Let’s be very clear from the start, the new Titleist T400 irons are built for one thing and one thing only: distance-driven performance.

The T400 occupy the fifth and final spot in the T-Series iron lineup—alongside the T300, T200, T100 and T100-S—and specifically target golfers with moderate swing speeds seeking greater height, distance, and forgiveness—all while still being distinctly Titleist.

2020 Titleist T400 irons: What’s inside and out

From sole to grip, the T400’s have been designed to maximize distance by any means necessary. Working from the sole up, the first thing you will notice is how wide the iron is from the leading to the trailing edge. This wide-body head shape pushes the center of gravity low and as far back as possible to boost forgiveness and increase launch.

To help eliminate any turf interaction issue that might come from this wide-body shape, Titleist employed a split sole design to elevate the last third of the sole and stops the club from bouncing into the ball and producing lower face strikes on firmer turf. With this design, the T400’s effectively play the same through the ground as the T300 but in a much more forgiving package.

You might recognize this sole design trait from another OEM since Cobra has used a similar sole shape in irons like the F9 and the new King Speed Zone. It’s no different than OEM’s using similar wedges grinds—since they all refine them differently—and it’s not a bad thing for the consumer either: it proves that both companies are onto something.

“Look, we already know what people are going to think when they see these loft specs, but they have to consider the target market and what we are trying to accomplish.” – To remain unnamed Titleist Employee

There is plenty of reason for the stronger lofts being part of the package beyond face technology and center of gravity placement. In fact, some of if even relies on psychology to help make the clubs easier to hit.

Before we get to the psychology part of the discussion, let’s get through the technological advantages the Titleist iron design team has brought to the T400 iron.

Hollow Multi-Material Head Construction: Hollow heads are not new, but as we have made clear over and over when talking about golf clubs, engineers only have so much mass to work with. Hollow multi-material heads produce an extremely high MOI (level of forgiveness) that maximizes ball speed on off-center strikes. It’s the difference between playing tennis with an old metal racket and making the jump to oversized carbon fiber. Bigger is better.

High-density Tungsten Weighting: Tungsten offers an extremely high-density mass-to-volume ratio that allows Titleist designers to push weight to the far reaches of the head to boost launch and fine-tune spin. This high-density weight positioning keeps the area behind the face of the iron open and unsupported to let it flex like a trampoline to increase ball speed.

Forged SUP-10 L-Face Insert: You might recognize this face insert from another recently released Titleist product, the Titleist U500 and 510 utility irons. The forged high-strength steel “L-face insert” comes in at less than two millimeters thick and is built to flex and retain ball speed. The “L” face has variable thickness and wraps under the leading edge of the iron to save mass by removing welds in the area of the face. This creates the opportunity for more discretionary weight on the heel and toe for the tungsten mentioned earlier.

Since the longer irons are where retaining ball speed is key, the SUP-10 face insert is found in the 5-7 irons and transitions to offer a more traditional face insert. It’s like having a combo set made with all the technology of a compact hybrid—something a lot of golfers truly need.

Optimized Weight Platform: The stock shaft and grip offering were all selected to match the performance goals of the T400 heads and also produce very light total weights to help golfers gain clubhead speed. For any moderate speed player, the opportunity to gain clubhead speed is a big benefit.

For many older players (not to go down a philosophical rabbit hole, but this moment, reading this right now, is the youngest you will ever be for the rest of your life…) being able to get back that extra club of distance and hit it higher and land it softer makes the game more fun. And who doesn’t want to have more fun?

This brings us back to something I mentioned off the top: How can a club be psychologically easier to hit? Just like how single length clubs can give golfers the confidence to set up better, not putting the number 4 on the bottom of a club can also create the same effect… seriously! During the testing process with players, there was the idea to make the set numbering go from 4-iron to W49, and, in essence, make the pitching wedge the 43-degree club instead of the 38-degree but this came with a few challenges

1. The lengths would have had to change and for slower speed players longer clubs off the turf can be more difficult to elevate.
2. The mental hurdle of a 4-iron vs a 5-iron may seem silly, but as a famous golfer once said: “The hardest distance to tame in golf in the six inches between your ears.” Player testing over and over showed that even when specs were the same, golfers hit the 5-iron better than the 4-iron. You can put that in the “strange but true” file.

The Titleist T400 golfer

One of the first things a golf company does before creating new products is to evaluate its current lineup and look at how newer clubs help cater to specific wants and needs of certain players. That alone is part of how we developed the categories in our GolfWRX Best Irons in Golf survey: to cater to player attributes not handicaps.

“T400 is the super distance Titleist iron. This club is engineered to get the ball in the air and launch it as far as possible, even when the strike isn’t perfect,” Josh Talge, Vice President of Marketing, Titleist Golf Clubs.

“There are so many golfers, particularly players with moderate swing speeds, who can benefit from this technology. T400 gets the absolute most out of your swing while still providing the playability of a Titleist iron along with that look, sound and feel that dedicated players demand.”

Speaking to “the dedicated player,” the T400’s are progressive in blade length, hosel length, and overall shape from address to still allow for precision shots as a player gets closer to the green. Just because an iron is built for distance doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have the opportunity to hit controlled shots. This once again appeals across player profiles.

The last part of this story is similar to other OEM’s, and that is Titleist’s desire to have a single brand/line of clubs across markets instead of segmenting based on geography. What do I mean by this? Japan and South Korea.

Japan and South Korea are the second and third largest golf markets in the world by dollars (Yen and Won) spent on equipment. It’s an impressive feat considering the number of active golfers is much fewer than other parts of the world, including Europe. The largest part of the audience is moderate swing speed players looking for more distance, and in a golf marketplace where non-conforming drivers are more widely accepted and used, the “loft jacking” conversation is a moot point—it’s all about hitting clubs further.

Shaft and grip specs

T400 offers premium lightweight graphite and steel aftermarket options to help the target moderate swing speed players maximize performance.

The stock shafts are

Graphite: Mitsubishi Fubuki MV IR: A mid to high launch shaft that comes in at 50g.  MV stands for “Maximum Velocity” – since the profile encourages higher ball speed through its ultra-lightweight iron-specific graphite design.

Steel: True Temper AMT Red: The highest launching in the AMT family of True Temper steel shafts ascends 95-107g (3g per club) with lighter long iron shafts for increased launch and speed and heavier short iron shafts for control.

Along with the stock shafts, Titleist offers a bevy of custom shaft choices, with many at no up-charge.

T400’s 43-gram stock grip, the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 Lite+, weighs in nine grams lighter than
the T-Series stock Tour Velvet 360 model.

Pricing and availability

The Titleist T400 irons will be available in golf shops worldwide beginning March 27 with fittings tools making their way to fitters beginning March 6.

They are priced at $185.50 per club ($1,299/set of 7) for steel and $199.50 per club ($1,399 /set of 7) in graphite.

Another way to experience T400

Beginning February 27, golfers can experience the T400 irons for themselves by attending a Titleist Fitting and Trial event, being held at hundreds of locations nationwide.