great stuff so far guys.... some great reviews! glad i finally had some time to catch up.

 

[Danilo]

I had a good ball striking day today with my irons. I hit the 4 iron on my approach on #1 (190 to the pin) and was just short of the trap. I used it off the tee on number two and busted it down the fairway with a slight draw approx 210 yds & hit my attack wedge in and birdied the hole. Used it again on number seven (200 yds) and hit another attack wedge in to 12 feet and 3 putted. Four 3 putts today or I would have shot 76. I used the 4i again on number 18. After crushing DawgDaddy's driver on the par 7 18th I had 192 to the center of the green per Dawg's laser device. Now this is the funny part as I actually mis hit the four iron and made the green with a putt for eagle. Another 3 putt.

This is exactly what I need out of a set of irons!
Sucks that you 3 putted... but I'm glad you and that long iron are getting along!

 

[barryboymunro]

Fair questions, I'll see if I can break them down.

1. If this is the case then why are people mulling over the exact degrees of wedges in their bag or so hung up on being able to lower the loft on their driver
Because golfers are a little bit of headcases. Let's be honest, we're all a little sick. Example of me personally being a headcase: Why does my 58 degree wedge go 5 yards shorter than my 56 degree wedge, but 15 yards longer than my 60 degree wedge? Why did my 58 degree wedge all of a sudden go 12 yards further on one hole than it's supposed to on a full swing? Do I need to find a club to fill the 15 yard gap between my 58 and 52? Or just swing my 52 a little easier, or hit the 58 harder?

2. All i'm saying is why not keep the degrees of loft in line with their other irons, ironic their longest iron is lofted stronger than their previous irons
Disclaimer: I'm entirely making all these numbers up, so don't rely on a single launch angle, spin rate, etc. It's just used to prove a point. Scenario: If the 2.0 4 iron at 21 degrees for your swing launches at say 14 degrees at 4000 RPM of spin, giving you 210yds of carry at whatever ball speed numbers are needed to make that happen. The RBZ 4i at 21 degrees launch at 16 degrees, but at 4500 RPM. Well that's a problem. It's launching 2 degrees higher which is nice, but spinning 500 RPM too much for that club and causing you to lose out on yardage because the ball's falling at too steep of an angle. If we want to drop that RPM down 500 RPM, we know we can do so by strengthening the loft 1 degree. We strengthen the loft, bring the RPM down to just about, if not 4000 RPM. Now you have an iron launching 2 degrees higher still by design, and at the appropriate spin rate.

That's probably how these iron companies work. That's just my opinion, I'm sure someone with a lot more knowledge would have a better or at least better detailed answer.

I like the answers here, thanks for the time taken to write this. Enjoying the reviews so far

 

[Ole Gray]

This is exactly what I need out of a set of irons!
Sucks that you 3 putted... but I'm glad you and that long iron are getting along!

When you nut up on either the 4 or 5 iron, the ball gets out of town really quick! If I put a crappy swing on the ball my misses are generally low burners. The long irons for me are more of a mid ball flight with tons of roll out.

 

[MWard]

I like the answers here, thanks for the time taken to write this. Enjoying the reviews so far

Hehe glad you liked it

 

[JF]

yeah bahester! Testing when you're sick is dedication.

 

[MarcH]

Nice shooting today OG. I bet when you get those midsized grips you'll be hell on a wagon! I'd like to get a hold of that 4-iron, or even if they made a RBZ 2iron bet it would be long off the tee.

 

[DawgDaddy]

You can still mishit these and get good distance out of them. I'd say they're very forgiving.

True this, I saw OG totally mishit the 4I from 192 today and I thought he might get 160 with the roll. Wrong! That sucker rolled all the way to the green. I'd call that pretty good distance on a mishit.

 

[bahester]

This should be good. I won't have my camera tonight at the range but I got my roommate to come who has only swung a golf club like twice in his life. Gonna set him up to hit some RBZ's and see how he does. Should be good feedback for anyone who's a higher handicap on how these perform.

 

[DawgDaddy]

DD and OG, great feedback guys! I'll be going to the range tonight everybody, despite being still sick. If anyone has an specific questions or shots they'd like me to attempt, please ask here and I'll answer them on video at the range!

ded·i·ca·tion  [ded-i-key-shuhn]
noun
1. bahester

 

[Tadashi70]

I played with Nate today and watched him give the RBZs a good workout. He hit them quit well although he will have to get the distances dialed in. There a number of shots that come to mind that impressed me: 4i on a short par4 230 to carry a trap from an elevated tee. Nate crushed it through the fairway straight away carrying the 230 mark with ease. Another was an uphill par3 to a tucked pin over a trap, he hit a smooth PW from 130 or so to 7 feet.
I'm sure he will report on his experience but it was nice to see someone not quit comfortable really play some golf and hit quality shots. Ball flight was high without ballooning and on the hard greens he was getting some really good check. Length is not an issue for Nate so these really added to his game.

 

[Redbird]

Are the 4 and 5 like hitting a hybrid? They are ugly as hell but look more "hybrid-ish".

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[bahester]

Damn Freddie, it seems like Nate was smashing these from what you're saying. I'm not quite seeing the distance like everyone else but I've yet to play on a real course with any rollout, premium balls, or warmer weather. I'm also not seeing the distance gains exactly because my irons basically had the same lofts already, so I'm pretty dialed in. I'm hitting the 6-AW REALLY well right now. I just got home from the range and I put in quite a bit of work tonight. My body is going to hate me tonight with the cold weather, but it was worth it. With a few swing modifications I was absolutely stroking everything up to the 6 iron. I wasn't even swinging hard and was hitting an 8 iron all over the 155 flag with a tight little draw. Stepping on the petal on these irons is a bit of an issue for me, I'm not sure the shafts can handle it and shots start to spray different directions. However, if I hit a controlled swing, these bad boys are M-O-N-E-Y. Mishits were no problem, I was barely losing any distance, it was kinda crazy. However misshits on the 4 and 5 iron I lost probably 20-25 yards. I didn't hit them as well tonight, which was a bit disappointing. I think they are a bit too long for me, and it's really gonna take some getting used to. There were a handful that I really stuck well, but the majority were mishits. None of them were slices or hooks, which I was really pleased with. Every single ball I hit tonight was either dead straight, or a tight little draw. However the distance wasn't quite there for me tonight on the 4 and 5 irons.

Mward, I tried a few pitch shots on one of the greens, with mixed results. I was able to get 10-20 feet of rollout, but I'm still gonna have to do some work with the AW. I was able to hit a variety of shots though, which I was very happy with. I could hit it high and have it stop dead in its path, I could hit a little low shot with some spin that checked and rolled 5 feet or so, and I could hit the pitch that had 10-20 said feet of rollout. I think with some practice I'll be using the AW quite a bit. It didn't quite have the bite that my wedges do, but there weren't any huge issues stopping it.

I was hitting off mats again tonight, which as previously noted - I absolutely hate. I swear grass gives me another 5-8 yards, but I have no science to back that up. My elbow is a bit tingly right now from hitting so many balls, but man, these irons really are a joy to hit. They are just so solid and controlled swings produce awesome results. Here is the most telling part of the night when considering these irons as game improvers:

My roommate came out with me. He's a pretty good athlete, wrestled in high school, run and works out, etc. He's only played a round of golf once in his life and that was our senior year of high school. He hasn't swung a club since then. He went out to the range tonight and warmed up with some of his brothers clubs. He really has a great swing and was hitting the ball really, really, really well. Once he was warmed up I handed him my 8 iron and told him to aim for the 155 flag. I'll just say this: he absolutely was stroking these irons. The guy hasn't swung a club in 4 years and was hitting my 8 iron at the 155 flag over and over and over. He's a bit stronger than I, and he even hit a few over it. He was amazed that he didn't have to swing hard at all and that it was so consistent. I was really impressed at these irons in the hands of a beginner. He's a good athlete and has a good swing, but still - these irons really performed for him. I thing these are super irons for any type of player, a 25 handicap, or a 5 handicap. You can work the ball quite well with them. I purposely tried to hit a few fades with the 7 iron tonight and had no issues. Same with a draw. You can play knock down shots with them if you'd like as well. The ball flight on the 6-AW for me is pretty dag on high. I'd be interested in how some different shafts would perform. Overall, I'm super happy with these right now. Once I get the 4 and 5 irons figured out watch out single digits, here I come.