What is the best iron for mid-handicap golfers? The top-performers of 2024! 🤩
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- čas přidán 10. 03. 2024
- After a winter rammed full of club testing TG Test Pro Neil Wain and Equipment Editor Simon Daddow reveal the Best Mid-Handicap Irons of 2024.
We narrow 19 sets down to our favourite four models and show comparison data for all the leading options.
Timestamps:
0:40 Should you be using cavity back or hollow bodies?
2:00 Will strong lofts suit you?
2:50 How did we create our data?
3:20 How we categorise irons
3:51 How different categories of iron compare in data
5:06 Dispersion analysis of all 19 models tested
7:31 Data comparison of all 19 models tested
9:49 Our four Best Mid - Handicap Irons of 2024
View the Best 2024 Mid-Handicap Iron page: shorturl.at/suvY5
View the full review pages of each of our winners below
TaylorMade Qi: shorturl.at/bhjms
Callaway Paradym AI Smoke: shorturl.at/kOVZ6
Titleist T350: shorturl.at/qEW17
Ping G430: shorturl.at/uwxB3
For more equipment tests and reviews, Top 100 golf courses rankings, tour news, insight, interviews and loads more, visit the Today's Golfer website: www.todays-golfer.com
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Excellent round-up, gents. I would add that with mid and high handicap iron choices, the stronger lofts can work well for someone who cuts across the ball, maintains static loft or even adds loft through impact, or (as is quite often the case) both. This delivery adds height and spin to their shots, but takes off a ton of distance through less ball speed, excessive spin, and curvature. The stronger lofts help keep ball speeds up - compared to the same number iron of weaker loft, at least. If you're doing a decent job of delofting the club in your delivery then yes, you'll certainly see the low spin and shallow descent angles that you have here with the pressed lofts. But for a player who is hitting spinny high shots that come up short right, the strong lofts effectively are doing the delofting for you and can help, at least relative to more "traditional" lofts. And of course all of these variables are the reason a fitting is always best when feasible and affordable.
Thanks for your input Daniel, appreciate you taking the time.
Great review - can’t wait for the high handicap iron reviews…
Thanks for your feedback, really appreciate you taking the time.
High Handicap Irons is all filmed it's just being edited.
Informative video. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback Paul, appreciate you taking the time.
You forgot to mention two important things--Value for the money and forgiveness. For guys like me who are seniors on a fixed budget, the Wilson Dynapower, in my opinion, can't be beat. I found that I'm now as long, if not longer on my approach shots as I used to be, and the height I get on shots in combination with a high spinning ball gives me more than adequate stopping results on the greens. Furthermore, for those who want more loft with a higher spin rate and superior forgiveness, a step up to the Dynapower Forged, with its more "player iron" characteristics, is still a better value than the clubs you rated higher. A Big Bang for Half the Bucks!
Thanks for your input Mark, appreciate you taking the time.
I don't get it. You're presenting data based on a boll speed that is significant higher than most mid-handicapper's. I would like to know how these iron behaves in the hands of a mid-handicapper.
I'm a mid handicap and love my qi irons! The preform well and stop on the greens , go for a fitting and find the flex you need.
Our thinking (like the leading engineers in the industry) is that a consistent strike is the most important thing to ensure an accurate comparison when testing equipment, hence why we use a consistent pro.
It's also a common misconception that Mid Handicappers are just slower speed players. Let's not forget these are the strongest loft irons you can buy (so you need some speed to launch them), pretty much all these sets come in stiff flex shafts too, so they're not just aimed at average speed players.
@@todaysgolferyou could have your pro slow his swing to 75 mph and still be consistent - Jay Smith (AskGolfNut) does this very well..
@@ski3504 We've tried it but it is very difficult to remain at a constant slower speed to create reliable data.
Find a mid handicapper with a consistent…😅
Thanks Simon and Neil -- great review. I'm in the market for a new set of irons this season - so the timing of your review is helpful. I'm 69 years old; play to an 11 handicap; and hit my 7-iron about 150-155 yards. I've watched several reviews of the new Ping i530 and the Wilson DynaPwr Forged irons. They're in the Player Distance category (29-30 degree 7-irons). It seems like several of the "mid-handicap" irons you tested are straddling the Game Improvement/Players Distance categories (i.e., Cobra Forged Tec). Will you be conducting a test of Players Distance irons -- and, if so, would you include the Ping i530 and Wilson DynaPwr Forged? Thanks again for the great review...really enjoy your content.
Thanks Brian, really appreciate you feeding back. Yes we have a Players Distance Iron video in the can, it's just being edited. It should appear within a week or so.
The video doesn't include the Ping i530 as we tested in January, but we will do a 'Which Ping iron suits you?' style video in the near future, that will include the new model.
The Wilson Dynapower Forged has done very well in the Players Distance Iron category.
Hope that helps, have a great 2024 season.
@@todaysgolfer Thanks Simon!
I love my Mizuno JPX HOT METAL 923
Good info.
Thanks for the feedback.
I have the 21 T100s right now but are very inconsistent with them(scores from 77-93). I swing hard and hit my pw 150. Would I benefit from these or should I go with players distance? I need more forgiveness. Great video guys!
The way to manage dispersion is to handle only absolute numbers. In the same example, by using +40 and - 40 the average would be 0, but by putting +40 and +40, the average would be +40. The disadvantage is that we won't know if the dispersion is left or right but I prefer some data of dispersion that avoiding it. Love your videos.
Thanks Alejandro, appreciate you chipping in. It's lovely to have dispersion numbers to talk about, we're just weary that some golfers make big buying decisions based on that data yet we know the numbers can be very different from session to session. 👍
I have the PXG 0211 - surprised how well it performed in the data compared to more expensive options. No mention that the 0211 is $99 an iron compared to the others at $180+.
We have mentioned the 0211 price before James, it's a superb value for money option.
Liked very much your full tour of Data and Clubs .
Fitted by a Pro….I’m 17 handicap, 75 y/o, 89-92 MPH at drive & 77-80 MPH with irons.
Tried most of your clubs except COBRA & Wilson ( not available ).
Finished with Callaway Ai Smoke HL 6 to Aw, 3W HL, woods 7&11.
Driver used to play Ping G400 Max and now Ping 430 LST Alta CB Sr shaft
I’m getting high launch ( finally ) with my new irons with 5.0 Sr Cypher shafts, lie & lofts - standard = 7 iron at 30*, descent angle avg at 40* , dispersion is VERY good. Smooth clubs…😊😊😊
Putter Ping PLD DS72 ( Viktor Hovland’s )
50*,56*,60* wedges Cleveland CBX full face 2
Personally Got immensely disappointed ( my first choice based on readings and…..influencers boost ) by Titleist T series….. ticky soundish….not getting the distance
Have a Good season everyone.
Montréal, Canada
Thanks for your input, appreciate you taking the time, good to hear you have a found your happy place.
I've just started using some second hand Vokey wedges...I love them... Any irons that feel the same as the Vokey's
Hi Peter, Vokey wedges are a blade like design, so to get a similar feel in irons you'll need a similar construction and material (Vokey wedges are cast from 8620 carbon steel).
Hope that helps.
Titleist irons have vokeys designs in them
Great video as always you guys are the best! I am graduating from game improvement Irons in Titliest AP1 716s and want new irons but on more of the budget side. What do you think PXG or Takomo 101? Also what about Sub 70 do you know much about them?
Thanks so much for the feedback, really appreciate you taking the time.
Sounds like you're thinking along the right lines.
Takomo are a nice option so long as you know what specs you need. If it's the PXG 0211 you're thinking they represent great value for money, just make sure you can launch the strong lofts.
Sub 70 make some lovely iron options, unfortunately the 699 that target the mid-handicap category are not the nicest shapes.
Hope that helps.
@@todaysgolfer thank you for the feed back! I swing driver between 103-106 MPH so with that speed in mind you think the PXG could be the best option of the lot ?
@@idelfonsogarcia3119 That should be ample levels of speed. 👍
@@todaysgolfer thank you for the fast replies and helpful feedback! You guys are the best
Surprised the Takomo 101 irons didn’t receive a fair share of plaudits. The shot area, which I believe to be a major quality, it came 1st and distance drop off was near the top.
They are ok looking irons Peter, and they performed well. We just feel to expect golfers in this category to know exactly what they need so they can order online is a hefty drawback.
Can I ask when you say you need speed to launch these irons, what speed are you talking about? My speed for a 7 iron about 82mph is that enough?
Generally there's a bit of cross over between 75 mph and 80 mph with a 7-iron Shane. So long as your speed is above this you should hopefully be ok, but do check as how you deliver the club at impact can make a huge difference.
Hope that helps.
Brilliant thank you so much for your reply. I am over 80 anyway so should be okay. I currently have D7 irons only playing 3.5 years use to slice the ball but finally after lessons and playing more regularly I draw the ball but I find my miss is a hook now, hit my 7 iron between 155-160 find they jump a lot tho could the. Have one over 170. Hence looking to upgrade to either qi10 or AI smoke
@@shanesmith4701 Nice choice, good luck.
Gotta love pxg,
If I’m a mid handicapper that’s back on the market for clubs ( waiting to hear if TM is going to warranty my caved face p790s ) that’s looking at clubs is it a bad idea to be looking at say the qi10 irons / hybrid set. I do have a natural miss to the right that is being slowly worked out with lesson and play rough 2-3 times a month.
Sounds like you're thinking along the right lines.
@@todaysgolfer the fitter said to stay in the p790s and work on rotating my hands so it closes the face. I did however upgrade to the 2023 P790s since my first set was outside TMs warranty period.
@@pstone7240 The P790 are a very solid choice.
I need new clubs. As a senior these fit perfectly. Except I just looked at the prices. Ouch! As a senior I can’t afford any of these.
Sorry to hear that, there's lots of decent used sets about if that helps?
How come you never see Wilson Staff irons in these videos ? Wilson is making great stuff !
The Wilson Dynapower are in this video Barry.
Why don’t you get a mid handicap golfer or at least a high single figure or maybe even an older player who has lost some speed?
It comes down to strike consistency, if you don't have it you're simply not comparing apples to apples. So you end up analysing how the golfer has performed with each club, not how the club performs - which obviously is two very different things.
With the strongest lofts available the Mid-Handicap Iron category isn't just for 'slower' speed players either, especially not when pretty much all these sets are available with stiff flex shafts.
No love for the Wilson dynapower forged
Hi Aaron, the Dynapower Forged are a Players' Distance Iron, so they will appear within that video.
Spoiler Alert - They did really well.
Too strong lofted. Unless you have a fast swing speed the 4 iron is unlikely to carry further than the 5 iron and the 5 iron might only carry slightly more than the 6 iron
👏👏👏 Thanks for your input Fran, finally somebody who understands Mid-Handicap Irons are not just aimed at average speed players.
It makes more sense to do iron comparison reviews demarcated by very fast/fast/average/slow/very slow swing speeds, thus into five swing speed groupings. One would probably want to use different group namings or even actual mph numbers than the above, which may offend the lower swing speeds!
@@zazhou Understand where you're coming from, but it would be just as/if not more confusing.
A strong, quick speed but erratic, beginner would be guided towards the current players' iron category?
@@todaysgolfer I hear you too. So perhaps the various golf club categories (players, player's distance, GI, SGI, etc) should be placed in a matrix of combined handicap and swing speed? Also, handicap by itself is not accurate enough because it does not differentiate between the good short game players and golfers with extremely bad short game (including putting) for the same handicap level. The latter could be very good ball strikers with decent clubhead speed.
I think strong lofts was the worst thing to happen to golf. That's why high handicappers like me think we can play . Qi irons are just sim max 2 irons. Just crap.
Thanks for your input.
Nobody does it better than you 🏌🏻♂️
Thanks so much for saying so Legend, it's been a journey getting to this point in 2024, but all our 'Best 2024' videos are in the can and waiting for editing.
I have the 21 T100s right now but are very inconsistent with them(scores from 77-93). I swing hard and hit my pw 150. Would I benefit from these or should I go with players distance? I need more forgiveness. Great video guys!
Thanks Ryan, really appreciate your feedback. The T150 would definitely be more forgiving than the T100S as the new head has additional size/mass positioned (like a slightly wider sole) to be a fraction more forgiving.
Whereas the T100S was simply a stronger loft version of the T100 which were not designed with forgiveness in mind.
Would be good to try the pair side by side to see if you can see the differences.
Hope that helps.