Let's talk about hybrid-irons! Good/bad, better/worse, have you played them? etc.

[erock9174]

On 10/22/2024 at 10:13 AM, Ghostwedge said:

These clubs haven't been !mentioned yet but I would say fit the discussion.

I play golf occasionally with a guy who has the PXG 0311 SGI irons Gen 2, these clubs are huge and forgiving. He shoots 75-80 all day with them, he is 60-65 yrs old and just average athletic ability I would say, think they have Recoil shafts.

Just checked on the Bay, they aren't cheap for being a few generations old.

Thinking about purchasing and putting away a set for future use, already have some G700's squirrel ed away. lol

had a set of these right around the time PXG was beginning to lower their pricing.  Correct, big old shovel of an iron.  I had PXG bend the lofts 1-2* weak to help make the 6i more playable for me and they were a nice iron.  I got rid of them because I like to play down to a set wedge and the PW and GW just seemed to go nowhere for me.  Fun club and neat that its also a forged club too.  but yes they have held their value because they are pretty rare and PXG only did the SGI in the Gen2.  Bummer because I think they had something there I just wished they would have made the set a little bit more progressive in size (smaller in the 9i on down etc).   

they did bring out the more hybrid style iron in the 0211 Z line.  but those had alot of black paint on them and knew without covers they would look shoddy in no time.  

[erock9174]

On 10/22/2024 at 9:51 AM, gvogel said:

Based on the measurements that you gave earlier, I have just purchased a T-Rail 7-iron with a Steelfiber Flight Control 90 gram R shaft.

 

I am currently playing T300 irons 7 - 9 with Nippon 950 NEO, so looking forward to the T-Rail.  Also, judging by your signature, I could easily play out of your bag.  I just wish I could hit my driver 220.  My driver is either a Titleist 910 D2 12* head with a Ventus TR Red 5R, or an 11* TSR2 (set to A4) with the same Ventus shaft.

congrats on the T-Rail purchase.  let us know how it goes.

 

I will take the bolded comment above as compliment 🙂

 

My brother always shakes his head because he can hit his irons 20 yds longer than me and his are very weak lofted irons...so more like 30 yds if looking at it loft to loft, but I usually hit my driver as long if not longer than he does because I swing up on the ball about 3-5* with fairly low spin and a tight draw.  According to Trackman,I am pretty much optimized when I put in my better swing numbers into their optimizer software.   To where he hits down slightly on hit driver and spins it up with a slight fade.  

 

My issue with the irons is I am very shallow and hardly every take a divot, so I struggle with launch and spin.  These "HL" irons have been a real asset to me as well as the hybrid style irons.  my issue with the hybrid style irons is the paint they often use on their cavities always seems to wear easily and I am not one to use iron covers.  so the paint damage/chatter bugs me.   

[gvogel]

11 minutes ago, erock9174 said:

congrats on the T-Rail purchase.  let us know how it goes.

 

I will take the bolded comment above as compliment 🙂

 

My brother always shakes his head because he can hit his irons 20 yds longer than me and his are very weak lofted irons...so more like 30 yds if looking at it loft to loft, but I usually hit my driver as long if not longer than he does because I swing up on the ball about 3-5* with fairly low spin and a tight draw.  According to Trackman,I am pretty much optimized when I put in my better swing numbers into their optimizer software.   To where he hits down slightly on hit driver and spins it up with a slight fade.  

 

My issue with the irons is I am very shallow and hardly every take a divot, so I struggle with launch and spin.  These "HL" irons have been a real asset to me as well as the hybrid style irons.  my issue with the hybrid style irons is the paint they often use on their cavities always seems to wear easily and I am not one to use iron covers.  so the paint damage/chatter bugs me.   

So long as they look good at address, I will have no problems.  Driver and fairway wood head covers are plenty in my bag.

[erock9174]

3 minutes ago, gvogel said:

So long as they look good at address, I will have no problems.  Driver and fairway wood head covers are plenty in my bag.

actually one of the nice things about the hybrid irons like the Cleveland Altitudes, Halos and T-Rails is they tend to have less offset than some of the GI/SGI irons. 

Like my Altitude irons I believe have around 2.3mm offset which rivals blade irons.  The TRails are around 3.5mm if I recall correctly.  for reference Ping Gxx irons and my Mizuno 925 HL all have like 5mm of offset in the 6i.  

[NoTalentLefty]

Had hybrids up to the 9 . Worked well but I couldn’t get a distance down on the Eleven 8 and 9.  And the height of the hybrids was huge. Recently went back to steel shaft irons from the 8 on down. Not as high but enough to get it to stick on greens. Wouldn’t sway anyone away from hybrid irons. My friends would benefits from hybrid irons but they are stuck in that’s the way we’ve always done it mode. Got another friend moving to all woods. He’s a 90 plus shooter from the seniors and started getting into the mid 80s regularly. Lot of options for us and wish more would go try woods or hybrid irons. 

[Tanner25]

Anyone compare the Halo XL vs the Halo Full Face hybrid irons?

[Soccerrick10]

For competitive golf, I play the Stealth HD’s from 7-Gw. I play  5 and 6 hybrids. On longer courses, I will sub out the 7i for a 7h. I turned 70 this year and am playing better golf than anytime prior to having the HD’s in the bag. 
 

I also got my first hole in one using the HD this past June.
 

I like to dabble with different irons when I’m playing for fun. But competition golf, it’s Stealth HD’s all the way. 

[gvogel]

26 minutes ago, Soccerrick10 said:

For competitive golf, I play the Stealth HD’s from 7-Gw. I play  5 and 6 hybrids. On longer courses, I will sub out the 7i for a 7h. I turned 70 this year and am playing better golf than anytime prior to having the HD’s in the bag. 
 

I also got my first hole in one using the HD this past June.
 

I like to dabble with different irons when I’m playing for fun. But competition golf, it’s Stealth HD’s all the way. 

What shaft do you play in the HD's?

[boggyman]

I’m seriously contemplating leaving the T Rails in my bag for next year all way thru the SW. If not that at least in the 5-7. Last round I played few months ago I carded a 71 with the T Rails 5-SW.  Why wouldn’t I keep the In the bag! 

Edited December 13, 2024 by boggyman

[Soccerrick10]

44 minutes ago, gvogel said:

What shaft do you play in the HD's?

Fujikura Speeder NX Regular flex. 

[gvogel]

3 hours ago, boggyman said:

I’m seriously contemplating leaving the T Rails in my bag for next year all way thru the SW. If not that at least in the 5-7. Last round I played few months ago I carded a 71 with the T Rails 5-SW.  Why wouldn’t I keep the In the bag! 

What shaft are you playing in your T-Rails?

[gvogel]

12 hours ago, Tanner25 said:

Anyone compare the Halo XL vs the Halo Full Face hybrid irons?

I think that the footprint is the same, but the face has score lines all the way to the toe side edge on the Full Face.  So probably not much different.

 

The Full Face get good marks for distance and accuracy.  I bought one, but it seemed short to me.  I may have to order another a half inch longer than the first.

[596]

8 minutes ago, gvogel said:

What shaft are you playing in your T-Rails?

I also play the T Rails 7 or 9 to SW.  I'll score par when playing well.  I have the Recoil Dart in regular flex.  

 

Even had an ace with them.  Great irons and I love the shafts.

[gvogel]

7 minutes ago, 596 said:

I also play the T Rails 7 or 9 to SW.  I'll score par when playing well.  I have the Recoil Dart in regular flex.  

 

Even had an ace with them.  Great irons and I love the shafts.

I was looking into the Dart with a Srixon ZX 5 7-iron.  Guess I need to try that shaft in a T-Rail.  Thanks,

[boggyman]

40 minutes ago, gvogel said:

What shaft are you playing in your T-Rails?

4 has a 75gm KBS and the 5-GW have Recoil 95gm all regular flex with a stiff Recoil 95gm in the SW. Recoil WAS at the time a no up charge shaft. I’d played that shaft in a previous OL set. 

[boggyman]

23 minutes ago, gvogel said:

I was looking into the Dart with a Srixon ZX 5 7-iron.  Guess I need to try that shaft in a T-Rail.  Thanks,

Dart is a great shaft. 

[highhdcp]

Curious if anyone has tried the Tour Edge set of hybrid woods? I've been looking at them for 2025.

[stevegp]

I also am interested. 

[gvogel]

On 10/22/2024 at 9:42 AM, erock9174 said:

As @boggyman mentioned, I've been known to knock around some hybrid style irons.  A little about my game.  Right now playing to around a 6-7 cap.  Slower swinger 7i carry 140, Driver 12* around 225 on avg and 244 performance avg according to ShotScope.  I try and play the right length tee boxes (usually 5800-6200 yds) and have fun.  

 

When i got more serious about golf many years ago I kept trying iron set after iron set.  My buddy suggested trying the Cleveland 588 Altitudes (predecessor to irons like the Halos, Halo Full Face, HB Launchers and HB Turbos).  I found a one off 6i on the used rack at Golfsmith and snagged it.  hit it at the range and ordered a new set of RockbottomGolf as soon as I got home.

 

I gamed them for a while but then got fitted as my swing improved in 2018 for some G700 irons.  Played them for 2 seasons but ultimately went back to the Altitude irons.  I like to draw the ball and always seem to struggle drawing Ping irons in the 6 and 7i.  With the Altitudes, I can hit the draw from 6i down to the wedges.  When Cobra came out with the T-Rails in 2020, I liked the look and ordered a single 6i to try.  It seemed to launch easier than the Altitude and went a little further too with plenty of spin and stopping power.  I ordered the rest of the set but it was short lived.  Once the weather cooled off here in OH mine were built with Nippon Modus 105R shafts and they felt like a chore to swing (D3 swing weight).  So I got rid of those and went back to the Altitudes.  I have gamed plenty of iron sets since, mostly Ping (2 sets of G425's, 3 sets of G430s, Cleveland Zipcore XL, Stealth HD, Callaway Smoke HLs) but kept coming back to the Altitudes.  

I recently bought a set of Mizuno 925 Hot Metal HL's and like them so far.  Surprisingly, I did a test yesterday on GC Quad and in the 6i and 7i, the HLs actually flew higher with a steeper descent angle:

 

How do you like the DG 95R shaft in the HL, as opposed to a graphite shaft?

[j3ffr0]

I have a set of the Launcher Halo hybrids.  I have also took the time and trouble to make a set out of Ping hybrids I bought off eBay.  I have G410 3-6.  I like the Pings better than the Launcher XL Halos, so those spots in my bag are set.  Liked them enough to ensure they all had the same shafts too (Tensei Blue CK70 Hybrid in Regular)  I recently bough at use G430 7 hybrid as well (they didn't make G410 in a 7.  

 

I do like the Launchers, but I like the Pings better --  I like a little big longer shaft.  I like the adjustable hozel...  I loft all mine down to open the face up a bit.  I like that there isn't really any offset with the Pings.  I can't shank if there ain't no shank.  

 

I remember a few of my best longer iron shots ever prior to the Ping hybrids.   A 3-iron that I smoked 200 hards once and stopped dead in its tracks on the green.  A nice 5 iron tee shot when laying up.  These types of shots were rare for me with irons.  I can pretty consistently hit these distances with the Ping hybrids.  It's awesome to be 170-210 or so and feel like, "I ought to be able to hit this." vs "I'll pull a club and take a swing, but I have next to no chance"

 

 

[skujan57]

I've been playing the Stealth HD irons with the stock Speeder NX Regular shafts for a few months. The shafts are not whippy; they feel just right. The heads have a lot of bounce, which can be helpful, with no apparent drawback. They don't look like super game improvement irons to me at address. Easy to swing with higher launch; just what I needed.

[erock9174]

On 12/14/2024 at 4:03 PM, gvogel said:

How do you like the DG 95R shaft in the HL, as opposed to a graphite shaft?

It's been pretty good.  I feel like it has a decent amount of kick at impact which I like in an iron shaft.  I feel like 80-95g graphite shafts just have no feel to them.  

[ShakeyT]

The Adams Idea Hybrid Irons from around 2013 are another great option if your looking for something like this but don't want to spend a lot to try out the concept. I don't remember the offset specs, but it wasn't much at all. Adams were definitely ahead of the times with their tech.

 

[Milfordlefty]

Just put in Integra Idrive hybrid irons 5-PW into bag about a month ago. Nice high ball flight and a bit more distance (longer shaft) then regular irons. I can still hit a fat shot, but that is my swing error, not the club. I'm a picker and if I catch ball first, makes a nice sound off club face. Currently with Idrive 4.1 sr flex irons at 70 grams. I might try the Idrive light 4.1 at 60 grams as current are at D2 swing weight which is a bit heavy for my liking. The lighter shaft should put then about D0. Lots of head covers, old man golf, but I am scoring better than I was. 

[ahenderX]

I have the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons 6-SW. Bought with senior shafts but changed those out to ladies shafts. Midsize grips. I’m 70 and they are working fine for me. 

[sneff]

Anyone try the PXG black ops??