Srixon’s newest cavity-back irons blend distance and feel-enhancing technologies with classic looks
Gear: Srixon ZX5, ZX7 irons Price: $1,299.99 with Nippon N.S. PRO Modus3 Tour shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips; $1,399.99 with UST Mamiya Recoil 95 graphite shafts (ZX5) Specs: Forged 1025 carbon-steel bodies with tungsten weights Available: Jan. 15, 2021
Over the past several seasons, Srixon has developed a reputation for making popular muscleback blades for elite golfers such as Hideki Matsuyama and 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry.
The company also makes forged cavity-back irons for accomplished golfers and mid-handicap players, too.
With the release of the new ZX family of irons, the Japanese company brings multimaterial designs and other technologies to low- and mid-handicap golfers who want enhanced ball speed and performance while maintaining a classic look.
A thinner, more-flexible face helps Mizuno’s newest game-improvement irons deliver more power without growing in size.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal, Hot Metal Pro irons Price: $1,000 (4-GW)/$125 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro 950 NEO steel or UST Mamiya Recoil ESX graphite shafts and Golf Pride MCC +4 grips Specs: Cast 4140 Chromoly with a cup-face design and pocket cavity. Available: Sept. 17
It is not uncommon for golfers on the PGA Tour to compliment their irons with a game-improvement club or a distance-oriented long iron at the top of their set. Those clubs tend to create more distance, a higher launch and a quicker stop on the greens. For example, Paul Casey has played a Mizuno Hot Metal Pro 3-iron for more than a year because the club is easier to hit from long range than his Mizuno MP-5 muscleback blades.
Many amateurs need that kind of distance and height gains not only in their long and mid-irons but throughout the set, and for years they were offered oversized clubs that produced those attributes but that often were not the best looking clubs.
Now, recreational golfers who are turned off by oversized clubs but who want more distance and forgiveness can benefit from more normal sized, perimeter-weighted clubs that have flexible faces. Mizuno has two new offerings – the JPX 921 Hot Metal and JPX 921 Hot Metal Pro – made to do that.
Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal irons (Mizuno)
Instead of being forged from soft carbon steel, the Hot Metal irons are cast from 4140 Chromoly, a much harder material. Its strength allowed Mizuno designers to make the faces of the Hot Metal irons very thin. The center of the hitting area is thinner than the previous Hot Metal and Hot Metal Pro, and that ultra-thin area is larger than in the predecessors. With a large pocket cavity behind the hitting area, it also flexes more efficiently for increased ball speed.
To broaden the sweet spot, Mizuno gave the Hot Metal irons a cup-face design, with the edges of the face behind the seams of the leading edge, the toe and the topline. When the ball hits the face, the leading edge acts as a hinge and activates a larger area.
Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal Pro irons (Mizuno)
Finally, extra sound ribs were positioned around the frame’s perimeter to improve the impact sound and feel.
The only difference between the Hot Metal and the Hot Metal Pro is size. The Pro version shares the same materials and construction, but it has a shorter blade length, slightly thinner topline, less offset and slightly narrower sole.
Mizuno’s JPX 921 Forged irons are designed to look like a better-player’s club, but a unique material helps them deliver more distance.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 921 Forged irons Price: $1,399 (4-GW)/$175 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 120 shafts and Golf Pride MCC +4 grips Specs: Grain flow forged 4120 Chromoly Available: Sept. 17
Recreational golfers have aspired to hit Mizuno blades for decades because they have a clean, classic look and legendary feel. In reality, even fairly accomplished club players need some forgiveness built into their clubs, and a little extra distance is almost always welcome. With the release of the new JPX 921 Forged irons, Mizuno’s latest offering in the better-player distance category tries to deliver the performance those players need in a club that looks like something a Tour player might use.
The JPX 921 Forged is the first fully forged iron from Mizuno made from Chromoly. Mizuno has used the material in irons before because it is extremely strong, but the Chromoly in the 921 Forged is softer and more forgeable. Still, it is stronger than the boron-infused 1025 carbon steel used in the previous generation of JPX Forged irons. That let Mizuno make the faces thinner and the pocket cavity behind the hitting area slightly wider. The result: The sweetspot is larger even though the new irons are smaller.
The thin topline and classic look at address will appeal to better players. (Mizuno)
Removing more mass from the face and the pocket allowed Mizuno to redistribute weight to the perimeter of the head and boost stability.
At address, golfers will see a thin topline, less offset and a slightly shorter blade length than the previous version of the JPX Forged iron. The sole is modestly narrow, and the flashy blue color that debuted 10 years ago with the first JPX irons is gone, replaced by chrome and black for a more elegant look. Some players may not even notice the pocket cavity in the back of the head.
While the long and mid-irons are each 1 degree stronger lofted in this edition of the JPX Forged, they are still comparable to the lofts found in most better-player irons, with a 5-iron at 24 degrees and a 9-iron at 40 degrees.
Using a supercomputer to design each face, along with tungsten weights and urethane inserts, Callaway is delivering more distance and feel.
Gear: Callaway Mavrik, Mavrik Max, Mavrik Pro irons Price: $799 (Standard, Max)/$899 (Pro) with True Temper Elevate or KBS Max steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Soft grips; $899 (Standard, Max) with Project X Catalyst graphite shafts. Specs: Cast stainless steel with cup face design, internal tungsten bar and urethane microspheres Available: Feb. 6
A year ago Callaway released the Epic Flash driver family and touted that the faces in those clubs were designed by supercomputers that utilized artificial intelligence. Simulating how more than 15,000 prototypes would perform, the system revealed things to Callaway’s design team that would have taken years to develop.
For 2020, Callaway has used the same method to create a new iron family: the Mavrik, Mavrik Max and the Mavrik Pro.
Callaway instructed the computer to consider ball speed, launch angle and spin as it simulated prototype faces for the new irons. Not only did it come up with different face patterns for each of the three club types, it suggested unique faces for each club in all three sets too. Callaway said the suggested designs for the long irons produce more speed and distance while the short iron designs help golfers control spin and trajectory more effectively.
Each iron also has a unique tungsten weight that helps Callaway tune the center of gravity to benefit players most. Extra tungsten in the long irons helps produce higher shots, while smaller pieces of tungsten in the heads of the short irons help golfers keep approach shots down.
Tungsten is not easily welded to stainless steel, so Callaway encases each of the tungsten pieces in a urethane liquid infused with millions of tiny glass bubbles. After being injected into place, the urethane solidifies. The company refers to the material as Urethane Microspheres, and it not only holds the tungsten weight in place, it dampens vibrations and enhances feel at impact without decreasing ball speed.
All these technologies – the computer-designed cup face, tungsten weight and urethane material – work together to broaden the ideal hitting area and protect ball speed on mis-hits.
The standard Mavrik is the longest-hitting of the three new irons. It’s a game-improvement club that has a moderately thick topline and sole width with some offset. The lofts are stronger than those designed into many game-improvement irons (the 5-iron is 21 degrees and the pitching wedge is 41 degrees) because the tungsten weight helps get the ball up in the air. As a result, shots go farther and hit their apex farther downrange.
Callaway Mavrik Max iron (Callaway Golf)
The Mavrik Max is a super-game-improvement iron for higher-handicap golfers who struggle with consistency. The lofts are not as strong as the standard Mavrik’s (the 5-iron is 23 degrees and the pitching wedge is 43 degrees), but the heads are larger to make them more forgiving.
Callaway Mavrik Pro (Callaway Golf)
The Mavrik Pro irons are the most compact of the three. They have the thinnest toplines and soles, and only moderate offset. The iron lofts are 0.5 degrees weaker than the Mavrik Max, but the pitching wedge and gap wedge lofts are the same as on the Max.
TaylorMade’s newest game-improvement irons feature a Speed Bridge, a new vibration-dampening system and a slot cut into the sole.
Gear: TaylorMade SIM Max, SIM Max OS irons Price: $999.99 SIM Max (4-AW), with KBS Max 85 shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $1,099.99 with Fujikura Ventus Blue graphite shafts; $899.99 SIM Max OS (4-AW) on steel, $999.99 on graphite Specs: Cast 450 stainless steel and 431 stainless steel heads with polymer vibration dampener Available: Feb. 7
The goal for every game-improvement and maximum game-improvement iron is to deliver more distance and forgiveness to players who tend to struggle with consistency. Golfers who rarely break 90 don’t think about controlling little draws and fades too much, but they do think about hitting the ball farther and getting it higher into the air.
Last season, TaylorMade’s M5 and M6 irons featured Speed Bridge technology, a bar designed into the back of the club to provide more distance and better feel. For 2020, TaylorMade is using that technology again as the foundation of the new SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons.
The Speed Bridge bar connects the bottom of the SIM Max iron to the topline. (TaylorMade)
The Speed Bridge bar connects the lower portion of the head to the topline, stiffening both of those areas, and that allowed TaylorMade’s engineers to make the face thinner (1.5 millimeters) and faster. It also allowed them to add a slot in the sole, which TaylorMade calls a Speed Pocket, and it goes all the way into the club in long and mid-irons (4-8). The company said the combination of a thinner face and the Speed Pocket allows the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact, especially on low-struck shots, to give players more distance.
From a looks perspective, the SIM Max has the same blade length and offset as the M6, which it replaces, but a slightly thinner topline. However, to enhance the feel at impact, TaylorMade replaced the polymer block that was inside the M6 iron with a piece that runs the length of the blade. The company calls it an Echo Damping System, and it rests directly behind the face, visible from the outside.
The Echo Damping System absorbs vibrations to enhance sound and feel. (TaylorMade)
The Echo Damping System’s ribbed design makes contact in more places to soak up more vibrations, but it does not inhibit the face from flexing at impact, so it will not cause a reduction in distance.
An added benefit of connecting the sole to the topline and then positioning a polymer piece in the cavity is it pulls more mass down and away from the face. This lowers the center of gravity and encourages higher shots.
TaylorMade SIM Max OS irons (TaylorMade)
For golfers looking for even more stability and ball speed, TaylorMade is offering the SIM Max OS. It has the Speed Bridge and Echo Damping System found in the SIM Max, but the blade length is slightly longer and the heads are larger. The oversized clubs also have a wider sole to make them more forgiving on fat shots.
Cobra added carbon fiber to the topline and designing a hotter face to make these game-improvement irons longer and more forgiving.
[jwplayer ev40KVNS-9JtFt04J]
Gear: Cobra King Speedzone, One Length Speedzone irons Price: $899 (4-GW) with KBS Tour 90 steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline Connect grips; $799 (5-GW) with UST Mamiya Recoil ESX 460 graphite shafts Specs: Cast stainless steel heads with carbon-fiber inserts and multi-material badge Available: Jan. 17, 2020
The top of an iron rarely is the place where innovation happens, but Cobra’s newest game-improvement iron was designed in a unique way, and a lot of golfers are going to stare at the top of these clubs.
The topline of the Speedzone irons was designed with carbon fiber. (Cobra)
While most of the club is cast from stainless steel, the company designed two carbon-fiber strips in the top of the King Speedzone 3- through 7-irons. One strip is visible on the top of the club, and the other is under the topline, inside the cavity. The pieces are strong but 3 grams lighter than the steel they replace, which gave Cobra’s designers more discretionary weight to put in other areas of the club.
The weight saved in the topline was added to the lower back section of the heads to pull down the center of gravity and shift it farther from the hitting area. This should encourage a higher launch angle and more spin.
The forged face wraps under the leading edge. (Cobra)
The face of the King Speedzone irons is forged from 17-4 stainless steel and is thicker in the center and thinner in areas where Cobra has learned players with a handicap between 10 and 25 tend to mis-hit. It also wraps under the leading edge and into the sole to allow the face to flex more effectively on shots struck low in the hitting area.
Like many modern irons designed to provide mid- and higher-handicap golfers with more distance, the King Speedzone irons have strong lofts, with the 5-iron having 21 degrees of loft and the pitching wedge at 42.5 degrees. However, because of the low-and-back center of gravity, golfers should still see their shots climb to the anticipated height, just farther downrange.
The Speedline iron’s back badge absorbs vibrations to enhance sound and feel. (Cobra)
To enhance feel, Cobra designed the King Speedzone irons with a back medallion that features thermoplastic polyurethane, elastomer and an aluminum-foam tape like the material used to join carbon-fiber panels on aircraft. Those materials absorb excessive vibrations at impact to soften feel and make the sound more pleasing.
In addition to the standard Speedzone irons, Cobra is offering a One Length version of the clubs, with each iron being 37.5 inches in length. The company said half of the iron sets it sells are One Length, and they appeal to players who want to develop a single, consistent swing.
Both the standard and One Length Speedzone irons come standard with Cobra Connect, a system of embedded sensors in the grips that link wirelessly via Bluetooth to a free smartphone app. Using the app, golfers can track their performance and learn precisely how far they hit each club.
