Tag: Best New Game Improvement Irons

Ping i730 irons

The G730 is for mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want a big, easy-to-hit iron that delivers more distance and forgiveness.

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Gear: Ping i730 irons
Price: $185 each with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips. $200 each with Ping Alta CB Black graphite shafts
Specs: Cast and heat-treated 17-4 stainless steel with high-density toe and heel weights.

Who It’s For: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want a big, easy-to-hit iron that delivers more distance and forgiveness.

The Skinny: This powerful iron is the most forgiving in the Ping lineup for 2024, and golfers who typically shoot in the 90s and 100s should find it delivers more distance thanks to a thin face with enhanced feel.

The Deep Dive: From its start in 1959, Ping has been synonymous with golf equipment that is designed to make the game easier to play. Sure, the Phoenix-based brand has always offered irons for elite ballstrikers, like the just-released Blueprint T and Blueprint S, but this is the company that created the most-copied putter in golf, the Anser, which was designed to be forgiving. Ping also deserves credit for jumping on the stability train earlier than just about any equipment maker and leading the trend in high-MOI drivers that help golfers overcome mis-hits.

Now, for 2024, Ping is releasing the G730, a game-improvement iron that replaces the G710.

While many irons designed to be forgiving and increase ball speed feature a hollow-body construction, the G730 has a cavity-back design. It has a slightly shorter blade length than the G710 but slightly more offset and a wider sole from the leading edge to the back to help golfers square the face more efficiently and make solid contact more often.

Knowing that the G730 was not going to appeal to fast-swinging, low-handicap players, Ping’s designers were freed to make the face especially thin and not worry about durability and excessive stress. As a result, the face of the G730 is 7 percent thinner than the G430’s face, so it flexes more efficiently. The center of gravity has also been positioned very low in the head, which should promote a higher ball flight.

Ping G730 irons
The PuFlex badge flexes at impact to soak up vibrations without decreasing ball speed. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Enhanced feel is a trait commonly associated with better-player irons, but a PreFlex badge on the back of the G730 – which is made using 10 different pieces and bends in five different areas – improves the sensation of impact because two different molded plastic pieces soak up excessive vibrations.

Golfers who routinely shoot in the 90s and 100s should not be playing a 3-iron or a 4-iron, and Ping is not making those clubs in the G730. The strongest-lofted iron available is a 23-degree 5-iron. While the lofts of all the clubs are strong, Ping is making four G730 wedges (44, 49, 54 and 56 degrees), so working with a custom fitter, players should be able to create a set configuration that gives them the yardages and the gaps they need. A stronger-lofted PWR Spec version and a weaker-lofted Retro Spec version are also available.

Finally, to normalize spin and improve performance in wet conditions, Ping gave the G730 a Hydropearl 2.0 finish that repels water and helps to reduce its presence between the ball and the hitting area.

TaylorMade Qi, Qi HL irons

TaylorMade Qi and Qi HL irons aim to enhance consistency and forgiveness.

Gear: TaylorMade Qi, Qi HL irons
Price: $1,099 with KBS Max 85 steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $1,199 with Fujikura Ventus Blue TR graphite shafts
Specs: Hollow-body heads with multi-material back badge
Available: Feb. 2 (Qi), March 15 (Qi HL), but available for pre-order NOW

Who They’re For: Golfers with a handicap between 10 and 20 who want more consistency from shot to shot and enhanced ball-speed protection on mis-hits.

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The Skinny: By modifying the thickness of each iron face and managing how the hitting area flexes, TaylorMade aims to improve accuracy and consistency for mid- and higher-handicap golfers.

The Deep Dive: For golfers who typically shoot in the 80s and 90s, the most-common miss off the tee with a driver is to right because they slice. With game-improvement irons, many of the same players also struggle with a right miss, especially with their long irons, but for a different reason. With the release of the new Qi and Qi HL irons, TaylorMade set out to help golfers improve their accuracy from the fairway, especially with their long irons, while also providing more distance and enhanced feel.

TaylorMade said the typical construction of a game-improvement long iron can significantly contribute to the right miss. As the blade length grows longer, the toe side of the hitting area bends back more at impact than the heel side, even on shots hit in the center of the face, creating a fade bias. As blade lengths grow shorter in the scoring clubs – such as the 7-iron, 8-iron and 9-iron – the effect decreases, which is why many golfers don’t see the impact in fittings because the 7-iron is commonly used in iron fittings.

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TaylorMade Qi irons
The faces of the Qi irons have been made thicker in some areas and thinner in others to enhance consistency. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

With the Qi and Qi HL irons, TaylorMade has brought a design philosophy that debuted in its recently released P·790 irons – individual head optimization – to game-improvement clubs. In the P·790, that meant shifting the center of gravity in each iron to a different location to make it easier to hit the type of shots players often hit with that specific club. In the Qi and Qi HL, it involves integrating the face thickness, the Speed Pocket slot, topline ribs and the toe wrap.

In the long irons, TaylorMade made the low-toe portion of the face thicker so it flexes less, and the area close to the heel is thinned so it bends more easily at impact. In addition to making the hitting area flex more uniformly, which should help golfers hit straighter shots, by adding mass low in the hitting area and stiffening the metal around the Speed Pocket slot in the sole, the Qi and Qi HL long irons can help golfers get long-iron shots up more quickly.

Most golfers don’t struggle to get a 7-iron high in the air because it has more loft, so TaylorMade designers modified the construction and made the high-toe area stiffer while the area around the Speed Pocket is thinner and more flexible. To enlarge the sweet spot, the area around the edge of the face is very thin.

The Speed Pocket has not been designed into the 8-iron, 9-iron and wedges, and the thickest regions of the hitting area are once again high in the toe. This design should help golfers control spin and trajectory more easily.

While each Qi and Qi HL iron is designed slightly differently, they share several common technologies that make the set cohesive.

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All the Qi and Qi HL irons have an internal Echo Dampening Bridge that runs from heel to toe behind the face and soaks up excessive vibrations to improve sound and feel. They also feature a 360-degree undercut cavity design covered by a multi-material back badge. TaylorMade refers to this as Capback, a feature that debuted in 2021’s SIM2 irons. The composite back section reduces weight from the back of the head while still allowing the face to flex efficiently.

These irons have a thicker topline and ample offset, which is common among game-improvement irons. The sole is also fairly broad, but the leading edge is lower. Accomplished golfers tend to shy away from features like these, but they can be visually reassuring to many recreational golfers because the clubs look easy to hit.

While the standard Qi makes it easier for mid- and higher-handicap golfers to hit the ball straight and long, the HL model takes it further. The HL stands for higher and lighter, and with the club’s lighter shaft and grip, moderate-swinging players should be able to generate more speed with it. The lofts in the HL version are also 2 degrees weaker (higher lofts), so shots should also fly higher.

Cosmetically, the Qi and Qi HL irons look similar to the Stealth irons they replace, but TaylorMade is now complementing the visible carbon fiber on the badge with chrome-plated metal to create a more premium, aspirational look.

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Below are several close-up images of the TaylorMade Qi and Qi HL irons:

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke, Ai Smoke HL, Ai Smoke Max Fast irons

Moderate and slower-swinging golfers will benefit from the Paradym Ai Smoke’s fast faces and low centers of gravity.

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke, Ai Smoke HL, Ai Smoke Max Fast irons
Price: $999.99 (seven clubs) with True Temper Elevate steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips; $1,099.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0, Mitsubishi Tensei Blue White or Eldio graphite shafts
Specs: Hollow-bodied stainless steel iron
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers who want a distance-oriented, game-improvement iron that launches the ball high.

The Skinny: Callaway designers used artificial intelligence to design iron faces for the Paradym Ai Smoke and Ai Smoke HL irons to deliver enhanced ball speed for moderate-swinging players and more distance and height for slower-swinging players. 

The Deep Dive: Jon Rahm has no trouble generating distance with his Callaway irons because the 2023 Masters champion has a powerful, repeatable swing. Time and again, he hits the center of the face. However, recreational golfers who shoot in the mid-80s and 90s tend to swing more slowly. They often hit the ground first instead of the ball and make contact all over the face. On some shots they hit it in the center, but they are just as likely to strike the ball near the toe or in the heel.

Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke irons are not for Jon Rahm. They’re game-improvement irons designed to help golfers overcome shortcomings and inconsistencies.

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To make that happen, Callaway designers used supercomputers to study hundreds of thousands of swings of actual golfers to see how they hit shots. Using that data, the supercomputers employ artificial intelligence to create thousands of iron faces and simulate how they would perform in the real world. All those faces look the same on the outside, but the inner-facing sides are covered with thick and thin areas that act like miniature sweet spots.

That work resulted in the faces designed into the Paradym Ai Smoke irons. Attached to the hollow-body chassis of each iron, the faces flex more efficiently at impact to generate more ball speed on every shot and tighten the dispersion pattern.

There are three different Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons: the standard model, HL and Max Fast.

Callaway believes most golfers who need a game-improvement iron and who have a driver swing speed between 85 and 100 mph will find the standard Ai Smoke iron fits them well. While the standard Paradym irons will remain available in 2024, the Paradym Ai Smoke will replace the Rouge ST Max irons.

Callaway offers the Paradym Ai Smoke HL, which stands for high launch, for golfers who need more height and lift on their shots. The face design and low center of gravity combine with weaker lofts in this iron to make getting the ball high in the air easier, especially with the long irons. While the Paradym Ai Smoke’s 5-iron has 22 degrees of loft, the 5-iron in the HL version has 24 degrees of loft. Callaway believes this club should be ideal for golfers with a driver swing between 70 and 90 mph.

Finally, Callaway is offering the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, which has been optimized for golfers who have a driver swing that is slower than 75 mph. These irons have the same weakened lofts as the HL irons, but the Max Fast irons come standard with lighter shafts and grips, which should make it easier to create more clubhead speed and carry distance.

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See what’s new in the TaylorMade P·790 irons for 2023

TaylorMade P·790 have a new internal weighting system that boosts performance.

Gear: TaylorMade P·790 irons (2023)
Price: $1,399 (seven clubs) with True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shafts and Golf Pride Z grips. $1,499 with Mitsubishi MMT graphite shafts
Specs: Hollow-body construction with a forged 4140 stainless steel face, internal tungsten weights (3-7 irons), vibration-dampening foam and polymer-covered sole slot.
Available: NOW (pre-orders), September 1 (in stores)

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Who It’s For: Golfers who want an iron that looks like a better-player’s club, but packs the distance and forgiveness of a game-improvement iron.

The Skinny: TaylorMade redesigned the inner chamber and the weight system in the P·790 to make the long irons easier to hit and provide more feel and consistency in the short irons without sacrificing the ball speed and distance.

The Deep Dive: In 2017, the original TaylorMade P·790 was among the first golf clubs that could rightfully be called a better-player’s distance iron. It looked like a muscleback blade, although slightly larger, but it delivered more ball speed, forgiveness and stability than irons made for golfers who might contend for a club championship.

Those clubs were updated in 2019 and again in 2021, and now TaylorMade is releasing the fourth generation of the P·790 irons. Once again, on the outside the club blends easily with the rest of TaylorMade’s P Series irons, but the 2023 P·790 has been radically changed on the inside to give golfers more consistency and a better feel without sacrificing ball speed or distance.

From a design standpoint, the P·790 is still a hollow-bodied iron that has a relatively thin topline, moderately narrow sole and some offset. The hollow-body design allows the forged 4140 stainless steel face to flex more at the moment of impact for increased ball speed. The 2023 version also has the same Speed Foam Air found in the 2021 P·790. It is 69 percent lighter than the original vibration-dampening foam TaylorMade used in the first P·790 irons, so it not only makes the irons feel and sound better at impact, it pushes more weight out of the center and toward the perimeter of the head for added stability. The Thru-Slot Speed Pocket has been designed into the long and mid-irons again to help improve performance on low-struck shots.

Among the features found in the new P·790 is the addition of a Thick-Thin back wall. Instead of being smooth, the inner-facing side of the back of the club is covered with thin areas that give it a snakeskin-style appearance. Before the adoption of carbon fiber crowns, TaylorMade used this technology to take the weight out of titanium crowns in drivers. It does the same job in the P·790, reducing weight in an area that does not enhance performance and allowing designers to repurpose it somewhere else.

TaylorMade P·790 (2023)
TaylorMade P·790 4-iron (top left) has a low CG thanks to a flat tungsten weight in the toe, while the 6-iron (lower left) has a weight that is higher and the 8-iron (right) has no tungsten. The sound stabilization bars in the 4-iron and 6-iron are different too. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

After running thousands of simulations using artificial intelligence (A.I.), TaylorMade designers used some of the weight saved in the back of the heads and designed unique bars and weight areas in the bottom of each head. Some have curves and others are straight, but each is designed to help a specific club perform better. So, for example, there is a curved area in the 6-iron that has extra mass in the heel and toe, along with a tungsten bar that rises vertically in the toe area for extra stability. The 4-iron, however, has a bar that is significantly lower in the head and its tungsten piece lies flat in the toe area, to drive the center of gravity (CG) down even further and encourage a higher launch angle.

The precise location of the CG was a point of emphasis for TaylorMade in this version of the P·790, and by manipulating the weight of each head, the company is touting a “flighted CG” progression through the set. With a better weighting system, the 3-iron and 4-iron in 2023 P·790 now have the lowest CGs, and the CG height gradually elevates as you progress through the mid-irons and into the scoring clubs, which should result in more consistent ball flights. Long irons should be easier to hit high and golfers should be able to flight short irons lower for better distance control.

Finally, TaylorMade has added a Sound Stabilizing bar inside each P·790 iron, to stiffen the topline and help tune the frequencies created when the club hits the ball. Each club’s bar is uniquely designed and in a different location because the mass is distributed in different parts of each club.

Many golfers will opt for a traditional set of the new P·790 irons, but cosmetically they blend very well with the P·770 irons that were released last year. The P·770 is smaller but shares the same hollow-body design, so working with a good fitter should make designing a personalized combo set of P·790 long irons and P·770 short irons easy.

Below are several close-up images of the new TaylorMade P·790.

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See the new 2023 Titleist T200 irons

Titleist T200 irons deliver distance, stability with enhanced sound and feel.

Gear: Titleist T200 irons
Price: $200 per club with True Temper AMT Black shafts and Titleist Universal 360 grips; $216 with Mitsubishi Tensei Blue AM2 graphite shafts
Specs: Forged, L-shaped stainless steel face and forged body with internal tungsten weights.
Available: August 28

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Who They’re For: Golfers who need game-improvement clubs that deliver more distance and stability, but who also want softer feel.

The Skinny: Titleist adjusted the internal Max Impact system and the polymer back plate to enhance the sound and feel of the T200, while maintaining ball speed and forgiveness.

The Deep Dive: While the Titleist T100 and T150 are aimed at accomplished golfers looking for control and consistency, the T200 is a true game-improvement club made for golfers who want more distance, forgiveness and stability. With the release of the 2023 version, Titleist tasked its designers to make the clubs sound and feel better at impact, without losing ball speed. While the T200 looks a little different on the outside, to achieve that goal, engineers made bigger changes on the inside.

The T200 has a forged, SUP-10 stainless steel body and face, with the face plate being shaped like an L. The hitting area wraps under the leading edge, which allows the lower portion to flex more easily on thin shots. Titleist also designed the entire hitting area to gradually become thinner toward the perimeter to broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed more effectively on mis-hits.

The first Titleist T200 irons debuted a distance-enhancing system called the Max Impact Generator on the back. In the 2021 version, it returned but was hidden inside the heads. The Max Impact system is back in the 2023 T200 irons and continues to be a polymer piece designed into a metal bar that connects the topline and sole. When a ball is hit, the face flexes and presses into the polymer, which helps the hitting area snap back faster, increasing ball speed and distance.

In the updated T200 irons, the Max Impact polymer piece is thinner, and the support bar has been shifted more toward the heel, so it is now near the center of the face. Titleist also made the shelf that the back plate rests upon much wider in the toe area. The polymer plate that covers the back of the club and encases the hollow chamber has also been given a series of ribs and panels. All these things work together to stiffen the T200 at impact and change the harmonics, so it sounds better and feels better without a loss of speed or distance.

To help the T200 resist twisting on off-center hits, Titleist added tungsten to the heel and toe areas. The precise amount of tungsten varies by club but averages about 80 grams, and it helps increase the moment of inertia.

Finally, Titleist gave the T200 the same sole design as the T100 and T150 (although it’s wider). The trailing edge has extra upward curvature, which should help the club work through the turf more effectively, especially on fat shots or for players who have an especially steep angle of attack.

Below are several close-up images of the 2023 Titleist T200 irons.

 

Discover the new Titleist T350 irons

The Titleist 350 irons are designed to provide distance and forgiveness.

Gear: Titleist T350 irons
Price: $200 each with True Temper AMT Black steel shafts and Titleist Universal 360 grips; $216 each with Mitsubishi Tensei Blue AM2 graphite shafts.
Specs: Forged SUP-10 stainless steel face with 17-4 stainless steel body and internal tungsten weights.
Available: August 28

Who They’re For: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want to maximize distance and forgiveness.

The Skinny: This game-improvement club utilizes a hollow-body construction and multimaterial design to provide distance and stability, while updates to the internal design have made it sound and feel better at impact.

The Deep Dive: While the previous versions of the T300 had been a one-piece, cast construction with a massive under-cut cavity, the 2023 T350, which replaces the T300, is a forged, hollow-bodied multimaterial design. It is built like the T200 but bigger, and that magnifies many of its playing qualities.

The T350 has a forged, SUP-10 stainless steel face that is L-shaped and wraps under the leading edge. This allows the lower portion of the hitting area to flex more easily, especially on thin shots. Titleist also designed the entire hitting area to gradually become thinner toward the perimeter to broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed more effectively on mis-hits.

The body and chassis of the T350 are forged from 17-4 stainless steel, a material that is strong but lighter than the SUP-10 steel used in the hitting area.

While the previous T300 irons had a Max Impact system in the back, Titleist has made it an internal element in the T350. Designers added a polymer piece and affixed it to a metal bar that connects the topline and sole. When a ball is hit, the face flexes and presses into the polymer, which acts like a spring and snaps the hitting area back into shape faster than it would alone. This should help golfers attain higher ball speeds and gain distance. In the new T350 the system has been updated by positioning it more in the center of the face, and designers made the polymer piece thinner.

The bar in the Max Impact system serves a dual purpose. It holds the polymer and also stiffens the head at impact. In the T350 irons, Titleist added more mass in the low tow area and redesigned the polymer plate that covers the back of the club and encases the hollow chamber. Instead of being flat, it now has a waffle pattern on the inner-facing side. These elements stiffen the T200 even more at impact and allowed engineers to adjust the club’s harmonics to sound better without a loss of speed or distance.

Titleist added tungsten to the heel and toe areas to increase the moment of inertia and help the T350 resist twisting on off-center hits. The exact amount of tungsten varies by club but averages about 80 grams per head.

The T350 has the widest sole and the thickest topline in the updated T Series iron family. While elite golfers want a thin topline, golfers who routinely shoot in the high 80s, 90s and over 100 often find thicker toplines reassuring. The trailing edge has also been made with a sharper upward curvature, which should help the club work through the turf more effectively, especially for players who have a steep angle of attack.

Shifting the Max Impact system inside the head helps the T350 irons blend better with the rest of the new T Series irons, aesthetically. Golfers working with a good custom fitter should be able to easily create combo or blended sets with T200 irons easily.

Below are several close-up images of the 2023 Titleist T350 irons.