Blades, Blades and Blades

I'm currently looking for some new set of blades. One of the greatest improvements in technology that I've noticed since quitting the game is the 'player irons.' In the past, blades were almost all forged irons without the muscle back design. This meant that the sweetspot was more towards the heel. That's why there was the old saying of 'a shank is almost a perfect shot.' Before my day, the weight was even more towards the heel on blade irons and thus 'a shank was almost a perfect shot.'

Now with the muscle back design, the weight is more towards the center of the club. This is also important because back then shots hit off the toe were 'death shots.' Now a golfer doesn't have to be Mac O'Grady to hit blades pretty well. Furthermore, there are more and more blades that still have a cavity back design. So they are more forgiving, but still allow the golfer to be able to work the ball. If there's one thing I've learned from the offset cavity backs, it's very hard to work the ball and playing on a windy day is extremely tough.

Anyway, here's some irons that I've looked at and have been impressed with and you may be interested in as well.

MIZUNO MP - 62

The top player blades for Mizuno are the MP 67 and the MP 62 irons. The MP 67's are the official blade irons with the muscle back design. However, I would highly suggest trying the MP 62's as well. It's a blade design with cavity back, but they are still a very workable set of irons. As far as OEM's go, Mizuno is known as the manufacturer for blade irons. Luke Donald is currently playing the MP 62's, switching from playing the MP 67's. The MP 62's go for about $850 (3-PW) and the MP 67's go for about $899. You can add about $100 if you want the Project X steel shafts instead of the Dynamic Gold steel shafts.


COBRA TOUR MB

I'm usually very skeptical about Cobra's golf equipment since I've used Cobra equipment in the past and have usually come away disappointed. The good news is that when I go to buy my new set of clubs, I can try them out on the launch monitors first and see if this club really performs or if it's just another nice set of clubs that I will want to junk after a year or so. Looking at the Cobra Web site, I see that the tour pros are pretty much split between using the Muscle Back and the Cavity Back design. I've seen both irons up close and they are a G-R-E-A-T looking club regardless if you want the CB or MB line. I dare say that these clubs *look* better than any other set of irons I've seen out there. They go for about $850. Project X shafts will cost more.

CALLAWAY X PROTOTYPE

Callaway is usually known for their Game Improvement Irons, but they came out with a dandy set of irons here. One of the things that is really impressive is that the Callaway sponsored pros almost all hit their X-Prototype irons. Most OEM's endorsed players are playing a variety of irons, but Callaway's endorsed players are almost exclusively going to the X-Prototypes.

Problem is that they are $$$$. The best deal I could find was at the local PGA Tour Superstore where they were on sale for $999, but the shafts were uncut (they were Project X shafts). Most other places they cost $1,299 - $1,499.

TITLEIST ZB

Titleist has two sets of blades with the ZM and ZB lines. The ZM line is the muscle back blades. The ZB line is a "blend" of irons, more cavity back with the longer irons and more muscle back with shorter irons.

Titleist has a fine club here. Both irons go for about $850.

NIKE VR BLADES

I thought these didn't look much different from their old set of blades. The common complaint I heard of the old Nike blades was they were very light, so perhaps this line of blades is a bit heavier. I didn't like the looks of their 9 iron and PW, but the rest of the sets looked fine. They go for about $899.

TAYLOR MADE RAC BLADES

After years of struggling to make a player type iron, Taylor Made has come out with the TP RAC blade iron. Sergio Garcia has been playing these (although he may have changed) and there's plenty of other Taylor Made endorsed golfers playing this iron. They have a chrome and a Satin finish. The satin finish goes for about a $100 more, although I like the looks of the chrome finish better for some reason.

The chrome finish goes for $899.


BRIDGESTONE J36 BLADES

When it comes to discussing blades, I would say that people forget about the Cobra blades and the Bridgestone blades. I've hit both and both are excellent. Bridgestone has a muscle back blade set, a cavity back blade set and a combo blade set. The cavity back is very similar to the Mizuno MP 62 iron sets. They go for about $799.

For more information on the irons and their playability, I suggest going to www.ralphmaltby.com






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