Alright, let’s talk about irons, specifically Steve Stricker’s setup. You see his bag, you see how consistent he is, and you start thinking, right?
For a long time, I was playing these older cavity back irons. You know the type, pretty chunky, designed to help guys like me who don’t always find the center of the face. They were fine, did the job mostly.
But then I kept seeing Stricker pop up, especially on the Champions Tour, just hitting fairway after fairway, green after green. His iron play looked so solid. I saw his ‘What’s In The Bag’ somewhere and noticed he often plays irons that look a bit more like player’s clubs, maybe not full blades, but definitely not giant shovels. It got me thinking – maybe trying something similar could sharpen my game?
Getting My Hands on Similar Irons
Now, I wasn’t about to shell out for a brand new set exactly like his. That’s serious cash. Instead, I started looking around online and at the local used club shop. I was searching for something with a similar profile – maybe a slightly smaller head, less offset, more traditional look. I ended up finding a used set of irons, I think they were an older Titleist model, maybe the CBs or something like that? They looked clean, felt good in the hands, and the price was right. So, I pulled the trigger and bought them.
First Hits and Range Time
Took them straight to the driving range. First impression? They looked fantastic sitting behind the ball. Much cleaner look than my old set. Felt heavier, maybe? Or just more balanced. Then I started hitting balls.
- Good swings: Wow. When I caught one flush, the feeling was amazing. So soft, like nothing else. The ball flight seemed a bit lower, more piercing.
- Bad swings: Okay, here’s the flip side. If I missed the sweet spot, even by a little bit, I knew it instantly. My hands felt it, the sound was dull, and the ball definitely didn’t go as far or straight. Way less forgiving than my old clubs.
It was clear right away these demanded a better swing. No getting lazy with these.
Taking Them to the Course
The real test is always on the course, isn’t it? Played a couple of rounds with them. It was a mixed bag, honestly.
The Good: Hit some really crisp iron shots. Had a couple of approaches stick closer to the pin than usual. Felt like I could control the trajectory a bit more when I focused.
The Not-So-Good: Those mis-hits were more punishing out there. A shot that might have found the front edge of the green with my old irons sometimes came up short or went wider offline. My scores weren’t drastically different, but the bad shots felt worse.
Comparing and Deciding
So, after a few weeks of practice and play, I had a pretty good feel for them. Compared to my old forgiving irons:
- The Stricker-style irons offered way better feel and feedback on good strikes.
- They looked better (to my eye).
- They were significantly less forgiving on off-center hits.
- They really highlighted the flaws in my swing when I wasn’t making a good pass at the ball.
In the end? I decided to switch back to my old irons for regular play. As much as I loved the feeling of a purely struck shot with the “Stricker-like” set, the lack of forgiveness on my average swings was just too much of a penalty. It made the game a bit less fun and more stressful on days when my swing wasn’t “on”.
It was a really useful experiment, though. It showed me what’s possible with that type of iron, but also made me appreciate the technology in my game-improvement set. It’s all about finding what works for your game, not just copying the pros. Stricker’s a machine; I’m just a guy trying to enjoy my weekend round!
