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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00:00are sport for choice when it comes to new options and it can be difficult to know which one is right
00:04for you but that's what I'm going to attempt to convey to you in this video by testing all of the
00:08latest models on the market for the low handicap golfers so you can understand the subtle differences
00:13between them and which one might be right for you and as a low handicap myself I feel like I'm in a
00:18really good position to offer some really insightful feedback to help you pick the best model. We're at
00:23the Black Bear Golf Club here in Florida, the weather is beautiful, the sun is out and the range
00:27is perfect for testing all 10 of these irons so let's dive into the different categories now
00:32starting with the looks. Starting with the looks and obviously all 10 of these low handicap irons
00:41are relatively compact down behind the ball designed to appeal to the eye of the better
00:45player but there is some variation between the models within this test starting with some of the
00:50larger heads if you want something a little bit bulkier down behind the ball you've got
00:53our models like the Ping Eye 230 and the Cobra King Tour. This is offering something a little
00:58bit more generous behind the ball if you don't want to look down on something too intimidating
01:02that said if you want a really small looking head or a blade style looking head
01:06there are some other options like the Titleist T100, the Mizuno JPX 923 Tour that have really
01:11thin top lines and really narrow soles so if you're a competent ball striker those are the
01:15irons you're probably going to gravitate towards. For me personally I like something in the middle
01:19that's going to give me a little bit more top line something something with a slightly wider
01:23sole but isn't too large or offset and there's a couple that really stand out for looks and I've
01:27got them here they are the Tenmade P770 which I think has lots of shelf appeal they've really
01:32slimmed down this iron versus the prior generation and just ticks a lot of boxes from the looks point
01:36of view apart from that toe screw which I think is a little bit detracting from the look but in
01:40terms of the profile at address and the finish on it I think it really uses a lot of class and then
01:45the Strixon ZX7 I think this is a fantastic looking iron really clean and down at address
01:50it's just perfect really the top line is thin but it's not too thin there's not much offset on
01:55there the finish is quite light and I think it looks great from the back as well so these would
01:59be my two for looks Tenmade P770 and the Strixon ZX7 MKII. So now we move on to the feel category
02:05and this is a bit tricky because it is subjective player to player people want to feel different
02:10things whether it's something that's quite lively or something that feels as soft as possible for
02:13me I think I'm somewhere in the middle I like there to be a bit of energy to the face but also
02:17I like quite a soft feel and quite a short thud sound to it and there are a few that really stood
02:21out in terms of the feel out of the middle these are the ones that really had that wow factor out
02:25of the middle I think that's something that you want from an iron when you hit out of the middle
02:28it gives you that wow factor makes you want to hit shot after shot. The first one for me would be the
02:32PXG 0317 ST now this is a blade but it's got this weight pull behind the the sweet spot here and
02:38when you strike out the middle you're really rewarded with a soft springy sensation there's
02:43no vibrations that come up into the hands the sound is fantastic yes it does drop off a little
02:48bit more than the others off center but if you're a competent ball striker you're really going to
02:52enjoy the rewards when you hit the shots out of the middle with this club. The other one would be
02:56the Cobra King Tourine so this is one of the larger heads on test but it has a milled cavity behind
03:03the bottom of the sole and it's filled with an insert so you're getting a soft feel from those
03:07dampened vibrations and you're also getting stability from the slightly larger head as well
03:12so that combination really works for me and the other one is the Vega VMB so this is as the MB
03:17suggests it's a blade it's a one-piece forged club and there's a lot of meat here behind the sweet
03:22spot so you can see how much metal there is there behind the hitting area as a result you get a
03:27really soft dense feel from this club yes it's probably one of the least forgiving irons on test
03:31but i really enjoy the feeling when you hit one out of the middle has a really nice sound and feel
03:35to it so those are the three that really stood out you know if you prioritize a soft feel with a
03:39little bit of energy and liveliness off the face i really enjoyed those three clubs so now we move
03:44on to the forgiveness of these low handicap irons and what we're seeing actually despite these irons
03:48being nice and compact down behind the ball manufacturers are able to build quite a lot of
03:52forgiveness and stability into a lot of these heads and we're seeing some low handicap irons
03:56that are kind of one-piece forging becoming a bit less prevalent and more irons with tech built in
04:00a bit more prevalent within the market and there are a few that stood out for forgiveness and
04:04stability the first one would be this callaway apex pro 21 this arm's been around for a while
04:09it's a few years old but and with that tungsten weighting in the head it really does help stabilize
04:14the face and i noticed that even though it's quite a compact head it's surprisingly forgiving i don't
04:18really like the feel of it it didn't feel as soft as i wanted it to feel but i think in terms of
04:22stability it's very a high performer in that regard the next one would be the ping i 230 this
04:28does a lot of forgiveness through size it's one of the more generous profiles that address but it
04:32was very consistent and it also flew a touch higher than a lot of the irons are in this test
04:37i think that's going to give you a bit more stopping power and playability as well so in
04:41terms of forgiveness the ping i 230 was right up there the other one i really enjoyed was the
04:46talamot p770 so this is a hollow headed iron it's got tungsten weighting in there it's got a head
04:51filled with foam so it feels nice and it's also feels probably one of the livelier irons on test
04:57and as a result it was quite consistently longer than the other clubs and just gives you a slightly
05:01different sensation impact i would say versus the other this is the only hollow head on test so it
05:06just gives slightly different vibes versus the others and the last one with the Titleist C100
05:11so this is one of the smaller clubs in terms of how it looks down behind the ball it's got a really
05:14thin top line if you look down at address it looks like a blade but similar to the Callaway there's
05:19a surprising amount of forgiveness built into this club giving a little bit more help on those
05:23slight off-center hits especially here and so i think the ball was certainly curving a lot less
05:28than i was expecting which is a big plus for an iron like this Titleist T100 so if you're looking
05:33for something that's compact going to give you a little bit more help those are the four to go for
05:37so now we move on to the all-important performance of these low handicap irons and i'll flash up some
05:41data on the screen now of my indoor testing that i did on the Forsyth Sports GC quad launch once
05:46i'm using Titleist Pro 1X golf balls and what you notice and that the distances the average carry
05:51distances i experienced were mostly correlated down to the lofts of these clubs so you see they
05:56range from 31 degrees in the Vega VNB up to 34 degrees in a few of the different models and that
06:02definitely correlated in terms of the amount of carry distance as well but also a little bit in
06:05terms of the construction of the head for example the TaylorMade P770 was one of the longer irons
06:10on test but it's relatively traditional in its loft at 33 degrees but so that gave me a bit more
06:16distance than i was expecting and there's some clubs like the Srixon ZX 7 Mark II and the Cobra
06:22King Tour at 32 degrees did give me a few more yards than the others so if you want a bit more
06:26distance those are the ones to gravitate towards and for me i think i want something somewhere in
06:32the middle uh like i said the P770 the Ping i210 was giving me ample distance uh while also giving
06:39me good control as well i think when we're looking at irons we're looking at how was i able to control
06:43the direction and that front to back dispersion and the irons have really stood out in that regard
06:47where they definitely the TaylorMade P770 even though it's a hollow head it was really consistent
06:52the Ping i230 again very forgiving which helped with that consistency of distance and being able
06:57to control that where the ball was going and as one of the smaller heads on test i was surprised
07:01at how consistent the Mizuno JPX 923 Tour was it was a bit intimidating for me but actually when
07:07you got in the groove with it i was really enjoying and surprised at how straight the ball flight was
07:11and with that traditional Mizuno forging you got really consistent distances as well so
07:16in terms of performance it really kind of depends what you're looking for generally the larger heads
07:19do give you a little bit more speed and the smaller heads do give you a slightly lower ball flight
07:24and not quite as much carry distance but in terms of performance those three irons were the ones that
07:28really stood out for performance okay so we've gone through all the categories and now it's time
07:32for me to pick my favorite low handicap iron of 2023 it's worth pointing out at this stage that
07:37all 10 of these irons are excellent i think regardless of what you're looking for any of
07:41them would would do a really good job in your bag and different low handicap golfers prioritize
07:45different things and yeah with all these irons picking the ball relatively similar distances with
07:49relatively similar spin profiles really just comes down to looks for me and there's a three that
07:54really stood out and this is why i think they're my favorite whether you prioritize feel or forgiveness
07:58you might go in a different direction for me personally these are my top three and in third
08:03place it would be the TaylorMade P770 what i like about this club is it because it's a hollow head
08:08there's quite a lot of technology built into this it just gives me a bit more margin for error when
08:12i'm not swinging well or in those longer irons when they're difficult to hit properly i just feel
08:16like i can get away with it a bit more with the P770 and despite it being a hollow head
08:20i think it feels really nice as well springy but relatively soft and really consistent from a hollow
08:25head you often find with hollow headed irons they can be quite hot out the middle but that was not
08:30the case with P770 it was really consistent in terms of the carry distances it was delivering
08:35in second place it would be the Ping i230 just pips the P770 for being a little bit more forgiving
08:41and a bit more consistent than the P770 a lot of that comes down to size it is a little bit larger
08:47and i quite like that and i like the fact that it's got a lot of grooves and a white bottom
08:51groove in the face it really helps me align the face at address if i'm struggling with
08:55controller direction i'm able to align it to my target a bit more easily and i think it feels
08:59really nice as well even though it's one of the larger heads it's probably one of the softer
09:03feeling heads and just feels really stable i like the the impact experience of this Ping i230
09:09so that's why it's the runner-up for me but my overall favorite might surprise you it's a bit of
09:13a left field choice but it is the Cobra King Tour i think this is one of the best looking irons in
09:19terms of shelf appeal i think it looks fantastic at the back and it has that a nice combination
09:23of being forgiving but also feeling really soft this this insert CPU insert in the back really
09:28does a good job of dampening those vibrations so you get the feel almost of a blade or a one-piece
09:33forging but in an iron that's a little bit more lively and a bit more consistent and very very
09:37stable yes it gives you a little more distance because it is stronger in loft you might want to
09:41tweak those slightly if you go for a custom fitting but obviously i think the fact it's
09:45got quite a lot of technology built into it and slightly stronger loft without sacrificing ball
09:49flight you know a lot of low handicappers still want a little bit more help on those off-center
09:52hits this iron is delivering that so for all-round performance and kind of appeal for the low
09:56handicap golfer my number one choice is the new Cobra King Tour that's all for me i hope you
10:01enjoyed this video and found it useful and it comes down to narrowing down your search for
10:05your next set of irons if you're a single digit golfer do let me know in the comments if you
10:09found it useful if there is an iron that we maybe missed off and you want to know more about
10:14obviously let me know there's plenty of reviews on the golf monthly website if you want to check
10:17out those but that's it for me from black bear golf club here in orlando florida we'll see you next time