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Best irons in golf of 2022: Most technology packed

Published

2 years ago

on

A new set of irons is the single biggest investment you can make into your set of golf clubs. At GolfWRX, to determine the 2022 best irons, we have compiled an expert panel of fitters to help you find out which of 2022 irons is best for your game.

OEMs have again continued to push the engineering envelope of iron design by utilizing new technology and manufacturing methods to create clubs that offer forgiveness, along with faster, more consistent club faces and launch windows. We are also seeing more segmentation of models to help you determine your best set and/or set combination.

Ultimately the best way to find your personal iron set is to work with a professional fitter using a launch monitor. The difficult part is a lot of people don’t have easy access to fitters, launch monitors, and club builders—so at GolfWRX, we have done a lot of the work for you.

We are in the era of not just maximizing distance but also minimizing the penalty of common misses for each player—this applies to irons just as much as it does with any other club in the bag. This is why, now more than ever, custom fitting is essential to help you see results on every swing you make.

Join the discussion about best irons 2022 in the forums!

We want to give you the tools and information to go out and find what works best for you by offering recommendations for your individual iron set wants and needs with insight and feedback from the people who work every single day to help golfers get peak performance out of their equipment.

Best irons of 2022: How we did it

Before starting the process of building our best iron survey, we reached out to our trusted fitters to discuss how they sort through the endless number of iron options available to golfers. The consensus was clear—the best fitters in the world see all the options available in the marketplace, analyze their performance traits, and pull from that internal database of knowledge and experience like a supercomputer when they are working with a golfer.

It’s essentially a huge decision tree derived from experience and boiled down to a starting point of options—and it has nothing to do with a handicap!

Modern iron sets are designed into player categories that overlap the outdated “what’s your handicap?” model, and at GolfWRX we believe it was important to go beyond handicap and ask specific questions about the most crucial performance elements fitters are looking at to help golfers find the best set of irons for them. From overall performance to shotmaking, to helping players achieve better trajectories and speed, we strived to ask the right questions.

These are the best iron categories we have developed to help you the reader determine what rankings are most important for your swing and game.

Best irons of 2022: The categories

Best irons of 2022: Meet the fitters

Nick Sherburne: Founder, Club Champion
Clare Cornelius: Fitter, Cool Clubs
Eric Johnson: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Shaun Fagan: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Kirk Oguri: PGA Professional/ Club Specialist, Pete’s Golf
Sue O’Connor: Fitter, Cool Clubs 
Scott Felix: Owner, Felix Club Works
Mark Knapp: Fitter, Carls Golfland
Ryan Johnson: Fitter, Carl’s Golfland
Eric Hensler: Manager & Fitter, Miles of Golf
Brad Coffield: Fitter Carl’s Golfland
Nick Waterworth: Fitter,Haggin Oaks Golf Super Shop
Scott Anderson: VP of Sales, Fitter, True Spec Golf
Matthew Sim: Director of Operations, Modern Golf
Shawn Zawodni: Fitter, Miles of Golf
Ben Giunta: Owner,The Tour Van
Matt Decker: Head Fitter and Builder, The Fitting Lab – Baltimore
Jason Bodey: Head Fitter and Builder, The Fitting Lab Pittsburgh
Bradley Harrelson: Fitter, 2nd Swing Golf
Alex Dice: Fitter, Carl’s Golfland
Matt Mora: Director of Club Fitting, Urban Golf Performance
Jordan Patrick: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Gus Alzate: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Carmen Corvino: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Blake Smith: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Marc Roybal: Fitter, True Spec Golf
Shaun Fagan: Fitter, True Spec Golf

2022 Best irons: Most technology packed

This is the “give me everything you got” list. These irons are the cream of the crop for offering technology to improve feel, distance, and ball speed. The great thing about the technology category is it’s not reserved for higher handicap golfers—it’s for anyone looking to get everything they can out of their game in an iron that also suits their eye.

TaylorMade P790

Their story: Of course, we also know the real story of the P700 line in general, P790 in particular, is under the hood, so let’s take a look.

SpeedFoam, which was the showpiece of the original (2017) P790 line gets an upgrade in the 2021 edition. Dubbed SpeedFoam Air, the ultralight urethane foam is 69 percent less dense than the 2019 iteration.

As is the formula in golf club design, saving weight in one area allows engineers to relocate it to another to accomplish specific aims. In this case, it’s to aid launch. And that’s just what the folks at TM have done, moving the CG lower in the heads of P790 irons to the tune of an average of .5 millimeters.

From the fitters

  • “Just a ton of technology packed into a great looking iron. The ball speeds has been crazy good and I am impressed with how TaylorMade keeps improving them. Even for better players who just want a little more distance, they love the look.”
  • “It’s still very highly in demand. Very forgiving. Very long. In those hollow foam irons, if not the best, probably the leader in that category.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece and check out this forum thread.

TaylorMade Stealth

Their story: Building from the Cap Back Design in SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max OS irons – which utilized the concept of a multi-material hollow body construction – the new Stealth irons are engineered to improve face flexibility and deliver fast ball speeds. TaylorMade engineers created the multi-material Cap Back Design by utilizing the concept of the hollow iron but replacing the steel back with a low density, polymer composite cap.

From the fitters

  • “I think TaylorMade made the right choice making it slimmer and just one model. It launches the ball really well for a wide range of players and the sole design fits a lot of different players and turf. Creates consistent play from tight or fluffier lies.”
  • “We’ve done very, very well with early fittings. It’s a very, very long golf club. Even longer than P790 or some other forged golf clubs. Its claim to fame is going to be providing a players look but with a game improvement distance profile.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece. And check out this forum thread.

Cobra LTDx

Their story: The irons have been re-engineered from the inside out using a PWR-COR Weighting design that strategically positions the CG and adds face and body flexion in design to deliver maximum ball speed.

Combined with a thinner and larger PwrShell Face, the LTDx irons seek to provide players with an iron that blends forgiveness, high launch, excellent feel, and longest total distance.

The PWR-COR Weighting system features a multi-material design utilizing a floating steel core bar that is suspended in a lightweight and soft polymer. The steel core bar positions the CG low and right behind the impact zone.

From the fitters

  • “So good, man. After the last 2-3 generations, they’ve imporved little things from each line. The look, the sole width, I think this generation is the best. The CG being so low and back it launches the ball so high. The guys that come over the top, deliver a lot of loft…the LTDx is crazy. It gets the ball in the air, but you get the benefits of a strong lofted iron. It’s so good. Probably the second longest 7 iron I’ve ever hit behind the Wilson D9.”
  • “Cobra, in general, from an aesthetics standpoint, does the best job across all the vendors. They make beautiful cosmetics across their lines. It’s elegant, refined, and exceptionally easy to hit.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Callaway Rogue ST Pro

Their story: The Pro features all of the best technologies of Rogue ST in a hollow body construction and a compact players shape. These irons are designed for low-to-mid single-digit handicap golfers.

In an industry-first, Callaway combined high strength 450 steel with A.I. designed Flash Face Cup for more ball speed and better ball speed consistency, according to the company. New A.I. face optimization for speed, launch, and spin: Uniquely developed for each model, engineers pursued A.I. face optimization for spin rate consistency across the face, which yields higher launch and steeper descent angle to hold greens.

From the fitters

  • ” It’s a sleeper…it’s that smaller, blade-type look, but even more forgiveness…it’s a great looking golf club and it’s fast. It’s a little clickier, but it just sounds fast. Sound isn’t something guys are too concerned with anymore. It still goes high enough, it has a little spin, so it’s good for a lot of players and even better players with some speed.”
  • “I think the Rogue pro is a little more squared off than Apex, which has a little more camber. It fits a wide variety of players I will tell you that. It launches high, the hollow body, a lot of guys like the sound of the crack. It’s a clean looking iron, too. The brightness or shine and minimalistic black badge is an eye catcher. I’ve done a lot of sets 1 degree weak to take some offset off. Rogue ST Pro is for someone who needs ball speed and launch but doesn’t need the spin. It’s between like the 770 and 790. It’s best of both worlds and really impressed me a lot.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece and check out this forum thread.

Ping i525

Their story: Technological features of the i525 players distance irons include:

Forged, Maraging-Steel Face: The strength of the variable-thickness, maraging steel allows for a thinner, more dynamic face structure with an internal sole undercut in the 17-4 stainless steel body to increase flexing in design for more ball speed and shots that launch faster and higher with distance control.

Sound Engineering: A polymer is precisely injected onto the inside of the face in a bid to improve feel and sound without interfering with face deflection, the source of its increased ball speed.

Extreme Weighting: Tungsten toe and shaft tip weights combine with a tiered, dynamic face structure and cavity to expand the perimeter weighting while preserving ball speed through greater face deflection in design for added distance and improved accuracy. Per Ping, this also provides tighter dispersion and increased forgiveness.

From the fitters

  • “It’s going after that 790 market. It’s maybe not as clean, but for Ping it’s a great-looking iron. It has some speed and it has some forgiveness, too.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece and check out this forum thread.

Join the discussion about best irons 2022 in the forums!

 

 

 

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Equipment

Best irons in golf of 2024: Slower swing speed (Easiest to launch)

Published

16 hours ago

on

Apr 8, 2024

By

In our effort to assemble the 2024 best irons, we have again compiled an expert panel of fitters to help you find out which of the 2024 irons is best for your game.

Ultimately the best way to find your personal best iron set is to work with a professional fitter using a launch monitor. The difficult part is a lot of people don’t have easy access to fitters, launch monitors, and club builders — so at GolfWRX, we have done a lot of the work for you.

We are in the era of not just maximizing distance but also minimizing the penalty of common misses for each player — this applies to irons just as much as it does with any other club in the bag. And of course, proper set makeup and gapping is essential. This is why, now more than ever, custom fitting is essential to help you see results on every swing you make.

We want to give you the tools and information to go out and find what works best for you by offering recommendations for your individual iron set wants and needs with insight and feedback from the people who work every single day to help golfers get peak performance out of their equipment.

Best irons of 2024: The process

The best fitters in the world see all the options available in the marketplace, analyze their performance traits, and pull from that internal database of knowledge and experience like a supercomputer when they are working with a golfer.

It’s essentially a huge decision tree derived from experience and boiled down to a starting point of options—and it has nothing to do with a handicap!

Modern iron sets are designed into player categories that overlap the outdated “what’s your handicap?” model, and at GolfWRX we believe it was important to go beyond handicap and ask specific questions about the most crucial performance elements fitters are looking at.

These are the best iron categories we have developed to help you determine which category is most important for your swing and game.

Best irons of 2024: The categories

  • Overall performance
  • Easiest to launch/Slower swing speed
  • Pure enjoyment
  • Shotmakers
  • Most technology-packed
  • Best blade

2024 Best irons: Easy to launch/Slower swing speed

These are the irons for golfers who need height. With today’s modern golf ball, creating proper flight widows and spin can be difficult for some players — especially those at lower speeds — and this is where technology can really help. All of these irons do everything they can to create shot-stopping trajectories and a steeper angle of descent.

Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal HL

Their story: With the JPX923 Hot Metal, Mizuno introduced “4355 nickel chromoly,” which is 35 percent stronger than the original Hot Metal material and allows for an eight-percent thinner clubface. Cup face construction works in tandem with a deep center of gravity for high launch with stopping power. Mizuno developed Hot Metal Pro, Hot Metal and Hot Metal HL (High Launch) from 175,000 real golf swings recorded via Mizuno’s Swing DNA system. JPX923 Hot Metal HL is a high launch speed cavity delivering a higher launching option for players with moderate swing speeds or aggressive shaft lean, it’s suitable for mid to high-handicap golfers.

Fitter comments:

  • “We’re talking about… people who need forgiveness, but they don’t spin it enough. They don’t get it in the air. The HL is a little little weaker-lofted, but they have the size and the forgiveness they need. It’s one of the go-tos for us.”
  • “We’ve been getting a lot of guys where it’s like, you know, the way you deliver it, you really need the loft of a, of a blade, but you’re not good enough to hit a blade. So, you know, we need to get some height. Like the slower swing speed player, aging golfer, like they don’t have 130 MPH ball speed with a seven that they can launch it at 15 degrees and still get it in the air. They gotta get that thing off the ground and up to get some distance out of it. And this thing is just, it’s so easy to get up in the air…even if we do bend other things weaker, we can’t get it as high lofted as that thing, and it just goes straight up in the air.”
  • “It’s super forgiving and it feels pretty good that. We sell more HL’s than we do standard Hot Metals. It’s such a popular golf club.”
  • “It’s a spectacular club and really is probably the best club in that high-launch category. If you take the high launch QI, you take the [Callaway Paradym] Ai Smoke HL, [Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal] HL, that’s the best one.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL

Their story: At the core of Callaway’s new Ai Paradym Smoke irons is the Ai Smart Face. With the Ai Smart Face, these irons are designed to promote exceptional distance, tight dispersion into the green, and optimal launch in a modern construction. The new shape consists of longer blade lengths, thinner toplines, and optimized sole widths in a bid to create a forgiving, yet streamlined look at address. In addition, an all-new Dynamic Sole Design features a pre-worn leading edge with variable bounce that cuts through the turf with efficiency.

Fitter comments:

  • “Compared to the standard Ai Smoke, it’s definitely launching a little bit higher. I would say blade length is a little bit longer. So, you know, it’s a little bit more forgiving a little bit easier to hit than that traditional AI Smoke. It’s gonna launch higher than Ai Smoke and spin a little bit more for that player that needs that help.”
  • “Amazing when it comes to getting the ball airborne and retaining spin. Very easy to hit and very stable through impact. Second place to Mizuno, for me.”
  • “The HL version allows for a player to play a strong lofted iron in a lightweight package that helps achieve great distance. This iron is long! The ball speeds are crazy high. This iron is great for a player who flips at it.”
  • “Even though not as light as the others, the HL gets the ball in air faster and slower speed needs that for distance”
  • “Powerful but still helps get the ball to launch at a playable angle. Generates height well with lots of speed across the face.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

TaylorMade Qi HL

Their story: With a blend of minimalistic aesthetics and advanced multi-material technology, TaylorMade’s new Qi irons aim to deliver the optimal combination of distance, accuracy and solid feel in an inviting game-improvement package. At the heart of the Qi iron is individual head optimization, organic face designs, and FLTD CG, all working in unison to help golfers minimize the right miss. With their latest irons, TaylorMade has designed the all-new Qi irons to have significantly less right bias for straighter and more accurate shots.

Fitter comments: 

  • “That’s a big ass iron. But you also have a much better look than the [Stealth] HD last year. That [iron] was really shallow in the face that got the ball up great. But it just didn’t look the way some people wanted, right? They didn’t want a small face. So it’s a really good option for people.”
  • “You’re seeing some of these companies…I think they’re seeing that sometimes…a little bit of loft can be, be good, you know, but they’re combing it with heads now that are super tight off the face. You get some of those guys catching it all on the face, the thing still getting up in the air, still producing ball speed.”
  • “I would say the Qi HL, it’s like kind of top charts when it comes to…if someone’s hitting it, that thing wants to go. And I think they definitely did a good job…with the redesign of it compared to Stealth HD.”
  • “The previous generation was a little bit off-putting, you know, some, most people don’t wanna play kind of, you know, a hybrid-iron. It’s a little bit easier to hit a little bit better package…compared to the HD, the packaging is 1,000,000 bucks.”
  • “I mean…[Stealth] HD worked really good but it was very hard to…get someone to accept that they had to use it. Now at the [Qi10] HL you put that in someone’s hands, it looks good. It feels good. And they feel like, ‘I’m using a, a golfer golf club,’ you know. It’s a real battle sometimes with people…our job is performance, but they also want something that’s gonna look good in their bag.”
  • “The fact that it looks like a regular golf club is helpful. I think in that modern-day iron, it’s just lofts are getting so strong, and the ball is spinning so little off of these things that if you don’t naturally hit it super high, irons like that are just perfect for guys, they’re able to hold greens, stop it quicker. For a lot of guys, that height means more distance. So they’re actually hitting it farther with more loft and, and be able to hold a green better. And guys that maybe had a five hybrid are now getting a five iron back in their bag and it’s great.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Ping G430 HL

Their story: Billed as Ping’s “longest iron ever”, the G430 irons combine a lower CG with stronger, custom- engineered lofts and a thinner face that delivers up to 2 more mph of ball speed, per the company. At the heart of the new addition is the PurFlex cavity badge, an innovation which features seven flex zones that allow more free bending in design to increase ball speed across the face. In combination with a lower CG, the badge aims to contribute to the solid feel and pleasing impact sound. The stronger lofts across the set resulted in the addition of a 41 degree PW to ensure proper gapping options and allowed for standard lofts in the traditional scoring wedges (45.5, 50, 54 and 58 degrees).

From the fitters:

  • “With that Alta Quick shaft, I mean, it’s just, it’s super easy to kick that thing up in the air. And what I really like about it is they don’t put flex on the shaft. We’ve had, you know, I mean, you explain to the customer like, hey, you know, you might, you know, you’re gonna need that 35-gram Alta Quick. It’s not gonna say, you know, ladies flex or whatever and no one knows.”
  • “It’s super easy to hit, super easy to launch, especially for someone who needs…that help and forgiveness.”
  • “What I like about what Ping does, they don’t just like, shove a lighter-weight shaft in the same club head. They put a lighter grip on it, they put a lighter shaft in it. So like they kind of do it the right way. It’s just an overall lighter package version of the best game improvement iron out there. So it’s you get all the forgiveness and everything else that you get with G430, but now in a total balanced package for a slower swing speed player, it’s, it’s great.”
  • “What I like about it too is with the Alta Quick 35 [shaft]. It’s essentially like a ladies golf club that doesn’t say ladies on it. So like you get that guy that swings super slow or you get like that junior boy or something like that that just, you know, I’m not, you know, especially like the kids like, I mean, he’s not playing a club that says ladies on it or it’s purple or something you can get than this and it looks just like his dad’s G430s, but it just gets up in the air and goes and it’s awesome.”
  • “The best iron in the game improvement category. High launch and packed with forgiveness on those off-center hits. It’s one of the easiest irons to hit. The HL version allows players who need a lighter package and need help with higher launch are able to achieve that with this iron.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Titleist T350

Their story: The new T350 irons are still built for maximum distance and forgiveness, but they were redesigned with a hollow-body construction that’s inspired by the T200. Like the T200, the T350 also uses Max Impact Technology behind the face to maximize speed and forgiveness, and dual-tungsten weights in the back cavity. The T350 irons are noticeably larger, and with thicker toplines, than the T200 irons for golfers who need the additional surface area and stability.

Fitter comments: 

  • “The T350 is super good. They definitely cleaned it up, cleaned up that topline a little bit and made it…a little bit more compact, a little bit smaller for sure.”
  • “You know, I think is one of those irons that maybe sometimes can get overlooked. I don’t know…some guys, they think ‘Titleist,’ they can’t hit it. If someone’s in this category, it’s always a club you’re gonna have.”
  • “So like this is the first one in that model that’s had like a forged face and, and, and, and I think that just improved the feel of it. Topline to me looks a little bit cleaner and, they do a nice job of hiding the offset doesn’t look quite obnoxious when you look down at it. I don’t know if it’s like the chrome that they put or whatever, but it looks a lot cleaner at address. The iron’s always been super easy to get up in here.”
  • “That type of customer, I know they all want to do is just hit it nice and far. But we’re seeing so many guys come in that just need help getting it airborne in that moderate kind of clubhead speed category. And this thing is probably, if not the easiest, one of the easiest irons in this category to launch. And I think that’s what makes it so great.”
  • “High launch is a key component to this iron. Clean look, with reduced offset and a better look for a players game improvement iron. Players are surprised that this is a game improvement iron based on the looks and package size.”

For more photos/info, read our launch piece.

Best irons of 2024: Meet the fitters

RELATED: Best driver 2024

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/8/24): TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver

Published

18 hours ago

on

Apr 8, 2024

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver.

From the seller: (@cg2g): “BRNR Mini Driver 13.5* with HZRDUS Gen 4 Black 70g X-Flex, Club has hit 5 balls on simulator, save some money on ordering new. $385 Shipped CONUS.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Whats in the Bag

Denny McCarthy WITB 2024 (April)

Published

1 day ago

on

Apr 7, 2024

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  • Denny McCarthy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, C1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

5-wood: Titleist TS2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist 620 CB (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-08M), WedgeWorks Proto (60-L)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo N5
Grip: Scotty Cameron

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Denny McCarthy’s WITB here.

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