Zodia sure makes beautiful golf clubs – Chiba-san has been producing sharp edges grained finish clubs for well over a decade now and in person just as in these photos they are incredible to look at, but are they equally as satisfying to hit? To find out follow the Jump….
The above photo shows a tiny heel to toe head, thin top line and next to no offset, the image below a nice killed leading edge for the digger.
Over the years I have been a huge fan of his work, He is Chiba-san of Zodia the main man, designer, owner, and grind lead for Zodia, my introduction with Zodia started off a while back with the Zodia U.S Spec forged wedges he produced, they were expensive at that time but opened the eyes of many to hand ground Japan forged wedges.
This CM-2+ is their smallest most compact players CB with Zodia’s thinnest top line and least amount of offset in a cavity back. There is also a CM-2 (standard model) that is identical except for half mm thicker top line and a touch less face progression ( more offset ) the difference is minimal but I would say the + version is for the purist or blade player who wants to gradually enter a CB design.
I have not hit the CM-2 + but I have hit the standard model and here is the thing that get’s me about Zodia, the vast majority of their irons and wedges are pretty firm at impact as in not soft and of course feel is subjective and one’s man soft could be another man’s pure or even firm it’s a hard thing to judge but bottom line is over the last decade + I have not hit a Zodia iron I have loved in terms of feel and that’s a problem as in my opinion a purists iron needs not only to look compact and “player” because Zodia has that in the bag, but it must also feel pure which is only soft in the center and not too soft at the edges. Unfortunately most of his irons miss the mark in this category imo.
As you can see in the above pic a very sharp toe that runs parallel past the bead blast portion of the fast, this is classic Chiba-san.
This finish has essentially no glare, it’s super good looking but there is also a negative theory on this type of finish and I don’t fault only Zodia here but many brands now use this type of plated grain look finish, what I do know is that it’s a fact a smoother more glossy finish will slide/glide/cut through the turf with less restriction than these grain types of finishes raw or plated. I really like the look but would prefer it not on the sole or leading edge just because if your spending big bucks you want every trick or advantage you can throw at the book. These types of finishes will cause more friction but will that change your score? not really I think.
So yea quick feedback on these:
Feel: too firm wish the center was softer, even outside the sweet spot is almost hard.
Distance: it’s a players iron, traditional lofts this is not what you want. I hit it not as long as my other players club but thats because I was most likly missing center a bit more due to it’s tiny size
Forgiveness: Again not what this iron is designed for but I do notice low on the toe it was pretty good for what it is
Workability: I’m not the best at working the ball but I test using a low draw and hook, I can fade with ease and I like testing with long irons most and these are indeed very workable
Overall: Are you a very good player who wants a transition from a firm feeling MB to a firm feeling CB? Do you like short heel to toe lengths and require a no glare iron with a good amount of killed leading edge? If so these are your ticket.
This set used for photos is now available 4-PW heads only, contact [email protected] for more info.
