Now that the golf season is pretty much over here in upstate NY I have been tossing the idea around of getting into a new set of irons for next year. I have read countless hours of forums and reviews and decided I would toss the question out here.
Here's my situation. I know that a proper fitting is really the only way to purchase a set of irons but I live probably 6 hours away from the closest Titleist Advanced Fitting center and that's probably out of the realm of possibilities for me. I'm really looking for some advice and hopefully some past experience with the situation that I'm in.
Right now I'm playing around an 8 handicap. Playing miz MP-57's 3-PW with DG S300 shafts that were bought "off the rack" with no fitting 4 years ago. To be honest I've never been fitted for a single golf club that I've ever bought. When I bought the clubs I was playing to a 12 to 14 handicap but in my opinion I don't believe that the irons made me better. My struggle up until the last year or two has been my short game especially putting which I have seemed to figure out and started lowering my scores.
I've always played Titleist drivers (the latest is the 910D2 9.5* w/ 'ahina 72 shaft) and wedges (56* and 60* vokeys) and I thought I would look into the new 714 series that will be coming out in the next month or so.
I'm looking for a slightly more forgiving iron than my current set and something that would fall between a blade (player's iron) and a full cavity back (ultra game improvement iron). This has drawn my attention to the new AP1 and AP2 series irons. Most of my misses tend to be "thin" shots (especially in tight lies) and the occassional miss out on the toe of the club. I'm looking for an iron that with those misses I won't lose as much distance as I currently am with the miz's.
Which set would best benefit my game knowing the information that I have provided the AP1 or the AP2? Like I initially said a fitting is really the way to go here but I just don't know if I can swing it. Does anyone have any experience going to Titleist irons from miz's? Am I way off with thinking that I can play the AP2 and keep my handicap from going up? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Jay