Iron shafts

[ezra76]

I'm thinking of swapping out the R300's in my 4-7iron now for S300's. After hitting the irons on the range, I have much better dispersion with the S300 shafted clubs. Another thing is I think I might be ballooning the R300's a little. Course or range, I could hit 3 very solid shots and get 3 different distances out of them. How hard would it be to just switch these clubs over to S300's? Another option I was thinking of would be trying those black gold shafts. How do those perform compared to S300's?

[Rockford35]

Easy swap. You just need new ferrules and epoxy, plus grips.

Black Gold are so inconsistent set to set, it's not even funny. You'll have 3 shafts that are regular, two that are XX and the rest are a dogs breakfast on top of that. Poor, poor quality control and no increased performance to boot.

R35

[LyleG]

The black golds feel great, everything else about them is total shit.

[NiftyNiblick]

Stock UST ProForce V2 works for me in the numbered irons and the heavier Aldila NV Pro 105 in the Scratch wedges. (Fujikura in the driver, so I must be following Obama's advice to share the wealth!)

Steel works out well in bent shaft putters, but other than that, not for me. Not even in the persimmon fairways. I don't get any sense of where the clubhead is.

[Clugnut]

Easy swap. You just need new ferrules and epoxy, plus grips.

Black Gold are so inconsistent set to set, it's not even funny. You'll have 3 shafts that are regular, two that are XX and the rest are a dogs breakfast on top of that. Poor, poor quality control and no increased performance to boot.

R35

The black golds feel great, everything else about them is total shit.

Hmm, so do I need to get mine frequencied? I seem to be very consistent with mine, both dispersion and trajectory.

[twofast2s]

i have black gold, played w/ project x, and DG s300/s400/x100.

as far as flight and control, s400 and x100 were the best for me. low trajectory, heavier shaft for control.

BG had great feel to them, but like rock and lyle said, i don't think they were truely a matched set.

i haven't personally had project x in my clubs, so that's my next item to try.

i would definitely go w/ s300. i have everything except the shafts. so if you want ez, get yourself some shafts and i'll install them for yah.

better yet, if i see a cheap iron sets w/ dg x100 or s3/400, i'll get it and do some swaps.

[MGP]

That's always been my problem with Black Golds... they sell you a "matched set" that isn't really matched! Unless you have access to a large stock of them and can match them yourself I think it's pretty much pot luck what you get.

They do look cool though.

[Rockford35]

Hmm, so do I need to get mine frequencied? I seem to be very consistent with mine, both dispersion and trajectory.

Nope. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. History has just shown that the consistency between sets is truly bad. Which is too bad, because they're a great feeling shaft when you find one that you like.

Do you have any irons that feel better than others? I don't want you second guessing anything, but this could be a sign that things are wonky. I had this with a set of Pings once, where my 7 iron and 9 iron were money, but i couldn't hit the 8 to save my life. Turns out the shaft in the 8 iron was 2 flexes softer. Cheap shafts.

R35

[Clugnut]

Nope. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. History has just shown that the consistency between sets is truly bad. Which is too bad, because they're a great feeling shaft when you find one that you like.

Do you have any irons that feel better than others? I don't want you second guessing anything, but this could be a sign that things are wonky. I had this with a set of Pings once, where my 7 iron and 9 iron were money, but i couldn't hit the 8 to save my life. Turns out the shaft in the 8 iron was 2 flexes softer. Cheap shafts.

R35

They all feel really good, even the wedge shafts that I've gotten have felt spot on. The feel of them has me ruined. I just can't do S300's, FST's or Rifles. The only thing I have swung that holds a candle are Nippons.

I trust my equipment pretty much, now. If anything is wonky, its my swing!

That is some serious false advertising if they are that bad. Isn't the deal supposed to be within a gram weight, and within a cycle for frequency? If they vary that much, that's BS.

[Rockford35]

That is some serious false advertising if they are that bad. Isn't the deal supposed to be within a gram weight, and within a cycle for frequency? If they vary that much, that's BS.

I don't know what their deal is. But any good fitter worth their salt veers clear of these for all the reasons that have been given.

Like I said, if they work for you, then bag them. This is a fickle game!

R35

[LyleG]

That is some serious false advertising if they are that bad. Isn't the deal supposed to be within a gram weight, and within a cycle for frequency? If they vary that much, that's BS.

I had a set of BGs in my shop that had a frequency range of 18 cpms from highest to lowest. Weights were all over the map as well. These have been discontinued for good reason. I believe what caused them to feel so good also caused them to be hard to produce with any level of consitency.

[ezra76]

i have black gold, played w/ project x, and DG s300/s400/x100.

as far as flight and control, s400 and x100 were the best for me. low trajectory, heavier shaft for control.

BG had great feel to them, but like rock and lyle said, i don't think they were truely a matched set.

i haven't personally had project x in my clubs, so that's my next item to try.

i would definitely go w/ s300. i have everything except the shafts. so if you want ez, get yourself some shafts and i'll install them for yah.

better yet, if i see a cheap iron sets w/ dg x100 or s3/400, i'll get it and do some swaps.

I'll have to take you up on that bud. If you do something for a steal though, I could always dump the 704's or something else to repay you. I know you were looking for 690 Cavity Backs yourself? Those would be good. Also another set of 704's or even 755's. I'm looking for something similar, right on the borderline of player and GI. I need just a little offset help as well as a generous bounce angle with my often steep swing.

As for the PX's I'd like to try a set with those in it as well. I've hit the 5.5's a few times now and really like the feel, would like to see the ballflight. Those R300's are really starting to rise up and drop straight down. I've hit quite a few 4-7irons that act like they just hit a 40mph. wall of wind and drop.

[LTCMARCPAUL]

Has any of you fine golf fanatics had any experience with ALDILA PROTO VS shafts in their irons? I have been using the NV 85-s in my PING G5s and want to try the VS in 100-R in a set of Raptures I just picked up and sell the G5s if the Raptures are all that. Any experience shared would be appreciated.