Titleist CB irons

big_drive

Anyone hit these?

I'm currently thinking of changing my irons. Have seen a set of CB 714's come up locally 2nd hand for a good price. They have the shaft, specs, etc that i'm looking for. Wondering are they difficult to hit in relation to the AP2's

I'm playing off 4 if that makes any difference

dan_ep82

I had a set of 08' AP2's and switched to 710 CB's recently as my AP2's were looking a little sorry for themselves and I got a great deal on the CB's.

They are very similar to hit compared to the AP2 with more forgivness than you'd imagine. The main difference i found is you can feel the strike a little more on off centre hits. For me they go 2-3yds lower if anything, 4i is still easy to launch.

I found on slightly heavy shots they perform a little better aswell due to a thinner sole.

The short irons are a little smaller in blade size but nicer for it even though the difference isn't huge.

I had a set of 13" Xforged for a short while and they were not as forgiving, anywhere but the middle of the club was punishing even though they had a bigger muscle/cavity.

big_drive

Thanks.

Funny you should mention the Callaway X forged 2013 club
I had a chance to take them for a round as a friend has a set, found them a nice club but they didn't have the shaft i was looking for in them

So in your opinion the CB's would be better then the X-forged. Thats good to hear as i quite liked the Callaways so the Titleists may be an option

dan_ep82

big_drive wrote: »

Thanks.

Funny you should mention the Callaway X forged 2013 club
I had a chance to take them for a round as a friend has a set, found them a nice club but they didn't have the shaft i was looking for in them

So in your opinion the CB's would be better then the X-forged. Thats good to hear as i quite liked the Callaways so the Titleists may be an option

The X forged felt a little "softer" than the CB's when struck well and gave a nice flight if a little lower than what I'm used to seeing, for me aswell the shaft was wrong. But they definitely had a lack of forgiveness over the CB's. If caught from the toe slightly you'd see the lower ball flight straight away which would result in less carry. And for the 2° stronger lofts the distance was very small if there at all over the CB's and AP2's

I'd say better forgiveness but not a better club. In the hands of a really good ball striker both would perform the exact same I'd imagine, but for me my strike just wasn't consistent enough to game them.

ShriekingSheet

I have AP2s. Similar handicap. My mate (+1) has CBs, and I was looking at them when getting fitted in the Titleist centre. To be honest, I came away 100% certain that CBs were not the way to go. Sure, the 9 iron is gorgeous, but 7 iron and longer will unquestionably perform worse than a slightly larger head for anyone other than an elite ball striker.

And while a 4 handicap can be an excellent ball striker, you will in all likelihood not be doing it all the time.

One thing that struck me that helped me decide too was when I saw a bit of the West of Ireland last year. The number of better-than-scratch players there using what would commonly be seen as tour mid-size heads was noticeable. A couple of very good juniors around scratch in my club are the same. I think the top tours even have a fair few non-blades players.

Maybe just my opinion, but the idea that "low men use blades" seems to be very old fashioned. The days where your only options were either Mizuno MP blades, or giant Callaway cavity backs where the PW could go 150 yards, are dead and gone. There are tons of neat, tour models that give the optimum forgiveness and playability.

big_drive

Thanks for the feedback there lads, very helpful. I'm probably swaying towards getting my hands on AP2's
Probably a better option for the days where the striking is a bit off but still a nice looking and feeling club

Russman

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

I have AP2s. Similar handicap. My mate (+1) has CBs, and I was looking at them when getting fitted in the Titleist centre. To be honest, I came away 100% certain that CBs were not the way to go. Sure, the 9 iron is gorgeous, but 7 iron and longer will unquestionably perform worse than a slightly larger head for anyone other than an elite ball striker.

And while a 4 handicap can be an excellent ball striker, you will in all likelihood not be doing it all the time.

One thing that struck me that helped me decide too was when I saw a bit of the West of Ireland last year. The number of better-than-scratch players there using what would commonly be seen as tour mid-size heads was noticeable. A couple of very good juniors around scratch in my club are the same. I think the top tours even have a fair few non-blades players.

Maybe just my opinion, but the idea that "low men use blades" seems to be very old fashioned. The days where your only options were either Mizuno MP blades, or giant Callaway cavity backs where the PW could go 150 yards, are dead and gone. There are tons of neat, tour models that give the optimum forgiveness and playability.

Absolutely this ^^^^
I played my best golf when I went from a set of TP9 blades to MX20 about 10 years ago. Took a little while to get used to the look of them, but they were fantastic for the 5 years or so that I used them.

Each to their own and all that, but forgiveness is your friend, if you can stand the look of whatever irons you're using.

big_drive

Must say the Titleist gear is pricey, even 2nd hand. Looking around a 2nd hand set of AP2's would be nearly equal to a new set of Wilson FG Tour irons

Mickiwi

I would definitely go and get fit. I went to the titliest centre in Carton House with my heart set on AP2's. Did all the club testing and it turned out that the CB's performed far better. The technology will tell you if they are right for you.

J6P

I have tried the 710 cb's and a set of rocketbladez.

None perform as well as my ugly oversized cobra sz irons which I managed to get down to scratch with.