WOWZERS!

 Let’s just say that as a 15 Capper, and a man on a budget, it would seem at best—ludicrous for someone such as myself to even pick these babies up, much less use them on a test round. Let’s just say, thank goodness it was a test round, and not a tournament, as I haven’t quite got the repeatable swing so necessary to make these do what they can do on a regular basis.  Still, on a little round of self-imposed best ball, where every shot is a do over, and a good first one guarantees the ability to experiment with the second shot, and opens up the opportunity to swing a club full out just to see what she can do; these clubs proved to be the missing link Adams designed them to be. They are a tour quality blade that allows a mid-capper who is willing to put in the necessary hours, a chance at a season full of tour quality shots.

Feel—5 Stars
   Well let’s be honest, the only reason to play a blade, besides the workability factor which I will cover later, is the feel of the club. So many people play a blade because—as the old cliché goes, “It feels like butter at impact.” These clubs excel in this department. They have a slightly thicker top line than most, and the ever so slightest bit of offset. Combine that with the brass plugs on the back for a lower center of gravity, and a slightly oversized head, roughly the size of the old 418 Puglielli Wedges of 2009, and you get an enormous sweet spot when compared to that of other blades.
    Not only do these feel like butter at impact, but I would go as far to say that they feel like Land ‘O’ Lakes Sweet Cream Butter. When you absolutely pure one of these, which I was actually able to do on more than just a handful of shots, the feeling flows up from your finger tips, and slowly emanates all the way up to , and eventually through, your shoulder blades. Conversely, they aren’t as harsh as the old Hogan Apex Blades---but miss hit with one of these babies, and you will get a reasonable facsimile of the old Hogan Sting. It too, has a habit of emanating all the way from your finger tips to your shoulder blades. The good news is that these clubs are as communicative as they are fair in their reward vs. penalty ratio, and you will know exactly where on the face of the club you screwed up. This is helpful in figuring out whether it is your actual physical swing, or simply a matter of body synchronization. I’ve never felt anything quite as smooth yet communicative as these irons.

Forgiveness—5 Stars
    Admittedly, this is not usually a department in which blade players have much interest. The fact of the matter is this---there are a lot of mid-cappers out there wondering if they can play a blade with any reasonable chance of success. I am here to say that it is more than possible, but start working on getting a swing that you can repeat time and again. My swing is far from perfect, I am a 15 capper, but in general, I posess a very repeatable swing. If I was willing to put in the time, and I could play twice a week, I would seriously consider owning a set of these.
   These clubs forgave all of my minor flaws, but any hitch in synchronization, or over the top moves proved to be painful both physically speaking, as well as in the scorecard division. Big miss hits received big losses in distance and direction—but that is the nature of blades in general. Small miss hits, however, were not anywhere near this severe in penalty, and oft times achieved more than serviceable results. These are still the most forgiving blades I’ve ever hit. Good shots feel great. Great shots feel downright orgasmic…..but major miss hits are majorly painful in every sense of the word.
     In sum, these irons play like blades, but forgive like upper echelon player’s cavity backs.

Distance—4 Stars
    This is kind of a silly department for real blades players to look at, so take my word here—they are above average. One would think that a club with this large of a sweet spot might go further, and they would if I had a little more swing speed and they had a little bit lower trajectory. They don’t hit super high shots, but they do play a little higher than most blades I’ve ever shot, and I have played several over the years, (Hogan Apex, Nickent Arc, and various Mizunos just to name a few), and these have a higher launch due to the brass plugs located low and in the back, as this lowers the center of gravity. Still, that is part of what adds to their rather generous forgiveness factor as compared to any and all blades I’ve ever hit, so take that as you will. As I said, I’ve never hit a blade looking for distance gains--at least not in the short term.

Workability-5 Stars
   Now again, maybe a 15 capper who is only capable of your basic high draw, power fade, or wide open 6 iron over a tree isn’t your idea of the best reference point when it comes to assessing workability in blade irons, but I beg your indulgence for several reasons.
   First off, I have been getting lots of questions from mid-cappers as to whether or not they should consider these clubs. Again I say, “If you are willing to put in the time necessary to get a repeatable swing, and then work on the basics of such fundamental directional shots as the ones I just mentioned, then the answer is a resounding ---‘YES’!”
   My swing is repeatable, if somewhat underpowered, and it is the time I’ve spent learning to work face angles that has often bailed me out of trouble rather than getting me into trouble. Most of my bad lies come from synchronization problems as I continue to refine a swing that has taken 18 months to get my 6 Iron coming at the ball from 7* inside the plane, rather than the 2.5* from the outside I I used to have to suffer with. These are the most responsive irons I have ever hit with any true sense of the ability to repeat the same shot on a fairly regular basis. I can only imagine what a Scratch Player could do with a set of these.

Techs and Specs—5 Stars
  From the brass plugs on the back, to the smoke coloured KBS Tour Shafts that hold it all together, these are phenomenal clubs. They actually represent a technological step forward in blades. I know—hard to believe that you would use the word “Technology” as much in the description of a good old fashioned blade iron as you would use the word “Feel.” But then again, I wouldn’t exactly call these blades old-fashioned, except for the fact that they feel as buttery smooth as any forged blade you can name. Adams has outdone themselves here. The finish that rusts easily, in order to help provide organic spin is just as handsome in it’s “Rough and Ready” form as they are in their pseudo-PVD Smoke Coloured Brand New At The Shop Look. I guess it’s an acquired taste, but once you see the spin these things can provide---you’ll swear they’re the most beautiful clubs you’velaid eyes on since the advent of the Ping Beryllium Copper Eye 2’s.
    As if a whole set of irons with a convertible finish weren’t enough, the use of KBS Shafts kind of seals the deal. Their beautiful smoke grey finish is as good a match to that of the heads, as are their overall performance characteristics to those of the heads. Adams really thought this one through. If I were the head honchoes over at TaylorMade/Adidas, I would seriously consider pushing a lot of my tour staff over towards these clubs. There are some great player’s out there who could use just a touch more help in the consistency department. (Sergio Garcia and Camillo Villegas come to mind.) Seriously—if they can help a hacker like me stand a chance at working the ball, and hitting the occasional tour quality shot---imagine what they could do for those guys.

The Lofts On These Are As Follows:

3I=21*
4I=24*
5I=27*
6I=30*
7I=34*
8I=38*
9I=42*
PW=46*
GW=50*

As you can see, the lofts are ever so slightly juiced on these, but they are 8620 High Carbon Steel, so that makes for an easy 3* worth of bend on these, and a real guru could probably bend them a full 5*. The Mitsubishi Javlin Shaft is available for those who would dare desecrate these beauties with graphite, but my choice would have to be the ever so well mated smoke coloured KBS Tours. Their inherently low-mid ball flight really adds to the tour feel of these.
  The stock swing weight is my much preferred D2, but they do climb up to D3 in the wedges. It’s to be expected, as the head is rather large for a blade. Even so, the balance on these is incredible, and their performance is absolutely stellar. If I were a single digit guy, the next piece I’d write would start out…

Dear Santa,………….

Recommended: Yes