Utility Irons – Syndication Server

Titleist’s new U•505 utility iron delivers distance and versatility

The Titleist U•505 utility iron provides distance and height off the tee and the turf.

Gear: Titleist U•505 utility iron
Price: $269 each with Project X HZRDUS Black 4G shaft and Titleist Universal 360 grip
Specs: Forged SUP-10 stainless steel body and face with internal tungsten weights. Available as a 1- (16 degrees), 2-, (18 degrees), 3- (20 degrees) or 4-iron (22 degrees)

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more distance and height from an iron that can replace a hybrid and link a player’s longest iron to their shortest-hitting fairway wood.

The Skinny: Designed with a wide sole and low center of gravity, this utility iron provides more control and shot-shaping than a hybrid but is easier to hit and provides more distance than typical long irons.

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The Deep Dive: There has always been a macho factor associated with driving irons and a mystique about being good enough to use one off the tee to keep the ball down in windy conditions or split the fairway on a tree-lined hole. Most recreational golfers understand that driving irons are not for them, but a utility iron, that could be another story.

The updated Titleist U•505 is too thick and chunky in the address position to be mistaken for a driving iron, even though it is only offered as a 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-iron. But that doesn’t mean it will not provide ample distance off the tee and extra versatility.

Like the other T Series irons Titleist has released, the U•505 has a forged SUP-10 stainless steel body and a forged stainless steel face designed in an L shape. The face plate wraps under the leading edge and into the sole, which helps to pull the sweetspot down and allows players to get better results on thinly-struck shots.

As you might suspect from an iron this size, the U•505 is hollow, which allows the face to flex more efficiently at the moment of impact to create more ball speed. The thin face is complimented by a system that Titleist refers to as a Max Impact Generator. It includes an internal steel post that extends down from the topline and connects to the bottom of the head in the back of the sole. In the center, Titleist has placed a thin polymer, which acts like a spring and compresses when the ball hits the face and flexes it back. The polymer snaps back and trampolines the face back into position faster than it otherwise would, which enhances ball speed and distance. The Max Impact Generator’s posts also stiffen the body at impact, which, along with a redesigned back panel that has a sound-absorbing waffle pattern on the inner-facing side, helps improve the sound shots create.

While the updated U•505 has a shorter blade length than previous versions, it still has two large internal tungsten pieces, one in the heel and the other in the toe, that boost the moment of inertia and increase stability, so shots hit outside the middle of the face fly straighter and the head twists less. The tungsten also helps to lower the center of gravity location, which results in shots that fly with a higher initial launch angle.

Titleist designers softened the leading edge to help the U•505 work through the turf more easily and gave the wide sole more curvature and bounce.

That improved turf interaction, moderate offset and a wider sole, should translate to a utility iron that accomplished golfers can use as a hybrid replacement and intermediate players who want a long-iron replacement that is easier to hit high and provides extra distance.

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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.

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.

Callaway X Forged UT irons

Callaway’s newest utility iron is designed to create more ball speed without sacrificing control for accuracy off the tee.

Gear: Callaway X Forged UT irons
Price: $250 each with Project X U steel shaft or HZRDUS Smoke Black graphite shaft and Golf Pride Z grip
Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel body with 17-4 stainless steel cup face, tungsten weights and urethane foam. Available in 18, 21 and 24 degrees
Available: Oct. 29

Callaway’s newest utility iron, the X Forged UT, looks similar to the company’s latest cavity-back irons for accomplished golfers, the X Forged CB. But do you remember what your teachers told you about books and their covers? Callaway made the utility irons in a different way to achieve a very different goal.

The X Forged UT, which is only available in traditional 3-, 4- and 5-iron lofts, is for accomplished players who want the precision and lower ball flight of an iron off the tee, but with hybrid-like distance.

Callaway X Forged UT irons — The 17-4 stainless steel cup face can flex more efficiently because the X Forged UT is hollow. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

To provide that, Callaway designed the club using multiple materials, including 1025 mild-carbon steel in the chassis and a much harder 17-4 stainless steel in the club’s cup face. The club is hollow, so the face can flex more efficiently and help golfers attain higher ball speeds for more distance.

Callaway also added a metal-injection-molded tungsten weight inside the head and a second tungsten weight in the back attached to the head by a pair of screws. The extra weight lowers the center of gravity and helps encourage a slightly higher launch angle. It’s higher than a standard better-player’s iron but lower than a hybrid club’s typical trajectory.

To enhance sound and feel, the X Forged UT’s inner chamber has been filled with urethane microspheres suspended in a foam-like material. The spheres are tiny glass bubbles that absorb excessive vibrations created at impact without impeding the face’s ability to flex.

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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.

Cobra King Utility iron

The combination of an adjustable hosel and hollow-bodied construction gives Cobra’s new long-iron replacements distance and versatility.

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Gear: Cobra King Utility iron
Price: $219 with KBS $-Taper lite steel shaft or Project X Catalyst 80 graphite shaft and Lamkin Crossline Connect grip.
Specs: Hollow-bodied iron with tungsten weight and an adjustable hosel.
Available: June 12

Many accomplished golfers shy away from hybrids because their low and back center of gravity encourages shots to fly too high with excessive spin. There is also a tendency for hybrid shots to drift to the left for some better players. However, many hybrids are designed with adjustable hosels, so they can be tweaked to fill specific distance gaps.

With the release of the updated King Utility irons, Cobra is trying to bring the best qualities of hybrids to the long-iron replacement category, while also designing a club that will appeal to iron lovers.

The hollow-bodied Cobra King Utility iron’s construction encourages the face to flex more at impact for increased distance. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Available as a 2-iron, 3-iron or 4-iron, the King Utility irons are hollow, which allowed Cobra engineers to give them a thin, unsupported face that increases ball speed and distance. The hollow design also allowed designers to add a tungsten weight to the back of the head. It lowers the center of gravity to make getting shots up in the air easier, but they still fly lower than with a hybrid.

The most unique feature, however, is the MyFly 8 adjustable hosel mechanism. Golfers and fitters can use a torque wrench to position the hosel into one of eight settings, adding or reducing loft. This feature, common in hybrids, fairway woods and drivers, is rare in irons. It can make setting up a King Utility iron to hit shots a specific distance much simpler.

To help golfers track their performance, the King Utility comes standard with Cobra Connect, an Arccos-powered, shot-tracking sensor in the grip. The sensor pairs with a free smartphone app and allows golfers to see how far they hit each shot and learn about their tendencies.

Finally, as with other Cobra irons, the King Utility is offered in a One Length version. Measuring 37.5 inches, the length of a typical 7-iron, the King Utility One Length will be available as a 3-iron, 4-iron or 5-iron and is designed to help golfers achieve a consistent setup and swing. While these clubs are shorter than standard-length long irons, many golfers find they hit the ball more solidly with the shorter One Length clubs, and the improved impact compensates for the decreased swing speed, so they do not sacrifice distance.