Have you paid any attention to Edel Golf?
This is a company who is wholly focused on disrupting the status quo through innovation not for the sake of it, but with the founding principal of the company always at the lead, to help golfers perform to their utmost potential by fitting to the induvial attributes we all have in our own swings.
THP has been at the forefront of the evolution and continued growth of Edel. Most recently it has been the introduction of their SMS wedges with moveable weight technology, of which you can read the feedback of both our staff as well as THP members here. Those three moveable weights have started a revolution for Edel, the ability to dial in wedges unlike ever before has been so successful that it only made sense it would find its way to irons.
Today, Edel announces the arrival of the SMS Irons, and trust us, you are going to want to pay attention to this one.
Swing Match System: SMS
For those perhaps less familiar with the SMS weighting that Edel has applied to their wedge line, it stands for “Swing Match System” and the idea behind it is brilliant, yet at the same time so obvious it is astounding we have not seen it integrated to this degree before.
This adjustable weighting system isn’t revolutionary in that Edel is the first to bring adjustable weights to wedges or irons, but they are the first to find a balance of understandable integration and adjustability within the framework of weight options that truly impact performance.
Each golfer has a unique swing, and rather than trying to fit the swing to the clubs, the SMS weighting focuses on fitting the club to the swing in a way that only a company like Edel is willing to do. By adjusting the positioning of the three different weights in the head to fit the golfers swing, it aims to improve clubface control at impact. By doing that, you can tame, or even eliminate, the big misses right and left of target which through better clubface position at impact also means more efficient energy transfer that can make for more distance and accuracy as well.
Iron Integration: Edel SMS Irons
This idea at its root isn’t new, in fact, any of us with a modern driver in the bag benefits from the idea of tuning the club to fit the person swinging it. Historically with irons however, it has always been more about making a lot of different models in a cycle, each of which pays attention to one specific speed, variable, or even flaw. The Swing Match System though, turns that on its head by allowing this single iron to be tuned to all of that, for every individual.
Because the SMS can adjust to a variety of different swing types, it is essentially a Swiss Army Knife of the iron segment, but in an aesthetic and design tech which is appealing to the overwhelming majority. The iron itself is classified by Edel as a “Hollow body, players distance iron”, meaning it seeks to work for scratch golfers all the way up to those in the high teens. The body is made up of 1025 Carbon Steel which is forged to give the sound/feel golfers will expect in an iron at this price point. The face is plasma welded to the frame to ensure not just maximum speed potential with the steel face cup, but also saving maximum weight versus traditional welding techniques. Internally however, is where it gets even more fun as the SMS is using a “urethane foam fill” that is high density to ensure that forged feel is intact.
When fitting the Edel SMS irons, the process allows the golfer to not have to alter their swing path to fit the iron and instead find the optimal location for the heaviest of the three weights that frees up the iron as well as the user to work together. In testing, the company put the new SMS in the hands of golfers against their 7-iron, hitting them against the user’s iron as well as swinging the SMS in each weight configuration. Each and every testing sample showed significant jumps not just from the persons own iron, but when the best fitting weight orientation was in play.
Overall, the testing showed improvement in every notable category (ball speed, carry, club speed, peak, descent, and yards from centerline) not just in the optimal position, but in all positions. What will jump out most from that data for most readers might just be the ball speed, with 3.3 MPH more speed found in the SMS Irons when dialed in versus 2.16 MPH without. A staggering 96% of testers saw speed increases, that is all but one tester.
Another part of the story here according to Edel is how quickly golfers could feel the difference when their “optimal” weight setting was found. This is right in line with what THP saw through the SMS wedges, with many remarks and feedback centering on how much easier the club was to square without feeling like it had to be forced than in a non-optimal setting.
For those wondering, the standard weighting in the irons will be two 2-gram titanium weights and one 8-gram tungsten loaded weight which is the key to the Swing Match System fitting. Additionally, the heavy weight will be able to be tuned in by exchanging for 4, 6, or 10-gram options to dial in swing weight as well. Standard swing weighting will be D2, with fitting options above allowing more possibilities for those who need it. Additionally, the SMS irons will play off a 45-degree pitching wedge, settling in nicely to what we see in this category of iron, if not a bit weaker lofted in some cases.
The SMS irons come in priced at $250 per club with 4-GW available. As stock, they will be paired with KBS Tour steel and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips, however, there will be a handful of no upcharge shaft and grip choices as well as upcharge selections.
What do you think? Is Edel onto something? Do you want to know more? Be sure to keep and eye on THP as we will have ample feedback to come and jump into the conversations here as well as the community!
For more information, make sure to check out their website at www.edelgolf.com.
The Details
Retail Date: 7/21/22
Price: $250.00/club
Options: 4-PW, GW
Dexterity: RH
Said it before but can’t say enough… thank you for gIving us the opportunity! Love to see the excitement we get also translates into excitement for you guys also
Thank you for taking the time to come in here and answer questions/give us insight into all of this. Really awesome of you to do it, and much appreciated. Pretty darn exciting coming into the launch!
This whole post is awesome but that last paragraph is amazing. Tell Preston we all say hi. ?
The anonymous comment was “for $250 a club, there better be a shaft option that works for me”
All I can speak to is that they felt great and were easy to hit. I can’t wait to put them in my bag!
Congrats to the team on the launch! I think us Questers are going to be eternally grateful to you, Preston, and the whole Edel team when we get these in the bag and start throwing darts. We have been giddy about how special these irons are from the moment we left the range.
I like the new Edel iron so much that I didn’t want to hit them on range before our singles matches. They felt so much better than my gamers I didn’t want to screw myself over before singles.
I spec’d out a set for fun on their site. These are not something I would buy without a fitting. The shaft supply issues are a shame, as it’s always fun to have more options, but I get it. I wonder if there’ll be any options to supply your own? I love the Edel builds with the matching grips and ferrules, so I’d absolutely want to keep all of that if possible. The price on these is higher than I’m used to, but if they can change your iron game, I could see overlooking that. If I had to nitpick anything, it would be that I wish they’d gone with the standard T-25 torx screws just so I don’t have to have another wrench/allen key to keep track of.
Will have to see what availability ends up looking like at fitters around here, but these are pretty high on my radar after playing the wedges this year. Dunno if I can swing the cost this summer, but would love to put a dialed in set of these up against my current irons out on the course.
I can’t wait to play these irons, and if the shafts listed are the options available for me when I order, I am sure advice from a fitter and/or Edel will get me into something that works great.
with the kind of people that are drawn to them and the current shaft supply issues.
When I found out some details I thought of you. I mean they look good, and are near the kind of irons you’re playing, but it was actually about the adjustability helping people square and deliver a little differently. It can help people that tend to add loft. Not that I want you to change anything with your unique and do far very effective set makeup, but for some reason you’re one of the people that popped into my head.
I really wish more would do that with the current state of things. New Level does and I think that’s great for consumer options.
Think he takes his management position to heart. I for one have been either in my welding hood or cutting pipe all day. Now I have to catch up.
Sheesh, I was just taking a break up in the ivory tower.
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These are variable. They have their SLS irons still available in single length.
Variable length
We discussed lie angles at dinner one evening. Don’t believe there to be any issue bending.
I truly love the wedges. I think irons are even better.
They look great. I just can’t get over how solid they felt. I am loving the wedges and can’t wait for the incoming putter. By the time we get the irons, I will be asking them to start making drivers and hybrids ?
Look and preform great. Club feels great in your hands. Perfect balance of total weight and swing weight. Club is easy to swing. With adjustable weights it’s easy to find your sweet spot to square the face.
This is a bold statement!
We are all like a bunch of kids at Christmas. We are all pretty excited.
As you should be! New clubs and some pretty revolutionary tech. I’d be excited too!
I think a lot of people on THP are too! The visual package and the overall thought process with moveable weights is awesome. But I can’t wait for the Quest Cup guys to get theirs, and enjoy them.
And then of course come back and tell us how much they love them
Oh we will have plenty to say.
I wasn’t too worried
Some of these numbers do not make sense. If average club speed gain was 3.06 mph, shouldn’t the average ball speed gain be more like 4 or 5?
I just pasted info I found on the Edel website. I don’t know.
I understand and I am not trying to be critical. Nor is my question directed solely to you. I understood that the theory is that optimization of the weighting would result in better delivery of a square face at impact. That makes sense.
i don’t see how that increases club speed. It should increase ball speed with a higher smash factor.
Also, a higher smash factor should increase ball speed by more than a 1:1 ratio.
When I first read it it jumped out at me too. Something’s a bit off. And I thought, ‘they should have just left that last one (club speed) out’. It would have avoided a lot of extra thinking. They seemed to want to include all the typical fitting data though, or make it seem like the did. *This is not me knocking anyone. This is just how I see it and I totally get the possible reasons for some of it. Marketing is important. I have no issues with any of it*
So if you go look at the data, they give you the player, their handicap, the gamer club model, and 5 swings with each setting and with their gamer. What they don’t give you is the specs on the gamer club. Or the test club outside of weight position. Or the order they were hit in. That leaves a lot of room for apples to not be going up against apples. Loft, shaft, warm/cold body, even different grips affect closure rates and face to path results and those affect pretty much everything. ???? First guy swung 1.6 mph faster with the SMS they chose as best fit, averaged 3.1 mph more ball speed, launched it .4* higher, spun it almost the same, and gained .7 yards in the air. Closure rate nearly identical, face a little more neutral at impact, and deviations pretty much tighter across the board. Pretty solid argument to consider them. Yay! No worries. Things look a lot like that going forward. And that thinking problem with the swing speeds comes right back because of it. When I first read it one of the things I thought was ‘hey, you get someone squaring it up and they tend to swing a little faster because they’re more confident’. Well there are some really solid players in that data group. Low single, scratch, and multiple plus handicaps that would know and feel extremely comfortable with their own gear. And aside from one guy (8.2 hdcp), whose SS they just didn’t put a highlight around, their fastest swing speeds with their own are uniformly slower or at best about tied with the slowest of any with the test clubs. That just doesn’t tend to happen unless you’re handing them a bit of an orange to compare to their apple. Something lighter, softer, warm vs. not warm, something. It’s odd. And it’s odd in its universality.
But odd things happen and are part of the beauty of life. Averages themselves can be a little odd. Ever look at your average numbers after hitting something and think the numbers don’t make sense. Like those averages as a ‘shot’ don’t make any sense. Cause that happens. I’m not asking or looking for any kind of explanation, because I think talking about it probably just takes away from the important parts. Which is why I kind of wish they’d just left it out of that little bullet point results thing. The important parts, for me, being that deviations were mostly tighter with the SMS they fit best in, the weight system showed decent effect, and the face data on the their fit vs. their gamer was really interesting. I would be a big fan of another company opening up their data books as it were, like this, even if it invites a couple questions, but I can’t think of who would. Just that alone got me to look deeper and think more about these irons than anyone’s regular marketing has. And that’s pretty cool.
Great thoughts! Thanks for taking the time to write them.
Right?! I am so excited to hit them haha – especially in the long irons.
I like long irons.
You will crush the 4 iron. It was first club Chris handed me on the range at RTJ. So easy to launch. Patiently awaiting mid July to see what shafts will be available. Ok not so patiently waiting.
Don’t you threaten me with a good time!!!