2011 Irons Test (back to results)

CLUB STYLE
Generally, people liked a type of look - traditional, game improvement, hybrids or PINGs (which are a very unique looking club). PING users are PING golfers and it would take an act of congress to get them to switch. But the look was a very important factor to around 60% of the testers. Some could be swayed by a club that worked better for them.

MANUFACTURER AD BUDGET
As always, the ad budget and reputation of the manufacturer played a part in what club the testers wanted to try. There were a number of golfers who would only try clubs from one manufacturer. I find this one very hard to reconcile but it was a much smaller percentage as compared to drivers. Additionally, a small number of testers stayed with the clubs they have been using, even though another may have worked better for them.

PERCEPTION
Based on our observations, I would guess that 65% of the golfers listed a handicap that was lower than reality. The rest, generally very low and very high handicappers, looked correct based on their swing and watching them hit. This led to them picked a model they felt would suit their handicap and it produced mixed results.

OUR FINDINGS
This test and it's the factors above produced some surprising results.

• For a few of golfers, there is a club/model that will dramatically improve their game based on their swing.
• Golfers often choose clubs for the wrong reasons.
• Looks, in a lot of cases, make a bigger difference than you would expect.
• The club style recommended for your handicap - blade, game improvement, etc. - may not be the one that produces the best results for you.

So try as many clubs as you can, it just may save you more stokes that you think.

YANKEE'S OBSERVATIONS

For a few golfers, myself included, there was a clubs that worked the best. A 51 year old golfer that stated he had a 15 handicap, which we considered close to his capabilities, came to an event to try game improvement clubs. He felt that it would lower his scores. We watched him go through a number of clubs, all with similar results - a fairly wide spread of shots, both left and right - until he picked up a Titleist CB. He just striped them down the middle, now we're not talking about a few, but all. It was amazing to see the difference. He then tried some more clubs but just not as good. He left and came back an hour or so later and did the same thing again. He would be heading to a golf shop as soon as possible to get a set.

I looked at one of the blade style clubs and immediately fell in love with the looks. I am a fourteen handicap, struggling at the moment because I'm not playing much. I felt I could not effectively hit a blade - wrong. I took the blade out for a couple rounds and it continued to work very well for me. Thinking about this, I liked the club so much that I slowed down my swing, it just felt better. I attribute that to being more comfortable and with the smaller sweet spot, I had less room for error. We know the adage, a well hit ball goes farther than a hard hit ball. All of this contributed to me hitting more consistent. After being fit, I ordered a set.

The last story is a bit off the mark but none the least very interesting. During one of the tests, I watched a woman hit balls a couple stalls down from the test. She was obviously a beginner and was hitting a left-handed, persimmon wood off a tee that was too tall and doing a credible job. I didn't say anything until she switched to a right handed ancient iron and still hit pretty well - an ambidextrous golfer. So I picked up a hybrid club, right-handed, and went over to her. After a brief overview of what we were doing I gave her the club to hit. It was truly amazing to watch - fifty yards longer, straighter and 20 yards higher. We tried a few other clubs but the hybrid was the club for her.