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Irons
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New
Testing Methodology for Irons
At the end of 2005 GolfTest USA partnered with
Golf Illustrated, one of the top national golf publications,
to provide them with the results of our standard golf equipment
testing that we conduct on an ongoing basis. Golf Illustrated
has agreed to publish a feature article in each issue highlighting
many of the new clubs that have been introduced. In the
process of explaining our testing process to GI they asked
if we could expand the criteria we have the testers evaluate.
We agreed and there are now 10 criteria that the testers
evaluate. There is also an additional rating we list in
the last column which is the combined "AVERAGE" of the first
10 criteria. We feel this "AVERAGE" gives golfers a good
indication of which clubs performed the best across all
the criteria.
We
pick test golfers with varying skill levels based on what
the manufacturer recommends that each club is best suited
to. Some clubs are designed for low handicap golfers and
some clubs are referred to as game improvement clubs and
are designed for mid to high handicap golfers
When testing irons we use three evaluation formats. The
first evaluation format is done by GolfTest USA Test Administrators
and in the second evaluation format GolfTest USA asked each
golfer to rate 10 criteria on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10
being best. GolfTest USA had 60 testers hit shots at the
driving range. GolfTest USA Test Administrators rated the
distance and dispersion of each shot on a scale of 1 to
10 and the "Control" and "Accuracy"
they felt each golfer displayed with each iron during the
test. These ratings are then combined with the second evaluation
format which is the golfers own ratings to come up with
the final ratings for each irons. (The "Overall" column
is not an average of the other criteria. For the "Overall"
criterion we ask each tester to rate the club based on how
they feel the club performed overall in the test.) For the
third testing format we have 15 golfers play one round of
golf with a set of each of the irons and again rate all
the criteria. We then take those rating which where obtained
under actual playing conditions and merge them with the
range test to come up with the final ratings. We have found
that combining these formats gives the most comprehensive
ratings.
On
a scale of 1 to 10(with 10 being best) they rated each of
these criteria.
Distance:
Each tester rated how far they hit each irons.
Control: Testers rated how much control
they felt they had while hitting each irons.
Accuracy: Testers rated how accurate they
felt each irons was.
Forgiveness: Testers rated how forgiving
the irons was on off center hits.
Sound: Testers rated how did they liked
the sound of each club.
Appearance: Testers rated how much they
liked the appearance of the club.
Feel: Testers rated the feel of the club
at set up, during the swing and at impact.
Ball flight (Trajectory): Testers rated
how they liked the trajectory of the ball off the club?
Recommend to others: The testers were asked
to rate how strongly would they recommend to each irons
to their friends or other golfers.
Overall Rating: The testers were asked
to take into consideration what is important to them in
a irons and give it an overall rating. (This is not an average
of the other criteria).
Overall Average: A final category was added
at the request of Golf Illustrated which is the average
of the 10 criteria rated by the testers. We feel this average
helps to give golfers an indication of how each club performed
taking into account all of the criteria in the test.
Why are the test results the way they are? Click
here to find out!
Let us know if there are other irons you would like us to
test and we will contact the manufacturers and see if they
will participate in our next testing cycle. requestatest@golftestusa.com.
Based on the testing completed to date we have determined
that any club that has an "AVERAGE" score 7.9 or better
based on our scoring system is awarded the GolfTest USA
"Seal of Excellence" award. Being awarded the GolfTest USA
"Seal of Excellence" indicates a golf product has been tested
and reviewed by our staff of golf testers and has been judged
to be of superior quality, value and performance. Golfers
who purchase any of these clubs can feel confident they
will be obtaining a quality golf product.
Click
on each column head to sort ratings by that criteria.
| Irons |
Distance |
Control |
Accuracy |
Forgiveness |
Sound |
Appearance |
Feel |
Ball Flight |
Recommend |
Overall |
Average |
| Mizuno MX-950 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.6 |
8.5 |
| Callaway Big Bertha Fusion | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 8.5 |
8.4 |
| Mizuno MP-57 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Nickent 3DX Hybrid | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
8.4 |
| Ping G5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Adams Idea a2 0S | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Ben Hogan Apex | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| MacGregor MACTEC M685 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| MacGregor NVG 2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Mizuno MP-60 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Nike Slingshot OSS | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Wilson Staff Di5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Yonex Cyberstar C280 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 |
| GRIP Wide Sole | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Innovex Type S | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Wilson Staff Ci6 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Tour Edge Bazooka QL | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 |
| Adams Idea a2 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Black Shark MX-7 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.1 |
| Alpha RX-1 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 |
| Infiniti Assure | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| TechPower Pro Series | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 |
| Feel Competitor | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Feel Pro-Am II | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| Infiniti AW-3 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
Over
several years of testing GolfTest USA has determined that
when subjective and objective ratings from our Test Administrators
and the golfers taking the test are combined the overall
rating is a very accurate indication of the actual performance
of any particular golf product. There is only a small difference
in the ratings yet even a couple of percentage points difference
from one club to another is significant enough to indicate
a club that performs at a superior level to other clubs.
Go to
our manufacturer's links
page to get more information about the items in the above
category.
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