Please educate me on cast vs forged irons

jbb2388 said:

I ❤❤❤ my forged 923s. I am reluctant to own another set of cast irons. Even my S23 wedge has such a different feel from the SM9s. Will be replacing them as soon as I beat a little more life out of their grooves.

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I bought a brand new set of Mizuno JPX 850's about 5-6 years back. They remain the only OMG irons I've ever bought new. They were a tremendous upgrade to the Adams irons I had. I tried both the cast and the forged when I was doing the fitting. Even though they shared the same JPX 850 model name, they were two different club head designs. The cast had a bigger top line and wider sole. I remember wanting the forged because they looked so much nicer. Since I hit the SGI cast version better I went with those and that was probably a wise decision.

The one thing I remember from the fitting is that I needed the lie adjusted 2º but the fitter was reluctant to bend the cast heads that much - even though Mizuno claimed it was ok. He ended up trimming the shafts a little longer which brought the toe up. He told me the forged would have been no problem to bend.

The forged heads I'm looking at are considered SGI (they are D2C clubs... ridicule gladly accepted). I'm going to build a 7i before buying the rest and will compare it to the 7i from my current set which is a 2015 design. I have a (lower end) launch monitor now so I can at least compare both in a more controlled environment. Both will have the same shaft.

I don't pretend to know much about golf clubs and even less about physics and engineering. Plus, I'm a bit cynical about marketing and take everything I read with a grain of salt. But here's the description of the model I'm looking at...

"...feature a diminutive but modern profile preferred by a wide range of player types. Smooth lines and a moderate top line provide the looks of a "players" club head in the playing position but provides Super Game Improvement playability.

"True Forged using a Precision 5 Step Forging process for unparalleled specification tolerances, the TS3 Forged head design features a forged 1025C carbon steel body with an internal tungsten weight co-forged low and towards the toe inside the club head. The co-forged tungsten centers the vertical center of gravity location for a more stable and playable head design.

"To further enhance playability, the TS3 Forged irons feature a progressive cavity design that moves more mass low and towards the toe in the long irons and progresses to a more neutral position in the more lofted scoring irons and wedges."

While I still really like my current irons, I'm just looking for newer tech and am not obsessed with forged or clubs designed for better players. These have slightly stronger lofts - 32º 7i compared to 33º of my current 7i. If the newer 7i doesn't put up better numbers, I'll continue to search.

I bought a brand new set of Mizuno JPX 850's about 5-6 years back. They remain the only OMG irons I've ever bought new. They were a tremendous upgrade to the Adams irons I had. I tried both the cast and the forged when I was doing the fitting. Even though they shared the same JPX 850 model name, they were two different club head designs. The cast had a bigger top line and wider sole. I remember wanting the forged because they looked so much nicer. Since I hit the SGI cast version better I went with those and that was probably a wise decision.The one thing I remember from the fitting is that I needed the lie adjusted 2º but the fitter was reluctant to bend the cast heads that much - even though Mizuno claimed it was ok. He ended up trimming the shafts a little longer which brought the toe up. He told me the forged would have been no problem to bend.The forged heads I'm looking at are considered SGI (they are D2C clubs... ridicule gladly accepted). I'm going to build a 7i before buying the rest and will compare it to the 7i from my current set which is a 2015 design. I have a (lower end) launch monitor now so I can at least compare both in a more controlled environment. Both will have the same shaft.I don't pretend to know much about golf clubs and even less about physics and engineering. Plus, I'm a bit cynical about marketing and take everything I read with a grain of salt. But here's the description of the model I'm looking at...While I still really like my current irons, I'm just looking for newer tech and am not obsessed with forged or clubs designed for better players. These have slightly stronger lofts - 32º 7i compared to 33º of my current 7i. If the newer 7i doesn't put up better numbers, I'll continue to search.