Back in January, THP held its 2010 Driver Shoot Out with many of the worlds best new drivers that were coming out over the course of the year. When all the smoke cleared, the 2010 Callaway Diablo Edge driver was declared the winner. Throughout the entire event, all of the testers remarked at how much they were enjoying the driver overall and it had us salivating as we wanted more. Once that Shoot Out was complete THP quickly contacted Callaway Golf, because we were eager to try out the rest of the Diablo Edge line of clubs. Upon arrival, our THP testers immediately went to work to find out if the irons and hybrids would live up to the driver that won us all over.
Technical Information
The Diablo Edge irons are engineered for distance and accuracy. Designed with a lower, deeper center of gravity, Diablo Edge Irons feature a more accessible sweet spot that is in line with where most amateurs commonly hit the ball on the clubface. The result is longer, consistent distance and improved accuracy. The Solid Impact Sole delivers smooth turf interaction and is designed to mitigate the effects of heavy and thin shots. It also improves the impact location on the face for greater distance.
“In designing the new Diablo Edge Irons, we’ve taken our proven technologies and combined them with insight on where average golfers make contact on the club face, then moved the sweet spot accordingly,” said Dr. Alan Hocknell, Senior Vice President of Research & Development, Callaway Golf. “The result of that effort is greater distance overall and greater distance consistency.”
The new product introduction retail price is $599 for a steel-shafted set. The Diablo Edge Irons are also available in combo sets, which feature six irons and two Diablo Edge Hybrids. The combo set with two graphite-shafted hybrids and six steel-shafted irons has a new product introduction retail price of $699. The combo set with two graphite-shafted hybrids and six graphite-shafted irons has a new product introduction retail price of $799. The addition of hybrids to the set greatly benefits players who struggle with hitting their long irons and provides them with greater distance through the entire bag.
For the purposes of this review, THP is covering the combo set of 3 & 4 hybrids and 5-PW in irons.
Iron Shafts – Callaway Diablo Uniflex
Hybrid Shafts – Graphite Stiff
Looks
The irons have strong, sharp lines that draw you right in. Most will either love or hate the looks, and I am one that really likes the way they look quite a bit. The splashes of deep red sparkle in the sun as the bag is on the course and the tiny little diablo emblems in the cavity add to the depth even more. The sole is slightly thick, but no more than most game improvement (GI) irons and has a large number for identifying purposes on it. The topline of the club matches that of the sole and has a sandblasted type of look to it that works well in keeping the sun from producing blinding light off of the chrome.
The hybrids match the set so perfectly it was as if the marriage was there from the beginning. The sole of the club has the same large numbers and sharp lines as the cavity in the iron. It is filled with the deep red color that will make it “pop” in the sun. The crown of the hybrid is two tone, with the face being a different color and coming up on the top of the club. The overall shape is definitely more hybrid than fairway wood and we were glad that they went that way in the design process. Though, it comes down to personal preference of course. The headcover of the hybrid is more old school, than new school and will get polarizing opinions. Im not a huge fan of it overall, but that is more about the style than the look. Overall, myself and the rest of testers really liked the look of the set quite a bit and they begged to be taken to the course.
Range Testing
THP was able to gather up 12 testers to try both the hybrids and irons on the range. Each golfer is given a scorecard and asked to “score” the clubs on Looks, Feel, Distance, Accuracy, and Overall. None of these golfers are affiliated with THP or Callaway Golf in anyway. Here are their scores.
Looks – 7.5/10 – Overall the players really liked the looks of the clubs. One suggestion that we found we really liked was that the hybrid shaft should have been red. That would have really made the club stand out. No major complaints about the looks of the irons other than a few thought they were “busy” looking.
Feel – 7.0/10 – No real complaints about the feel either. A few thought the feel at impact was a little muted in the feedback area compared to that of some other irons, but overall, the feel was well liked.
Distance – 10/10 – The golfers were almost astonished at the distances they were achieving with the irons. In some cases a full club more than their normal distances. The hybrids provided left no gap either, meaning that the hybrid/iron set was perfect. Golfers were literally grinning when hitting these clubs and watching them fly.
Accuracy – 9/10 – The irons by themselves would have received a full 10 out of 10 because the old saying of “high and straight” is exactly what they were seeing. The hybrids were great as well on the accuracy side, but one of the golfers struggled a touch with hooking them too much.
Overall – The testers came away from this set absolutely raving about them. Distance and accuracy is what most want in their clubs and these delivered in so many ways.
Positive – The testers absolutely could not get over the distance they were getting out of these.
Negative – Almost unanimously the players did not like the stock grips.
Course Testing
After watching the range testing take place, I was personally eager to bring these out on the course in my bag. I loaded up the entire set and without ever trying them other than warmups went out to the course. Within the first few holes, I realized that I had a problem. I had to readjust my distances because the testers were right, these are LONG! So long, that I flew over the green on the 1st 5 holes on approach shots even after going down a club. After the first round I did not know if I should be upset with the score I posted, or excited about the prospect of playing the next day…I went with the latter.
The next day we played 36 holes and after starting slow again, I really found my groove with these irons. Being able to hit an 8 iron rather than a 7 can make every golfer’s life just a little easier. More than just the distance, what I found was a nice high ball flight that was slightly penetrating and the ball just soar in the air. The forgiveness that the Callaway Diablo Edge irons offer is flat out fantastic. When missing the ball off the toe, you notice almost no difference in the ball flight and very little distance loss either. Something we rarely see, and was quite exciting. Another area where the forgiveness really shined was when hitting the ball a little high on the club face. While the feel is slightly muted, the ball had no distance loss it seemed at all.
The big question we will find with this iron set is can the ball be “worked” right and left. The short answer is yes, and without much a problem. Like most GI irons, they are built to go high and straight, and the Callaway Diablo Edge irons did that better than most. But playing a cut or a small draw did not seem to be much a problem either. The offset that the irons have, especially in the 5 & 6 iron made it slightly harder to pull off, but in the end, these clubs are built to go straight and they do it well.
Similar to the testers, one thing I really liked about the set was the integration and lack of distance gap when using the hybrids. Many times when adding hybrids to a set, you end up with a pretty big distance gap in between where your irons start and your hybrids end. The Diablo Edge set did not have that problem at all, in fact due to the distance I was getting out of the irons, you could in fact drop another one and add a 3rd hybrid if you really struggle with long irons. The hybrids are extremely easy to hit and are ultra forgiving. One little note though, if you struggle with a hook, these hybrids may in fact bring that out every now and then. It definitely feels as though the weighting and offset are geared to keep it straight or help with a fade.
After 9 rounds of golf and countless range sessions I have come to some conclusions about this set and most are really good.
* Flat out one of the longest set of irons I have ever tried and reviewed on THP.
* Unreal amount of forgiveness to assist golfers in keeping it straight.
* Solid feel and feedback, especially when considering how forgiving they are.
* The grips, as the testers pointed out, are not great in my opinion.
* Did I mention how great these irons are in the distance category?
Overall
Callaway has a set in the Diablo Edge that is absolutely fantastic on many levels. Distance and accuracy is what can help drive scoring and if you struggle with either one, this set should be on your short list. The irons offer a good feel for a GI iron and provide flat out amazing forgiveness. The hybrids offer great distance and solid forgiveness as well. After testing these out for the last month, I am thoroughly convinced that this set will help quite a bit of golfers take their game to the next level. For more information on these or any other Callaway Golf products, check out their website at www.callawaygolf.com.
Till Next Time
Josh B.
