Update: Originally published June 3rd, 2019 – I had put this post into archive but figured it is relevant to the earlier post today about equipment. 

So, yes, I have blade irons myself and have no problem hitting them. /update

I received a pleasant surprise gift from The Welshman a couple of weeks back on my last session at the range, when we got together to hit some balls together after the long winter.

He had found a nice vintage set of Mizuno MP-14 forged blades (he likes to pore through sell sites like Kijiji exactly to find gems like this), and got them for me.

Although I was working on my swing changes, primarily with Driver (if you can hit Driver, all other clubs shouldn’t be a problem) but I did hit a few balls with the short irons and the 3 iron.

A bit of trivia: Tiger Woods used Mizuno MP-14 forged irons in his 1st U.S. Amateur victory & his 1st time playing at The Masters.

I can’t remember the last time I even hit a 3 iron, as I usually only carry down to the 4 in my bag for playing purposes, but I have to say, once I got used to it, I was hitting that forged Mizuno 3 iron nearly as far as I would hit the more traditional cast iron clubs.

The sound of crisp contact with a forged iron, as those of you who’ve swung them, is music to one’s ears, is it not?

There wasn’t much to see on the face of the 3 iron as I was fairly sweeping it, but I took a picture of the 8 iron face before I cleaned it, and when you hit the sweet spot on the forged irons, you get a lovely sound and beautiful flight:

I’m showing that 8 iron contact picture above not to boast about anything, rather to illustrate that, with my MCS Golf Swing model, I have struck balls exactly four times this season after a 9 month layoff (end of July to early May), and that is the contact I was getting on my 4th day.

It’s like riding a bike or learning a proper free-throw technique in basketball – once you have it, you shouldn’t lose it, and even after as long as a 9-months layoff hitting any balls at all, you can get right back to getting as solid a contact as you were getting before you took time off.

I said as much to Fred Greene during his interview with me on his “GolfSmarter” podcast from two weeks ago.

Here’s yours truly with The Welshman during our first meeting couple of summers back – note the Liverpool FC cap he’s wearing!

The Welshman & DJ

I will, when I have some time, get these irons adjusted for loft and lie, as forged irons will bend very easily over time (and if I decide to play them on the course, likely a re-shafting as they’re slightly short for me), but I was loving them out of the bag on PGA Championship Sunday!