Love the sweet, soft feel of a well struck shot with these clubs. I've played a lot of forged clubs (MacGregor VIP 1025M, Titleist 695CB, MacGregor VIP by Nicklaus, MacGregor Tourney DX, Bridgestone J33, TaylorMade RAC TP MB, Cleveland TA3 FF). I've also hit my friends' Mizuno MP 30 and MP 32. By far, the Hogan Apex FTX have the sweetest feel at impact --- soft, but not too "buttery". I could control any shot I wanted --- fades, draws, high, low --- just set it up and go! Hit a fade-slice 5-iron shot dead into a 20 mph breeze, around a forest of palm trees, right onto the green. And it wasn't even difficult to do. The cavity-back in the long irons really help get the shots airborne easily. The muscle-back short irons make shot control a breeze. And the wedges are so fantastic around the greens, I even holed out a short pitch with the F (gap) wedge for birdie the first time I played the clubs. I know the FTX model is not a new one, and certainly not riddled in technology, but who needs all that? The basic idea of perimeter-weighting the long clubs and muscle-backing the short ones is all you need. Finally, along with my MacGregor VIPs, these are the prettiest looking clubs I've seen in a long while. The Apex 4 shaft is supposed to be a stiff flex, but it seems to play a bit softer than other brands' stiff flex. I couldn't be happier with them. Bought these clubs on e-Bay because the price was a very good deal, and the set was super-complete, having the 2 thru 9, E (PW), F (GW), S (SW), and L (LW) --- twelve (12) clubs in all. I am absolutely positive I won't find a better deal on these clubs anywhere, anytime.Read full review
I have been hooked on Ben Hogan irons since last October. I bought Apex Plus, Apex Edge, the 40th Anniversary Legend and Apex Edge Pro. I left my reviews of Apex Plus and Apex Edge. The 40th legend irons are blade irons and it will be my weapon in the future when I think my swing is capable of using blades. I bought Edge pro with graphite shafts in order to pre-stock light weight irons when I am old. Since Callaway no longer markets the Hogans, it is my strategy to stock the nicely used Ben Hogan now! I used mixed Plus and Edge to haev my own combo set. 3~6 Plus irons with muscle back, and 7~E Edge irons with deep under cut cavities. One of my friends took my Plus irons to return to a Hoganite, which forced me looking for FTX irons, original combo set. I bought a decent set of FTX paying $210. FTX was introduced to the market in 2004, a fairly new model in Ben Hogans. It is a combo set composed of half cut muscle back irons of 3 and 4, deep cut muscle back irons of 5,6,7 and blade irons of 8,9 and E. Compared to Edge, the top line is thin and the touch feel is much more sophiscated. Like other Ben Hogan irons, it gives very honest feed backs of my swing and hitting. The mid-irons are very similar to Apex Plus, but the distance I get with FTX is about 10 yards farther. Long irons are easy to hit comapred to Plus, but a little tougher than Edge. The short irons are very accurate in direction, though I cannot keep the same distance with my Edge irons. All in all, FTX is a mini-collection of the best features of Ben Hogan's most recently(?) released irons in the first half of 2010's; Apex Forged, Apex Plus and Aplex Edge Pro. You may compared FTX to Bridgestone's J33 or J36. I tried Bridgestone's at the range, but FTX is a much better choice in design and quality. It is getting more difficult to get a nice set of FTX partly because it was marketed by Callaway for in 2004 and 2005 only, and mainly because the owners of FTX's are willing to keep them. I may take a rotation of Apex Edge, Edge Pro and FTX according to the golf courses. I am 100% willing to recommend FTX and other Hogan irons to any serious golfers.Read full review
I purchased these for my son who is now going to HS and becoming a semi-serious golfer. I struck them one round and fell in love. They have a great feel and are very responsive. I purchased them with the frequency matched regular shafts and the feel was truly amazing. They are a bit loose for an advanced golfer but even with the regular shafts i was able to get control and about 5 - 10 yards of extra carry on every club. I played 1 full round and i didn't hit one bad shot. I recommend these clubs to anyone looking to get control and feel in their game and look to shave a few stroke. Well worth the investment. My son has hit the clubs once and has already seen an improvement with them.
The 0 to 10 handicap with good tempo & rhythm will see a marked improvement in the KP effects, such as stopping & being closer to the cup. Mid to High handicappers need to use a shaft other than the Apex 4, as I think this shaft will be too stiff for 90% of the players, even in the low handicap area. Most golfer want to hit all clubs farther than average, yet most fail to understand, Stiff shaft=straight online hit less distance, regular to whippy shafts produce bigger distances less cosistency generally. massive upper body strength also plays big part in this But when speaking of average golfers my statements of Stiffness vs. distance will bear true. Everyone will notice the off center club head hits will still go amazingly straight, but will however usually drop just short of the intended target, online but just short. This is a speaks to the clubs "Forgiveablity" on those off center hits even if your at the 1 in 100 point in your game. I am a person who uses a 2 iron rather than a 5 wood & the long irons are probably the straightest I have experienced todate. Overall the playable with the prices avaluable on these sets at this moment makes them a tremendous value. (02/2006)Read full review
The best clubs by far! From the look of the blades to the playability these irons are the standard in classic irons. I started playing these irons as a 15 handicap 2 years ago and have improved to an 8. If I could only fix my driver I would easily be much lower, these clubs save my butt more than any other clubs in my bag. Players who are afraid of blades need not worry about using these clubs, they are easy to hit and forgiving. I have owned 4 sets of these clubs with both steel and graphite stiff shafts and I would never play another iron again. I most recently switched over to graphite shafts and the weight is better than the steel for this 50 year old guy. Read the reviews, these are the BEST!