Equipment
Does hitting forged irons off of artificial turf mats harm the club? – GolfWRXers have their say
In our forums, our members have been discussing forged irons and whether hitting the clubs off of artificial mats will affect the irons in any way. WRXer ‘Brenkj’ is concerned about the potential issue and asks members what exactly hitting forged irons off of artificial mats will do to the club – and our members have been having their say in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- jeffrey r: “Yes, mats will affect forged irons if used on a regular basis. As you say, potentially loft, lie angle, etc. could be affected. All of that is fixable of course, but you’ll need to be more on top of it than if you were hitting cast irons. Mats are also harsher on your joints. Forged irons or not, I would never hit a ton of shots off of mats, but that is me. Proof will be in the pudding if you start noticing changes out on the course with their performance. If they are playing fine despite practicing off of mats, then just roll with it as long as you can.”
- SubaruWRX: “I hit my forged irons on my mat at home all the time. I’ve never had an issue. Had them checked after regular rounds and hitting them at home all the time. In 3 years one or two irons loft were off by half a degree. Lie angles were all correct. Maybe it’s worse for someone that has a steep descending swing that tries to take divots out of the mat. But I take shallow long divots on the course and never had a problem with mats.”
- bnperrone: “Basically, your club lie angle will creep upright over time. All else being the same, the softest forged metals will naturally move the fastest. Make friends with a club builder who has a bending setup.”
- Nard_S: “I don’t generate beaver pelts with my divots, do tons of forged on mat practice. Have had maybe one set that went out of whack and that took three years to do it.”
Entire Thread: “Hitting forged irons off of artificial turf mats”
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
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Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
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Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Jun 16, 2020 at 11:22 pm
Another WRXer post LOL, like it is rather common and would actually affect your game. Pros check their club specs every so often even though they hardly hit off the mats. Their clubs could actually get bent or damaged by tons of traveling and/or tens of thousands of strokes interacting with all kinds of turf conditions at higher than average swing speeds but us the mortal? Well… we will probably feel it on our joints first. Raise your hand if your golf bag got knocked over by the wind or fell from a running cart more than a few occasions. You might be playing with a crack on your driver shaft. Remember to use a head cover with a long neck.