To go with our review of the Kii Driver last week, ORKA golf also provided us with their forged iron. Aimed at the better player market, GolfWRX got to find out how they played in a month long test.

One piece billet hot forged from 8620 carbon steel, the manufacturers say that the FP3 irons have a muscle back cavity with a thinner top line and perimeter weighting giving both performance and forgiveness. They certainly have the specs to do well in the competitive better player irons segment but how would they perform for us.

Look and Setup

Similar to Bridgestone J33CB in that it is a ‘muscleback cavity’, so there is plenty of peripheral weighting to help you out on less than perfect strikes but with enough metal directly behind the ball to allow the penetrating trajectory associated with better players clubs. The soles are fairly narrow and have a hint of curve from heel to toe with a medium amount of bounce. hinting at good workability. The face size is enough to make the golfer feel confident without being too unwieldy and the thin top line contributes to this. In chrome with a matt grey cavity, the finish may not quite be quite as polished as the bigger OEM’s but it’s certainly no slouch in the appearance stakes.

Where the 3-8 iron look the part of players iron the 9 and PW almost look like they are from a different set when viewed face on. These two irons are much bulkier than on the 3-8 irons with the 9 and PW being distinctly more rounded at both the toe and across the top line. In general, this extra volume is not so noticeable unless you are in bright conditions where the mirror finish on the toe area can become distracting but it does have a couple of knock on effects which are covered below.

Address view of the 3, 5, 7 and 9 irons

Performance

As we mentioned, these are hot forged from a single billet of 8620 Carbon steel and these clubs feel exactly as you would expect – solid and reassuring on good strikes but with enough feedback on mishits to let you know what went wrong without being punished. The forging process that ORKA use produces a feel that is both solid and crisp. While not giving that ’soft as butter’ feel associated with forgings like Mizunos, they still do a very credible job.

The leading edge is quite rolled and the sole has a slight camber providing stability through the turf so they play equally well in wet as in drier conditions and proved this during a couple of rounds in heavy wintery conditions where some other clubs would have struggled.

With a straight leading edge, setup and alignment is simple, at least in the 3-8. Again the 9 and PW have issues that are not present in the other clubs. Full shots are excellent, especially with the long irons with a good mid-high trajectory and distance and sufficient check on the ball to attack flag with the mid and short irons. Chipping and pitching is not quite as easy due to both the rounded leading edge and and the extra bulk in the 9 and PW.

Options

These clubs are available with either R300 or S300 dynamic gold shafts, standard, mid-size or jumbo Tour Velvet grips and can be altered in length from +2" to -1.5" in 0.25" increments.

Value for Money

All ORKA golf clubs also have a one year warranty which is a nice touch matching Mizuno and Titleist (although some like TaylorMade and Callaway offer a two year warranty). Of course no one expects a club to break but it is nice to know that it is covered should the worst happen. The FP3 sells for £399 for the 3-PW and £349 for the 5-PW (a useful option for someone who already plays hybrids and where the 3 and 4 would just gather dust) which is less than half the price of the larger OEM’s. As such is a quality choice for a 12-18 handicapper looking for new, and more importantly, fitted irons on a budget which doesn’t quite stretch to the brands seen on Tour. The FP3’s real competition comes from the likes of MD Golf and Ben Ross who also offer forged irons at similar price points.

Specifications

Conclusion

It’s obvious that these irons are aimed at the mid handicap golfer coming from big bang game improvement clubs where the golfer is looking for the feel of a forged iron and the ability to work to ball and control the trajectory to some degree but with more forgiveness than you will get in a blade. The presence of peripheral weighting also means that mis-hits will go straighter too. The difficulty for ORKA is that this type of golfer would normally go for the big name OEM’s and the likes of Ben Ross and MD Golf ensure that this sort of golfer will have more than one choice in this price bracket. While the FP3’s are not going to have the kudos that you would get from having a big brand name in the bag, the level of performance make them a real option for someone who can see past big brand marketing and recognise a good club.