The set on sale right now on RBG is exactly the set I have.

The irons themselves are a good solid set. They aren't anything special, but I think they'll be a lot better than what you are shooting now.

Believe it or not, I've actually started using the sand wedge from the Tight Lies set again. I've really been struggling from the sand, and I can use the extra bounce that the Tight Lies sand wedge has over the Tour Gold wedge I'm currently using. However, I still love the Tour Gold sand wedge for hitting from the rough. It's just a different club. So, believe it or not, I now carry four actual wedges along with my 44 degree pitching iron.

But I truly think that the best part about the set is the 4 hybrid club. I have never hit another hybrid as consistently well as that one.

If you do decide to purchase the set, let us know how it turns out for you. I think the reason why the local retailers don't carry this set anymore is because it's a good four years old by now. I bought mine about a year and a half ago for $130.

Bryan Kautzman wrote:

The set on sale right now on RBG is exactly the set I have. The irons themselves are a good solid set. They aren't anything special, but I think they'll be a lot better than what you are shooting now. Believe it or not, I've actually started using the sand wedge from the Tight Lies set again. I've really been struggling from the sand, and I can use the extra bounce that the Tight Lies sand wedge has over the Tour Gold wedge I'm currently using. However, I still love the Tour Gold sand wedge for hitting from the rough. It's just a different club. So, believe it or not, I now carry four actual wedges along with my 44 degree pitching iron. But I truly think that the best part about the set is the 4 hybrid club. I have never hit another hybrid as consistently well as that one. If you do decide to purchase the set, let us know how it turns out for you. I think the reason why the local retailers don't carry this set anymore is because it's a good four years old by now. I bought mine about a year and a half ago for $130.

I'll definitely do that. Thanks for the opinions. I think the one listed at RBG is the 2008 model, but I kind of get the feeling it hasn't changed much. I've seen nothing but good reviews about it.

Well, I pulled the trigger. I ordered the Tight Lies set this morning. I found an online coupon, so the whole thing ended up costing me $104, including shipping.

I wish I'd done it yesterday, because I'd probably have them today, given that I only live a couple of hours from where they ship products. I'm doing a charity tourney this weekend, and I'd love to use them, but I doubt FedEx will deliver on Saturday. They should be here Monday. Can't wait!

If you were planning to spend as much as $600, then $99 seems to be a great price. Even if you don't like them you can probably sell them on eBay for $50. You'll have $550 left to spend on a different set.

I agree on ditching the Wilson Ultras. Any set less than 3 years old will be a huge improvement over what you play today.

But remember it's always more about the Indian and not the Arrow. A new set won't fix your slice, it won't fix your reverse weight pivot, it won't prevent topped balls. If you have a good swing you'll be able to play with virtually any set.

Irons don't wear out that much, so Used is definitely an option. I've bought my last 3 sets on eBay sight unseen, no play testing, usually at 50% of retail or less (2 were demo sets, one was slightly used). I'd recommend you buy wedges new, though.

SingleDigits wrote:

If you were planning to spend as much as $600, then $99 seems to be a great price. Even if you don't like them you can probably sell them on eBay for $50. You'll have $550 left to spend on a different set. I agree on ditching the Wilson Ultras. Any set less than 3 years old will be a huge improvement over what you play today. But remember it's always more about the Indian and not the Arrow. A new set won't fix your slice, it won't fix your reverse weight pivot, it won't prevent topped balls. If you have a good swing you'll be able to play with virtually any set. Irons don't wear out that much, so Used is definitely an option. I've bought my last 3 sets on eBay sight unseen, no play testing, usually at 50% of retail or less (2 were demo sets, one was slightly used). I'd recommend you buy wedges new, though.

Actually, I think you misread the original post. I said I CAN'T spend $600. It was my way of saying I was looking for a relatively inexpensive set. I couldn't resist a set for $104 (including shipping) that is almost certainly better than what I have. I'm not the type to spend a lot on golf equipment, so I try to get bargains on decent stuff when I see it. I do buy used a lot, mostly from Golf Galaxy. It's more expensive than eBay usually, but I get to swing the club first. My driver and three wood are both Golf Galaxy used purchases, and I love them both.

I hear what you're saying about playing well versus buying equipment to fix problems. It's absolutely correct. However, with the exception of the driver and three wood, I'm playing with a set that I cobbled together EXTREMELY cheaply last summer, when I first started playing. The first piece of equipment I replaced was my driver, a couple of months ago. I've found that my drives have improved significantly, and that's because the newer technology is just easier to use. I do still slice more than I'd like, but I do it less than I did with the old driver, which was a piece of something brown that comes out of a dog's rear end.

Agreed. Play current technology (less than 5 years old), but you can save a bunch of money if you buy clubs that were released a couple seasons ago.

Then use the money you save on lessons!

SingleDigits wrote:

Agreed. Play current technology (less than 5 years old), but you can save a bunch of money if you buy clubs that were released a couple seasons ago. Then use the money you save on lessons!

Ditto what he said!

Those irons not coming until after your tourney is a good thing. Expect to take some time getting used to the new set. And good luck in your tourney!

An update on my game.

After spending some time in the practice trap over the weekend, I elected to go with my Callaway Big Bertha sand wedge for hitting from the trap. The results were much more than I expected. More bounce equals better results, but I'm keeping the Adams Pro Gold Forged sand wedge for hitting out of the rough.

However, the one other area of my game that I find needs some tweeking is the fact that I have six degrees of difference between the loft on my Pi and my GW. I'll pulled my Tight Lies pitching wedge back out, because it is 45 degrees compared to the 44 degrees of the A4 set.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I've got the Tight Lies clubs in my bag as of yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to do anything with them other than hit a few wiffleball practice balls in my side yard. I do like their weight, and the wider heel is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. However, as of right now, I'm not planning to use the sand wedge that came with the set. I have an Adams Tom Watson sand wedge that I use, and I'm pretty comfortable with it. The Tight Lies sand wedge seems to heavy to me.

That said, the "comfort" I spoke of above has to do with using my sand wedge to chip from the rough and get the ball up steep inclines to the green. I'm not so hot out of greenside bunkers, so maybe a change IS needed.

I played a set of Tom Watson wedges last summer. I liked them. In fact, I think I was more accurate with them than I am with the ones I'm playing this summer. However, there was just too much gap between my 45* PW and my 52* GW.

Also, I wasn't happy with the bounce on the sand wedge. I'm not the greatest on greenside bunkers either, but I found that with the sharp edge wedges with little bounce, I go under the ball too much. I couldn't believe how much better I was playing from the bunkers on Monday with the Big Bertha sand wedge.

Bryan Kautzman wrote:

Also, I wasn't happy with the bounce on the sand wedge. I'm not the greatest on greenside bunkers either, but I found that with the sharp edge wedges with little bounce, I go under the ball too much. I couldn't believe how much better I was playing from the bunkers on Monday with the Big Bertha sand wedge.

Hmm. Maybe this is my problem. I haven't been playing long enough to tell with some things, but that sounds a lot like what I do. Either I go under it, or pluck it out of the bunker and make it fly way over the green.

Well...I played nine holes at one of the short local courses last night with the Tight Lies pitching wedge in my bag, and let me just say that I hit it extremely well.

With my first shot with it, I overshot a green with a backside pin from 145 out. I should have played to the middle of this green.

With my second shot with it, I laned about three feet in front of the green with a front side pin, and the shot stuck there. It was 135 out, and I hit it fat (took a huge divot), but I still got a nice looking shot out of it. I just about sunk the chip for birdie, but had to settle for par.

With my third shot with it, I had to shoot a layup shot from the rough. I chose to hit the pitching wedge because of how well my first two shots went, and I made a very pretty shot right to the middle of the fairway about 70 yards out.

And my final shot was a chip shot from way back on the first cut. I had about 80 feet of green to work with. That's too much roll for my gap wedge, and I've been afraid to chip with my pitching wedge before due to the inconsistency. Well, I rolled this one just around the topside of the cup for an easy tap-in par save.

I'll be changing back to the Tight Lies set on my next round. The only problem is the 9i which I lost last year at the end of the year.

Bryan Kautzman wrote:

With my first shot with it, I overshot a green with a backside pin from 145 out. I should have played to the middle of this green.

That's a pretty impressive distance from a pitching wedge.

I'm playing my first round with the new Tight Lies set tomorrow afternoon. I took them to the driving range earlier in the week and hit a few balls with each of the irons. My first impression is that they are easier to hit than my old Wilson Ultras. It's a *little* hard to judge, because I was hitting off of an astroturf mat, and I don't normally hit the ball well off of those things. I didn't get any additional distance out of them, which was a little disappointing, but maybe once I get more used to them that will come.

With the exception of my driver, I simply can't hit off mats anymore. The expectation with a perfect iron shot is that a divot will be taken. I can usually tell a lot about my shot by what my divot looks like. When hitting off a mat, the club bounces, and you can't tell whether you hit it fat or not.

Since we're on the topic, the distance I get with my irons currently is the reason why I can't hit my A4's anymore. About two months ago, I really learned how to hit down on the ball and take a divot. The result is a nice easy swing with 150 yards of distcance on my 9i. I started playing the A4's because I had a tendency to hit the ball thin, and I still get a decent shot with the A4's when I hit it thin. However, now that I'm hitting more down on the ball, I have developed a tendency to hit the ball fat when I miss. Well, if I have a club that takes a nice divot, hitting the ball fat will still result in a decent shot.

The difference between the Tight Lies and the A4's is simply the ability to take a divot. My distance (per trajectory) is about the same.