Friday, August 12, 2011

New iron setup works well from the start...

12/8/11 The post delivered my new set of Titleist AP2 710’s yesterday which helped give the day a bit of a lift. Have been under the influence of a coughing, sneezing cold for the past 3 days, cannot even recall the last time I had a cold in fact. “Free plug for Flu shots flaming good value.” It is not that bad, more of an irritation than debilitating illness. Even so that disgusting four letter word... “WORK” had me inside until 2pm before I could get out and have a hit with the irons.




First off a bit of a whack on the practise fairway with 40 balls to get a feel for the ‘fitted’ sticks. The stiff flex Bridgestone J33’s have gone to a new home in WA and I have had the AP2 set supplied with R300 Dynamic Gold shafts, + 1 inch in length. As the fitting said was better suited for me. As I do with all of my iron sets, a throw back to when I began playing golf, then followed 9 holes with irons only. Front 9 and a 44 off the stick and 2 bad putts and a thin hit 7 iron cost a 41-42. It was a windy day and a real effort on 4 holes hitting into a strong wind with a #3iron off the tee, 155m to 165m were the longest drives. The R300 flex shafts though made the shots possible with ease and are definitely better for my 76-80 mph swing speed.



Noticeable changes on the course, the shorter irons 8-PW have all picked up some distance, will take a little adjusting to from 50-100m range. Used the 3-5 irons and one 7 iron, in the nine holes and again the distance hit was not the real import it was the ease of hitting the ball that mattered. The putter has to get a mention after the experience on the scrapes last week. After the first three holes I was back into the putting groove, but had added 2 extra shots on the score. Final result was 4 pars, 2 bogies and 3 double bogies.


Now for the bit that has me going to purgatory... The AP2’s are OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) irons from the manufacturer in China. Make no mistake this purchase was well researched, even so it was a calculated risk on my part. With that knowledge behind me I was confident that no matter what, for the price negotiated the irons are copies. The irons I have purchased do have serial numbers, the quality of the iron heads is okay and the expected product labelling is perfect. My AP2’s have “Made in USA” DG R300 stickers on the shafts.

Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”, Geoff