Could there be a less precise title? I don’t think so. Especially when I state that it deals with a set of irons. Let me ‘splain. My brother-in-law fired a message at me yesterday, asking for my input on the hybrid/iron set he ought to purchase. Those who know me, know full well that I told him to get fitted. He’s practical, so the weaving of fitting cost into overall price would appeal to him. He’s logical, so the sensibility of knowing your personal stats and having them figure in would sit well with him.
As for me, I’ve been tracing this path since I abandoned my set of Ping Eye 2 irons back in the early 1990s. I did so for a reason~I thought that I was better than I was and that those clubs weren’t players clubs. Silly boy. I’ve had some fine sets in the interim, including a set of Mizuno blades that I refuse to trade. I did part ways with some fine Titleists five years back, but we never established a rapport of any duration.
Always in the back of my mind were those Eye 2s. I used them to challenge for a club championship (finished second, in the mix until the final hole) the only time I played one. I shot consecutive rounds of 70, 77 and 71 with them back in the day, commanding every approach shot into every green. They were amazing. Last Fall, a sage friend took me to his attic and showed me a bag filled with Eye 2s that he had kept. I took them to the course but, alas, the magic was gone. I was decent with them, but no more or less than I had been with the Mizunos and the Titleists. The toe of the Eye 2 was pointier than I recalled and the confidence to swing with abandon had ebbed.
I sadly returned them to Satch, who suggested another set, the i3. Boing went the spring, an instant visual connection. That was the toe I was looking for, slightly rounded but not oversized, the mitt of a shortstop, not a first baseman. I’m seeking that connection anywhere I can find it, be it the dome, the course or the shrunken, backyard practice range.
I don’t know if my brother-in-law ever had that connection with a set of irons and I don’t want to complicate his search. He doesn’t read big words well, so this article will escape his attention, thank goodness. However, I do hope that he finds his irons, as I think that I’ve found mine.
