Worst Irons All Time?

[DB Golf]

7 hours ago, Scootre said:

My choice.. 

 

These clubs knocked my dad out of golf. We were in the middle of a round when he quit. Mom bought them for Dad because he was a bank executive 😂. Years later I took them out for a round and couldn’t hit them to save my life. 

[PNWSlinger]

8 hours ago, Scootre said:

My choice.. 

 

my first set as a kid! Didnt know any better. Also had the matching 3w and 5w, laminates. Those tiny wood heads still fit my eye, they went pretty far too

[bcjim]

Thread has nailed it. 

 

I learned to play with executives, lol. They were ok honestly but that styling...💀

 

Tommy Armour titanium. This was my first thought actually. They were, at the time anyway and maybe even now, *huge*, like some kind of novelty club.  I think I was in HS or college probably and I recall seeing these in whatever golf retailer existed then. They were freak show as much as the Cleveland VAS. If I had to pick one to play now of the 3, it would probably be Executives or VAS.  So Ti-100 wins, I mean loses.🤣

[PARETO]

3 hours ago, brutus27 said:

Ping Zing 2

Sorry but can’t let that one slide. Zing2 are in my cool “hall of fame”. Westwood bagged them on tour for over a decade and won a lot with ‘em. Plus, all old Ping is automatically awesome. Except original Zing - those sucked. 😉😉

[bogeyk]

20 minutes ago, PARETO said:

Sorry but can’t let that one slide. Zing2 are in my cool “hall of fame”. Westwood bagged them on tour for over a decade and won a lot with ‘em. Plus, all old Ping is automatically awesome. Except original Zing - those sucked. 😉😉

Out of all clubs I’ve had the Zing2 were my favorite.  I ordered a new set in ‘06 when PING still made and sold previous models on request.  They were the best back then for this as well as having the WRX department in full swing for custom grinds and such. 

[ShowMe]

8 hours ago, Bad9 said:

 

And yet they won a US Open being wielded by Wrx favourite Corey Pavin who worked the ball left/right up/down at will unlike todays pros who, well, can't.

I would say that Pavin won the US Open in spite of the irons, not because of them.

[Cpt. Kirk]

8 hours ago, Bad9 said:

 

And yet they won a US Open being wielded by Wrx favourite Corey Pavin who worked the ball left/right up/down at will unlike todays pros who, well, can't.

The difference between a PGA Playing Professional and us is, they can play every iron, we can't play a single one….

[Pleasedwith3putts]

There was a set that I think were called Rhymes about 45 years ago which win hands down they were SO bad. I haven't managed to find a photo of them sadly maybe older members will remember them?

[Jtgavigan]

17 hours ago, Scootre said:

My choice.. 

 

I played those in HS and some in college. 🤢

[Maine Golfer]

8 hours ago, PARETO said:

Sorry but can’t let that one slide. Zing2 are in my cool “hall of fame”. Westwood bagged them on tour for over a decade and won a lot with ‘em. Plus, all old Ping is automatically awesome. Except original Zing - those sucked. 😉😉

Ha, i love and game the OGs and dislike the Zing 2s. Both have won on tour 

[GDB67]

This is my vote. 

[14max]

On 11/29/2024 at 6:46 PM, brutus27 said:

Ping Zing 2

Westwood successfully played them for years.  Very underrated.

Edited December 1, 2024 by 14max

[14max]

On 11/29/2024 at 6:46 PM, brutus27 said:

Ping Zing 2

...

Edited December 1, 2024 by 14max
Duplicate post

[JD3]

On 11/29/2024 at 7:46 PM, brutus27 said:

Ping Zing 2

Zing2 were decent, like a flattened out and thus more  maxed out Eye2. And let's not forget the only reason Ping had to rush them out was to replace the visually unplayable Zing. Even if they performed they were just too hideous to look at with the hunk of metal extending out from high on the toe.

Edited December 1, 2024 by JD3

[coops]

That was quite some period when the Cleveland VAS, Ping Zings…. and please don’t forget the Macgregor DoctorX!

 

[mat562]

33 minutes ago, coops said:

That was quite some period when the Cleveland VAS, Ping Zings…. and please don’t forget the Macgregor DoctorX!

 A set of those and one of those Pelz putters with the plastic balls on the back and you'd be the talk of the town.

[TaderSalad]

On 11/29/2024 at 9:41 AM, JD3 said:

Was poking thru a pawn shop sports section and came across set of Titleist 731PM irons. The PM stands for Phil Mickelson, and I highly doubt he played this version. They were some of the harshest, worst feeling clubs I ever tried when they first came out. You just DO NOT offer a set of cast blades, and Titleist should have known  better. What a dark chapter for them trying to just stamp "PM" on junk and save a few dollars in the manufacturing process.

I tend to agree, but how much of the amateur field back then were the purists that we see today?

[SlothofDespond]

I don't think the VAS fit the OP's intended definition of "worst" - an iron that is actually bad at being an iron. They're hideous but they were successfully used on tour.

 

Those Tommy Armor irons feel like a strong contender. Difficult to hit and hideous too with the ugly plastic badge and weird sole design. Also, the geniuses at TA thought harder to hit was a direction they should take through the 90s:

 

[Shallowface]

On 11/29/2024 at 10:41 AM, JD3 said:

Was poking thru a pawn shop sports section and came across set of Titleist 731PM irons. The PM stands for Phil Mickelson, and I highly doubt he played this version. They were some of the harshest, worst feeling clubs I ever tried when they first came out. You just DO NOT offer a set of cast blades, and Titleist should have known  better. What a dark chapter for them trying to just stamp "PM" on junk and save a few dollars in the manufacturing process.

Nonsense.  I'd much rather have a set of cast blades than the cheaply made forged crap of today which, based upon used sets I see, looks as though it was dragged behind a car after just a few rounds.

 

Ralph Maltby proved, in a blind test many years ago, that given identical design, not even tour pros could tell the difference between a forged club and a cast club.

 

And you can't either.  The whole forged vs cast thing is nothing more than simple snobbery. 

Edited December 1, 2024 by Shallowface

[Shallowface]

On 11/29/2024 at 11:10 AM, islesmb said:

Cleveland VAS irons.

 

The easiest club to line up at address that I ever tried.  They just wanted to sit dead square.  

[Shallowface]

On 11/29/2024 at 1:44 PM, Scootre said:

My choice.. 

 

Yeah.  They had a run in the marketplace for nearly 20 years.  The word of mouth must have killed them.

 

Or not.

 

 

[Shallowface]

On 11/30/2024 at 3:14 AM, Cpt. Kirk said:

The difference between a PGA Playing Professional and us is, they can play every iron, we can't play a single one….

If one can't hit the center of the face with a particular iron or hits the ground before the ball...that's not because of the club.

 

With this crowd, the best clubs are the ones that makes the BROS go OOOOH and AAAHHH.  Nothing else matters.

 

 

[Shallowface]

On 11/29/2024 at 9:31 PM, DB Golf said:

These clubs knocked my dad out of golf. We were in the middle of a round when he quit. Mom bought them for Dad because he was a bank executive 😂. Years later I took them out for a round and couldn’t hit them to save my life. 

The arrows?  Or the archer???

[Shallowface]

On 11/30/2024 at 2:30 AM, ShowMe said:

I would say that Pavin won the US Open in spite of the irons, not because of them.

The fairway woods had one of those badges on the crown.

 

And if memory serves, that was the 4 wood Pavin used to hit, as Johnny Miller said, "the shot of his life!"

 

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2024 by Shallowface

[Shallowface]

21 hours ago, GDB67 said:

This is my vote. 

I used to play with a guy who was great with these.

 

Again, the archer. 

[Shallowface]

9 hours ago, JD3 said:

Zing2 were decent, like a flattened out and thus more  maxed out Eye2. And let's not forget the only reason Ping had to rush them out was to replace the visually unplayable Zing. Even if they performed they were just too hideous to look at with the hunk of metal extending out from high on the toe.

The Zing wasn't unplayable.  It's just that with the extreme toe weighting it tended to cause the shafts of the time to bend at the hosel.  Karsten came up with a shaft to fix that so the Zings after that didn't have that problem, but the reputation was damaged.  That was most likely what led to the Zing2. 

[JD3]

23 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

Nonsense.  I'd much rather have a set of cast blades than the cheaply made crap of today which, based upon used sets I see, looks as though it was dragged behind a car after just a few rounds.

 

Ralph Maltby proved, in a blind test many years ago, that given identical design, not even tour pros could tell the difference between a forged club and a cast club.

 

And you can't either.  The whole forged vs cast thing is nothing more than simple snobbery. 

I thought they were forged until I hit them 

[Shallowface]

3 hours ago, coops said:

That was quite some period when the Cleveland VAS, Ping Zings…. and please don’t forget the Macgregor DoctorX!

 

With that toe weighting they tended to bend the shafts at the hosel as did the Zings, but it was no problem to hit the center of the face with them and they didn't feel bad at all.

[Shallowface]

2 minutes ago, JD3 said:

I thought they were forged until I hit them 

Being that they were left handed I never got a chance to try them.

 

It may not have been that great of a design as far as COG location was concerned.  Maybe the shafts didn't suit you.  Maybe the grips weren't fresh.  All factors which affect feel.

 

But the fact they were cast had nothing to do with it.  I've hit forged clubs that felt hard as bricks on flush hits.  There are many factors involved in the ultimate feel of a golf club other than the manufacturing process used to make it. 

[Shallowface]

1 hour ago, TaderSalad said:

I tend to agree, but how much of the amateur field back then were the purists that we see today?

Every new generation that comes along thinks they invented everything, and now they think they've invented purists.

 

The forged vs cast debate has been going on since the invention of cast golf clubs.

 

That was in the 1960s son. 

 

And purists, AKA snobs, have been around since the dawn of time, and not just in golf.