Equipment
The most popular design trend in irons you’re just noticing now
When it comes to being a golf equipment junkie, irons have always been the most fascinating clubs to me. They are designed cohesively from top to bottom and vary greatly in aesthetics from set to set—more so than any other club in the bag beyond a putter.
What also makes irons appealing, is—if you feel so inclined—you can use a set from 30 years ago and play golf without noticing a huge drop off in performance—depending on the style of clubs of course. Any modern game improvement irons with lighter weight, higher-launching shafts, and fast faces are going to go further, fly higher, land softer, and offer better performance on mishit shots thanks to technology—but as many golfers have proven, you don’t need technology to enjoy the game.
So where does this leave us with modern iron design?
It used to be that when picking a set of irons you had to make the choice between game improvement or blades. There were few options in the middle, and those options that existed still trended strongly towards one or the other.
Then came along “combo sets”—and we have covered them in the past (Greatest forged combo sets of all time)—beyond a few exceptions these were configured from the manufacturer with little wiggle room for swapping out clubheads for performance. But a few years ago, that started to change for the better, and we are seeing a modern revolution in the way irons are designed from OEMs.
The modernization of iron families
This is where custom fitting, as well as “big data,” is helping OEMs change the way they think about iron design and building a perfect set for every golfer.
If we go back, some of the earliest examples are the 2011 TaylorMade Tour Preferred line that featured blades, muscle cavity irons, and large CB’s, which could be interchanged quite easily—although the CB irons were noticeably larger than the other two clubs.
Another example from that era were the Mizuno MP-63 and MP-53 irons, which looked very similar from an overall design perspective, but the MP-53 offered more forgiveness thanks to a wider sole and undercut cavity. The sets were released simultaneously and could be custom ordered as a combo set.
Past examples can be found from almost every OEM, but now more than ever, we are in the golden age of optimization and club fitting. With the help of new manufacturing technologies that allow engineers to produce smaller clubs with faster faces and higher MOI, we are seeing entire lines of irons being released together in the hope of providing every golfer with the opportunity to get everything they can out of a set of irons. The most recent examples being the TaylorMade P700 Series and the Mizuno JPX 921.
Other examples include
Titleist T-Series
PXG’s Gen3
Srixon Z-Series
Honorable mentions go to Cobra for its Forged Tec irons that blend into longer irons as well as Ping’s i500—which although not a perfect “looks” match to other Ping irons, has become a mainstay for a number of players looking to maximize long iron performance.
Where this leaves you
When looking for your next set irons, think less about matching and more about maximizing.
Thanks to club designers who have put endless hours into sculpting each edge and radius on iron heads in CAD and master shapers that put on the finishing touches, you can mix and match to your heart’s content and still have a set of clubs that matches perfectly behind the ball—becuase that’s where it matters the most.
- LIKE91
- LEGIT10
- WOW2
- LOL7
- IDHT4
- FLOP1
- OB2
- SHANK13
Whats in the Bag
Xander Schauffele WITB 2024 (May)
- Xander Schauffele what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees @10.1)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX (45.5 inches)
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Mizuno MP-20 (3), Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-10)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-10)
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-10S @57), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-K @61)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Check out more in-hand photos of Xander Schauffele’s clubs in the forums.
More Xander Schauffele WITBs
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2023 (August)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2022 (July)
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2022 Scottish Open
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2022 Travelers Championship
- Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele’s winning WITBs: 2022 Zurich Classic
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2022 (January)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (October)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (September)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (May)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 Masters
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2020 (October)
- Xander Schauffele WITB: 2020 Tour Championship
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2020 Olympics
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2020
- Xander Schauffele WITB: 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: Sentry Tournament of Champions
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2018
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2017 Tour Championship
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2017
- LIKE2
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT1
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Whats in the Bag
Cam Smith WITB 2024 (May)
- Cam Smith what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X
3-wood: Ping Max G430 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 7 X
7-wood: Titleist TS2 (21 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Elements Proto 8F5
Irons: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi (2, 3), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X Custom Series
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 52-08F, 56-08M, 60-04T)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130X (46, 52, 56, 60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Tack
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Check out more in-hand photos of Cam Smith’s gear here.
- LIKE10
- LEGIT3
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT1
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Whats in the Bag
Patrick Reed WITB 2024 (May)
- Patrick Reed what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G400 (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125 MSI 70 Tour X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 80 Tour X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (18 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila RIP Phenom Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist 716 TMB (2), Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (50-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (56-08M @55), SM10 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot RX Pt Customs No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
More photos of Patrick Reed’s WITB in the forums.
- LIKE6
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK2
-
19th Hole4 days ago
Brandel Chamblee says this is the primary reason why Rory McIlroy hasn’t won a major in 10 years
-
Whats in the Bag5 days ago
Tiger Woods WITB 2024 (May)
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Equipment2 weeks ago
Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
-
News2 days ago
Scottie Scheffler arrested, charged, and released after traffic incident at Valhalla
-
Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)
James R
Sep 2, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Look back at the Mizuno Grads of the 90’s. To my knowledge they were the first set that combined cavity backs and blades. There is nothing completely new under the sun.