went to a shop that opened about a year ago about a block from my house just to check things out....always walked and drove by it but never stopped in to check things out and plus i needed some balls and was thinking about picking up some new wedges. anyways, turned out to be a great little shop, owned by a family from Japan, specializing in Asian spec clubs from bridgestone, miura, fourteen and the likes, but also carried all the good stuff from callaway, tm, nike and what not. anyways, long story short, i left the store without buying balls or wedges, but instead a set of nike cci forged irons. got them for $350...which matches the lowest price i've seen elsewhere (golfsmith) but with the satisfaction of supporting a small business in my neighborhood.

i've gotten the chance to get them on the range for a session and zipped through 9 holes with them in the bag. so far i'm loving them...i know it sounds cliche around here, but there is nothing quite like the feel of puring a shot with forged iron...so buttery soft, and the sound the ball makes when you get that perfect penetrating flight off the face. i was a bit scared jumping from my nickent 3dx redbacks with the bigger offset and much thicker topline to these players irons...but i made the transition pretty smoothly, atleast 5-pw...3 and 4 are a work in progress. The only thing is though the jump from the lighter reg flex TT steel shafts to the dynamic gold s300's has dropped my distance about a club (7i is my go to 150yd club now instead of my 8i). i'll get a couple more practice sessions and rounds in and then post a review as they are not reviewed on this site

Hey, good for you. Isn't it fun to stop in a shop and find something you weren't expecting?
Enjoy your new toys!

Sounds like you did good on your new toys. The stiffer shafts could be the reason you are hitting the new irons shorter. Could also be the loft of each iron. Might want to check on the website and see what the loft of each iron is, and compart it to your old set. Also, if your ball flight isn't high enough with the new irons, that could explain the short carry yardage.

Great, hope you enjoy the clubs. I echo what Don said. Check out the lofts and see if they are the same as your old irons. Either way enjoy the new sticks!

Good luck with the new clubs. Getting something new and shiny is the best feeling.

didn't think about the lofts...but i'm sure that is it. the nickents being game improvement sticks are probably a bit stronger to add more distance compared to the nike's which are a bit more of a players iron. plus 150-155 is pretty standard for a 7 iron i'd think, and i'll take the trade off for a much tighter shot dispersion from the stiffer shafts. another thing i've noticed is how much easier it is to work a ball, i took about 10 balls and alternated between fade, draw and straight, and was amazed how easily i could command it, something i could never do with my old irons. golf just got fun again!!!

If you want, you can go to the Golf Digest site, and look in the IN my Bag secion. It shows the CARRY yardage for a bunch of the pros on tour. YOu can look up the men or ladies carry distances for irons, and use this to see how you compare. If YOU can hit your 7 iron as far as the LPGA pros, you should be fine. Not too many amatuers will hit the ball as far at the men, but we can hope.

Hooray!! another Nike man..