Driving Irons – Syndication Server

Why do golfers add driving irons to their bags at British Opens?

Driving irons can be a smart club to use on links courses

Links golf courses like St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Royal St. Georges and Royal Liverpool, the site of this week’s Open Championship, are built on sandy, wind-spect ground that would not be good for agriculture or almost anything other than golf.

The sandy ground allows water to drain quickly, so the fairways tend to be firm and bouncy, and strategically-placed pot bunkers can be extremely challenging to play from, but the main defense for any true links course is wind. Elite golfers are not bothered by playing in rain because it tends to soften the course and make approach shots to the green stop quicker, but wind bedevils them. When it swirls, gusts and shifts, wind adds unpredictability to the game, and that drives control-hungry golfers crazy.

To battle the wind and take advantage of the firm fairway conditions, many golfers take out high-lofted fairway woods before the start of events like the Scottish Open and the British Open, then add a driving iron or two in their place.

Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole

Modern fairway woods have a low center of gravity that is typically pulled back, away from the face, to encourage higher-flying shots that maximize carry distance. In windy conditions, hitting a 5-wood or a 7-wood low can be challenging. Even with the same amount of loft, driving irons have a higher center of gravity and it is positioned closer to the face, so they produce lower-flying shots that tend to roll out. Nearly all players also fit their driving irons with graphite shafts, typically designed for hybrids, so they can generate more speed and create the spin rate and launch angle they desire. As a result, fast-swinging golfers can use driving irons can keep the ball below the fiercest winds, adding control off the tee, without sacrificing too much distance.

The players listed below are some of the competitors trying to win the Claret Jug this week at Royal Liverpool who have added driving irons to their bag this week.

Cobra King TEC Utility irons

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.

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.

Ping iCrossover (2022)

The iCrossover delivers hybrid-like ball speed and distance for better players who love long irons.

Gear: Ping iCrossover irons
Price: $275 each with Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome 85 steel shaft or Alta CB Black, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX and Mitsubishi Kai’Li White graphite shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.
Specs: Hollow-bodied, cast 17-4 stainless steel heads with a maraging steel face, tungsten weights and adjustable hosel. Available as a 2-iron (18 degrees), 3-iron (21 degrees) and 4-iron (24 degrees).

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Who It’s For: Accomplished players who prefer the shape and style of a long iron over a hybrid club but who need more distance.

The Skinny: With a hollow-bodied design, compact shape and an adjustable hosel, the iCrossover delivers hybrid-like ball speed and distance for better players who love long irons.

British Open: Driving irons players might use at St. Andrews

Driving irons provide control and the ideal trajectory to stay below the wind on links courses. See which could be in play at St. Andrews.

Most weeks on the PGA Tour, golfers can be rewarded for playing bomb-and-gouge-style golf, hitting tee shots as far as possible to set up short irons and wedges into the greens. With holes often cut just a few feet from the edges of greens or tucked behind bunkers, in the United States the pros play an aerial game.

For this week’s British Open, however, all eyes are on the Home of Golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. On that course and other seaside links courses, the game is different. The sandy soil drains amazingly fast and the wind typically howls, serving as the course’s primary defense. Tee shots hit high into the air with drivers and fairway woods can be pushed and pulled offline, then bounce and roll as far as 100 yards, bringing pot bunkers, knee-high fescue and gorse bushes into play. Distance is still rewarded, but control is critical and judging how far shots will roll is important.

And with very little rain in the forecast for the 150th Open Championship, conditions likely will be firm and fast, so many players may add a low-lofted driving iron to their bag.

Back in Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus’s days, 1-irons and 2-irons were muscleback blades, and being able to hit one solidly was a badge of honor. Today’s driving irons, however, are often hollow and in many cases have multimaterial constructions that help them deliver more ball speed. They are also more forgiving than anything the Hawk or the Golden Bear ever played.

While some players may opt for a game-improvement long iron or a long iron from a distance-enhancing, better-player’s set (Tiger Woods had two TaylorMade P•770 irons in the bag at the PGA Championship), there are several other driving irons and utility irons that could find their way into players’ bags this week at the Open Championship.

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TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron, Stealth DHY driving hybrid

TaylorMade’s Stealth UDI and DHY are designed to bridge the gap between fairway woods and irons with different looks and flights.

Gear: TaylorMade Stealth UDI, Stealth DHY
Price: $249 each with Aldila Ascent Black graphite shaft and Super Stroke S-Tech grip
Specs: Forged stainless steel body and face with vibration-damping foam
Available: July 15

Who It’s For: Golfers looking for options to fill the distance gaps between fairway woods and their longest iron.

The Skinny: The Stealth UDI is a hollow-bodied driving iron designed to create a piercing ball flight and hybrid-style distance, while the Stealth DHY is a compact rescue club intended to produce a slightly higher flight and more carry distance.

The Deep Dive: Nearly every golfer carries a driver and at least one fairway wood in addition to his or her irons, but when it comes to bridging the distance gap between that fairway wood and the longest-hitting iron, things get personal. Some carry more fairway woods, such as a 5-wood and a 7-wood, while others prefer one fairway wood along with a hybrid club. Driving irons are an option for players who want a lower ball flight too.

With the release of the new Stealth UDI and Stealth DHY, TaylorMade is trying to give players options that provide both distance and feel with different flights and looks.

PXG 0311 X GEN4 driving iron

In the market for a new driving iron?

Gear: PXG 0311 X GEN4 driving iron
Price: $275 (chrome) and $375 (Xtreme Dark)
Specs: Forged 8620 carbon steel body with HT1770 stainless steel face and polymer-filled inner chamber. 18 degrees of loft

On blustery days or when they are playing firm and fast course, many good players reach for driving irons off the tee because they offer accomplished players more control and produce a lower ball flight. PXG has offered driving irons in the past but has just released a new one to go along with the 0311 X GEN4 family of irons.

The 0311 X GEN4 driving iron looks like other GEN4 irons in the address position. It is slightly longer from heel to toe but has a relatively thin topline and little offset.

PXG 0311 X GEN4 driving iron — The 0311 X GEN4 driving iron has a thin topline and milled back. (PXG)

The chassis is forged using 8620 carbon steel. In fact, it is forged times, and then the back of the head is CNC milled using a high-speed bit controlled by a computer. The bit passes back and forth over the club’s back, shaving off tiny pieces of metal until the precise shape designers want is created. The advantage of CNC milling is that the process, while time-consuming, is exacting and repeatable, so every head is manufactured to the tightest possible tolerances.

The hitting area is made from HT1770 stainless steel, an exceptionally strong material. The strength of the steel allowed designers to make the face only 0.058-inches thick, so it flexes more easily at impact for increased ball speed and distance, yet it is durable.

The inner chamber of the 0311 X GEN4 driving iron has been filled with a polymer that PXG calls XCOR. It is very soft and soaks up excessive vibrations to improve sound and feel, but it does not impede or restrict the face from flexing, so distance is not sacrificed.

To help fitters obtain the ideal swing weight, PXG has designed the 0311 X GEN4 driving iron with a large weight in the center of the back of the head. The weight can be swapped to increase or decrease the head’s overall weight, so based on the club’s length or a player’s preferences, different swing weights can be obtained using the same head.

The PXG 0311 X GEN4 driving iron is available in both chrome and an Xtreme Dark finish.

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Srixon ZX Utility iron

The Srixon ZX Utility irons blend classic looks with distance-enhancing features for players who want a low flight and accuracy off the tee.

Gear: Srixon ZX Utility iron
Price: $219.99 each with UST Mamiya Recoil 95 graphite shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Hollow-bodied, forged 1020 carbon-steel body with SUP10 stainless steel face and a tungsten weight. Available as a 2-iron (18 degrees), 3-iron (20 degrees) and 4-iron (23 degrees).
Available: Jan. 15, 2021

Many golf club makers love to show off their latest technologies, making things such as moveable weights, exotic materials and unique design elements visible on the back of the club or in the sole. Srixon opted to take the opposite approach as it developed its newest driving iron, the ZX Utility iron. This club has a clean appearance yet it is loaded with features that can help good ballstrikers hit the ball farther and straighter off the tee.

In the address position, golfers will see that the ZX Utility iron has a relatively narrow topline, a moderate amount of offset and a short blade length.

At address, the Srixon ZX utility iron looks like a better-player’s distance iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

What golfers can’t see is that the inside-facing portion of the SUP10 stainless steel face is covered by grooves, channels and cavities. Srixon calls the design MainFrame, and it was developed after engineers set up specific performance parameters in their computers and used artificial intelligence to simulate how thousands of different face designs worked. The result of that work is a hitting area that flexes efficiently on well-struck shots and also protects ball speed more effectively on mishits.

To further boost ball speed and distance, the ZX Utility iron is hollow, so the entire hitting area can flex more easily at the moment of impact.

To lower the center of gravity and encourage a higher launch, Srixon added high-density tungsten to the seam where the back and sole of the club meet. While it should help golfers hit higher shots, the ZX Utility iron’s ball flight should still be lower than a hybrid club’s, making it a good option for players who want to keep tee shots below the wind on firm courses.

TaylorMade SIM DHy, SIM UDI irons

TaylorMade has two new hollow-bodied options for golfers who want to replace their long irons but who don’t like hybrids.

Gear: TaylorMade SIM DHy, SIM UDI irons
Price: SIM DHy: $249 each with Mitsubishi Diamana Hybrid shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip; SIM UDI: $249 each with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump shaft
Specs: Foam-filled, hollow-bodied irons with a stainless steel face. SIM DHy available in 17, 19, 22 and 25 degrees. SIM UDI available in 18 (2) and 20 (3) degrees
Available: Sept. 4

Two seasons ago, TaylorMade released a new family of hybrid-irons, the GAPR Low, Mid and Hi. They were made to appeal to golfers who wanted hybrid-like performance in clubs that looked more like an iron. They were hollow, and each had a different center of gravity height to encourage a different ball flight.

While the GAPR line has been discontinued, the demand for clubs like those has not gone away because some golfers simply do not like the look of hybrids, yet they want a club that delivers more ball speed and height than their long irons. For those players, TaylorMade is releasing the SIM DHy and the SIM UDI.

While the basic construction of both clubs is the same, the SIM DHy and the SIM UDI likely will appeal to different players.

TaylorMade SIM DHy iron (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The SIM DHy (DHy stands for Driving Hybrid) is the larger of the two clubs and features a forged C300 stainless steel face shaped like an L. It not only covers the hitting area but wraps under the leading edge and into the sole.

The hollow cavity between the face and the 450 stainless steel body is filled with a light material that TaylorMade calls Speed Foam Lite. It is 35 percent less dense than the foam injected into the P-770 and P-790 irons but still absorbs excessive vibrations to enhance sound and feel. Using a less-dense foam allows the center of gravity to stay lower, which will encourage a higher-flying shot.

To improve performance on shots hit low in the face, TaylorMade designed the SIM DHy with a slot called a Speed Pocket in the sole. It is covered by a polymer to keep grass and debris from getting into the head, but it lets the lower portion of the hitting area flex more on thin shots, so players are not robbed of distance on mis-hits.

While the SIM DHy does not have an adjustable hosel, the neck is bendable, so TaylorMade said a custom fitter should be able to increase or decrease the loft by up to 2 degrees. That will allow golfers to hit a specific yardage number more consistently.

TaylorMade SIM UDI iron (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The SIM UDI (UDI stands for Ultimate Driving Iron) has the same basic construction as the SIM DHy, but the shape of the club is more like an iron. It has a thinner topline, less offset and a thinner sole. Like the DHy, it has a pass-through Speed Pocket in the sole, but the hollow cavity in the head of the SIM UDI is filled with standard Speed Foam to improve feel and sound. That should make it feel more like an iron at impact, too.

Like the SIM DHy, the neck of the SIM UDI is bendable, so a fitter can change the loft by up to 2 degrees.

TaylorMade SIM UDI — The SIM UDI has a thinner topline and narrower sole than the SIM DHy. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

While golfers will see a large portion of the SIM DHy’s back flange when looking down at the club in the address position, that area is hidden from view in the SIM UDI because it would make the club less visually appealing to many better players.

With a center of gravity that is higher than the SIM DHy, the SIM UDI will create a lower, more piercing ball flight and less spin. For that reason, it should be a good option off the tee for players who want to keep the ball below the wind or who are looking for increased accuracy.