Yourcaddy #6 | Page 28

YOUR GEAR | REVIEWED These Blades are Better Whilst I am a low-handicap golfer, my irons play has been the weakness of my game as of late. These, however, restored my faith that I can hit good irons shots and don’t I’m not always scrambling to make pars. “I’m not good enough to hit blades.”, “No one in their right mind should play blades, not even pros.” or “Blades are just for posers.” I’ve heard and read all kinds of statements like these knocking blades/ blade players. Yes, I believe a 20 handicap golfer should have the most forgiving set of irons in their bag they can play, but for single digit handicap golfers, I don’t think they should be so quick to dismiss blades, especially ones like the Srixon Z 945 range that offer design features to help the golfer hit these blades better. Ok, let’s be honest, no matter your opinion of blades for playing purposes, there isn’t a prettier set on the market than these Srixon Z9 45 irons. The simplicity, the angles, the shape; these are simply beautiful to look at in the bag, on the rack or even hanging on the wall! Srixon nailed the looks of these irons perfectly. They are pure blades with a very modern angular style that is perfect for both the traditional golfer and modern golfer. Their stock 3- PW with DG S300 shafts and Lamkin Red UTx cord grips make for a complete player’s iron package. Don’t stop at the looks and say they are too pretty to hit or too demanding until you’ve given them a chance. I found them to play as well as, if not better than, other low handicap irons because of a few really important design features incorporated into the heads. I’ve had them in the bag this autumn and my scores started going down, I hit them on my Flightscope X2 Launch Monitor to confirm the performance with numbers. All of which told me that these blades are better for my game. The clubs most vital to having a solid rounds with blades are the long irons, the 3-6 irons are usually the real issue in a blade players game. Many golfers can play the short irons in blades, but struggle with the long ones in terms of trajectory and consistency. Srixon did a little tungsten weight in the toe of the club that really helps balance the long irons so that the golfers can get consistently solid shots from those clubs. I even kept the 3-iron in my bag (which I never do) and hit it amazingly well. I stuck a 3-iron to about 6 feet for eagle on a par 5 from about 210 yards out, it wasn’t just a one off shot, it was the shot after shot results that gave me confidence with this set. The short irons are exactly what you’d expect; solid, versatile and accurate. While they don’t have the tungsten in the toe, they have near perfect balance with the angular weighting on the back of the clubhead which puts solid mass right behind the ball at impact. Their feel is as pure as it gets.