Callaway XR Pro Irons Preview Thread

Played today with the course conditions very wet after a week of heavy rains. Only my second time out after my fitting. Trying to wrap around my head the extra distances I am seeing with these. I have always struggled with wet fairways. But today I was hitting these about 5 yards further than my former Speedblades. And off the tee, I gained 10 to 15 yards further. I had two flush shots with my 9 iron 148 and 152 yards off the tee. A 5 iron 215 yards off the tee. And this 8 iron, 162 yards to the pin, for my best shot of the day.

My 8 iron used to be my 150 yd club and my 7 iron my 165 yd club. I really like the smaller size head, and am really surprised that I am hitting MORE flush shots. The smaller head and the Tour V90 shaft are setting up well for me. Looking forward to more time with these.

Hi guys.
Long time lurker, first time poster here, and it's the XR Pro irons that have really compelled me to get involved!

I've been trying out a few different iron sets for a while now and had pretty much settled on booking in a fitting for some Ping i25s, but then I noticed the range I go to had a new Callaway cart in and I couldn't resist!

I had my fitting on Friday evening and I love these irons. I'm coming from some really old Titleist 735 CMs - pretty much blades and a decade old - and the difference is phenomenal. For my level (around 15) I felt like I was throwing away far too many shots with the 735s when i wasn't quite on my best form, and even with just one fitting I know that's not going to happen with these!

Waiting on the guys to get an X-flex TT XP95 in so I can test against the S-flex from the fitting. I was getting a little too much front-to-back dispersion so the fitter suggested we try the X to bring this closer together.

All I can say is I cannot wait to finish the fitting, place my order and hit the course! A truly quality set of irons with a huge amount of forgiveness. Long, true and even look great in the bag!

Welcome to THP. Glad you found a set that works for you. Dont forget to let us know how they work out once you get them on the course.

I really need to do a test off between these , the apex, my burner 2.0s and the Wishon 771 test club I have. I don't necessarily care about more distance but I want consistent distance. I don't want to pull my 150 club and have it go 165 on me.

JB said:

Welcome to THP. Glad you found a set that works for you. Dont forget to let us know how they work out once you get them on the course.

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Thanks, and I will definitely post an update when I get them in play. No idea what the timings will be for shipping etc in the UK...hopefully not too long!

I just scheduled an iron fitting at Cool Clubs for Thursday and these are #1 on my list to try.

Incredible results today from the XR Pros. My approach on #1 was a blind shot into the green as I missed the FW left and was behind a mound. I had roughly 170 to the middle and I pulled 7i hoping to land it on the front and let it release to the hole. To my surprise I walked up to the green and found



I think I've made birdie 2 or 3 times before on #1 and was more than excited to start off with one today.

The thin miss I'm a custom to is minimalized thanks to the cup face. The ball still gets up in the air. Center strikes launch much better than my Apex. Feel on center strikes is very close to the forged Apex. Distance is greater than I was expecting and I was so confident standing over a 7i with 170 to the pin on a par 3 that is a total carry over water. I can't wait to play again.

Review: This is an update from my original review from indoor and range session. The weather has warmed up here and had the chance to play 18 holes. This was my first round since November 27, 2015 so the short game was a bit rusty and ball striking was a majority of slight mishits. I am extremely happy with my first round with these irons.

I for some reasons thought it would be a good idea to play the tips at Heritage Eagle Bend in Aurora, CO its around 7200 yards and wet from snow that has melted since it hit 60 degrees. Started on the Back Nine

Hole 10. 398 downhill and I decided to hit a 3wood and had around 65 yards left so no iron shot.
Hole 11. 597 Driver, 3 wood and 20 yard pitch.
Hole 12. 207 par 3 with a 5 mph wind into. I hit 6 iron as I played through a group and carried about five yards short of the flag with very little movement. Was extremely happy with the height as the ball stopped within ten feet of the pitch mark on winter greens which tend to be a bit firm.
Hole 13. 423 Straight up the hill and hit a decent drive and was left with 159 uphill about 15 yards. I decided to hit a nine iron and hit right at the flag again very straight 20 ft long. Just missed birdie.
Hole 14 Par 5 No iron shots just a birdie from a good wedge shot.
Hole 15 Par 3 194 a bit of a cross breeze and the pin was 202. I missed hit a seven slightly on the toe and ended up about 9 yards short. Extremely happy with the miss.
Hole 16 Par 4 410 Bad tee shot into the left junk 5 inch rough. Had 156 yards and hit nine iron trying to punch and missed about twenty yards left of the green pin high. Looked at the face and hit it right off the toe. Not bad considering how bad it was.
Hole 17 Par 4 456 Tee shot left me with 189 to back pin. Starting to loosen up a bit and had eight iron in hand. It was downhill about ten yards so playing about 175-180. Hit the eight iron and just turned it over a bit too much and flew the green. Shocked at how far these irons are flying.
Hole 18 Par 4 426 Severely uphill. After drive left with 182. Hit 7 iron to severely elevated green at least 20 yards up. I never hold this green for some reason can't normally hit it high enough. I hit a bit of draw just left of the flag and left with fifteen feet. Best shot I have hit on this hole.

After nine holes I am shocked first of all with how far they go but also how forgiving they are. My distant control is actually pretty darn good considering everything. The one concern I had was about the feel and sound but they are surprisingly soft. The back nine I hit the irons even better and have to say these may be my favorite long irons I have ever hit. Long, High, and remind me of my college days of hitting three and four irons that stop quickly and launch easily.

I got out and played the first round of the "summer" season this morning and shot 73 with my Legacy Black's - suddenly I was very confused as I was certain going out today that the XR Pro's were going to go straight into the bag when they arrived this week. The reality though is as good as I hit the ball today and didn't miss many shots, I was still having to hit 6 iron from 165 - 170. If I have to go out and play VSGA/USGA tournaments with those yardages it is going to be very tough to get the ball around the longer courses.

My new XR Pro's were waiting for me when I got home so I put them straight onto the launch monitor (Skytrak) to compare ball speed and spin rates (both measured data) - the truth is that the XR Pro's are significantly faster off the face (127 mph v 121 mph for the 4 iron) with a little more spin but very similar launch angles (less than a degree difference).

I will take a few irons iron from both sets out tomorrow and compare them head-to-head on the course to see if what I found today translated to the course. If the yardage gains are what they should be based on the launch monitor data, and they are as forgiving as they seem, the as much as I LOVE the Legacy Blacks, the XR Pro's will get some game time early this season.

I honestly think the reason they strengthened the lofts was to keep the launch and flight close to other Callaway players irons. The additional distance people are getting is coming from the cup face technology which translates into faster ball speeds.

I FINALLY received my XR Pros with the KBS Tour V 110 shafts about 5:30 tonight and was able to sneak in 16 holes at my home course in 90 minutes before the sun went down. WOW, these really do live up to the hype! They are stupid easy to hit long and straight. I did not have my "A" swing but I was hitting it pretty solid. I only missed 2 GIR and one of those was long with a Gap Wedge and the other was from 196 uphill. I can't put into words how pleased I am with these! I only made 2 birdies but I was rushing my putts with so little daylight left.

The toughest hole on the course by far for me is the 202 yard par 3 15th where I normally hit my 21* hybrid or a 4 iron. Today it was 206 and I hit my 5 iron and easily carried the greenside bunker that was 189 yards and wound up 6 yards behind the hole. These clubs are a club plus longer than my old clubs and are much more forgiving on my common thin miss. The trajectory on these is higher than my FG V2's but they don't ballon at all and the spin is definitely less. Here's a view of the hole. The tough thing is the wind is normally from the right and quartering into your tee shot so it often plays about 215 off the tees I play most often (6590 yds) and 235 off the back tees. Any tee shot short of that front bunker rolls into the water unless they let the 6" U.S. Open rough grow. This view is from the 188 yard tees.

I hit the XR Pros for the first time. They weren't kidding about the distance! Here were my averages from the clubs I hit today plus the J40 DPC as a control club. I bolded the XR Pro:

Bridgestone J40 DPC (7 iron) - 156 carry
Wilson FG Tour V4 (7 iron) - 153 carry
Callaway XR Pro (7 iron) - 169 carry
Nike VR Pro Blade (6 iron) - 168 carry
Nike VR Forged Combo (6 iron) - 164 carry

Although I had the best dispersion with the VR Pro, the XR Pro was close behind in 2nd place. And for a cast club, it feels really, really nice. I had no interest in this club before today. Now, I'm really considering it.

tahoebum said:

I FINALLY received my XR Pros with the KBS Tour V 110 shafts about 5:30 tonight and was able to sneak in 16 holes at my home course in 90 minutes before the sun went down. WOW, these really do live up to the hype! They are stupid easy to hit long and straight. I did not have my "A" swing but I was hitting it pretty solid. I only missed 2 GIR and one of those was long with a Gap Wedge and the other was from 196 uphill. I can't put into words how pleased I am with these! I only made 2 birdies but I was rushing my putts with so little daylight left.

The toughest hole on the course by far for me is the 202 yard par 3 15th where I normally hit my 21* hybrid or a 4 iron. Today it was 206 and I hit my 5 iron and easily carried the greenside bunker that was 189 yards and wound up 6 yards behind the hole. These clubs are a club plus longer than my old clubs and are much more forgiving on my common thin miss. The trajectory on these is higher than my FG V2's but they don't ballon at all and the spin is definitely less. Here's a view of the hole. The tough thing is the wind is normally from the right and quartering into your tee shot so it often plays about 215 off the tees I play most often (6590 yds) and 235 off the back tees. Any tee shot short of that front bunker rolls into the water unless they let the 6" U.S. Open rough grow. This view is from the 188 yard tees.

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Good stuff Tahoe. I've enjoyed reading your thoughts from when your Pro (I think that's who it was) started talking to you about these irons. I always like to see people step outside the box, try something different and have success.

My new magic stick

XR PRO 4 IRON

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Just received my set. 3 -aw. The 3i and aw really have me excited. Perhaps the addition of 3,4 and aw may help the flow of yardage gaps in my bag. Looks good too

Kang, you are going to hit them ignorantly long.

Yep, I cannot wait to follow along with your experiences Kang!

Jman said:

Kang, you are going to hit them ignorantly long.

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Can't wait to see for myself all the rave reviews. Currently hitting my pw 150 here in the mile high so interested to see how the gaps turn out in the bottom of the bag

Canadan said:

Yep, I cannot wait to follow along with your experiences Kang!

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Thanks! It will be fun to see how it compares to the current gamers for sure

Looks awesome Kang, you're going to hit these a country mile. As Sameson would say, silly. I really want to dabble in these something terrible. The point that they are Apex good (and better) is just something I need to experience.

Ugh! Now I have to ponder these.....

After 2 days and 2 rounds these XR Pro's are exceeding my expectations. I have hit 25/28 greens so far with these. The flight is slightly higher and spin is less than my old irons which is maybe my favorite trait of these. Mid irons roll out 5-10 feet after they land on the green and short irons stop within a few feet of their ball mark. Distance is consistent and misses, especially my normal thin miss results in only a very small amount of distance especially compared to my old Wilson FG V2's. The extra distance is very surprising and the thing that I like about it is my 7 iron now carries the same as my old 6 iron(175ish) but is 3/4" shorter so it's that much easier to hit straight.

I didn't order the 4 iron but I will be this week after finding out how stupid easy the 5 iron is to hit straight, high, and long. I missed the 5 iron off the toe from 207 yards on a par 5 approach Tuesday and it still wound up on the green. My old 5 iron would have been in the water hazard short and right of the green. I also hit my 5 iron past pin high on the very difficult 203 yard 15th hole at my home course. In the past it was a 4 iron or my 21* Adams Dhy hybrid. My new 5 iron launches higher, is almost as long, and is 2" shorter than my Adams hybrid which makes it more accurate. The only thing I need to change with these irons is the lie angles need to flattened 1*. My expectations are that these new irons will shave a couple strokes off my index.

thinking of trading in a ton of stuff to clean out the closet towards a set of these, with DG Pro's. 3-AW + 1/2 inch, as i am not a fan of Hybrids.

Few more pics with comparison to my current gamers apex mb
Pw:

the two do not show much difference. Similar top line to my eyes. If anything the blade length on the xr pro pw is shorter but face is taller. Not an unwelcome look.

7I:

Here the top line looks bit thicker, bit bigger head and bit more offset. Not a whole lot but something I tend to look at and scrutinize, not sure why.

5I:

Here the differences really take shape. Noticeably thicker sole and top line, much bigger head, much more offset

3I vs Apex UT 21°:

I haven't gamed a 3 or 4 iron in a while, opting to play apex UT 21 and 24 or srixon u45 20 and 23. Visually the xr pro 3i is smaller obviously, top line, sole, blade length, all around. I opt for bit more launch I get out of the utilities in 3 and 4 iron spots, it will be interesting to see if I can get similar launch out of the 3 and 4 xr pro irons.

Overall visual impression is that while this is a progressive set that gets more GI look as the shafts get longer, they are great looking and I don't think I'll have any issues looking down at them. Starting this weekend I'll have some range thoughts and rounds hopefully next week

As soon as my shims come in, these are getting DG pros. I enjoy the recoil 680 in them, but I love the DG pros profile for me.

Jman said:

As soon as my shims come in, these are getting DG pros. I enjoy the recoil 680 in them, but I love the DG pros profile for me.

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Is the stock diameter 370? Or did they bore the hosel to fit the recoil 680? Or even more remote possibility they tapered down the shafts to 355?

kc720 said:

Is the stock diameter 370? Or did they bore the hosel to fit the recoil 680? Or even more remote possibility they tapered down the shafts to 355?

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Its 370, I asked Finley on Twitter and he pointed me to Luke Williams for the answer.