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.
The Cobra Darkspeed irons are made to help mid- and high-handicap golfers hit shots farther, higher and straighter.
Gear: Cobra Darkspeed, Darkspeed One-Length irons Price:$999 (4-PW or 5-GW) with KBS Tour Lite steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips. Specs: Hollow-bodied long and mid-irons with 17-4 stainless steel faces, 431 stainless steel chassis, CNC-milled grooves and internal weights. Available: Jan. 11 presale, Jan. 19 in stores
Who They’re For: Mid- and higher-handicap golfers who struggle with inconsistent contact, need more distance and want more height on their shots.
The Skinny: The hollow-body design, low center of gravity and vibration-dampening foam combine to give the Darkspeed irons more ball speed, greater height and a softer feel at impact.
The Deep Dive: Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose broke through and won again on the PGA Tour in 2023, and both players used Cobra irons. In Fowler’s case, it was Cobra King Forged Tour irons, while Rose used a blended set of a Cobra King Tour (4), King CB (5-6) and King MB (7-PW). As might be expected, all those clubs are designed for accomplished ballstrikers with powerful, repeatable swings.
Conversely, most amateur players likely would benefit from a game-improvement iron that delivers more distance and more forgiveness on mis-hit shots. That is the type of iron Cobra set out to make with the new Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length.
The Darkspeed irons have a reassuringly thick topline and some offset to help mid-handicap golfers square the face more effectively on the downswing.
The PWR Shell face wraps into the sole, while the PWR Bridge lowers the center of gravity. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Inside the heads of the 4-iron through pitching wedge, the Darkspeed irons are hollow to allow the thin 17-4 stainless steel faces to flex more efficiently at impact. The sand wedge and gap wedge are half-hollow, with an open chamber behind the hitting area.
Cobra gave the 4-iron through 7-iron a PWRShell face, which is 21 percent thinner than the face of last season’s AeroJet iron and wraps under the leading edge of the club and into the sole to broaden the sweet spot.
These irons also were designed with a single post in the head that supports a weight that designers call a PWR-Bridge. It extends from the heel to the toe, lowers the center of gravity and helps golfers hit higher-flying, faster-stopping shots.
The H.O.T. Face is designed to protect ball speed on mis-hits. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The hitting area and grooves have been CNC-milled to ensure the face is perfectly flat and the grooves are precisely in place.
Inside the hollow chamber of the 4-iron through pitching wedge, Cobra added 924D foam microspheres, a material that soaks up excessive vibrations to improve sound and feel. However, the material is elastic, so it allows the face to flex and snap back quickly without inhibiting ball speed. Cobra studies showed that adding the foam helped reduce spin, which led to more distance and straighter shots.
The standard Darkspeed has a darker finish over the 431 stainless steel body, which helps reduce glare. The set’s lofts are strong, with a 5-iron being 21 degrees and the pitching wedge at 42 degrees. Those lofts help golfers achieve more distance, while the low center of gravity helps shots fly as high as players expect.
Cobra also offers the Darkspeed iron in a One-Length edition, with each club being 37.25 inches long (the same as a typical 7-iron). Some golfers find that using irons that are all the same length makes it easier to achieve solid contact and consistency.
Cobra’s push to help golfers swing faster, create more ball speed and develop the shot shape their desire.
In this video, Golfweek’s David Dusek speaks with Tom Olsavsky of Cobra as they break down the new 2023 Aerojet line of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons.
“More speed and distance for golfers. We’re trying to get that in every club.” Olsavsky said. “And one of the keys in that technology is something called the Powershell face, which actually was pioneered in our irons for about five years.”
The new Cobra Aerojet lineup does not come in every color on the rainbow, but they continue Cobra’s push to help golfers swing faster, create more ball speed and develop the shot shape their desire. They are for different types of golfers but share many technologies and features.
Get more details on the new Cobra Aerojet family of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons in the link below.
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The updated Cobra King Tour irons have a touch of forgiveness and classic looks for accomplished golfers.
Gear: Cobra King Tour irons Price: $1,299 with KBS $-Taper 120 steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel with TPU insert and co-molded aluminum medallion Available: Feb. 3
Who It’s For: Low-scoring golfers who want a soft-feeling iron that delivers shot-shaping control with a touch of forgiveness.
The Skinny: A better-player’s cavity-back, the updated King Tour irons have a vibration-dampening insert to soften the feel along with the compact size and classic look that accomplished golfers demand.
The Deep Dive: Cobra’s new Aerojet irons are loaded with technologies and features designed to allow mid- and higher-handicap golfers to hit the ball farther and straighter. Elite players, however, are not looking for those traits. With their powerful, repeatable swings, golfers who shoot in the 70s want clubs that amplify control and feel, allowing them to shape shots, and most of them require a classic look in the address position.
Cobra has updated the King Tour irons to tick all those boxes while adding a touch of forgiveness that golfers won’t get from muscleback blades.
The Cobra King Tour irons have a clean, classic look in the address position. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In the address position, the King Tour irons display a thin topline, minimal offset and a more-compact blade length than the previous King Tour MIM irons.
As with other better-player clubs, the 2023 King Tour irons are forged, but transforming the raw 1025 carbon steel into one of these clubheads involves forging the metal five times instead of just once. Cobra said the five-step forging increases the precision of the process, makes the faces completely flat and enhances feel even more.
The black TPU insert in the back of the King Tour softens feel and enhances sound. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While the King Tour CB and MB irons are one-piece forgings, meaning the heads are made using nothing but metal, Cobra designers added a thermoplastic polyurethane insert and an aluminum co-molded badge to the back of the King Tour heads to soak up excessive vibrations.
The cavity-back shaping is created by computer-controlled milling. This allowed engineers to make subtle changes to the undercuts around the head, taking extra material out of the top of the long irons to lower the center of gravity. That should make it slightly easier to get long-iron shots up. The center of gravity gradually elevates in the heads through the mid-irons and into the scoring clubs for enhanced control.
Cobra King Tour irons have slightly strengthened lofts. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The King Tour lofts are slightly stronger than the lofts of the King CB and MB irons, with the 5-iron being 25 degrees and the pitching wedge at 44 degrees. Cobra did this to give the King Tour slightly more power, but the iron lofts can be strengthened or weakened by a fitter by up to 2 degrees if necessary.
Who It’s For: Elite ballstrikers who demand the ultimate in feel and control.
The Skinny: Combining forged cavity-back long irons with muscleback blade scoring clubs, the Cobra King Tour CB/MB Combo set aims to maximize a better player’s ability to shape shots.
The Deep Dive: At some point in most teenagers’ lives, they see something costly, like a sports car or a luxury timepiece, and ask a parent how much it costs.
The cliché answer, invariably, is, “If you have to ask the price then you probably can’t afford it.”
A similar thing can be said of the new Cobra King Tour CB/MB Combo set. If you have to ask if you’re good enough to play golf with these irons, you should probably check out Cobra’s new King Tour or Aerojet irons instead.
The King CB and MB irons have virtually no offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Forged in a five-step process using 1020 carbon steel, the Cobra King Tour CB/MB Combo set blends cavity-back 4-, 5- and 6-irons with muscleback blades in the 7-iron through pitching wedge. All seven clubs in the set have a thin topline, virtually no offset and a narrow sole. The clubs have the shortest blade length in the Cobra stable, so if you are looking for forgiveness or an iron that will give you some extra pop from the fairway, you can look elsewhere.
The King CB and MB have the shortest blade length and narrowest topline of any Cobra iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
However, if you have a repeatable swing and can generate all the distance you need, the Cobra King Tour CB/MB Combo set can allow you to hit controlled draws and fades, knockdown shots and more. At the same time, golfers will immediately know where on the face they hit the ball, thanks to the softness of the metal.
In addition to the standard blended set, the CB and MB models are each available as full sets in a 3-iron through gap wedge. The CB is available in both left- and right-handed versions, but the MB is only available as a complete set for right-handed players.
The King TEC Utility irons were designed to provide hybrid-like distance with iron-like control.
Gear: Cobra King TEC Utility irons Price: $299 each with KBS $-Taper 120 steel shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip. $249 with Mitsubishi MMT 80 graphite shaft. Specs: Hollow-body construction with a forged ST-118 stainless steel face, internal vibration-dampening foam and tungsten weight. Available: Feb. 3
Who It’s For: Golfers who want hybrid-like distance from a long iron.
The Skinny: Designed as a hybrid alternative for golfers looking for more distance, the King TEC Utility irons have a powerful face, internal tungsten weight to make it easier to get shots airborne and a vibration-dampening foam to enhance sound and feel.
The Deep Dive: For several seasons, Cobra has offered accomplished golfers utility irons that try to blend the distance of hybrid clubs with the control of long irons. Why? A sizeable number of golfers who score in the 70s want to be able to shape the ball, and flat-faced irons do an excellent job of that. Still, hollow-bodied hybrid clubs often provide more distance, forgiveness and versatility.
For 2023, Cobra has an updated offering, the King TEC Utility irons, and they have hidden technologies to provide golfers with more pop along with better sound and feel.
The Cobra King Utility irons have some offset and relatively clean topline. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
On the outside, the King TEC Utility irons look like a muscleback blade. Yes, the topline is thicker, there is more offset and the sole is wider than you see in an elite golfer’s iron, but accomplished golfers expect to see that in driving irons and utility clubs. What they do not want to see are visual distractions. The King TEC Utility irons are clean.
They also have a cast stainless steel body welded to a thin, forged ST-118 stainless steel face. The outside of the hitting area is perfectly flat, aside from the grooves, but the inner-facing side is covered with thin areas and thicker regions. Cobra refers to it as a H.O.T. face, which stands for highly optimized topography. The variable-thickness face broadens the sweet spot, so shots hit in the heel and toe areas are not penalized as much and fly nearly as far as center-struck shots.
The face plate is shaped like an L, which Cobra calls PWRShell, and it allows the hitting area to flex more efficiently on thin shots.
The PWRShell face helps broaden the sweet spot and protect ball speed on off-center hits. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
To lower the center of gravity and make it easier to hit higher-flying shots, Cobra added a 56-gram tungsten bar inside the head of the King TEC Utility 2-iron and a 61-gram tungsten bar inside the King TEC Utility 3- through 5-iron.
To enhance sound and feel, designers injected the hollow chamber of the King TEC Utility irons with a polymer called Expancel 920 DU 40. After heating, the polymer expands to fill the inside of the head. The material is unique because it is very light and filled with microscopic air bubbles. When a golfer hits a shot, the face flexes back at impact and the polymer soaks up excessive vibrations. However, it does not inhibit the face from bending, so improved sound and feel do not come at the expense of ball speed and distance.
The Aerojet irons are game-improvement clubs with a unique internal weighting system and face designed to create more distance.
Gear: Cobra Aerojet, Aerojet One Length irons Price: $999 with KBS Tour Lite steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips. $1,099 with KBS PGi graphite shafts Specs: Cast stainless steel head with an internal weight bar and polymer vibration dampener. Available: February 10
Who It’s For: Golfers who want more ball speed, distance and height from their irons.
The Skinny: The Aerojet irons are game-improvement clubs with a unique internal weighting system and face designed to create more distance and provide a higher-launch angle.
The Deep Dive: Cobra offers several iron options for players who put a premium on hitting draws and fades and working the ball around the golf course, from the King Tour to better-player distance offerings like King Forged TEC. But most golfers, however, need game-improvement irons because they lack a consistent swing and do not generate much power. For them, Cobra has released the new Aerojet and Aerojet One Length irons, which put a premium on speed and forgiveness.
The Cobra Aerojet irons have a clean look at address. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In the address position, the Aerojet irons have a moderately-thin topline and show a modest amount of offset and a clean game-improvement look. It’s what you can’t see, a new internal weighting system, that Cobra feels will make a significant performance difference.
The PWR Bridge affixes to two posts in the back and drops the center of gravity location. (Cobra)
Designers have added two small posts inside the head of each Aerojet iron that extend forward, toward the face. The posts hold a 70-gram steel weight that runs from the heel to toe and suspends it behind the hitting area. Cobra calls it PWR Bridge, and according to the company, the position of the weight drives down the center of gravity (CG) location to encourage a higher-launching shot. However, because the weight does not touch the hitting area or the club’s sole, it does not inhibit the face from flexing at the moment of impact.
PWRShell’s L-shaped face wraps under the club’s leading edge. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
That’s good because Cobra’s designers gave the Aerojet irons a PWRShell face insert designed using artificial intelligence. After breaking the hitting area into 15 zones, engineers instructed computers to simulate shots and create the best combination of thick and thin areas to maximize distance across the largest possible area. The PWRShell’s L-shaped face wraps under the club’s leading edge, which helps it flex more efficiently on low-struck shots. According to Cobra, the face of the Aerojet irons deflects 10 percent more than the hitting area of last season’s LTDx irons, resulting in about 2 mph more ball speed, more consistent spin rates and about 3.5 to 4 yards more distance.
Working together, the PWR Bridge weight and PWRShell face are designed to help golfers generate more ball speed, protect ball speed on mis-hits and create shots that fly higher and land softer for better distance control.
To improve sound and feel, Cobra injects a polymer to fill the area around the PWR Bridge that soaks up excessive vibrations.
The Cobra Aerojet irons have strong lofts, but get the ball up easily. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Like many other modern game-improvement clubs, the Aerojet irons have strong lofts (the 5-iron is 20.5 degrees, and the pitching wedge is 41.5 degrees). However, because the CG location is so low, shots go through the windows that golfers expect. They simply hit their peak height further downrange.
In addition to traditional-length sets, Cobra offers the Aerojet in a One Length version. All the technologies found in the standard Aerojet are in the One Length clubs, but they are all 37.25 inches long, which is the typical length of a 7-iron. According to Cobra, many golfers find One Length irons help them increase consistency because they make better contract more and only require learning one type of swing.
Many players want to hit it more solidly and see the ball pop high. This updated set is designed to do that.
Gear: Cobra T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set Price:$999.99 (4-hybrid, 5-iron through pitching wedge) with Cobra Ultralite graphite shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips Specs: Hybrid and hollow-bodied irons are made with stainless steel bodies, faces and railed soles. Available: Nov. 4
Who It’s For: Slower-swinging golfers who struggle to generate ball speed, distance and height off the tee on par 3s and from the fairway.
The Skinny: Combining hybrids (instead of long irons) with hollow-bodied irons, Cobra’s T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set is designed to increase ball speed and produce a higher flight, while their unique railed-sole design helps golfers overcome poor contact.
The Deep Dive: Elite golfers such as Lexi Thompson, Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau swing fast and make solid contact on their iron shots nearly every time, but golfers who are new to the game and players who struggle to generate clubhead speed make inconsistent contact with unpredictable results. While the pros are looking for equipment that will give them more control and let them curve the ball around the course, many players just want to hit it more solidly, see the ball pop high into the air and hopefully go a little farther.
The updated T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set was designed to do that, replacing hard-to-hit long irons with uniquely designed hybrids and combining them with irons designed like miniature hybrids.
The T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set comes standard with a 4-hybrid club instead of a long iron. (Cobra)
All the clubs in the set are hollow to allow the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact. To maximize that trampoline effect, Cobra gave the T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set a redesigned, variable-thickness H.O.T Face insert. Designed with artificial intelligence, it has areas that are thicker in some spots and thinner in others, and Cobra said the result is a sweet spot that is 30 percent larger. That should lead to greater consistency for players who make inconsistent contact and mis-hit their iron shots.
While an internal rib structure enhances sound and feel, the Baffler Split Rail system on the bottom of each club helps players maintain speed through the hitting area. The rails are designed to act like skid plates, letting the clubs skim through the turf more easily, so if a player’s swing is steep and the club makes contact with the ground first instead of the ball, it is less likely to dig and result in a fat shot that doesn’t fly too far. The front portion of each rail is hollow, making the sole and the lower portion of the hitting area more flexible and resulting in a higher launch on low-struck shots.
The Cobra T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set’s irons are hollow-bodied mini hybrids that have railed soles. (Cobra)
The T-Rail Hybrid Iron Combo set is comprised of a 4-hybrid and hybrid irons as the 5-iron through pitching wedge, and a women’s version of the set is made up of two hybrids (4 and 5) and five irons (6-iron through pitching wedge). A gap wedge and sand wedge are also available for the standard and women’s sets.
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Iron out the kinks in your game and save some money while you do it.
This month, Golfweek is helping you find the most affordable equipment on the market.
Whether you’re young and new to the game, seasoned and looking for an upgrade or just want some new equipment without breaking the bank, we have you covered.
We’ve already found some of the most affordable drivers on the market right now. Look out for affordable wedges, putters and other equipment coming out later this month.
Today, it’s all about the irons!
To classify as affordable, each iron set we selected had to come in under $1,000 for a set or under $150 per iron for a seven club average. Without cutting quality, we’ve done the digging to find the best deals out there at the moment. Many of the items below are currently on sale, so act fast!
Cobra’s two new hollow-bodied irons deliver more distance and feel for better players and mid-handicap golfers.
Gear: Cobra King Forged TEC, Forged TEC X irons
Price: $1,199 (Steel), $1,299 (graphite)
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel body and MS-300 stainless steel face with tungsten insert (Forged TEC); Cast 431 stainless steel body with forged ST-118 stainless steel face and tungsten insert (Forged TEC X)
Available: April 29
Who it’s for: The King Forged TEC is for accomplished golfers who want more distance, while the Forged TECX X is for mid-handicap golfers who want more distance and forgiveness in a compact iron.
The Skinny: The fourth generation of Forged TEC irons has a shorter blade length, thinner topline and narrower sole to make it appeal to better players, and Cobra also is releasing the first Forged TEX X, a game-improvement club that looks similar but is larger, more forgiving and delivers more ball speed for mid-handicap players.
As with many Cobra irons, the Forged TEC and Forged TEC X are available in a traditional, variable-length set or a One Length set. In the One Length version, each club is the same length as a typical 7-iron (37.25 inches).
