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Moving to SGI irons to lower scores?

SuperStroke
jbandalo

jbandalo

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Just curious to see if anyone has moved to SGI irons to lower scores?

A little background. I have been playing off a 10 index and hoping to lower my index but for most of the year, my handicap index has risen to 14 and trending upwards. No rhyme or reason except that I'll have a bad couple of holes (a couple of triples or worse) and nothing really sticks out in one area but usually my iron play. I play Apex Pro 16's (fitted to me) so today I finally said screw it and ordered some monstrous Big Bertha OS Irons to see if I can lower my damn scores.

Anyone done something similar? How did it work out for you?

I'm hoping that with the BB OS irons, my scores lower and iron play confidence climbs and then I'll move back to the Apex Pro 16's as I do really love them.
 
I moved to more forgiving irons and my scores not only went lower, I play and practice less due to time.

Lots of great options out there that are quite forgiving and very consistent.
 
Thanks JB. I agree that sometimes we need to check our egos at the door. I too are not playing as much as I normally do and practice is a luxury. Curious on if I can get past the chunkiness of the BB OS's to be honest. If they're that much easier to hit and my scores drop, I won't care what they look like!
 
jbandalo said:
Thanks JB. I agree that sometimes we need to check our egos at the door. I too are not playing as much as I normally do and practice is a luxury. Curious on if I can get past the chunkiness of the BB OS's to be honest. If they're that much easier to hit and my scores drop, I won't care what they look like!
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Im a big fan of people should play whatever they want to. Im not one that has ever had a problem with top lines, soles, etc. I look at the ball, hit the ball and go to the next shot.
I also really like tech. I get the opportunity to talk to these crazy smart people that design these things and the tech is fun and awesome : )
Golf equipment is fun. At my age and time allocation for playing, I like the help.
 
I had some marginal success with lowering my scores by moving to more forgiving irons but nothing groundbreaking. It resulted in a slight decrease in my handicap but that could have been due to several reasons. I'm back to playing something a bit thinner and less forgiving than I should but I have more fun with the small shapes. I'd say play what makes you happy - if the forgiveness of the club gives you more happiness then go full speed ahead!
 
Molten said:
I had some marginal success with lowering my scores by moving to more forgiving irons but nothing groundbreaking. It resulted in a slight decrease in my handicap but that could have been due to several reasons. I'm back to playing something a bit thinner and less forgiving than I should but I have more fun with the small shapes. I'd say play what makes you happy - if the forgiveness of the club gives you more happiness then go full speed ahead!
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I agree. Most likely the issue is between my ears but new equipment to play with is always nice either way.
 
I play the Big Bertha OS. I'm perfectly fine with them. They help me as far as I can tell and no matter what the club is, a bad swing is a bad swing. I'll take any help I can get since I'm coming to the game later in life. If I get myself to a point where I can hit the ball and its not a total shank and it goes pretty close to where I want it to go, I'm happy. These do that for me.
 
I actually did it the other way, got a set I shouldn't have been playing at the time. Practiced with them a lot, got to be a better ball striker, and then when the HC started to drop a bit at the end of the year I swapped them out for clubs I felt comfortable with.
 
I recently purchased my first set of SGi irons (Ping G700).
In previous decades I have mostly played either muscle back or small cavity back irons.
To date I have about 8 rounds of golf plus some range time in with the SGI irons. My early comments are as follows:

The SGI 4 and 5 iron are definitely distance forgiving compared to smaller iron size heads.
The shorter irons fly on about a 10% higher trajectory than smaller head irons.
Off sloped , grassy, or other less than ideal lies I think the smaller heads are easier to square at impact.
My greens in regulation average has improved from 12 to 13, but I am not hitting my PW-6 iron approaches as close to the hole.
My scoring average is the same.

So with only about 6 weeks worth of playing SGI, my early thoughts are that there are some benefits to larger heads, but also some negatives.
I bought my set because I wanted to find out what SGi was all about, and I'll spend the next year finding out.
Also, I do think the golf industry equipment brands, retailers, club reviewers etc....have made a mistake categorizing irons as "players-GI-SGI" etc..., so that people are led to believe they should buy within the category that matches their handicap index. My take is that in some cases smaller heads might be a good fit for beginner and, or, high handicap players. For example, someone who regularly plays a hilly golf course might find the smaller heads are easier with which to square off of uphill-downhill-side hill lies. Or someone playing a course with thick rough might find smaller heads get through it easier.
And a low index player who wants to have less curve to his iron shots, or possibly higher trajectory, might find large heads a better fit than smaller iron heads.
 
This is a well timed thread for me. I recently went for a fitting at the local Golf Tec. I was concerned over losing distance the last couple of years with my current irons (Ping i20s). At first, I was just thinking I needed some different shafts (mine were the stock steel shafts from when I bought them 6 years ago). I know that I've lost club head speed due to aging (the horror) and loss of flexibility. Anyway, the fitter did still recommend steel shafts but lowered the weight and tried me with TaylorMade MCGB irons. I instantly got back the distance I had lost with my current irons! The one thing I really emphasized with him, though, was that I was more concerned with mishits. Any club I swung and hit pure would give me good results. The key was trying to minimize the effects of bad hits. That's where I think the SGI type of clubs really shine. Mishits with these types of clubs may not be dead perfect but they still produce shots that are playable.

In the end, I think I've decided to go with Cleveland Launcher HB irons. I'm not looking for them to correct my swing faults but hopefully they will be more forgiving when I don't have a perfect swing, lol.
 
DG_1234 said:
I recently purchased my first set of SGi irons (Ping G700).
In previous decades I have mostly played either muscle back or small cavity back irons.
To date I have about 8 rounds of golf plus some range time in with the SGI irons. My early comments are as follows:

The SGI 4 and 5 iron are definitely distance forgiving compared to smaller iron size heads.
The shorter irons fly on about a 10% higher trajectory than smaller head irons.
Off sloped , grassy, or other less than ideal lies I think the smaller heads are easier to square at impact.
My greens in regulation average has improved from 12 to 13, but I am not hitting my PW-6 iron approaches as close to the hole.
My scoring average is the same.

So with only about 6 weeks worth of playing SGI, my early thoughts are that there are some benefits to larger heads, but also some negatives.
I bought my set because I wanted to find out what SGi was all about, and I'll spend the next year finding out.
Also, I do think the golf industry equipment brands, retailers, club reviewers etc....have made a mistake categorizing irons as "players-GI-SGI" etc..., so that people are led to believe they should buy within the category that matches their handicap index. My take is that in some cases smaller heads might be a good fit for beginner and, or, high handicap players. For example, someone who regularly plays a hilly golf course might find the smaller heads are easier with which to square off of uphill-downhill-side hill lies. Or someone playing a course with thick rough might find smaller heads get through it easier.
And a low index player who wants to have less curve to his iron shots, or possibly higher trajectory, might find large heads a better fit than smaller iron heads.
Click to expand...

In regards to that, I agree since calling an iron SGI or GI, etc. is subjective. There aren't really any rules that define what separates a SGI from a GI. I think the lines are even more blurred now with the recent trend in hollow body irons that dd forgiveness across the face in a smaller headed profile. I'd like to think the the PXG, P-790, G700, AP3 all seem like better player irons that aren't really for me. Maybe they could be but I've never hit any of them. I'm intrigued by the P-790 and the G700 and I've never seen these hit side by side with my BB OS irons.
 
gmiller598 said:
In regards to that, I agree since calling an iron SGI or GI, etc. is subjective. There aren't really any rules that define what separates a SGI from a GI. I think the lines are even more blurred now with the recent trend in hollow body irons that dd forgiveness across the face in a smaller headed profile. I'd like to think the the PXG, P-790, G700, AP3 all seem like better player irons that aren't really for me. Maybe they could be but I've never hit any of them. I'm intrigued by the P-790 and the G700 and I've never seen these hit side by side with my BB OS irons.
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Hence the reason we don't do that at THP. The lines have been blurred for years and frankly some companies smaller profile irons are as forgiving as other companies larger irons. Or to use an example within a brand, the Titleist AP2 from this year is as forgiving as the Titleist AP1 from the 714 line. Which makes sense when hit and viewing how the construction and manufacturing are done.

With that said, the defacto area of comparison comes down to size, which makes it an easy target.
 
JB said:
Hence the reason we don't do that at THP. The lines have been blurred for years and frankly some companies smaller profile irons are as forgiving as other companies larger irons. Or to use an example within a brand, the Titleist AP2 from this year is as forgiving as the Titleist AP1 from the 714 line. Which makes sense when hit and viewing how the construction and manufacturing are done.

With that said, the defacto area of comparison comes down to size, which makes it an easy target.
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And that's totally understandable considering my BB OS irons are much larger than something like the G700 or P-790 but nobody outside this site ever seems to do direct comparisons between these types or irons. I've seen the BB OS compared directly to the Steelhead XR when they came out and performance seemed interchangeable. Other places might label those as SGI and GI respectively but those most likely come down to preference. I know the BB OS lofts are not as strong as other irons out that people might label as SGI too like the M2, M4, Rogue X, etc.
 
I play the cobra max clubs. My irons launch the ball in the air like a rocket. Huge confidence booster to see every iron shot go higher than everyone else in the group. Helps hold the green better too. Also keeps me from trying to kill the ball. I can just hit normally and know the ball will get up.
 
Yes. I went from J40s to Ping I25s. My handicap dropped about a third. However, I was also working hard on my game at the time so it wasn't just the clubs.
 
I'll be watching this thread because I've been wondering this myself! I play Ping ISI-K irons that are about 25 or so years old, I love the way they hit! But always wonder if SGI irons would help my consistency.

I don't really have a distance problem as much as a face angle problem, I hit fairly consistently in the middle unless I fall off balance (which happens sometimes), my bigger issue is having the face open or closed at impact. When I get tired I tend to turn my shoulders out rather than under, and sometimes I rock back on my backswing which means I get to the ball late. I don't think that any iron will help that much.

So far I've been spending my money on lessons instead of gear, and my current plan is to get fitted for a full custom set of clubs when my handicap drops to single digits. I figure that's going to be a few years.

Whiskey
 
Wiskey said:
I'll be watching this thread because I've been wondering this myself! I play Ping ISI-K irons that are about 25 or so years old, I love the way they hit! But always wonder if SGI irons would help my consistency.

I don't really have a distance problem as much as a face angle problem, I hit fairly consistently in the middle unless I fall off balance (which happens sometimes), my bigger issue is having the face open or closed at impact. When I get tired I tend to turn my shoulders out rather than under, and sometimes I rock back on my backswing which means I get to the ball late. I don't think that any iron will help that much.

So far I've been spending my money on lessons instead of gear, and my current plan is to get fitted for a full custom set of clubs when my handicap drops to single digits. I figure that's going to be a few years.

Whiskey
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If you are having lessons and getting a good consistent, repeatable swing I think getting fit will help you get to single digits in my opinion if your current irons are 25 years old. I wouldn't hold it to a specific handicap number. Once you reach that point where you have a comfortable swing, then I think a good fitting will help you get there.
 
I wouldn't criticize anybody for going with something more forgiving if it works for them. That said, I'm going the other way despite being classified as a high handicapper. A few years ago I purchased a set of Ping Karstens at the advice of a "fitter". I was actually hitting the i's and G's better on the monitor -- not as far, but straighter and more consistent. Sadly, I allowed him to convince me I'd be better off with Karstens in the long run. He couldn't have been more wrong. The offset just exacerbated my pull/hook, and the wide sole did not agree with my swing. I went back to my Cobra S2 Max's and eventually dumped the Karstens, It was a costly lesson. The Cobras are still holding me back, so I'm about ready to start the process again. I'm looking primarily at the Player's Distance category. And yes, I'll be going to a real fitter.
 
People should use what they like. There's nothing inherent about very large iron designs that will let you play better golf. Plus they often come with super light shafts. No thanks.

Musclebacks with X100s are probably a no go too :)

Dave
 
I've been playing my Wishon 550's since 2005ish. After the Championship, I'll be shopping. Thin topline, low offset, GI/SGI irons will be in my bag soon.
 
dthrog00 said:
People should use what they like. There's nothing inherent about very large iron designs that will let you play better golf. Plus they often come with super light shafts. No thanks.

Musclebacks with X100s are probably a no go too :)

Dave
Click to expand...

Good point about the super light shafts. Too light of a shaft weight absolutely causes problems for many players.
 
Hacker Rod said:
I wouldn't criticize anybody for going with something more forgiving if it works for them. That said, I'm going the other way despite being classified as a high handicapper. A few years ago I purchased a set of Ping Karstens at the advice of a "fitter". I was actually hitting the i's and G's better on the monitor -- not as far, but straighter and more consistent. Sadly, I allowed him to convince me I'd be better off with Karstens in the long run. He couldn't have been more wrong. The offset just exacerbated my pull/hook, and the wide sole did not agree with my swing. I went back to my Cobra S2 Max's and eventually dumped the Karstens, It was a costly lesson. The Cobras are still holding me back, so I'm about ready to start the process again. I'm looking primarily at the Player's Distance category. And yes, I'll be going to a real fitter.
Click to expand...

Lines have gotten very blurry these days. I am a High cap and I actually got Players Distance iron in the Forged Tec Black and have not regretted my decision at all. They are plenty forgiving and I have never had irons launch High and straight with so little effort. Sure Maybe I should have gotten the F8 irons and I might save 1 or 2 strokes but There is plenty of Tech in alot of irons these days.

I do know that I will probably Never need to buy another set of irons I love mine so much. Get what looks and feels good to you.
 
I can attest to this as I went from playing callaway x2 hot pro irons and switched over to callaway steelhead xr's. I went from shooting mid 90's to now shooting my personal best of 83 a few months back and my last 4 rounds have been in the mid/high 80's.

Sometimes you gotta suck up that ego and go with what makes you better. I mean I'd like to play blades cause they look so nice but that would be a disaster. Highly suggest the switch if you're looking for a change.
 
If you’re looking for something with a thinner top line and a lot of forgiveness and distance try the Mizuno JPX Hot Metals. My 900’s are awesome and I imagine the 919’s will be as well. You can also get the forged in the lower irons if you like. I think options like that are the great thing about golf today.
 
I moved back to my Razrs from the Apexes to help with my scores and 'new' swing style since surgery.
 
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