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Bridgestone J15 Cast Iron Review

SuperStroke
Looking forward to some run down info from Legacy participants on these irons!

I read about some bombs I think.

JM
 
These irons were legit for me all weekend, I couldn't be more happy with how they feel and especially the distance I saw. Nothing wrong with a half of club more distance to work with along with ultimate forgiveness, check these irons out if you are in the market for a GI/SGI set of irons.
 
fairband said:
These irons were legit for me all weekend, I couldn't be more happy with how they feel and especially the distance I saw. Nothing wrong with a half of club more distance to work with along with ultimate forgiveness, check these irons out if you are in the market for a GI/SGI set of irons.
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I'm sure you were making these babies work for you! Loving the feedback!
 
These irons made me so happy this weekend. They were easily as forgiving as my G30's I had before the weekend, except the Cast were a club longer and a better profile. I would not hesitate for even a second to recommend to anyone in the GI market
 
OK, time to give these clubs some love. Lets put things in perspective from the Legacy. We got the clubs in our hands Friday morning. Had some range time, nine holes and then went right into the competition. What followed was some of the best golf of my life for about a 9 hole stretch, including 4 birdies, 3 of which were set up by these excellent irons. They look as good as any GI iron I've ever seen, and at address they really just promote confidence. The sound/feel is exactly what you'd want in an iron and the distance and forgiveness is right up there with anything I've ever played.

After that magnificent weekend, today was the first time I've gotten to hit the clubs again. I took them into my garage where I have a Skytrak monitor and hitting bay set up, and took about 75 swings with the 8 iron to get some numbers. I've been playing the Speedblades recently and have hit them great. I wanted to see if these could compete.

Well, short answer, they do.

After about 50 swings, these were the averages I was seeing with the 8 iron using some Titleist DT solo balls I had in the garage:
Launch 18*
Ball Speed 125
Spin 6600
Carry 173

Dispersion was good too. most balls falling between the center line and 12 yards left of center (draw shape).

Very similar numbers to the Speedblades with perhaps a little more spin. There's even a little room for more spin with a Tour ball given those numbers.

Here's one of the shots from this session. I love this result as I clearly thinned this shot. Not bladed but certainly a couple grooves low and you wouldn't know it from the results.
8thin_zpsohyxmans.png



After the "normal hit the green" swings, I really tried to hammer some to see what was physically possible with this iron. The below was the hardest I was able to hit one. I'm VERY dubious of the spin numbers the monitor recorded for this swing so take the carry numbers with a grain of salt, but the face with the speed flex cut out is definitely HOT. I was able to hit about 10 balls in a row over 130mph.

mashed8_zpszghgeqbf.png



Yeah, that's absurd for an 8 iron for me. I think that's better ball speed than I can get with the speedblades, which are ridiculous in their own rights.

For some perspective, here's a look at the 8 iron at address. The top line is certainly thick, but not obnoxious.


profile_zpshxxsrsmx.jpg



Also, I'm playing these with C Taper in stiff, standard length, one degree up. I think I will be gaming these for a long time to come. Will update this thread as I continue to put these through the paces. Will probably give the longer irons a go next time.
 
Hey look, Bret hit a golf ball hard.

Seriously, these are some awesome looking irons.
 
I stood too close to Brett on one of the tee boxes and damn near had my shirt ripped off from the turbulence.
220 yard 8 iron is fantastic ha-ha.
 
bret I want a picture of that setup in your garage. sounds sick!


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I can attest to the fact the Brett can pound the ball and has no problems putting the ball close to the hole on approach shots. He did so many time Sat morning in Legacy earning the name Buzzsaw Brett....I see no reason to switch these irons for you, you hit them too well!
 
So glad to see you get I here Brett! Looks like these irons are Monsters for you. The Topline isn't even an issue for me anymore, and that AW! Man oh man, it took us a little while to find our groove, but this girl really knows how to make me smile!

Glad the J15 Cast performed for you man! But more importantly, so very glad they have staying power for you!

JM
 
I can't say enough about these Cast irons and the KBS tour 90 shafts I have in them. I've now played 3 rounds post Legacy, and they're pretty much the 3 best rounds of golf I've played. I'm easily getting over a club extra distance with them, and the forgiveness is off the charts. I am going to rent out a 30 minute time at my Golf Galaxy in the next week or so and compare actually ball speeds and spin to my old G30's and see if I can get some numbers to back up what I'm seeing. In short though, I'm absolutely stunned where these irons have taken my game.
 
Any side by side comparisons/opinions between these and the XR or RSi1? I've read they are no where near as long.

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moosejaa said:
Any side by side comparisons/opinions between these and the XR or RSi1? I've read they are no where near as long.

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I haven't had the opportunity to hit either of those clubs but I am seeing at LEAST a half club more in distance out of these over my previous irons (Burners). The ball jumps off the club face and I don't see how the other irons could be significantly longer.
 
New guy around here in a very poor golf area, Charleston WV. I have not seen these irons in person and can't find anyplace close that carries them to even look at. I am around a 20 handicap and am looking for the most forgiveness I can get (why not?) I have hit almost every iron I can think of with the exception of the J15 Cast and Wilson D200 (no local dealers). Right now I am leaning heavily towards the Ping GMax. Can anyone tell me how these would compare? Are they close in forgiveness? My normal 7 iron will go around 160 carry and I'm not looking for miracles, just help on random misses. Any help or answers would be very helpful. Thanks.
 
I think these irons are more in line with the G30's rather than the GMax, but still offer plenty of forgiveness.
 
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Well I think this is a pretty good endorsement. I met up with my brother in law at the range and brought both my J15 Cast and G30's and figured I'd let him use one of the sets. He is just starting out and hasn't even been on a course yet, but a pretty athletic guy. He hit the J15 Cast much better than the G30's. It wasn't even close.
 
Bringing this thread back up due to my recent acquisition of the J15 cast irons. I'm not going to hesitate to say that I LOVE THESE irons. Replacing my Speedblades in a heartbeat simply because these stay on line so much better than my Speedblades. I really like the looks and feel of these clubs. Definately feel heavier in the hand and much easier for me to swing. I've only gamed these twice but in those rounds I was really impressed with the shot dispersion.
 
There's not a lot of info on the net about the J15 cast. Are people who use these still happy?

They appear to offer quite a bit of forgiveness, look great, and reasonably priced too. I've been hitting quite a few Ping G15 irons in the backyard over the Christmas holiday and am thinking that if I hit my golf goals this year maybe I'll treat myself to some new irons later with a quality fitting. Previously I've bought off the shelf. AFAIK I'm basically the 50th percentile male with height and arm length so stock clubs seem to work ok, but I'd like to know that the irons setup is just right for me.

I read the thread and people seem to look at these favorably versus the G30. Any other comments?

Regards
Dave
 
Came over to post some thoughts from yesterday and saw that it has been a while. To answer your question in a word Dave.....YES. As the old saying goes, it's always the Indian and never the arrow. Recently I have been having some swing issues and I put my DPC's back in the bag to shake things up. I played several pretty good rounds with them, but came back to earth.

Took the J15 Cast out for the past two rounds and things have been much better. It's all about the forgiveness with me. When things are not going as well as they should, these clubs really save shots for me. When things are going well with the swing, these irons just flat out perform for me. They will be available for anyone to hit at #KickOffClassic!

JM
 
I ordered a set of these off of the Bay today and I'm excited about getting some more forgiveness in my life. I'm also coming from a J40 combo set, so I'm looking forward to see what kind of results I get with these J15's. They're supposed to be here by next Friday, but with the cold and wet weather I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to get them to the range.

Also, thanks for the ongoing in depth review JM.
 
Johnny mojo said:
Came over to post some thoughts from yesterday and saw that it has been a while. To answer your question in a word Dave.....YES. As the old saying goes, it's always the Indian and never the arrow. Recently I have been having some swing issues and I put my DPC's back in the bag to shake things up. I played several pretty good rounds with them, but came back to earth.

Took the J15 Cast out for the past two rounds and things have been much better. It's all about the forgiveness with me. When things are not going as well as they should, these clubs really save shots for me. When things are going well with the swing, these irons just flat out perform for me. They will be available for anyone to hit at #KickOffClassic!

JM
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I want to swing 'em! Been curious about these but haven't seen them anywhere to try them.


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You are welcome to hit anything I have!

JM
 
There's an ebay seller offering J15 cast 5-AW with Recoils 670 F3 or 680 F4 brand new for $379. This seems to fall into the "too good to be true" category. Is it a scam?

The seller has 100% positive feedback. If it ISN'T a scam then how is it possible? Is Bridgestone getting ripped off? Are they using these people to unload inventory they can't sell? The shafts alone are typically $40 a piece retail. It doesn't make sense.

Dave
 
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