Repeat after me… I am a Golf Club Ho
Golf gear enthusiast is a nice way of saying “Golf Club Ho”. A golf gear enthusiast is someone who loves golf gear so much they cannot overcome their need to change gear and try new products on a regular basis. I am one of those enthusiasts who has a hard time keeping to one set bag. Moving to Japan and testing and researching golf gear and the Japanese golf market made it even worse for me as I suddenly had access to all the best clubs in the world pretty much anytime I wanted.
Never ending revolving door but…
I’ve decided that if I could game a club longer than 2 months I would write a so called “Long Term Review” on it because two months for me is quite a feat. The last two months has been golf 3-4 times a week including course play and range practice. Through all this time, I’ve gone through 6 different drivers, 4 different wedge models, 4 different putters and 5 different Fairway woods.
ONOFF Iron with Roddio I-6
The only club that has been consistently in the bag through this time has been ONOFF Irons shafted with Roddio Pentacross I-6 graphite. (Though the PRGR Egg Spoon will soon hit 2 months but I already reviewed that earlier as it blew me away.) Only one other set of irons has stayed this long in my bag, the Epon AF-701 with Tour AD-65 Graphite lasted over a YEAR in my bag as nothing could knock it out. I switched the Epon for the sake of switching and they were replaced by the PRGR GN502 irons which really could have lasted a long time in my bag if the ONOFF irons custom built by ONOFF hadn’t suddely materialized in front of me.
Roddio Love them or hate them..
Roddio shafts have a love hate following. It seems for some people they either perform great or are a disaster. I had luck with a W5BA shaft in the past and had always wanted to play Roddio graphite especially being a big fan of carbon iron shafts so I took the chance to bag these irons.
I have not regretted my choice since. The ONOFF irons are a wonderful design and iron. The ONOFF iron features a MS225 Stainless steel body matched with a high maraging steel L Cup face. Maraging steel is strong and can be made very thin and in recent years have become a very popular choice of face for performance oriented irons because of feel and high ball speeds. The ONOFF iron is no exception as it has the pop off the face like the PRGR iron matched with the forgiveness and feel of the AF-701.
The Tungsten sole creates a very low center of gravity and the ball just launches into the air making this a very easy to hit iron for those who have problems getting the ball up. I personally love the feel. I do not sense any difference when it comes to soft feel between the ONOFF and AF-701 with Forged body and asroll face. Actually to be honest, even with a pocket style cavity the ONOFF doesn’t have much of a click on impact which is something some players have noted about the Epon. Closing your eyes and puring a shot with the ONOFF could be mistaken for hitting a forged iron.
Just the right match…
Of course the shaft has a huge impact on feel and I can say I was pleasantly surprised with the Roddio. It may very well be one of the best irons shafts I have tried. (Fujikura is about to launch the Motore Speeder iron series shaft which also looks to be a challenger). The I-6 features Roddio’s Pentacross weave and is very very stable. The shaft is more stout than Tour AD, Bassara, Axiv and Mach Line in a similar weight. The great thing about the Roddio is because they are installed by a certified Roddio installer they can be made to virtually any flex or feel. In the past I have seen may people complain that Roddio’s are soft and in most cases it was because of improper installation. Roddio’s need to be tipped to meet proper flex and CPM, if done incorrectly, feel and performance is completely compromised. I’d have to say that ONOFF installed these Roddio shafts to have the accuracy of steel. They feel as stout if not more than my 850GH Steel but kick harder and launch further just like graphite should. It could very well be that because both irons and head are made by Daiwa Golf who owns both ONOFF and Roddio that these heads and shafts were meant to be a match.
As easy as they get for a mid sized cavity back…
Another reason why I am enjoying these irons is they are simply easy to hit. They are a mid sized iron and do have some offset but are in no way a game improvement iron yet provide game improvement like performance. The sole is very neutral which can suit a variety of swing types but has a blunted leading edge that helps prevent digging. This is very well suited for the softer courses in Japan and I have definitely noticed it on lush courses. Anyone wanting forgiveness can play these irons. From a high handicapper wanting to invest in a good set of irons while improving their game to mid and even low handicappers that want an awesome blend of performance, feel and forgiveness in a very good looking all around package. For now the ONOFF iron will stay in the bag as the iron of choice. They will go with me to Nouvelle Golf Club here in Oami tomorrow for another 18 enjoyable holes.
Even though the ONOFF are technically a 2008 model iron they are definitely up to date with technology and performance and on par with any 2009 model from any other brand. I expect a new 2010 model ONOFF iron to come out later this year following their 2 year trend of model releases. For those still wanting the ONOFF iron it is available through TSG custom built by the ONOFF Tour Van with Roddio I-6, I-8 and I-10 graphite shafts. And for those athlete golfers who want to be like Shingo Katayama, the ONOFF Plus Forged are also available with custom Roddio shaft from the tour van. Just contact us for more details.
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