Check out Golfweek’s list of the best irons available to purchase in 2024.
As Golfweek explained in our 2024 Driver wrap-up, the undeniable trend in the world of drivers is toward higher-stability offerings that not only perform well when you hit the ball in the middle of the face, but also help you hit straighter shots and help you maintain distance when you mis-hit toward the heel or the toe.
When it comes to irons, the trend continues to be the broadening array of offers to meet the needs of different types of players. Not that long ago, equipment makers sold blades to the best players, cavity-backs to golfers who needed some forgiveness and oversized clubs to high-handicappers and beginners. Those clubs still exist, but they are complemented by better-player distance irons, sets that blend hybrids and irons for forgiveness, and sets that blend hollow-bodied long irons with precision-minded scoring clubs.
Take Ping as an example. The Phoenix-based brand now has the Blueprint T and Blueprint S for elite players, the tour-proven i230 for good players who want more forgiveness, the i525 for golfers who want a better-player’s distance iron, the game-improvement G430 and it still offers the G710 as a max game-improvement club. Brands like Callaway, Cobra, Mizuno, TaylorMade and Titleist have similarly deep stables.
That’s a double-edged sword for consumers because while a larger variety of irons means there is a better chance that brands are now making sets that match your needs (and your budget), finding those clubs can be a daunting task. Therefore, it has never been more important to seek out a good custom fitter, try several different shafts and heads and see what the data reveals.
Pro Tip: Indoor club fittings have come a long way and are convenient, but as spring approaches, if you have a chance to do a fitting outside, hitting off real grass and seeing real ball flights is always best.
Below are many of the irons that you will see in pro shops and specialty stores. Use this list as a starting point to discover clubs that might be ideal for you game.
Designed together, Wilson’s newest irons for elite golfers feature classic looks, soft materials and precise shaping to amplify feel and control for low-handicap and championship-level players.
Gear: Wilson Staff Model Blade, Staff Model CB irons Price:$1,199.99 (4-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 shafts and Golf Pride Z grips Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with milled face and back areas. 2-iron, 3-iron and gap wedge available through custom order Available: Jan. 24, but available for pre-order NOW
Who They’re For: Professional golfers, college players and elite amateur golfers who want to maximize feel and control.
The Skinny: Designed together, Wilson’s newest irons for elite golfers feature classic looks, soft materials and precise shaping to amplify feel and control for low-handicap and championship-level players.
The Deep Dive: There is a cliché regarding fine timepieces, sports cars and houses that says that if you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it. The Wilson Staff Model Blade and Staff Model CB fall into a similar category. These clubs have been made for elite ballstrikers, college golfers and players who can genuinely say they will be contending for their club championship. If you have to wonder if you are consistent enough and powerful enough to use them, you probably aren’t.
The Staff Model Blade and Staff Model CB were designed together, so many features and aspects of the clubs are the same. For example, each club is forged from 8620 carbon steel to give it a soft feel at impact. Both clubs have the numbers in the identical portion of the toe and dots on the hosel.
Both clubs have also been designed with Wilson’s Fluid Feel hosel that removes mass from the lower portion of the hosel and allows designers to add it to the lower portion of the head, behind where impact is made. Extra mass has also been added to the toe area. Combined, the Fluid Feel hosel and added mass in the toe pull the center of gravity and ideal impact spot into the middle of the hitting area, amplifying the feel for accomplished golfers and reducing the likelihood of left misses.
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The face and hitting area are also milled to ensure they are perfectly flat and the grooves are added precisely. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The faces of the Staff Model Blade and the Staff Model CB have also been milled to be perfectly flat to ensure low-handicap golfers get the spin and consistency they expect from shot-to-shot.
Many low-handicap players will also like the traditional lofts of the Staff Model Blade and CB irons, with the 5-iron at 26 degrees and the pitching wedge at 46 degrees. Compared to previous Wilson blade-style irons, the 2024 Staff Model Blade and CB will have a softer, lower-pitched, deeper sound, as well as a softer feel.
The Staff Model CB is the same size and shape as the Blade, but the perimeter weighting adds a touch of forgiveness. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While the Staff Model Blade is a true muscleback, the Staff Model CB –which has the same thin topline, narrow sole and minimal offset – offers some perimeter weighting to boost stability and forgiveness. That’s a relative thing because with a blade length this short, misses on the toe will be penalized more than with other Wilson irons, such as the game-improvement DynaPower irons.
As you might suspect, having been designed together and sharing the same price, the Staff Model Blade and CB can easily be mixed and matched into blended sets, giving players and fitters the option of going with more-forgiving long irons and precise scoring clubs if the golfer desires.
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Below are several images of the Wilson Staff Model Blade and CB irons:
A new forging process helps make Ping Blueprint S iron more forgiving.
Gear: Blueprint S irons Price:$230 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips, $245 each with Ping Alta CB Black graphite shafts Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with a high-density toe screw and Hyrdopearl 2.0 finish. Available 3-iron through pitching wedge. Available: Jan. 9
Who They’re For: Accomplished golfers who want a better-player’s distance iron with extra forgiveness in the long irons.
The Skinny: A new forging process gives the Blueprint S enhanced performance and feel in the long irons without making them too big, while the short irons in this better-player’s distance set deliver control and precision.
The Deep Dive: The better-player distance category has been one of the hottest parts of the golf industry for the last few years, with more and more brands offering distancing-enhancing clubs that look like muscleback blades. In 2021, Ping released the i59, a club with a clean look, a thin topline and a touch of offset but that hides an internal aluminum piece (AlumiCore) that creates more perimeter weighting and stability.
The i59 is being replaced in 2024 by the new Blueprint S iron, a club that resembles the forged muscleback blades that most tour players love. And once again, Ping is hiding some features that make the Blueprint S more playable.
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The Blueprint S has minimal offset and a thin topline to create a look in the address position that low-handicap players should like. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The new Blueprint S has a topline that is a few millimeters wider than the i59, and there is a little more offset, too. The Blueprint S is forged from a piece of 8620 carbon steel, but what sets it apart is how it is forged compared to other forged irons.
The hitting area of every other forged iron is flat once the forging process begins and the hot steel is pressed into shape. But in the Blueprint S 3-iron, 4-iron and 5-iron, the first rough forging and second strike bend the head so the top portion of the club angles downward, spreading the back of the club. Then the metal is reoriented (tipped) to allow a small pocket to be milled into the back of the head. The pocket is like a pilot hole you might use when screwing something into a wall. The next strike utilizes the milled pocket and creates a pocket in the back of the head. Finally, with the pocket in place, a final two strikes of the hot metal flatten the hitting area again.
Ping uses a special, seven-step forging process to create a pocket in the back of the Blueprint S. (Ping)
Previously, a construction like this was only possible in a cast club because you cannot create an angled cavity in the back of an iron head if the press comes straight down on top of the billet.
Ping believes this seven-step forging process can uniquely deliver the feel low-handicap players demand while removing 10 grams of steel (weight) and replacing it with a piece of vibration-absorbing thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that is capped with stainless steel. It also helped Ping designers lower the center of gravity and make it easier to hit the Blueprint S long irons on a higher trajectory.
The 6-iron through pitching wedge are traditionally forged and do not have the TPU insert in the long irons. The mid-irons and scoring clubs also have blade lengths that are progressively shorter.
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A small weight screw in the toe pulls the center of gravity into the middle of the hitting area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
For several years, Ping has added weight screws in the toe and tip weights in the heel of irons to boost the moment of inertia and increase stability. The Blueprint S has these features, plus an updated steel shaft hosel stick. The stick weight is molded in a cap that goes up from the hosel and into the tip of a steel shaft. It ranges from 1 to 10 grams. Ping now also has a molded sleeve ranging from 1 to 5 grams designed to accommodate graphite shafts with a much smaller hollow area in the center.
Compared to Ping’s new Blueprint T, the Blueprint S is slightly larger and has more perimeter weighting, and will be more forgiving. The Blueprint S will also launch the ball higher, but it still creates a lower launch than the i230, which has the highest launch angle in Ping’s better-player iron lineup.
Finally, to make it easier for players and fitters to create blended sets that include Blueprint S and the new Blueprint T irons, Ping matched all the lofts of its better-player irons (including the i230). The flight and feel varies subtly from club to club, but now it should be easier to create consistent distance gaps between different types of irons.
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Below are several images of the Ping Blueprint S irons:
For elite ballstrikers, collegiate players and low-handicap golfers, Ping offers the new Blueprint T.
Gear: Ping Blueprint T irons Price:$230 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips, $245 with Ping Alta CB Black graphite shafts Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel with a high-density toe screw and Hyrdopearl 2.0 finish. Available 3-pitching wedge. Available: Jan. 9
Who They’re For: Low-handicap golfers who want a traditional-looking iron that maximizes feel, control and precision.
The Skinny: The Blueprint T has the compact size, clean lines and control-oriented design that elite ballstrikers crave.
The Deep Dive: Golfers such as Tony Finau and Tyrrell Hatton have powerful, repeatable swings, so they don’t look for irons designed to create more ball speed. They aren’t looking for more forgiveness. What elite golfers want from their irons is an enhanced sense of feel. They want to know exactly where each shot was struck on the hitting area, along with the highest level of predictability, because when golfers like Finau and Hatton make a particular swing, they demand a specific result.
For elite ballstrikers, collegiate players and low-handicap golfers, Ping offers the new Blueprint T, and the Phoenix, Arizona-based company has tried to design it as everything low-handicappers want.
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The Blueprint T replaces the original Blueprint, which was released in 2019. It is the most compact Ping iron, with an extremely short blade length, a narrow topline and only a touch of offset. The Blueprint T is also the only Ping iron with a single, non-variable blade length in the 3-iron through 8-iron.
The heads are forged from a single piece of 8620 carbon steel before the hitting area is machined flat, and the grooves are added.
Ping designers added tip and toe weights to the Blueprint T to subtly increase its perimeter weighting. This should make the clubs resist twisting on off-center hits. Slightly.
The Blueprint T creates a lower launch angle than the new Blueprint S and generates slightly less spin. The clubs come standard with the same traditional lofts, with the 5-iron being 26 degrees and the 9-iron being 41 degrees. This should make it easier for players and fitters to create blended sets while maintaining consistent distance gaps between different types of irons.
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Below are several close-up images of the Ping Blueprint T irons:
