Revelation Hybrid Set

I think that the progressive hybrid-iron set is the future of the golf club set. Since so many of us are already buying hybrids to replace the long irons that came with our sets, it makes sense to offer hybrids instead of the three, four and maybe even five irons.

It makes even more sense to design a set with hybrids from the ground up. That way, there is a seamless progression of clubs and distances throughout all of the set.

That’s what GigaGolf has with its hybrid iron Revelation Golf set. Made from 17-4 Stainless steel, and coming with a variety of shafts, it has three head styles. The longest irons are more of a traditional small headed fairway or hybrid style; the mid irons are hollow body, and the short irons a standard size and shape.

REID LOCKHART Forged Combo Iron Set 3-PW - Melonite Finish

I sometimes find the number of different golf companies astounding: in addition to the big boys like TaylorMade, Ping and Callaway, there are a dozen mid level players and innumerable third tier productions. Golfsmith, for examplecarries thirty different brands of irons: Adams, Ben Hogan, Bridgestone, Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Element 21 Golf, F2, Golfsmith, Hippo Golf, Lynx, MacGregor, Magique Golf, Maruman, Mizuno, Nickent, Nike, Orlimar, Paragon, Ping, Precept, Purespin, Reid Lockhart, Snake Eyes, Srixon, TaylorMade, Titleist, Tommy Armour, Tour Edge, Wilson, XPC and Zevo.

Reid Lockhart is one I’d never heard of before, but I was attracted to because of the black finish (I love black finish irons).

The Lockhart irons are forged, designed as a progressive set. The 3 adn 4 irons are full cavity backs, the 5 - 7 mid irons are half cavities, and teh 8-PW are blades. The clubs have a b lack melonite finish with copper underplating (that’s a new one one me), a milled face and machine engraved modified U grooves. I can only assume that the copper is there to offer a softer feel; the melonite, perhaps, has a more harsh feel.

Command BK Irons

I love black finish irons, and wish that more companies offered the finish as an option. Black, to me, has a certain inherent look of seriousness of purpose.

Pine Meadow’s Command BK Irons are designed as an ultra-forgiving club suitable for golfers of all skill levels. The company compares them in performace to the TaylorMade R7 line.

With a deep cavity and fine top line, the weight is moved to the perimeter to maximize the moment of intertia (resistance to twisting) and forgiveness. With a large “sweet spot,” off center shots will fly longer and stay more on-line.

The black finish on these clubs, PineMeadow says, will in time wear on the bottom into an oil-can finish like the wedges so many like.

The best part of these clubs, though, is the price. You can get a 3-PW set for as low as $179.

TAYLORMADE r7 CGB Max Irons 3-PW w/Steel Shaft

New from TaylorMade are the R7 CGB Max irons. With the largest clubface of any TaylorMade Iron, these are designed to be both easy to hit and long.

The club is constructed in several pieces. The face is a thin sheet of 17-4 steel, incorporating TaylorMade’s Inverted Cone Technology, which is designed to expand the sweet spot. The frame features a hollow topline, which allows extra weight to be moved down and back. The Center of Gravity Back (thus, the CGB of the name), makes it easy to launch the ball high and long.

Tungsten weights are used to increase coefficient of restitution—the resistance of the club to twisting. And to increase distance, clubhead speed is increased by using a lightweight grip and shaft.

In all, the R7 CGB Max irons look like a remarkable collection of technologies.

Power Max KC2

GigaGolf has its PowerMax KC2 Clubs at 20% off the regular base price of $185 for a set. These are hollow chamber clubs with a thin face for maximized ball velocity. GigaGolf says they have wood-like forgiveness.

You can’t beat the price at a base of $148. Over the summer, I bought a set of Gigagolf clubs that I now leave “Up North” at the in-laws cottage on the lake. That leaves more room in the minivan for the boys’ toys when we head up there. I’ve found GigaGolf products to be first rate, and I don’t miss my TaylorMades when I use them.