Compact Distance Iron Reviews
In this video, Joe Ferguson showcases his top picks for the best compact distance irons of 2024. He offers a detailed analysis of each iron, including its features, performance, and overall value. Whether you're a seasoned golfer or just starting out, Joe's expert recommendations can help you find the perfect set of irons to take your game to the next level.
Transcript
00:00Okay, so the best compact distance irons of 2024.
00:04Now this might be one of the most competitive
00:06categories there are, but it's just because
00:07they suit so many different styles of players.
00:10Over the last few weeks, I've tested dozens
00:12and dozens of these irons, and I've come here
00:15to Madeira, it's the beautiful Paliero Golf Club,
00:18where I'm going to run through some of my favorites.
00:20I'm going to pick out the best in terms of looks,
00:22in terms of feel, in terms of performance,
00:25and stay tuned to the end of the video
00:26when I'll be crowning my overall winner in this category.
00:29So the first thing I wanted to talk about is looks,
00:33and that's a really pertinent point in this category,
00:36because despite all the technology and all the help
00:38we've got built into these clubs,
00:40the idea is it's all wrapped up and disguised
00:42in a bit of a better player, more compact profile.
00:46So that's a really important element when selecting
00:48one of your compact distance irons.
00:50Now there's some great looking irons
00:52across the board here this year,
00:54but I've picked out my three favorites,
00:56my three standouts here.
00:57My first one of those is the Cobra King Forged Tech.
01:03First of all, if you go down to the address position,
01:06it's got a healthy heel to toe length,
01:08which gives you a little bit of confidence.
01:09It's one of the longer of those,
01:11but it still doesn't look overly cumbersome in its profile,
01:14it's still kind of neat and tidy.
01:16And from the shelf appeal point of view,
01:18I just think it's great.
01:19The finish is gorgeous, they've not used too many colors,
01:21you've just got a simple black infill
01:23on the Cobra and the Forged Tech.
01:25I really like this, and I've mentioned this
01:27a couple of times before,
01:28but when they don't put paint fill
01:29in certain engravings of the King here,
01:31I just think it looks really, really premium.
01:34So from a shelf appeal point of view,
01:36and sat in the bag, I think these look great.
01:38And the one other thing I did want to mention actually,
01:40is the lack of offset.
01:41There's not much offset on this at all,
01:43probably the least amount of offset
01:46in the whole sort of compact distance range
01:48that I've picked, and I like that.
01:51I mean, it won't suit everyone.
01:52If you're someone who struggles with a right shot,
01:54you might want a little bit more offset,
01:56but for my eye, it sort of makes it look a bit more
01:59like one of those better player clubs,
02:01and I think in this category,
02:02that's what you're looking for.
02:05Callaway Apex Pro.
02:07The whole Apex range from Callaway,
02:10I think has absolutely nailed the aesthetic this year.
02:13And one of the big things I think about that
02:14is the cohesion between the three models.
02:17You've got the Apex Pro, which I've got in my hands,
02:19the CB and the MB, they all look so similar.
02:22And when you're creating combo sets,
02:23which a lot of people do
02:24with these compact distance irons,
02:26that can be really, really useful.
02:28But aside from how it blends in with the rest of its family,
02:31it's just a beautiful looking head,
02:32and from a profile point of view,
02:34it's got notably more offset
02:36than certainly the King Forge Tech
02:37that I was talking about a second ago,
02:39and the other two in its family.
02:41But it's still got a very compact heel to toe length,
02:45slightly thicker top line.
02:46It's just a really nice midpoint behind the ball,
02:50and again, from a shelf appeal point of view in the bag,
02:52I think they've absolutely nailed it.
02:55Mizuno Pro 245.
02:58So why have I crowned the Mizuno Pro 245
03:01the best looking compact distance iron?
03:03Well, just look at it.
03:04It's not even a fair fight, I don't think.
03:07I mean, when I was testing these against the,
03:09with the other members of its family,
03:11the 241 and the 243,
03:13I kept picking up the blade instead of this,
03:15and vice versa, because they look so similar.
03:17It looks just like a pure Forger blade from the back,
03:22and it's absolutely stunning.
03:23I hope you can see it gleaming in this light,
03:25because the finish is just gorgeous.
03:27Again, I'm a bit of a sucker for a minimalist look,
03:30so they've used very little paint fill.
03:32It's a really clean, neat and tidy head
03:35with curves in all the right places,
03:38and all importantly, down behind the ball,
03:40no excessive offset, pretty small top line.
03:43So again, it might not appeal to everyone in this category,
03:47but these are my choices, and I absolutely love this.
03:50Like I said, I don't even think it's a fair fight.
03:53The winner of the Best Looking Compact Distance Iron
03:55for 2024, for me, is the Mizuno Pro 245.
04:02Okay, so now we're going to talk about feel,
04:05and that's a really interesting category also
04:07within this department of irons,
04:09because manufacturers, it's come a long way
04:11in terms of the materials being used,
04:14both internally and externally on these clubs
04:17to create the right audio and to create the right feel.
04:19There's become a lot more options,
04:21and manufacturers are really tuning in on that
04:23and really fine-tuning that point.
04:25So again here, I've picked out my three favorites,
04:28so let's take a look.
04:31Strixon ZX5 Mark II.
04:34The reason I've picked this out
04:35is because in the compact distance iron category,
04:39I think you've got to get two things right.
04:40You've got to have a liveliness to the strike
04:42that knows you're getting that bit of a distance assistance,
04:45but also, we don't want it so lively and hot
04:48that it's uncontrollable.
04:48It's still nice to have a bit of feel
04:50and a bit of responsiveness in there,
04:51and I think this fits the bill.
04:53I'm just going to hit one away
04:54and see if you can pick up the audio,
04:55because I think it's a really nice sound on the Strixon.
05:03Yeah, that's exactly what I felt during testing.
05:05It's just got a really nice blend of that lively feel.
05:10I can feel some assistance.
05:11I can feel some oomph that I'm getting,
05:13but also, it's kind of a deep sensation.
05:15It's a nice, soft-feeling iron still
05:18whilst getting that assistance.
05:19One other point that makes this iron feel great
05:21is the V sole that Strixon have,
05:23and they've got that throughout their entire family.
05:26I think it's widely regarded
05:26as one of the best soles of an iron in golf.
05:28It just really helps that turf interaction,
05:30which also goes into making up that overall feel.
05:33Great product.
05:35The Ping i530.
05:37The eagle-eyed amongst you
05:38will notice I'm no longer in Madeira.
05:41I'm actually somewhere else very, very nice.
05:42I'm in North Devon at Saunton Golf Club,
05:45and the reason I'm here is because there was a late entry
05:48into the compact distance iron category,
05:50and it came from Ping with the i530,
05:53and it's so good, I felt I had to come and record again
05:55and get this in there,
05:56and in particular, in the feel category,
05:58because it's got a quite unique feel.
06:01Now, the bulk of this iron is geared towards distance.
06:04It's quite strong lofted at 29 degrees,
06:06and Ping have actually used
06:07the same flexible maraging steel face
06:09that they use in their metal woods,
06:11and they've welded it to a hollow stainless steel body
06:13and injected some polymer in the back
06:15to help with the feel, which I'll talk about in a second,
06:19but that face technology gives it some real oomph.
06:20It's a real rocket ship of an iron,
06:23but back to the feel.
06:24It's a little bit firmer than some in this category,
06:27but I sometimes think we get a bit obsessed
06:29with words like buttery and soft in irons,
06:32and there's nothing wrong with just a good,
06:34robust, industrial-feeling strike,
06:36and that's what you get from this Ping,
06:38and you get some really good feedback across the face.
06:41It's actually a really good-looking iron as well.
06:43I think from the back, it oozes shelf appeal,
06:45but down by the ball in particular,
06:47there's not too much offset.
06:48There's a reasonable top line.
06:50It's not too thick.
06:51It's not too scary.
06:52It's just a nice overall aesthetic,
06:54and when you combine that with a really unique feel
06:57and the power you can get off these irons,
06:59I think this is a really strong offering from Ping.
07:02The TaylorMade P790.
07:05So the winner for the best-feeling iron
07:07in the 2024 Compact Distance Iron category
07:11is the TaylorMade P790.
07:12It's a bit of a behemoth in this category,
07:15and the feel, I think, has evolved over the models.
07:18It used to feel a bit hotter,
07:19and there were some jumpier shots you used to get from it,
07:22but the refinements of the face and the material inside
07:25have really jumped this iron a long, long way,
07:27and it's now become one of the more reliable irons
07:29in this category with less of those jumpers and flyers
07:32that you might have previously experienced.
07:35So from an audio point of view,
07:36I'm just going to hit one away again.
07:38It's a really satisfying thud from my memory.
07:45Yeah, so I can really sense the speed.
07:49I can really sense that I'm getting
07:50some assistance off that face,
07:53but there is a real depth of strike again.
07:55It's softer, and I get a little bit more feedback.
07:59I've probably said it again here,
08:00but a really satisfying thud that I really, really like.
08:03And for that reason,
08:04coupled with the performance that comes from that feel,
08:06this is the best-feeling Compact Distance Iron
08:09for me of 2024.
08:11Okay, if you're enjoying this content,
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08:15please hit that like button and comment down below
08:17what your favorite Compact Distance Irons are for 2024.
08:20I'd love to hear it.
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08:29TaylorMade P790.
08:32So anyone who's ever tested any irons
08:33in this particular category of Compact Distance
08:36won't be surprised to see this TaylorMade P790
08:39as my first mention.
08:41If you look from the data table,
08:43this was my longest carry number,
08:44and that's not everything, but it's something, certainly.
08:47And combined with the really good launch
08:49and spin numbers here,
08:51it's a really, really nice performing club.
08:54I think I alluded to it before,
08:55the consistency of this head is better now,
08:57with better face and better material as well,
08:59without those jumpers that I used to see from P790.
09:03This is certainly one of the most popular irons
09:04within this category, and rightly so.
09:08Mizuno Pro 245.
09:11So the Mizuno Pro 245, I've spoken about the looks,
09:14it's gorgeous, but it does still perform.
09:17Again, referring back to the data table,
09:19it wasn't necessarily standout in any of the categories.
09:22It didn't go head and shoulders above anything
09:23in one particular area.
09:25Just really consistent across the board.
09:29And also in performance here, it's not just about data.
09:31There's sort of immeasurables and unquantifiable,
09:33such as workability and trajectory control.
09:37And I found that really, really good
09:39from the Mizuno Pro 245.
09:40I don't know whether that was maybe a placebo effect
09:43from how blade-like it looks,
09:45but I certainly felt I could manage trajectory a bit better.
09:48So whilst you can't see that on a data table
09:50or a launch number, that's a feeling
09:51that I got from my personal testing,
09:53and that's why I've got this
09:54in the performance category here.
09:58The Titleist T200.
10:00So for me, the best performing compact distance iron
10:04of 2024 is the Titleist T200.
10:07Now the reason I've chosen this is, again,
10:09probably in the data numbers,
10:10it's not necessarily peaked in any particular area,
10:13just a really steady performer across the board.
10:17But once again, there's sort of unquantifiables
10:19of workability and feel and the whole package here
10:23in terms of its performance, including turf interaction,
10:25which I found really, really good with the T200.
10:28That's what's put this as the winner for this category.
10:31It's quite a familiar feeling for me as well.
10:33I think it's the closest to my style of iron
10:35that I play in my bag.
10:36I've got more, I play the Callaway Apex CBs,
10:39which are smaller,
10:40probably more low-handicap cavity back iron.
10:43And this, to me, feels the closest to that,
10:46but whilst providing that little bit of ball speed boost
10:49that this category warrants.
10:50So for that reason, for me,
10:52this is the best performing compact distance iron of 2024.
10:57Right, so we've come to that point in the video
10:59where I'm going to crown my overall
11:01favorite compact distance iron of 2024,
11:03and I've got it in my hands here,
11:05and I can reveal to you now,
11:07the winner of this category is
11:10the Mizuno Pro 245.
11:13Now this choice has been made,
11:15I've factored everything in,
11:16I've taken a very holistic approach to this choice.
11:19I might have had my head turned by the looks somewhat,
11:21because that's really, really standout here.
11:23They are exceptional,
11:24and I've alluded to that before as well.
11:27Performance across the board, though, very, very solid,
11:30but I've not really made this choice based on data numbers,
11:33because as I said,
11:34there wasn't any particular standout parameters within data.
11:37Reliability is the key here.
11:40I was seeing the exact flight windows I wanted to see,
11:42and I was seeing the yardages time after time after time
11:45with no discrepancies front to back here,
11:47which is absolutely outstanding for an iron in this category.
11:51I think for me as well,
11:53the unquantifiable, the immeasurables,
11:55the stuff that the launch monitor doesn't pick up
11:56of that flight control, shaping shots, turf interaction,
12:00and the overall feeling you get from an iron.
12:02You wanna love what you're playing,
12:03and if you don't love these,
12:05then maybe you need to look for another sport.