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2013 Callaway X Forged Irons — Pics and Info

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What’s better than a forged muscleback iron at address? Nothing, except maybe an iron that looks the same, plays the same and has more forgiveness.

Callaway has attempted to create such an iron for 2013 with its X Forged, a tour-inspired forged cavity back designed by Roger Cleveland that offers cleaner looks and better performance than its predecessor, the Callaway RAZR X Forged.

Luke Williams, senior director of global woods and irons for Callaway, said the most popular irons on the PGA Tour and European Tour right now for the company are not its forged cavity backs. It’s the company’s muscleback offerings — last year’s RAZR X Muscleback irons and their predecessor, the Tour Authentic X-Prototype irons that Callaway tour players are trusting in their bags.

The reason is not necessarily that tour players don’t need the added size and forgiveness of a forged cavity back, either. Yes, one of the reasons musclebacks are more popular with tour players than forged cavity back irons is because of their clean looks. But there are also performance reasons.

According to Williams, Callaway’s recent musclebacks have been a hit because of what the company is calling CG Height progression. CG (Center of Gravity) Height Progression puts the center of gravity lower in the long irons for the higher trajectory that tour pros want. It also places the CG higher in the short irons for a flatter trajectory. Callaway’s previous forged cavity back irons, the RAZR X Forged, had the opposite CG progression. The center of gravity was actually the lowest in the short irons.

Callaway also got feedback from tour pros that the RAZR X Forged irons had a tendency to dig through impact, while the muscleback irons went more smoothly through the turf. So the new X Forged were designed to have what Williams called “a slightly wider muscleback sole.”

Aesthetically, the 2013 X Forged look more like Callaway’s musclebacks as well. They have a shorter blade length than the RAZR X Forged, but it’s not quite as short as the musclebacks. The 2013 X Forged irons also lose the high heel and sharp toe that gave the RAZR X Forged a polarizing appearance, opting for a face profile closer to the musclebacks.

“Pretty much every player that puts the muscle back iron down like the way it looks,” Williams said.

They X Forged irons go farther than the RAZR X irons as well. They do so, according to Williams, for two reasons:

  1. The clubs have one degree stronger lofts (21-degree 3 iron, 46-degree pitching wedge)
  2. CG height progression

Despite what many believe about modern iron design, the lofts were not strengthened simply to make the ball go farther. Stronger lofts are a result of tour feedback. Williams said that Callaway sets the lofts on its tour irons based on tour trends. And it’s vital for Callaway to follow the loft trends on tour, since changing the loft of an iron also reduces the bounce on an iron, which can lead to digging. Bending an iron one-degree strong won’t change a iron’s response to the turf that much, but bending a club stronger than that can certainly change things.

“We really design a forged iron product like the X Forged for the tour,” Williams said. “But we know if we get them right, they will work for amateurs as well.”

CG Height progression makes the X Forged long irons go farther because since they’re launching higher, they’re also carrying farther. It also makes the short irons go farther thanks to a more piercing trajectory.

Golfers looking for a tour-quality ball flight will also be happy to learn that the new X Forged irons come stock with a Project X PXi shaft, a lighter weight model of the popular Project X shaft with similar flight characteristics.

“We felt that PXi was the best fit, given the trend of going lighter with iron shafts,” Williams said. “Players are recognizing the value of lighter shafts if [those shafts] can maintain the consistency.”

Williams expects that the X Forged will become Callaway’s most popular iron on tour, knocking some muscleback irons out of the bags of Callaway staff players. Callaway has already received a glowing endorsement from Phil Mickelson, who was not very interested in switching from his musclebacks. He showed up to a recent Callaway ad shoot with a full set of X Forged irons in his bag and said he might put them in the bag in China at the HSBC World Golf Championships.

The 2013 Callaway X Forged irons will retail for $999.99 per set and will be available on Jan. 25, 2013.

Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/Pre-release equipment” forum. 

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21 Comments

21 Comments

  1. Pingback: Golf-Patents.com | Is Callaway Golf Bringing Back the Powersphere?

  2. Bart Knoch

    Mar 2, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Awsome clubs..far better than my ‘former clubs” Mizuno MP-67…soft feel, explosive off of the clib face, and deadly accurate. One of the best Callaway has ever produced

  3. SMSgt Kenneth Clouthier

    Jan 3, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    When are the new Callaway Irons be released?

  4. Nat Senior

    Dec 31, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    I bought RAZR X Forged in September 2012 and these are the best Irons I’ve ever hit for distance and workability… these look even better!

  5. TJA

    Nov 8, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    Great looking iron. Long time Callaway user and can’t wait to add the newest iron to the bag. Well done Callaway!

  6. Aj

    Nov 2, 2012 at 6:42 pm

    I’d like to see this in a bore thru, like the 06 x tour forged.

  7. Pingback: Golf Inventions, Patents, and Technology via The IP Golf Guy (aka The Golf Patent Attorney): Is Callaway Golf Bringing Back the Powersphere?

  8. Ray

    Nov 1, 2012 at 8:57 am

    Forged is forged and cast is cast. You play one or the other. Just because they change the design on the back of the club makes no difference whatsoever.

  9. darren

    Oct 28, 2012 at 10:52 am

    My callaway razr forged have green writing on the head where it says forged x anyone have a idea why

    • Barry Goodman

      Mar 12, 2013 at 2:03 pm

      I believe it means that it is a custom order.
      Simple answer.

      Barry

    • Barry Goodman

      Mar 12, 2013 at 2:09 pm

      I believe that it means your clubs were a custom order.
      Simple answer.
      Regards,
      Barry

  10. Pingback: Friday Golf Mashup 10/26/12 - Golficity

  11. Greg Capstick

    Oct 26, 2012 at 1:25 am

    These are sick!!, i really think Callaway has stepped up their game in the “better player” category recently in he last couple releases starting with the x prototype, if i didnt go titleist id either be going tCallaway or Mizuno

  12. thegolfingboy

    Oct 25, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    These look really nice, I do agree though with prior comments. Definitely looks like a Mizuno typed iron, but if the shoe fits..

  13. Tyler

    Oct 25, 2012 at 12:44 am

    It looks nice, but it also looks like a tweaked Mizuno MP64. It’s even got what looks like the Mizuno diamond muscle idea going on.

    • Ikbal

      Dec 10, 2012 at 5:22 pm

      I’ve tested these clubs out and they work relaly well. I was shocked at how much control I had with the club. My favorite club is still the Nike clubs they have more power than any other club I’ve used. Check out the brand new Nike clubs in my profile.

  14. Zan

    Oct 24, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    These look great. I play the razr x forged now and love them. Can’t wait to hit these though. Not sure how I feel about project x shafts though. I love the feel of my x100s.

    • Michael

      Feb 16, 2013 at 10:41 am

      I demoed these and the x-hot irons vs many other irons at the golfsmith store the other day. The lighter project x shafts (pxi and 95) made a huge differance. My clubhead speed increased 10-15 mph on average without changing my swing effort (i hit a LOT of balls with all if them so i had a pretty large sample group). I have been a DG guy for 20+ years and I have to say im completely sold on the px stuff. 18 yrds more for the callaway irons with those shafts is huge! Very good feel and control as well.

  15. Gman

    Oct 24, 2012 at 3:00 am

    That’s a very Japan-influenced design, it looks like, to me. Very Yamaha looking, know what I mean?

  16. jgpl001

    Oct 23, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Decent looking iron. I don’t like the extra grooves on all new Callaway irons, but they are good, solid clubs.

    Much better offering than the new TM shovel

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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