Irons expert and 3-handicap index golfer Joel Tadman has a wealth of experience testing irons and in this video, he has compiled a test of the latest models aimed at single-figure golfers. This comparison covers everything a good ball striker considers when choosing irons, be it the visuals, feel, ball flight and distance consistency. Be sure to watch to the end where Joel picks his favourite models and the overall winner, which may well surprise you.
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00:00 are sport for choice when it comes to new options and it can be difficult to know which one is right
00:04 for you but that's what I'm going to attempt to convey to you in this video by testing all of the
00:08 latest models on the market for the low handicap golfer so you can understand the subtle differences
00:13 between them and which one might be right for you and as a low handicap myself I feel like I'm in a
00:18 really good position to offer some really insightful feedback to help you pick the best model. We're at
00:23 the Black Bear Golf Club here in Florida, the weather is beautiful, the sun is out and the range
00:27 is perfect for testing all 10 of these irons so let's dive into the different categories now
00:32 starting with the looks. Starting with the looks and obviously all 10 of these low handicap irons
00:41 are relatively compact down behind the ball designed to appeal to the eye of the better
00:45 player but there is some variation between the models within this test. Starting with some of
00:50 the larger heads if you want something a little bit bulkier down behind the ball you've got
00:53 our models like the Ping Eye 230 and the Cobra King Tour. This is offering something a little
00:58 bit more generous behind the ball if you don't want to look down on something too intimidating.
01:02 That said if you want a really small looking head or a blade style looking head there are some other
01:06 options like the Titleist T100, the Mizuno Jpx 923 Tour that have really thin top lines and really
01:12 narrow soles so if you're a competent ball striker those are the irons you're probably going to
01:16 gravitate towards. For me personally I like something in the middle that's going to give
01:20 me a little bit more top line something with a slightly wider sole but isn't too large or offset
01:25 and there's a couple that really stand out for looks and I've got them here they are the 10 made
01:28 P770 which I think has lots of shelf appeal they've really slimmed down this iron versus the
01:33 prior generation and just ticks a lot of boxes from the looks point of view apart from that toe
01:37 screw which I think is a little bit detracting from the look but in terms of the profile address
01:42 and the finish on it I think it really uses a lot of class and then the Strixon ZX7 I think this is
01:46 a fantastic looking iron really clean and down address it's just perfect really the top line is
01:52 thin but it's not too thin there's not much offset on there the finish is quite light and I think it
01:57 looks great from the back as well so these would be my two for looks 10 made P770 and the Strixon
02:03 ZX7 MKII. So now we move on to the feel category and this is a bit tricky because it is subjective
02:07 player to player people want to feel different things whether it's something that's quite lively
02:11 or something that feels as soft as possible for me I think I'm somewhere in the middle I like there
02:15 to be a bit of energy to the face but also I like quite a soft feel and quite a short thud sound to
02:20 it and there are a few that really stood out in terms of the feel out of the middle these are the
02:23 ones that really had that wow factor out of the middle I think that's something that you want
02:26 from an iron when you hit it out of the middle it gives you that wow factor makes you want to
02:30 hit shot after shot. The first one for me would be the PXG 0317 ST this is a blade but it's got
02:36 this weight pull behind the the sweet spot here and when you strike out the middle you're really
02:40 rewarded with a soft springy sensation there's no vibrations that come up into the hands the sound
02:46 is fantastic yes it does drop off a little bit more than the others off center but if you're
02:51 a competent ball striker you're really going to enjoy the rewards when you hit the shots out of
02:54 the middle with this club. The other one would be the Cobra King Tourine so this is one of the
02:59 larger heads on test but it has a milled cavity behind the bottom of the sole and it's filled
03:05 with an insert so you're getting a soft feel from those dampened vibrations and you're also getting
03:10 stability from the slightly larger head as well so that combination really works for me and the
03:14 other one is the Vega VMB so this is as the MV suggests it's a blade it's a one-piece forged
03:19 club and there's a lot of meat here behind the sweet spot so you can see how much metal there is
03:24 there behind the itty area as a result you get a really soft dense feel from this club yes it's
03:29 probably one of the least forgiving irons on test but I really enjoy the feeling when you hit one
03:33 out of the middle has a really nice sound and feel to it so those are the three that really stood out
03:37 you know if you prioritize a soft feel with a little bit of energy and liveliness off the face
03:42 I really enjoyed those three clubs. So now we move on to the forgiveness of these low
03:45 handicap irons and what we're seeing actually despite these irons being nice and compact
03:49 down behind the ball manufacturers are able to build quite a lot of forgiveness and stability
03:53 into a lot of these heads and we're seeing some low handicap irons that are kind of one-piece
03:57 forging becoming a bit less prevalent and more irons with tech built in a bit more prevalent
04:01 within the market and there are a few that stood out for forgiveness and stability the first one
04:06 would be this Callaway Apex Pro 21 this iron's been around for a while it's a few years old but
04:10 with that tungsten weighting in the head it really does help stabilize the face and I noticed that
04:15 even though it's quite a compact head it's surprisingly forgiving I don't really like
04:19 the feel of it it didn't feel as soft as I wanted it to feel but I think in terms of stability it's
04:23 very a high performer in that regard. The next one would be the Ping i230 this does a lot of
04:29 forgiveness through size it's one of the more generous profiles that are dressed but it was
04:33 very consistent and it also flew a touch higher than a lot of the irons are in this test I think
04:38 that's going to give you a bit more stopping power and playability as well so in terms of
04:41 forgiveness the Ping i230 was right up there. The other one I really enjoyed was the TaylorMade P770
04:47 so this is a hollow headed iron it's got tungsten weighting in there it's got a head filled with
04:51 foam so it feels nice and it's also feels probably one of the livelier irons on test and as a result
04:58 it was quite consistently longer than the other clubs and just gives you a slightly different
05:02 sensation impact I would say versus the other this is the only hollow head on test so it just
05:06 gives slightly different vibes versus the others and the last one with the Titleist T100 this is
05:11 one of the smaller clubs in terms of how it looks down behind the ball it's got a really thin top
05:15 line if you look down at it at address it looks like a blade but similar to the Callaway there's
05:19 a surprising amount of forgiveness built into this club giving you a little bit more help on
05:22 those slight off-center hits especially heel and toe I think the ball was certainly curving
05:28 a lot less than I was expecting which is a big plus for an iron like this Titleist T100 so if
05:32 you're looking for something that's compact going to give you a little bit more help those are the
05:36 four to go for. So now we move on to the all-important performance of these low handicap irons and I'll
05:40 flash up some data on the screen now of my indoor testing that I did on the Forsyth Sports G-Sequel
05:45 launch once I'm using Titleist Pro 1X golf balls and what you notice and that the distances the
05:51 average carry distances I experienced were mostly correlated down to the lofts of these clubs so you
05:56 see they range from 31 degrees in the Vega VNB up to 34 degrees in a few of the different models
06:02 and that definitely correlated in terms of the amount of carry distance as well but also a
06:05 little bit in terms of the construction of the head for example the TaylorMade P770 was one of
06:09 the longer irons on test but it's relatively traditional in its loft at 33 degrees but so
06:15 that gave me a bit more distance than I was expecting and there's some clubs like the
06:18 Sphrixon ZX 7 II and the Cobra King Tour at 32 degrees did give me a few more yards than the
06:25 others so if you want a bit more distance those are the ones to gravitate towards and for me I
06:30 think I want something somewhere in the middle like I said the P770 the Ping i210 was giving me
06:36 ample distance while also giving me good control as well I think when we're looking at irons we're
06:41 looking at how was I able to control the direction and that front to back dispersion and the irons
06:46 that really stood out in that regard were definitely the TaylorMade P770 even though
06:50 it's a hollow head it was really consistent the Ping i230 again very forgiving which helped with
06:55 that consistency of distance and being able to control where the ball was going and as one of
06:59 the smaller heads on test I was surprised at how consistent the Mizuno JPX 923 Tour was it was a bit
07:05 intimidating for me but actually when you got in the groove with it I was really enjoying and
07:09 surprised at how straight the ball flight was and with that traditional Mizuno forging you got really
07:14 consistent distances as well so in terms of performance it really kind of depends what you're
07:18 looking for generally the larger heads do give you a little bit more speed and the smaller heads do
07:22 give you a slightly lower ball flight and not quite as much carry distance but in terms of performance
07:27 those three irons were the ones that really stood out for performance. Okay so we've gone through
07:31 all the categories and now it's time for me to pick my favorite low handicap iron of 2023 it's
07:36 worth pointing out at this stage that all 10 of these irons are excellent I think regardless of
07:40 what you're looking for any of them would would do a really good job in your bag and different
07:43 low handicap golfers prioritize different things and yeah with all these irons picking the ball
07:47 relatively similar distances with relatively similar spin profiles really just comes down to
07:52 looks for me and there's a three that really stood out and this is why I think they're my favorite
07:56 whether you prioritize feel or forgiveness you might go in a different direction for me personally
08:01 these are my top three and the in third place it would be the TaylorMade P770. What I like about
08:06 this club is it because it's a hollow head there's quite a lot of technology built into this it just
08:10 gives me a bit more margin for error when I'm not swinging well or in those longer irons when
08:15 they're difficult to hit properly I just feel like I can get away with it a bit more with the P770
08:19 and despite it being a hollow head I think it feels really nice as well springy but relatively
08:23 soft and really consistent from a hollow head you often find with hollow headed irons they can be
08:28 quite hot out the middle but that was not the case with P770 it was really consistent in terms of the
08:33 carry distances it was delivering. In second place it would be the Ping i230. Just pips the P770 for
08:40 being a little bit more forgiving and a bit more consistent than the P770 a lot of that comes down
08:45 to size it is a little bit larger and I quite like that and I like the fact that it's got a lot of
08:49 grooves and a white bottom groove in the face it really helps me align the face at address if I'm
08:54 struggling with controller direction I'm able to align it to my target a bit more easily and I
08:59 think it feels really nice as well even though it's one of the larger heads it's probably one
09:02 of the softer feeling heads and just feels really stable I like the the impact experience of this
09:07 Ping i230 so that's why it's the runner-up for me but my overall favorite might surprise you it's a
09:13 bit of a left field choice but it is the Cobra King Tall I think this is one of the best looking
09:18 irons in terms of shelf appeal I think it looks fantastic at the back and it has that a nice
09:22 combination of being forgiving but also feeling really soft this this insert CPU insert at the
09:28 back really does a good job of dampening those vibrations so you get the feel almost of a blade
09:32 or a one-piece forging but in an iron that's a little bit more lively and a bit more consistent
09:36 and very very stable yes it gives you a little more distance because it is stronger in loft you
09:41 might want to tweak those slightly if you go for a custom fitting but obviously I think the fact
09:44 it's got quite a lot of technology built into it and slightly stronger loft without sacrificing
09:48 ball flight you know a lot of low handicappers still want a little bit more help when those
09:52 off-center hits this iron is delivering that so for all-round performance and kind of appeal for
09:56 the low handicap goal for my number one choice is the new Cobra King Tall. That's all for me I hope
10:01 you enjoyed this video and found it useful and it comes down to narrowing down your search for
10:05 your next set of irons if you're a single digit golfer do let me know in the comments if you
10:09 found it useful if there is an iron that we maybe missed off and you want to know more about
10:13 obviously let me know there's plenty of reviews on the Golf Country website if you want to check
10:17 out those but that's it for me from Black Bear Golf Club here in Orlando Florida we'll see you next time.