A Fantastic Alternative To Your Long Irons
by - Written: Aug 27 '08 (Updated Aug 27 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent Control, Fine Feel
Cons: If You Make A Poor Swing, She'll Let You Know
The Bottom Line: ------------------------------0--------------------------------------
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| rancid1993's Full Review: Sonartec MD Transition Hybrid |
Long irons are the sort of club that many of the golfers that I know don't like to touch if at all possible. They're rather unforgiving, and for players without a flat, precise swing, they can produce some rather unimpressive shots. This is the reason hybrids have become so popular, IMO, is because it allows golfers to toss those scary long irons in their closet and instead put in an easy to hit hybrid to cover those tricky 200+ yard shots on par 3's and 5's. I've always had a fairly flat swing - it has its drawbacks, such as a lack of backspin on short iron shots - but I've always had little trouble hitting long irons and fairway woods, ect. I mean, I carry a 2 iron in my bag at all times. Regardless, lately I've been hesitant to hit a 3 or 4 off the fairway due to lack of confidence rather than inability (I hope), and started looking for an alternative.
The first couple of hybrids I hit (Ping G 10, Nike SQ) were satisfactory overall, but not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something that had a lower ball flight and was very easy to control and work. The Ping came close to that, but came up a little short. I decided to go old school and give the Sonartec Md Transition hybrids a try shortly after. I know quite a few really good players that carry them in their bags and swear by them, so I decided they were definitely worth a try. If you'll remember, this is the same hybrid Todd Hamilton used when he won the 2004 British Open and basically started the hybrid craze.
At the time of their release, these were pretty pricy pieces of equipment at about $200 a pop. I think that price was a little too steep for consumers to stomach for a hybrid. I think that was a big factor in Sonartec going belly up about a year ago. While that's terrible news for them, it's fantastic news for the consumer! You can find these clubs for under $99 brand new in most golf shops and even cheaper elsewhere.
The feature that makes the club work is Sonartec's unique driving cavity located in the middle of the club on the sole. It is where the designers removed a little bit of the weight and redistributed it to the edges of the club for a little more forgiveness. Sonartec collaborated with UST to create an iRod shaft specially for this club. It has fairly low tourque for a lower, more controlled ball flight. This certainly isn't your only shaft option, as I've seen plenty equipped with different brands and models of graphite's.
The clubhead itself really isn't very deep, but the face itself is deep and long as well. The swingweight of the club MD is a little lighter than most hybrids I've used, but that can be fixed quickly and easily with lead tape. It took me one or two hitting sessions to really get the feel for this hybrid. The face is very easily manipulated to work the ball, and that made it quite easily for the ball to slice or hook hard on a subpar (yeah, pun intended) swing. I currently have the 21 degree model in my bag, and it provides almost identical distance to the 3 iron it's meant to replace.
One of the most impressive things about the Sonartec MD Hybrid is it's versatility. You don't quite has as much trajectory control and directional control as with an iron, but it's pretty darn close. And this club lands the softest on the green than any long-mid iron I've ever hit. I mean the ball takes one hop and stops, even on 200 yard shots from the tee on long par 3's. I honestly look forward to having slightly over 200 yard shots into a green simply because I get to pull this bad boy out and shoot for the pin.
Final Thoughts
The Sonartec MD Transition hybrid is certainly marketed toward better players that want an alternative to their long irons. I really enjoy hitting this club now that I've gotten used to it and want to get at least one if not two more. Their cheap and available for now, so i'd suggest checking them out.
Recommended:
Yes
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