Equipment
Players distance iron shootout! TaylorMade vs. PXG vs. Takomo
When I head to the range, I usually pack a golf bag to the brim with different clubs and driver shafts to ensure that I can hit a plethora of options. This week, I loaded up my bag and grabbed the Full Swing KIT launch monitor and a few of the players distance irons that I have been using this season. Out on the course the PXG 0311T Gen5, TaylorMade P770, and Takomo 101T have been really solid, and I have enjoyed my rounds with them. I never really do launch monitor comparisons, but I figured it would be fun to see what the differences in numbers showed me. Take a listen to the Club Junkie podcast for the full discussion on my time with these irons on the range!
The driving range I go to is close to my house but nothing you would consider the “ultimate golf club testing facility.” I was hitting off a mat and using two-piece range balls that surprisingly were in very good shape for this time in the season. Typically, most range balls have seen better days at the end of the summer and are struggling to hold on to the few dimples they have left. Most of the balls in my basket looked very new or like they had never been hit, so I was a little more confident in what I was seeing from the launch monitor. I hit six very good shots with each iron and did dump a couple of outliers that either went way left or that I might have caught a bit of mat first before contact with the ball.
Carry Distance: I knew this metric was going to be close because I had played quite a few rounds with each of these sets, but I didn’t know it was going to be this close. Between the three sets of irons, there was a total of two yards difference between them all. For my swing, the PXG 0311T Gen5 was the longest of the group at 162 yards, followed up by the TaylorMade P770 at 161 yards, and finally the Takomo Iron 101T at 160 yards. So that means that out on the course they all play the same for me! At my skill level (9.7 handicap as of this writing) a mere two yards isn’t something that I can notice — especially when you throw in course conditions like wind, green undulation, and temperature.
Spin: This was the metric I thought I would see some variation but my pre-shot rankings of what irons would spin the most and the least was 100 percent wrong! The highest spinning iron for me was the TaylorMade P770 at 6,531 rpm. Before hitting them on the launch monitor, I thought the P770 might be the lowest spinning iron of the three, but I was way off on that. The Takomo Iron 101T came in with an average of 6,374 rpm, and the PXG 0311T Gen5 was the lowest at 6,118 rpm. Now, remember that these are low-spin range balls, but a 400 rpm difference between the three is so close it isn’t very noticeable. None of the shots had any sort of ballooning shape to them and all hit their apex on a fairly steep trajectory. There is also a chance that a higher quality ball could even tighten that spin number up a bit as well.
Ball Speed and Smash Factor: In this category of “players distance” irons ball speed has become a bigger factor and most companies have been trying to help increase that number for golfers. The ball speed numbers on all three irons seem high and these for sure have more speed to them than the one-piece forged CB’s that I used to love to play. The Takomo Iron 101T took the top spot here at 117.8 mph and 1.40 on average with the PXG just being edged out at 117.3 mph and 1.37. The TaylorMade P770 came in a very close 3rd at 116.8 mph and 1.35. Again all very close and I love the fact that irons like these keep that ball speed number close even when you don’t find the center of the face.
Launch and Apex: This one is usually pretty important to me as I don’t hit a typically high ball with any of my clubs. Added launch is my friend and allows me to have better distance control and get the ball to stop on the green without worrying about calculating the amount of release on the ball. For me the TaylorMade P770 launched the highest, by a few degrees, at 20 degrees and hit an Apex of 81 feet. The PXG 0311T Gen5 was the next highest at 16. degrees and hit an Apex of 75.5 feet. The Takomo Iron 101T was the lowest launching and flattest flying at 16.1 degrees and rising up to 73.5 feet at its apex. This was very noticeable on the range as the TaylorMade could easily be spotted as the highest launching. I also think that added launch is what gave the P770 the added distance even though its ball speed was a little lower.
Overall, it shows me how good this players distance category is and how many players probably fit very well into it. I like all three iron sets and will continue to rotate them through my rounds.
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Whats in the Bag
Russell Henley WITB 2024 (March)
- Russell Henley WITB accurate as of the Cognizant Classic.
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5 TX
3-wood: Titleist TS3 (16.5 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (7-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 50-08F @51, 54-10S, @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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Whats in the Bag
Vince Carter WITB 2024 (March)
- The NBA legend was teeing it up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational Pro-Am.
Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K (9 degrees)
3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (21 degrees)
Irons: Ping i230 (4-PW)
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 54, 58)
Putter: Ping
Ball: Renegade Mbu
Check out more photos of Vince Carter’s WITB here.
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Equipment
From the Forums: I need more forgiveness in my irons – Looking for recommendations
In our forums, our members have been discussing the most forgiving irons currently on the market. WRXer ‘TheShark1’ is on the hunt for a new set of irons, saying:
“Currently gaming the Mizuno Pro 225’s but think I need more forgiveness in my irons. My well struck shots are real nice, but my mishits are not performing as good as I had hoped anymore. I really like hollow body irons so if I could find something more forgiving in a hollow body iron that would be great.
Open to any and all recommendations other than Ping. Can’t hit Ping irons at all.”
And our members have been sharing their best suggestions in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- AvidSwampThing66: “Another vote for the super forgiving and fast Paradym irons. They look really good for being a GI iron.”
- bobfoster: “I just went from MP20 MMCs to the new 245s in my scoring irons (just played my first round with them today). If you have a chance to try them, you might find them worth a serious look.”
- vman: “Shoot me down, but spend the money on lessons.”
- J_Tizzle: “i525s are great off the heel in my opinion.”
Entire Thread: “From the Forums: I need more forgiveness in my irons – Looking for recommendations”
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Delbert
Sep 27, 2022 at 12:24 pm
I tried distance irons that look like blades. No consistency. Put those irons up and went back to my old Mizuno blade. Went out and broke par for the first time in a year.
Mike Hunt
Sep 27, 2022 at 10:55 am
How can you write an article about 3 different clubs and and NEVER mention what specific club.number your are referencing ?
Do better. Or get a better editor.
Tommy Gibbs
Sep 26, 2022 at 11:43 am
PXG most xtreme iron out there bro. I know this becuase of the guy yelling in the commerical
Joejoe
Sep 26, 2022 at 6:22 am
Looks like Tacoma wins overall because they cost half of pxg and TaylorMade.
Mnw
Sep 26, 2022 at 2:35 am
You didn’t state the club number you were hitting nor the most important fact: loft of each club and offset.
Karsten Solheim
Sep 25, 2022 at 2:42 pm
And in a late addition to the field, the winner, Ping Eye 2
Brian
Sep 25, 2022 at 5:37 pm
Winner for ugliest iron ever made, perhaps.
Brian
Sep 25, 2022 at 7:07 pm
Winner for ugliest ironever, maybe.
Brian Posted twice lmao
Sep 26, 2022 at 6:55 pm
Winner of the “get some of these and never spend money on Chinese junk again” award.