For those paying attention, after a couple early bumps in the road, Ben Hogan Golf is rolling right now. Not only embracing the direct to consumer market but thriving in it thanks to the consistent blend of popular technological design meeting classic throwback looks. If you are going to survive in the D2C realm, you have to move with the ever-changing current that is golf equipment, but for the new Hogan, they must still stay within the lines of tradition the name entails.
So where to go to further round out the company’s offerings? Honestly, they have it pretty well covered, but it was past time for an update when it comes to the utility club. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Ft. Worth Hi was a heck of a club, and it blended perfectly with what the company was doing at the time in terms of the Ft. Worth irons, but four years later as the irons have evolved so too must the utility.
So, allow us to introduce the Ben Hogan UiHi utility club. This go around, Hogan is keeping it much tidier and simpler, in a good way. The UiHi utility club is aimed to serve as a 3, 4, and 5 replacement hitting the 18°, 22°, and 26° lofts. According to the company, the goal was to create a utility that not only flowed with any of their irons but are engineered to perform in an easy-to-hit manner with the same controlled swing golfers excel with in the short irons.
The UiHi is naturally a hollow body design with a profile that is larger than your typical iron in order to make the typically more daunting long irons seem more playable to a lot of golfers. Naturally, with such a club the name of the game is low and back CG thanks to the hollow design allowing manipulation of a lot of mass. With that, Hogan is talking the talk when it comes to easy launch meeting ample forgiveness.
Through the initial release images, I think it is safe to say aesthetically there won’t be many people with a bone to pick this go around. Everything about the UiHi seems meticulously thought out just as we have seen with the recently released ICON irons. Much as the ICON’s blend visually with the PTx, the UiHi seem to mesh perfectly with both sets. In fact, they are going to make it even more possible for golfers to create their ultimate blended set, something Hogan will be soon offering.
More importantly, staying in line with the company’s direct sales pricing, the new UiHi comes with a $110.00 price tag which is significantly more palatable than pretty much any other utility iron out there. With more on the new Ben Hogan UiHi utilities to come very soon to the THP community, be sure to let us know below just what you think based on the initial information.
Small sample size, but more iron replacement, meaning no crazy distances and not stupid low spin. U85 is of a similar vain.
I think it’s going to surprise you.
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That is mine to a tee
Hellacious seeds ?
Have two lofts is going to make for a even better review, I’m stoked for the THP homepage article in the works. Great lines on this utility.
Me too – can’t wait to swing it!
Real Talk: I have zero clue how or if I’ll be able to hit the 18, I know I have the club speed and love the 22, but this will be a new realm for me, and I’m excited to work with it!
Me too honestly. 18* is stronger than I have been playing a utility, but last year I was working on a lower flighted tee shot and we are off to a dry and windy start here in NH this year, so LFG!
It’ll be interesting, and fun, would be nice to have something to bag on windy days in lieu of the 5w or 3H
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Nope, imo address pics tell the story better than numbers, it’s why I always work to get an accurate address visual.
Any questions or anything you want me to focus in on?
I’m predicting low-ish. Hahahaha
Its a brave new world for me! The 22 though is easy and high.
? ? ?
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I pre-gamed the 18* Utility segment today in preparation for delivery of this club. Srixon U85 in the bag, it went well. To say I’m now even more excited to get this in hand is to understate ?
Those angles and lines? Straight ???
I wish Cushing wasn’t so deep into OK or i would be trying to borrow that 18 for Wed Morning
Hahaha, you’re always welcome, or we could meet in the middle some time!
I think i need to start a North Texas.OKLA thread and get a meet up scheduled at Winstar
All I can do is laugh right now. 3 UiHi data coming tonight.
Is it that easy to hit? And can you keep it low when you want to?
Oh yes.
Kind of need to get home first haha! I’ll have them up this evening.
One shot teaser:
147.8 Ball Speed, 10.9 Launch, 4355 RPM, 33Y Peak, 225 Carry, 42.7 descent.
Is that the 3 or 4?
The 3
The fact that I was able to hit this one above 30y peak on average is exciting as hell to me. It just launches, but more than that, spin never got too low on me given the speeds I was hitting it, sadly I was getting really loose right as my iPad overheated out in the 93* sun. Still the sample I’ll show later is revealing.
I don’t expect it to be 5w long even though it’s the same loft, it’s an iron after all, and I really implore people to remember it’s not as beefy as a lot of the utilities out there, but man it’s hot.
Not at all sold on the fit of the shaft, but that’s not the point of a review and can be reconciled later.
At that descent, it’s def amply playable into greens from distance.
And off the tee it’s a riot.
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Alright, so, here are some thoughts and pertinent info on the data.
1) You see the speed increasing throughout as I was getting acclimated, and when I went from deck to tee the comfort increased more. There is a big jump right as I found my groove…which is also when the iPad overheated and I could collect no more mass data. As such, I will be getting more this week, and I anticipate the averages being higher ball speed wise.
2) No surprise more speed off the tee than the deck, its more comfortable with an 18° iron, haha
3) Before someone comments, no, the spin here isn’t bad, given the peak avg still came to 32 yards (96 feet) on deck and tee, its just fine. Descent in the 40’s from an 18 degree iron from an amateur will play quite well. Would I like the descent to be more? Of course, but I’m not a Tour player, haha.
4) I think the average distance from deck will come up with more sessions and comfort.
5) These things are HOT feeling, but they have the same incredibly addicting "smoosh" factor (if you watch/listen-to Range Days then you know that one, if you don’t, you should! ) that the PTx Pro and ICON’s have. The feel on all these have blown me away.
6) Directionally, it was a pretty consistent session, but as I have seen from the 4U I bought, the shaft pairing isn’t necessarily the best fit for my move or speed, but it’ll be fine for this review, I’m not going to stress it.
7) I will say, the slightly longer heel to toe from the PTx Pro’s are confidence inspiring here. Its a balanced look, and better yet, the offset isn’t crazy nor is the topline too bulky…plus no junk in the trunk sticking out like some other utilities.
8) I never thought I would hit an 18° utility this well, it has honest to goodness blown me away.
9) Speaking of blown away, 25-30 MPH winds tomorrow, might be the PERFECT chance to take this one out and hit it off the tee during the round seeing just how low I can flight it, might be stinger time.
Thoughts? Questions? Conversation? I’m here for you all.
I forgot to add, the 3 and 4 have gapped well from each other so far.
Hi Jman,
Loving the info so far. How do they feel weight wise compared to the PTX Pro’s given the graphite shafts vs steel? Would you have considered going steel to match the 5/6 iron or are you viewing these as a different animal in the bag to regular long irons? Thanks.
They swing weight out at D3 same as the Pro’s I have so the difference in overall static weight isn’t all that noticeable.
If I was playing a 5U, I’d have gone steel there, but in the 3/4 the benefits are top great by going composite. With non-steel, you get the best of both worlds in a part of the bag.
Now, after I conclude the review I absolutely CAN see going into a heavier 100g graphite option.
Long iron envy, its a thing.
It will be a fun day with the wind to battle and the UiHi to test against it. Sounds like good shotmaking weather have fun!
This and hitting it out of the deep stuff what I’m interested the most in. I want to know how well it stays low when needed. I find myself under trees and in the deep stuff. I’ve been using my 4 iron a lot but the idea of a 3 utility sounds really nice. And for the price, it’s almost a no brainer.