Review – SUB 70 Golf

I would like to extend a deep, heartfelt thank-you to Jay Armour who is the Director of Marketing for Sub 70 Golf. Jay, without you this review, could never have come to light. Thank-you!!

Several months ago, I wrote a scathing editorial that deeply criticized the “Goliaths” of the golf industry. In that article, I pointed out that golf is no different than the major sports leagues around the world (NHL, MLB, NFL, NASCAR, Bundesliga, Premier League, etc). Namely, when it comes to the soaring costs of golf equipment. It is us, the minions or pawns that buy equipment which in turn supports the manufacturers which goes a long way in paying the player’s endorsement deals. Think of it as “The Circle of Life”. A point that the players of the PGA TOUR should be reminded of.

Isn’t it refreshing though, that there are still golf equipment manufacturers out there that does it right? Offering high-quality equipment to the golfing public without the hefty price tag because they’ve either eliminated the middle man and/or don’t have massive endorsement deals to payout. Or maybe, just maybe they realize that not everyone can mortgage their house for a new set of irons.

SUB 70 Golf. The independent golf equipment manufacturer headquartered in Sycamore, Illinois had a mission. To provide golfers premium golf equipment without the premium price tag. The quest was led by the Owner of SUB 70 Golf Jason Hiland and a love for the game of golf. It should be noted that Mr. Hiland has experience in the golf business. If you’re familiar with brands like Diamond Tour Golf, Hurricane Golf or, SMT Golf those were his as well. SUB 70 Golf wants to let golfers know that when you play their products you’re receiving products that are forged from the finest carbon steel thus offering you (the golfer) the finest in feel and metalwoods that are technologically sound but void of marketing hype. Equating to saved dollars in your golfing budget.

The Pre-Shot Routine

Through conversations with the Director of Marketing (Jay Armour) I arranged to test one of their new Pro Fairway Metalwoods. A golf club designed to target “better players”. However, much to my pleasant surprise when the box showed up, I noticed that it weighed a little too much for one graphite-shafted fairway wood. Upon opening the “Black Box” I saw the reason for the heftier weight. Unexpectedly, SUB 70 Golf also included a 6 and a 9-iron from their 699 irons set.

***I should point out that inside of the box was a hand-written note thanking me for doing the testing. Gents, all of the thanks are from me to you for providing me this opportunity.

Pro Fairway Wood – The Pro Fairway Wood was designed to provide the better player “optimal launch and distance parameters” with the ability to work the golf ball. The Pro Fairway goes further and spins less according to SUB 70 Golf literature. The Pro Fairway sets up square at address and has a very clean and neat appearance in the address position. Think… “traditional”. There is no alignment aid on the Pro Fairway and the high-gloss black paint on its black face makes it appear “stealthy” (I love looking down at this head). While the head itself is bonded, the sole features two weights (9-gram and 2-gram) that are interchangeable allowing golfers to further optimize their preferred launch conditions. If you desire lower spin the 9-gram weight would be placed in the front. Conversely, if you need assistance in attaining a high launch you place the 9-gram weight in the rear.

*Note: When adjusting the weights only make them snug. If you tighten until you hear a click you won’t. All that you’ll do is strip the head of the screw. 

699 Irons – The SUB 70 Golf 699 Irons are a set of game-improvement irons. The face is designed to be hot while not taking away from the looks. There is key technology built into these irons that feature a face constructed from 17 mm of 455 Carpenter Steel. This material is known for being malleable which contributes to spring-effect as the golf ball comes off of the face. The 699 irons are “hollow-bodied” and are injected with a TPE insert. TPE is a “resin-like” material that has qualities that aids in improving sound and feel.

The Transition

Pro Fairway Wood – I love the aesthetics as I’ve already alluded to. It’s black, clean, and sexy. I love how the golf ball sets up in behind the black on black (crown/face). I also love how the sole looks as well. The “SUB 70” branding is present and understated while there is a little bit of paintfill that breaks up the “monotony” of the all-black. Even the headcover is nicely done as it’s easy to take off and place back on but it also doesn’t just fall off on its own.

When it came to the performance of the Pro Fairway Wood it was almost a tale of two clubs in a way to that of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Immediately after the unboxing I took the Pro Fairway Wood to the range and started to put it through its paces. Immediately, I was enamored with the performance of it. The launch was perfect whether it was from a tee or off of the deck, it carried long and was easy to control. The first impressions were amazing. At the time, I had the weights configured with the 9-gram set as the weight closest to the trailing edge. I should point out that the shaft is a proprietary “Made for SUB 70” Project X shaft in a 6.0 flex.

Admittedly, it was a period of time when I was really fighting my swing and trying to sort things out. A freakishly wet start to the season up here led to me playing no golf until well into May/June.

I would at other sessions adjust the weight configuration. I placed the 9-gram weight in the front and noticed a couple of strange things. The feel and the acoustics in my ears changed dramatically. In particular, I was able to really feel the change in the CoG (Center of Gravity) of the Pro Fairway Wood. I thought that I would prefer the Pro Fairway in this configuration but the acoustics alone really “put me off”. Ironically, the performance of the club seemed to drop off for me and I hit plenty of wayward shots. All before hitting a shot on a golf course. For a golf club that won me over real fast, I suddenly had zero confidence with it.

Fortunately, it was the guy holding the club and not the club itself as I found out. All the Pro Fairway Wood on the golf course was hit fairways on a piercing trajectory and it quickly regained my confidence. The ease of launch and control from the tee makes this a golf club that I would easily turn to on a hole where I NEED to hit a fairway. Since my golf swing started to really “fire” over the last 2-3 weeks I have seen me hit nothing but fairways with it with distances being in the 240-250 yard range. Off of the deck, the Pro Fairway Wood yielded results that were nearly as good. I’ve hit greens in two on Par 5’s and the control is there off of the deck as much as it is from the tee. Yardages from the deck have been in the 225-235 yard range through on-course testing.

(Believe it or not, the yardages could theoretically be better. I have yet to hit a shot with a ball that’s my gamer. All shots have been with golf balls that are in for testing).

699 Irons – The 699 irons were another that I really liked the looks of upon seeing them from the first time. Having gawked at them on-line through social media feeds I will say this much.  As much as I liked the looks of them through digital means they are even nicer to look at in hand.

The 699 irons are another offering from the SUB 70 stable that I find appealing. Looking at them, the heel to toe length looks longer than something more compact (player’s set) but aren’t necessarily longer than my gamer set. To be expected in a game-improvement chassis. The head is pretty minimalist from a graphics or badging point-of-view. Just some basic SUB 70 branding and paintfill to let everyone know that they are the 699 irons. This point is a huge winning point for me. I don’t need flash and pizzazz I need performance. What I love about them is the milling on the rear of the head. They look… smart. Looking at them from the toe side you will see a little “screw”. This is where the TPE resin is inserted into the head. The 699 irons might be one of the nicest looking sets of game-improvement irons that I’ve seen. Looks are great but how about performance?

The 699 irons are solid performers. Sorry, did I say solid? They are terrific. From my strikes early on at the first driving range to current the 6 and 9 irons have performed better than my gamer set. They have proven to be easy to work (remember that these are a GI iron), they feel “hot” at impact and have proven to be a 1/2 to a full club longer than my gamer set. Maybe, the slightly lighter shaft (KBS Tour-V 90 vs KBS Tour 120 S) allows me to pick up a little more clubhead speed. Or maybe, there is something to the Carpenter Steel face married to the TPE insert that are the main talking points about their technology. All that I know is this much both 9-irons share the same 40* of loft. In the case of the 6-irons however, my gamer set is 2* weaker. Distances were 190-200 yards with the 6-iron whilst the 9-iron was 140-150 yards (depending on conditions).

The 699 irons are very easy irons to control. From a trajectory standpoint, I found that the 699 irons had a fairly penetrating trajectory. Especially when it came to the 6-iron. But what I liked about them was that hitting a baby draw is simple. A little cut was easy to obtain. But the “bread and butter” seemed to be straight. Toe hits weren’t severely punished and the golf ball didn’t wander too far off line, which speaks volumes about their forgiveness. Is there a yardage loss in these cases? Yes. But if the miss is straight then who cares? Punch shots and knockdowns are a “breeze” for playing into the wind.

Speaking of the TPE insert. The feel of these 699 irons is mean. The acoustics of the golf ball coming off of the face is one that I would describe as “mean and nasty”. When impact is made, you know. It’s a sharp sound. A crack. It’s satisfying and gratifying.

The 699 irons are winners!!

The Finish

When it comes to purchasing new golf clubs I would recommend any of my audience to consider SUB 70 Golf. Much like their vision is you have a golf company that offers high-quality equipment without forcing golfers to mortgage their house or help pay for endorsement deals.

The components used in the assembly of golf equipment from SUB 70 Golf are top-notch. Shafts from Project X and KBS are featured. Meanwhile, Tour Velvet 360 from Golf Pride are the stock grips. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of Tour Velvet. I don’t hate them but they aren’t my favorite either. Consequently, I changed them.

The Pro Fairway Wood was an interesting test. It went from impressing out of the gates to forcing me to lose confidence in it. Ultimately, however, it won me over in a big-time way. For added incentive, you look at the price tag attached to them. The Pro Fairway costs $149 USD. Significantly less than similar technology form other manufacturers in 2019.

The 699 irons. Extremely impressive during the testing process. Long, extremely forgiving and irons that do what you tell them to. They simply go! They were an iron that made me feel younger than my current age in that they gave me another 10 yards. It was nice hitting a 9-iron 150 yards again. These irons are a tremendous value as a set of 5-PW will cost $426 USD. You get a lot of iron technology at a fraction of the cost of similar golf clubs from the “Goliaths”.

There is no doubt in my mind that I’d game a full set of 699 irons tomorrow. Yes, they are that good. The Pro Fairway, quite frankly is more of the same. Based on this small sampling, I wouldn’t hesitate to put any clubs from the SUB 70 stable into my bag.

For more information on the Pro Fairway Wood, the 699 irons or other equipment from SUB 70 Golf please visit the SUB 70 Golf website.

Until The Next Tee!!

#SeeUOnTheNextTee #FightAndGrind