Factory Specs - Experience

ScooterMcTavish · July 23

Afternoon all,

Had an interesting experience today, as I took my irons to my local club guru to have the lies flattened, and a few small loft tweaks to remove a wedge from my bag.

Clubs in question were a set of JPX Tour 923 (4-PW) purchased new this spring, plus prior model Wilson Staff 52º and 56º wedges, purchased new a few weeks ago.

For the JPX Tour, 4 of 7 clubs were lofted one degree weaker than spec. 5 of 7 were out of spec for lie, with 2 being 1º too upright, and the other 3 being 0.5º upright.

For the Staff wedges, one was 1.5º upright, and one was 1º upright from spec. Although the 56º was lofted correct, the 52º was 2 degrees strong at 50º.

Of greatest concern was three of the weak-lofted irons were the 8-9-PW, clubs where you want better distance control. Not to mention I thought I was hitting the 52º pretty well for a 52º, at least until today.

Is this common? Would like to hear the experiences of others, as today's event suggests I should just take all new clubs to him to be measured to spec before playing.

gents15 · July 23

I didn’t know this was common until I started learning more about equipment in the last couple years…mainly reading threads here and following builders/fitters on Instagram. I remember one guy saying that if you order a set of irons straight from an OEM, there’s a 0% chance the specs will be right. So yes, having new clubs checked by the local guru is probably a necessity.

subrew · July 23

Very normal, and not just for irons. Drivers can easily be 1 to 1.5* off their stated value, when in the stock/neutral position on the adjustable hossel. A gent on Instagram does all sorts of cool measurements to drivers, including CoG locations, and measuring loft and face angle. A 9* driver can measure out at 10.2* with a 3* open face, right off the shelf.

I helped a friend with a brand new set of T150s. Several irons were weak, a couple were strong, and lie angle were all a little whacky. There was a 6.5* loft difference between the 7 and 8 irons. Brand spanking new clubs, still had the plastic on them.

golfschnell · July 23

Very common , for Mizuno. I played their irons for 20 years, and have ordered probably 30 sets of irons for myself and friends over the years. I have always checked clubs I order on my Mitchell, because you never know who checked your set after assembly, regardless of manufacturer. Not one Mizuno iron set was ever correct, and most were off in different directions by iron. Don’t get me wrong, Mizuno irons are f’ng fantastic, but their quality control historically for me has been abysmal. Ping has been much better in my experience, with Titleist, Taylormade and Callaway better but with occasional issues. Your mileage may vary, just my experience over the last 30 years.

Edited July 23 by golfschnell

Sean124 · July 24

I figure anything within a degree is perfectly acceptable from a manufacturer. I don’t even bother hitting a new club until getting loft/lie checked.

Hoyoymac · July 25

Sadly, the majority of the clubs I have ordered have come with something out of spec. Most commonly: loft, lie, Swingweight, and length have been off.

Have had clubs come with the wrong grip or wrong size grip.

One came with the right shaft (brand, model and flex) but the wrong weight, another came with the right shaft but wrong flex.

Kind of frustrating when you are excited to get something and it isn’t built correctly.

gdb99 · July 25

Any good club fitter would check the specs before the clubs leave the shop. We had a shop around here that did that, but unfortunately they closed the shop near me. His other shop is over an hour away.

Also, different machines will give you different numbers, and the person behind the machine needs to know how to use it.