FLASHBACK: Golfsmith XPC3 Nickel Irons

Nessism · July 5

2 hours ago, Jaygolf37 said:

Hey Nessism,
Thread resurrection…and it’s been a hot minute since I last posted on WRX. But I find it crazy that I too found some XPC 3 Nickel irons over a year ago. I too stripped the paint fill and finish (though I used CitriStrip on mine). I too choose the keep them naked and only fill in the bottoms, plus redoing the bottom white groove. I reshafted these with Nippon 950GH shafts in stiff (still my favorite lightweight steel shaft).
And I love everything about them. The dull patina that develops fits in with what I like visually. They are unique…unless I potentially play sometime with Ness…nobody has them around here. They are remarkably soft and consistent irons. I love the narrowest and “killed” leading edge because of my AOA.

Ive ho’d with the best of them…and will still WRX it for sure…but these have been my gamers for over a year and a half.

Its crazy that I saw this thread from Ness…and crazy that we basically did the same thing!

Thanks for bumping this thread, Jay! After seeing your post here, I pulled my set out of the garage for use tomorrow morning in the weekly round! The grips need a scotchbrite scrubdown, which I'm doing now.

The heads themselves have started to develop a nice patina. The only paint fill that remains is the numbers on the sole and face, and the bottom scoreline, all of which are white. As I type this, I'm getting excited about playing these again.

Jaygolf37 · July 6

9 hours ago, Nessism said:

Thanks for bumping this thread, Jay! After seeing your post here, I pulled my set out of the garage for use tomorrow morning in the weekly round! The grips need a scotchbrite scrubdown, which I'm doing now.

The heads themselves have started to develop a nice patina. The only paint fill that remains is the numbers on the sole and face, and the bottom scoreline, all of which are white. As I type this, I'm getting excited about playing these again.

Keep me posted. The development of patina is excellent on these. Gotta be that they are made of Nickel and copper, eh?

I play them 2-3 times a week. Today, I played 2 balls for 9 holes. Ball one was my set of BeNi ISI irons. Ball two was the XPC 3’s. I actually like the feel and performance of the XPC 3’s. I do that from time to time. They have “beat out” a number of other sets…meaning I see no scoring benefit between these and whatever I am testing. Mid-High flight, but flightable. Medium-High spin (ball based). Predicable and consistent distance.

Nessism · July 8

Didn't play my best, but the XPC nickel's were fun to break out again.

Highlight was a kick-in birdie, after sticking an 8 iron 18" from the hole. The lob wedge performed amazingly well all day too. Makes me wonder if I should find a lower bounce lob wedge to go with my other set?

Less good is the long irons, for me. I struggle to find the center of the face with longer irons, nothing to do with these XPC's. It's my swing, and the lack of practice that's to blame. Compared to my G30's, the XPC's feel like players irons. Not as forgiving. Despite the low bounce, these clubs are not diggers. Long live cambered soles!

Jaygolf37 · July 15

On 7/8/2025 at 10:45 AM, Nessism said:

Didn't play my best, but the XPC nickel's were fun to break out again.

Highlight was a kick-in birdie, after sticking an 8 iron 18" from the hole. The lob wedge performed amazingly well all day too. Makes me wonder if I should find a lower bounce lob wedge to go with my other set?

Less good is the long irons, for me. I struggle to find the center of the face with longer irons, nothing to do with these XPC's. It's my swing, and the lack of practice that's to blame. Compared to my G30's, the XPC's feel like players irons. Not as forgiving. Despite the low bounce, these clubs are not diggers. Long live cambered soles!

100% the same for me. The XPC’s are harsh on toe misses. And they don’t dig, despite the narrow sole (hence the camber rally cry 💪🏻). I have found that they are remarkably forgiving up the faces, however. My miss is typically an AOA thing. The XPC’s feel outstanding when it is a centered hit…anywhere up the middle of the face. Pair that with a sole that doesn’t dig, and I have an iron that fits my swing beautifully. The crazy part is the impact on spin numbers is relatively minimal. The Pings, be it ISI or Eye2, have a much larger spread on spin. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe Wishon is a genius or something.

Jaygolf37 · July 19

On 7/8/2025 at 10:45 AM, Nessism said:

Didn't play my best, but the XPC nickel's were fun to break out again.

Highlight was a kick-in birdie, after sticking an 8 iron 18" from the hole. The lob wedge performed amazingly well all day too. Makes me wonder if I should find a lower bounce lob wedge to go with my other set?

Less good is the long irons, for me. I struggle to find the center of the face with longer irons, nothing to do with these XPC's. It's my swing, and the lack of practice that's to blame. Compared to my G30's, the XPC's feel like players irons. Not as forgiving. Despite the low bounce, these clubs are not diggers. Long live cambered soles!

100% the same for me. The XPC’s are harsh on toe misses. And they don’t dig, despite the narrow sole (hence the camber rally cry 💪🏻). I have found that they are remarkably forgiving up the faces, however. My miss is typically an AOA thing. The XPC’s feel outstanding when it is a centered hit…anywhere up the middle of the face. Pair that with a sole that doesn’t dig, and I have an iron that fits my swing beautifully. The crazy part is the impact on spin numbers is relatively minimal. The Pings, be it ISI or Eye2, have a much larger spread on spin. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe Wishon is a genius or something.