MARK As long as you really like the clubs and as long as you feel you are playing to the best of your ability and having fun in the game, go with your gut and forget the “armchair clubfitters” and what they say. Golfer confidence is really as important to more important than whatever is written on paper for what different golfers should or should not be playing with. Best thing I can tell you is to call Diamond Golf International in the UK and ask them if they can give you the names of any clubmakers within a reasonable… Read more »

Aaron Thanks very much for your kind complements. That’s very nice of you to say that and I appreciate it very much. Sorry to say that none of the 550C or M are around as that model was discontinued in the later 2000s to make way for their successor, the 555’s. 555’s to me were better than the 550’s because the 555’s had a better sole grind with more front to back radius than the 550’s. At any rate the 555’s were dropped to make way for the current 575’s which debuted some 5-6 yrs ago I think so there… Read more »

Thanks Tom, I haven’t seen a Wishon club yet that hasn’t played brilliantly as intended. I made a set of 575 blades for my brother and they are indeed excellent. Also I made batches of 752TCs back in the day, they were my go to model for beginners and intermediates. Excellent golf clubs. In retrospect I just found the 550 blade to be the most aesthetic design of a blade ever, and I’m a blade purist, in that that I enjoy the challenge of hitting a long iron blade properly, almost as much as scoring. Alas I am a tiny… Read more »

JARED My sincere thanks for your interest in what we have tried to do all through my years as a club designer over the years. I’ve had three chances to design for one of the big companies which was an honor that they would try to come after me but I have always stayed in the custom clubfitting side of the industry because I believe so strongly that the best clubs anyone will play will come from a solid custom fitting analysis that will result in the clubs being built from scratch by a competent custom clubmaker like Terry. I… Read more »

Thank you for your quick response. That is exactly what I was looking for. I will definitely tell Terry hello. Thanks again.

JIM The 585HI was a driving iron design, made in a #2, 3, 4 and 5 iron configuration. They were introduced in around 2007 if memory serves me well and stayed in the line until 2010. The were investment cast from 431 stainless that we heat treated to make the alloy a little more bendable for loft/lie fitting changes. They were not a high COR design. That came much later in the driving iron I designed in 2015 called the 590DIH. The 585 were a wide sole design with a little bit more shallow face height than most 2, 3,… Read more »

The 575’s are great irons. Manufacturing quality and finish is second to none. After a couple months of play down to 2 or less chunked or thin strikes per round. Confident with 4 iron over a fairway wood. Also have 919 Driver and S2R putter. Can’t go wrong with a Wishon product!

Wilson
Carbon steels softer than 1035 tend to ding and mark up much easier than do those of the 30 level and higher. Processing of the 1035 in the forging dies tends to be more consistent in our experience than with softer steels. In the end it is an absolute myth that the 20 series carbon steels are better in anyway for making a forged iron. There just is no advantage whatsoever to using the 20 series steels in iron head production.
TOM

WILSON If your daughter’s 8 iron head weighs 261g then it is a head specially made for use by junior golfers and not by adults. The 575s certainly could be played by any golfer but only should be used if the player is able to play with adult swingweights and at lengths that are within +/-1″ of adult lengths. In addition because it is a shallow cavity back design it is not the best iron model to be used by a player who is not at least a 12 handicap or better. Unless she is definitely able to retain her… Read more »

First of all, thanks so much for the comments and expertise, Tom. It is so cool, having the original club designer to try to talk me out of purchasing a brand-new set of club heads he designed. This is the true passion and spirit of golf, much appreciated. I did not quite describe the situation that we are facing for my daughter in detail. We lengthened her junior driver by two inches last week and the swing weight increased to B1 (she can maintain her tempo and posture still and is ok with that). As a result, the irons and… Read more »

Thanks, Tom, for the kind words. My daughter started at age 5 and she loves the game, even in cold rainy days (but that is kind of training already). The 575s are conforming to USGA and R&A rules, correct? We certainly do not want being reported in international tournaments in the coming years. One last question, why did you design the iron club heads 4 grams lighter than all others in the first place? Simply to be more flexible in adjusting swing weights? Once again, you love what you do and people like that a lot! Much appreciated, sir!

BROCK First off you did good by working with Gary. Not only is he very knowledgeable in his fitting work but he is as entertaining of a guy as you can meet! He’s moved his shop and life down to the Lake of the Ozarks these days though so the Dallas area is certainly missing him now I think. From what you say it sounds like you need to reshaft the irons with a lighter weight shaft and possibly also drop the swingweight. But first off the lighter shaft will drop the total weight of the irons which is what… Read more »

Thanks very much, Tom. Gary was fantastic. I’ve described his fitting process to a lot of golfers and they’re all blown away. He was fantastic and a great guy like you said. I’ll give the reshaft test a shot. Appreciate the help!

JIM Thanks much for your interest and your enjoyment of what we try to do with the information. Much appreciated. Send me an email at tww@wishongolf.com and ask me to send you a copy of the Excel spreadsheet we have for calculation of the MOI of any golf club. It’ll make the job a whole lot easier than doing it with the 3/8″ increment and 1/2 swingweight progression that some advise in lieu of having the proper equipment or information. You can still do the lengths in 3/8″ increments with the spreadsheet but it just makes it all much more… Read more »

Hi Tom,
I had my irons MOI matched a few years ago and really loved them and would like to have it done again with my current irons (575 MMC). The club fitter I know at my club (not Wishon certified) says the shafts need to be parallel tips to do it properly. I wasn’t aware of this. Is this correct or false information? Grateful for any info. Craig

Most likely that iron is forged by Virage Tech Industrial which means the steel is a 1030 carbon steel which when finished should have a hardness on the Rockwell scale of HRB 85. That’s pretty typical for hardness when compared to just about every other forged carbon steel iron on the market today because, 1) there are so few forging companies around these days, 2) they all tend to use 1020/1030 carbon steel alloys which all end up being very close to the same hardness.
TOM

Mr. Cobb: Thanks so much for your very kind comment about the first Search book! I truly appreciate that and since I had the privelege to get to know Harvey very well back in 1994 when I designed the line of clubs that carried his name, I am very honored you would put the Search book up there with Harvey’s Red book. That’s really nice. Years ago when people asked my opinion about whether a tour player should be playing musclebacks or cavity backs, I would always say that if the pro was into self punishment, play the MB. But… Read more »

DENNIS Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and share your experience with the 575 cavitys. That’s great to hear and I am pleased to hear you like the combination of the lighter shaft with this forged cavity iron design. You’ll fine me as a designer who just refuses to design any iron with a top line wider than 5mm. I personally cannot stand the look and from a pure technical standpoint, there is zero reason to have a wider topline on an iron. Adding more mass up at the top of the head raises the center… Read more »

Felix We’re talking about whether it could be time to move on to a new design in the forged traditional iron category. But as of now, no definite decisions have been made and are not close to being made. One thing you may not be aware of in how I have managed the clubhead designs I have created is that I/we don’t think like a usual OEM big brand company. We are not compelled to have to create something brand new every year just so we have a new model to present. Some models over the course of our company’s… Read more »

Some players irons have tungsten weights in the toe. How much does that help on off centre hits and do such clubs “pay a price” for this “weight” in the toe?

Jeremy Sure thing, I still remember them without having to dig up an old catalog or specs sheet. 550C – 2i = 18*/58*; 3i = 21*/59*; 4i = 24*/60*; 5i = 28*/61*; 6i = 32*/61.5*; 7i = 36*/62*; 8i = 40*/63*; 9i = 44*/64*; PW = 48*/64*; SW = 55*/64*. The 550M’s were the same for everything except the loft of the PW was 49* and the loft of the SW was 56*. There was no gap wedge in the original 550 model but I did add one later when we turned the 550’s into the 555’s. TOM

Thank you, Tom. Do the 550 irons, by chance, accept .355 taper tip shafts?

Doing that at 1.5″ makes every iron model in my product line the same for BBGM. 555’s were made from the original 550 raw forgings which I did in 2002 before I settled on a standard for BBGM for all my iron models.
TOM

Craig thanks so much for taking the time to let us know how well you like the combination of the 575s with the Red shafts. I always did feel that the Red shaft was a very under-rated shaft for much better than average players with a late release so it is really nice to know you like the performance. I very much appreciate your comments and hope that the clubs continue to be your best set for a very long time. From 2002 until around 2010, Robin did assist me in the design of my proprietary shafts. But since then… Read more »

Scott: For players who are discerning enough in the game to opt for a forged carbon steel iron, regardless if that is blade or cavity in its design, the choice of the wedges is made with no regard whatsoever for the weight distribution design of the irons. The wedges are then selected on the basis of, 1) head shape/looks and how that corresponds to the golfer’s confidence and personal preference for the shape; 2) how much offset the wedges have, which is also a big part of the visual preference side of the selection process; 3) whether the wedges under… Read more »

Brandon That’s music to my ears and thanks so much for taking your time to stop in and let us know !! A huge part of why you like them though is because you chose to work with Tom. The comments section of the website here is filled with several comments like yours from happy golfers who worked with Tom to be custom fit. And may the new 575’s bring you MANY solid and superb shots as you enjoy this great game !! Thanks so much and the very best to you for this holiday season. TOM

CAL
Thanks very much for your interest !! The 575MMC muscle back model is from the #5 iron to AW. The 575MMC cavity back model is #3 to AW. Most everyone who wants a full set of the irons with the blade model will use the #3 and 4 from the cavity back with the #5 to AW of the blade set. The head shape profiles and offset and top line are all perfectly matched between the two models to enable a mix and match set makeup to be selected.
Thanks again.
TOM

TOM In all honesty the 575s are the LEAST forgiving irons in my design line, by far. That’s because they are quite compact and the cavity version has a quite shallow cavity depth. Add that together and the MOI of the 575’s is the lowest of all the irons. If you are drawn to a forging, that means the better choice by far for you as a 7 would be the 565’s. They’re a very low traditional offset as well and the head size is really not huge, though definitely larger than the 575’s. But I do have to add… Read more »

Ramiro Yes, starting in 2002 with the original 550C and 550M and followed by the 555C and 555M and then followed by the 575MMC and 575M, we have always made our forged player’s irons so they could be picked and fit to the golfer in any type of mix and match desired between the cavity and muscleback versions. The 575 cavity is available in #3 to AW, the 575 muscleback in #5 to AW so the split between the two can be made anywhere from the 5 iron on down, as the golfer desires. We do not establish the retail… Read more »

ERIC I am sorry but you have to realize that there is no possible way we can advise you on a shaft without a LOT more information about your swing characteristics and your past experience and perceptions of other shafts you have played. Even from that point there can be many shaft models that could all end up being just fine for you and your swing and preferences for shaft feel and shot shape. There is no such thing as one shaft working better with a specific clubhead design. The shaft is always fit to the golfer’s swing characteristics of… Read more »