Bridgestone J40 Dual Pocket Cavity Iron Review Thread

Brooks I think you are going to love that j40 KBS pairing

Me too. They look awesome and I bet they feel even awesome-er. I'll be back soon ladies!
 
Those sure are lookers. I like that last picture best too Brooks. I hope Bridgestone will flip those around at some point.
 
Those sure are lookers. I like that last picture best too Brooks. I hope Bridgestone will flip those around at some point.

They need to sell for for that to happen. According to Josh from Bridgestone. But they do have some good ideas for the future
 
They need to sell for for that to happen. According to Josh from Bridgestone. But they do have some good ideas for the future

Man I didn't need to hear that I am really liking these.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 
I finished my demoing the J40 pocket cavity irons today. I still can't even believe that Bridgestone sent me a 7 iron of each J40, bent to my specs, just so I could try them. Unreal. Anyway, I'm going to get my G20s on eBay tomorrow and call in my order for 5-pw, Project X 6.0 flighted. I hit them on the lie board tonight and had the tape marked up dead center (bent 1 deg upright to 63.5 on the 6 iron). I can't wait. I am absolutely amazed at their distance and forgiveness. Another winner for Bridgestone. Thanks again, Bridgestone, for the exceptional customer service and allowing me to demo these awesome clubs!
 
These things are unbelievable. I have a bunch of thoughts I'm going to type up in a minute but want to make a few shorter posts in some other threads before I sit down and type this out. Stay tuned....seriously, these are awesome.
 
These things are unbelievable. I have a bunch of thoughts I'm going to type up in a minute but want to make a few shorter posts in some other threads before I sit down and type this out. Stay tuned....seriously, these are awesome.


The suspense...were waiting...thats right, we have nothing better to do...:bulgy-eyes:
 
Ok boys and girls just got home from my maiden voyage with the J40 DPC's. Took them out for a spin off the mats at the range and hot damn I have some thoughts!

First, let me just say that these are like cheating. Seriously, how there aren't more people playing these I have no idea. But I know one thing: the J40 DPC head paired with the KBS tour stiff shaft is the best club I've ever hit.

I'll talk about a few things, first up is feel: I was trying to think of a good word on the way home to describe the feel because it's honestly the best feeling iron I've ever hit. My mizunos couldn't touch the Bridgestones with a 12 foot pole. It's honestly a "flush" feeling. It's just incredible. If you hit the center of the club face you absolutely 120% know it because it just feels like you're hitting bouncy balls off the clubface. Soft, forged, buttery, sleek, powerful, springy all describe the J40 DPC irons. The easier I swing, the more flush it feels.

Also, the KBS Tour shafts do nothing but pour it on in the feel department. Smoothest feeling shaft I've ever felt, no doubt in my mind. I have a feeling KBS is going to absolutely explode once more Tour players start playing these and OEM's realize that they are leaps and bounds ahead of the game right now. Seriously, if you know of a better feeling combo than KBS/J40 DPC then please let me know, because I haven't found anything.

Forgiveness: I was actually expecting these not to be forgiving but hot damn was I wrong. They aren't shovels but damn I was impressed with the forgiveness all the way across the face. I can honestly say I didn't miss the sweet spot much, but when I tried to overpower and made bad swings I wasn't punished bad at all. On the heel and the toe I'd say the distance loss for me was at MAX about 10 yards. There were a handful of shots that I instantly said "ah, crap" only to see the ball land 5 yards short of where I expected it to. Distance loss on mishits was very very minimal. Also, if you can honestly slice or hook these I'm impressed. With my old irons I could put a good slice on the ball every now and then and if I tried to over-compensate I could hook it too if I wanted. Seriously, I didn't see anything I'd consider a slice or hook tonight. If I hit what would normally be a slice all it turned out to be was a hard 10 yard fade. I was in absolute shock at how forgiving they were in that aspect.

Accuracy: This is my absolute hands down favorite part about these irons. Point and shoot. Point and shoot. Point and shoot. If you think you have good alignment, buy these and see how it REALLY is. You better be damn sure you're lined up where you want the ball to go because it's going there, one way or another. I got so caught up in the accuracy I hit 75 balls with just my 9 iron before I realized I was almost out of balls and had only hit 2 clubs so far. The yellow flag was 137 from my bay and I absolutely WORE OUT the patch of grass that was 4 yards or so in front of the flag. Seriously. Line up, easy swing, land it at 133 or so, one big hop, stop DEAD right at 137. I hit the pin three times and out of about 75 balls I guarantee you there were only 5 that weren't on the surface green where the flag was. I bet at least 50% were within 10 feet. It was just stupid how accurate these are. Draw, fade, straight, doesn't matter. They end up where you tell them to go.

Distance: This was the only bit that was a TAD concerning to me. And the accuracy and feel outweigh this for me, so I'm not too concerned. I was hoping to get a little more distance with these but here's what I'm seeing so far:

PW: 120-125
9i: 130 - 135
8i: 140 - 147
7i: 150 - 157
6i: 158 - 165
5i: 170 - 180

Again, not terrible distance but not quite what I was hoping to get out of them. If I could pull another 10 yards or so on each club I'd be really really happy. And I think it's doable by two things: 1.) I always tend to be short when it comes to mats. I have no reasoning to back this up, but it just always seems that I hit the ball a few yards longer off the grass and 2.) I think with a premium ball I can squeeze another 4-5 yards out of them. So ultimately, I'm not too concerned.

Ball flight: With the KBS Tour's I was seeing an absolute towering ball flight with the PW, 9, 8, 7 irons. I mean hit, 1 hop, stop. I could've held freaking concrete with these things if I wanted to. I'm interested to see what kind of ball marks I make on greens this weekend because it was like dropping balls off a roof. With the 6 and 5 irons it was more of a piercing flight but still got up quite high at the end. I think the flight probably has a bit to do with the slight distance loss I'm seeing. Also with there not being much rollout, I'm going to have to adjust to that, but I'm stoked about one hop and stop. Compared to the S300 shafts in my Mizunos the KBS Tours are definitely higher, no doubt. I'm a tad concerned about windy conditions, as I honestly think I hit it so high with these I might have to club up 2 to maybe even 3 clubs. I'll cross that bridge when I get there though.

Durability: After hitting about 200 balls spread across the irons they still look brand new. I was pretty impressed! Again, they are forged so I don't expect them to look brand new forever but the 9i still looks like it did after I took the plastic off and I put 70-75 balls on it tonight with all kinds of swings.

Hope I've helped some people that may be on the fence about trying these out. Seriously, if you are in the market for new irons and you don't at least try these out, you're doing yourself a disservice. They are THAT good. Don't think because you're a higher capper or a new golfer you can't swing these either. I think they are forgiving enough for anyone, and they are certainly rewarding. I highly recommend them paired with the KBS Tour shafts. It honestly is like cheating. Get them before they're banned :alien:
 
Congrats on your DPC's.

Assuming your DPC's are the same loft as your old clubs, I bet you dont lose any distance once you get out on a real course.

At my range, I can only hit the 7 iron 135-140 but on course its 150-155 just like my old clubs...range balls just dont go anywhere.

But I too was concerned about distance loss so I went stronger loft to match my old set....I am hitting my DPC's exactly the same distance as my old JPX 800's.
 
Yeah, I'm not too concerned about the distances. Honestly, with as accurate as they are, I'd take shorter with smooth swings all day long.
 
At my range, I can only hit the 7 iron 135-140 but on course its 150-155 just like my old clubs...range balls just dont go anywhere.

This is so true. I hit my 8i 160-165 dead on the nose pretty much every time I swing it. But with those silly yellow Srixon range balls I'm lucky to squeeze out 150 if I really step on it.


Tapping and crashing with the new updated/downgraded Tapatalk.
 
Glad to know I'm not the only one seeing some distance loss at the range then. I wasn't depressed with the distances but it wasn't what I was expecting. I'll have some on course numbers after this weekend to report.
 
Glad to know I'm not the only one seeing some distance loss at the range then. I wasn't depressed with the distances but it wasn't what I was expecting. I'll have some on course numbers after this weekend to report.

Yeah, don't sweat the range numbers at all. I also see distance loss at the range so I just use the range for solid contact and alignment rather than getting exact carry yardages. When I first got these, I thought I had about a 5-7 yard distance gain. After playing them for the last few months, I am back to what are my standard yardages for traditionally lofted clubs:

PW - 120
8 - 140
6 - 160

I tend to choke down on my irons a little bit so for example I had a 125 yard shot during the Morgan Cup where if I went short or long I was dead. I took the PW, and gripped all the way up to the end of the shaft and got about 123 or 124 out of it. So, it was nice having those few extra yards instead of trying to take something off of a 9 iron.
 
Ok boys and girls just got home from my maiden voyage with the J40 DPC's. Took them out for a spin off the mats at the range and hot damn I have some thoughts!

First, let me just say that these are like cheating. Seriously, how there aren't more people playing these I have no idea. But I know one thing: the J40 DPC head paired with the KBS tour stiff shaft is the best club I've ever hit.

I'll talk about a few things, first up is feel: I was trying to think of a good word on the way home to describe the feel because it's honestly the best feeling iron I've ever hit. My mizunos couldn't touch the Bridgestones with a 12 foot pole. It's honestly a "flush" feeling. It's just incredible. If you hit the center of the club face you absolutely 120% know it because it just feels like you're hitting bouncy balls off the clubface. Soft, forged, buttery, sleek, powerful, springy all describe the J40 DPC irons. The easier I swing, the more flush it feels.

Also, the KBS Tour shafts do nothing but pour it on in the feel department. Smoothest feeling shaft I've ever felt, no doubt in my mind. I have a feeling KBS is going to absolutely explode once more Tour players start playing these and OEM's realize that they are leaps and bounds ahead of the game right now. Seriously, if you know of a better feeling combo than KBS/J40 DPC then please let me know, because I haven't found anything.

Forgiveness: I was actually expecting these not to be forgiving but hot damn was I wrong. They aren't shovels but damn I was impressed with the forgiveness all the way across the face. I can honestly say I didn't miss the sweet spot much, but when I tried to overpower and made bad swings I wasn't punished bad at all. On the heel and the toe I'd say the distance loss for me was at MAX about 10 yards. There were a handful of shots that I instantly said "ah, crap" only to see the ball land 5 yards short of where I expected it to. Distance loss on mishits was very very minimal. Also, if you can honestly slice or hook these I'm impressed. With my old irons I could put a good slice on the ball every now and then and if I tried to over-compensate I could hook it too if I wanted. Seriously, I didn't see anything I'd consider a slice or hook tonight. If I hit what would normally be a slice all it turned out to be was a hard 10 yard fade. I was in absolute shock at how forgiving they were in that aspect.

Accuracy: This is my absolute hands down favorite part about these irons. Point and shoot. Point and shoot. Point and shoot. If you think you have good alignment, buy these and see how it REALLY is. You better be damn sure you're lined up where you want the ball to go because it's going there, one way or another. I got so caught up in the accuracy I hit 75 balls with just my 9 iron before I realized I was almost out of balls and had only hit 2 clubs so far. The yellow flag was 137 from my bay and I absolutely WORE OUT the patch of grass that was 4 yards or so in front of the flag. Seriously. Line up, easy swing, land it at 133 or so, one big hop, stop DEAD right at 137. I hit the pin three times and out of about 75 balls I guarantee you there were only 5 that weren't on the surface green where the flag was. I bet at least 50% were within 10 feet. It was just stupid how accurate these are. Draw, fade, straight, doesn't matter. They end up where you tell them to go.

Distance: This was the only bit that was a TAD concerning to me. And the accuracy and feel outweigh this for me, so I'm not too concerned. I was hoping to get a little more distance with these but here's what I'm seeing so far:

PW: 120-125
9i: 130 - 135
8i: 140 - 147
7i: 150 - 157
6i: 158 - 165
5i: 170 - 180

Again, not terrible distance but not quite what I was hoping to get out of them. If I could pull another 10 yards or so on each club I'd be really really happy. And I think it's doable by two things: 1.) I always tend to be short when it comes to mats. I have no reasoning to back this up, but it just always seems that I hit the ball a few yards longer off the grass and 2.) I think with a premium ball I can squeeze another 4-5 yards out of them. So ultimately, I'm not too concerned.

Ball flight: With the KBS Tour's I was seeing an absolute towering ball flight with the PW, 9, 8, 7 irons. I mean hit, 1 hop, stop. I could've held freaking concrete with these things if I wanted to. I'm interested to see what kind of ball marks I make on greens this weekend because it was like dropping balls off a roof. With the 6 and 5 irons it was more of a piercing flight but still got up quite high at the end. I think the flight probably has a bit to do with the slight distance loss I'm seeing. Also with there not being much rollout, I'm going to have to adjust to that, but I'm stoked about one hop and stop. Compared to the S300 shafts in my Mizunos the KBS Tours are definitely higher, no doubt. I'm a tad concerned about windy conditions, as I honestly think I hit it so high with these I might have to club up 2 to maybe even 3 clubs. I'll cross that bridge when I get there though.

Durability: After hitting about 200 balls spread across the irons they still look brand new. I was pretty impressed! Again, they are forged so I don't expect them to look brand new forever but the 9i still looks like it did after I took the plastic off and I put 70-75 balls on it tonight with all kinds of swings.

Hope I've helped some people that may be on the fence about trying these out. Seriously, if you are in the market for new irons and you don't at least try these out, you're doing yourself a disservice. They are THAT good. Don't think because you're a higher capper or a new golfer you can't swing these either. I think they are forgiving enough for anyone, and they are certainly rewarding. I highly recommend them paired with the KBS Tour shafts. It honestly is like cheating. Get them before they're banned :alien:

Terrific review. You are seeing what the staffers have seen now for a month or so now. I am seeing very similar distances to you and with the winds in Myrtle Beach I was able to club up and hit my targets. Glad you like what you are seeing with the KBS shafts. The fact that the ball stops on a dime makes it easy and fun to go pin hunting.
 
Ordering the DPC irons for TMC 2.0 may have been one of the better decisions I have made. I love the fact that they are geared like a players iron(ask Fred Couples) but packed with that forgiveness I for one know I need. There is something about this iron when you step over a golf ball. It exudes confidence in your next shot. This by far is one of the best irons I have swung in a long time. I went with the px 5.5 so I could get the ball just a little higher. and that it did, over the weekend we had some greens that were playing a hair long so you had a longer iron in hand. Getting the ball to stay up on a green was not an issue one time. I absolutely love these irons and will have them in the bag for quite a while!
 
Ordering the DPC irons for TMC 2.0 may have been one of the better decisions I have made. I love the fact that they are geared like a players iron(ask Fred Couples) but packed with that forgiveness I for one know I need. There is something about this iron when you step over a golf ball. It exudes confidence in your next shot. This by far is one of the best irons I have swung in a long time. I went with the px 5.5 so I could get the ball just a little higher. and that it did, over the weekend we had some greens that were playing a hair long so you had a longer iron in hand. Getting the ball to stay up on a green was not an issue one time. I absolutely love these irons and will have them in the bag for quite a while!

Any chance you'd ever try the KBS Tour's in one of em? I know you love your PX shafts but I'd just be curious to see how you liked the KBS versus those.

Cookie and Howzat, it's pretty damn fun to step up there and know you can put it where you're aiming. I honestly felt like Tiger Woods with how high I was hitting the ball haha. I mean they were stopping DEAD in their tracks.
 
Any chance you'd ever try the KBS Tour's in one of em? I know you love your PX shafts but I'd just be curious to see how you liked the KBS versus those.

Cookie and Howzat, it's pretty damn fun to step up there and know you can put it where you're aiming. I honestly felt like Tiger Woods with how high I was hitting the ball haha. I mean they were stopping DEAD in their tracks.

that's kind of what I've been seeing since throwing these in the bag. Higher flight, softer landing with very little run out on majority of the shots.
 
that's kind of what I've been seeing since throwing these in the bag. Higher flight, softer landing with very little run out on majority of the shots.

Yeah I didn't see any run out at all. One hop and stop with range balls...interested to see what happens Saturday on real greens with premium balls
 
Any chance you'd ever try the KBS Tour's in one of em? I know you love your PX shafts but I'd just be curious to see how you liked the KBS versus those.

Cookie and Howzat, it's pretty damn fun to step up there and know you can put it where you're aiming. I honestly felt like Tiger Woods with how high I was hitting the ball haha. I mean they were stopping DEAD in their tracks.
I would love to try them in there. I would lean more towards the 90
 
Any chance you'd ever try the KBS Tour's in one of em? I know you love your PX shafts but I'd just be curious to see how you liked the KBS versus those.

Cookie and Howzat, it's pretty damn fun to step up there and know you can put it where you're aiming. I honestly felt like Tiger Woods with how high I was hitting the ball haha. I mean they were stopping DEAD in their tracks.

I should have swung War Eagle's on Thursday with the KBS but it completely slipped my mind.

And yep - they stop dead in their tracks consistently for me as well. Rarely more than 2 feet away from where it landed.
 
Any chance you'd ever try the KBS Tour's in one of em? I know you love your PX shafts but I'd just be curious to see how you liked the KBS versus those.

Cookie and Howzat, it's pretty damn fun to step up there and know you can put it where you're aiming. I honestly felt like Tiger Woods with how high I was hitting the ball haha. I mean they were stopping DEAD in their tracks.

that's kind of what I've been seeing since throwing these in the bag. Higher flight, softer landing with very little run out on majority of the shots.
I hit some of Dean's on the range after Media Day was over, and really liked what I saw out of the KBS shafts in them. Not better than what I have in them now, but I did like them a lot.
I would love to try them in there. I would lean more towards the 90
I cant begin to tell you how much more I like these irons since putting the 90s in them.
 
I haven't hit the 90s but they scare the ever living crap out of me. Apparently they are even higher than the Tour's and with a lighter overall weight I'm scared of what would happen, so I don't even want to play that game haha.
 
I wish I got to swing War's J40 with Tour 90's in them.
 
I hit some of Dean's on the range after Media Day was over, and really liked what I saw out of the KBS shafts in them. Not better than what I have in them now, but I did like them a lot.

I cant begin to tell you how much more I like these irons since putting the 90s in them.

I wish I got to swing War's J40 with Tour 90's in them.
this makes me wish I paid more attention on the forum. I would have loved to have hit those.
 
I wish I got to swing War's J40 with Tour 90's in them.
Florida is only like a 20 hour drive...

It was interesting hitting Seth's with the PX phone poles (6.5) in them. I actually had some decent results on the few shots I hit with them, but I know those arent for me.
 
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