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What do you look for in an iron?

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Jman

Jman

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Little golf talk on a Friday morning, shall we?

What is it that you look for in an iron? Any musts for you? Design? Size? Finish? Feel/Sound? Forgiveness?
 
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I'll kick it off.

For me, its profile first. I can play a bigger iron, but I don't enjoy it long term and my game actually suffers for it mentally. I know we have had many arguments around here about the whole "focus" aspect, but for me I've proven it time and again, I focus better with a smaller profile players type iron. Not to mention, I think they feel/sound better too.

In a fitting aspect, it helps that spin is my friend, so those end up the profiles that not only emotionally fit me best, but physically as well.
 
I'm going to be completely honest and, therefore, may come off as shallow. An iron absolutely MUST look good to me for me to even pick it up, right off the rack, but it's good that a vast majority of irons look pretty good now-a-days. Next, I like an iron right in the middle on everything, that goldilocks zone, so to speak. I don't want a ton of offset, I don't want a shovel down there but I also don't want a blade, and it doesn't have to feel "buttery" but I would like some feedback available through forging, for example, with some forgiveness built in. I guess you could say I want it all (which a LOT of irons have today) but only to a certain degree.
 
Mid-size in pretty much every category (sole width, top line, etc...), but must produce in the distance & forgiveness areas. Lastly, my miss with irons is 90% left, so I don’t like much offset.
 
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tpluff said:
I'm going to be completely honest and, therefore, may come off as shallow. An iron absolutely MUST look good to me for me to even pick it up, right off the rack, but it's good that a vast majority of irons look pretty good now-a-days. Next, I like an iron right in the middle on everything, that goldilocks zone, so to speak. I don't want a ton of offset, I don't want a shovel down there but I also don't want a blade, and it doesn't have to feel "buttery" but I would like some feedback available through forging, for example, with some forgiveness built in. I guess you could say I want it all (which a LOT of irons have today) but only to a certain degree.
Click to expand...

I don't think its shallow, looks matter in everything we do in life, so it only makes sense the same is true with golf clubs.
 
Jman said:
Little golf talk on a Friday morning, shall we?

What is it that you look for in an iron? Any musts for you? Design? Size? Finish? Feel/Sound? Forgiveness?
Click to expand...

I like a thin topline, great turf interaction - good spinning/launching head with perimeter forgiveness and a longer blade length to ease the eyes at address
 
Really only pay much attention to cavity back forged irons with minimal offset and a top line that is not too thick. Probably as much mental as anything regarding the forged piece, but that is something that I can't force myself to compromise on. I do have one set that has a good bit more offset than my other sets and it is hard to me to get comfortable looking down at those at address.
 
Jman said:
I'll kick it off.

For me, its profile first. I can play a bigger iron, but I don't enjoy it long term and my game actually suffers for it mentally. I know we have had many arguments around here about the whole "focus" aspect, but for me I've proven it time and again, I focus better with a smaller profile players type iron. Not to mention, I think they feel/sound better too.

In a fitting aspect, it helps that spin is my friend, so those end up the profiles that not only emotionally fit me best, but physically as well.
Click to expand...

You are a much better golfer than me and I agree wholeheartedly with the looks thing. Big irons are great for blasting balls off of mats and flat fairways, but for playing golf they are not the best imo. I think with all the data we see nowadays we are losing site of the fact that this game is not played on a perfectly flat manicured range or mat, ut is played for the most part on undulating fairways in the best circumstances and for guys like me in the rough or off of dirt in the woods. A smaller profile iron excels in these circumstances. Yes I may lose some distance and forgiveness on full shots, but that doesnt make up for the versatility on the rest of the shots. That's why I am super thankful for clubs like P790, AP3, CF-16, JPX Forged, T-MB etc. that squeeze forgiveness into smaller packages.
 
I prefer minimal offset, a little is helpful though. Thinner top line is visually appealing to me. (765's where just the right size) I like a bit of forgiveness, (tungsten in the toe.)
 
Not too beefy, not too thin form a profile standpoint.

Combined with the right mix of distance and forgiveness (especially low and toe).

Honorable mention goes to spin...I could use some spin
 
I don't like a lot of offset. They need to be thin-ish toplines, but certainly not razor thin. And I like a relatively classic look - a little tech is OK, but it should still look like CB or muscle shape.

I've gravitated really into irons that look like players irons but hide tech that gives them forgiveness that belies their size - interior hollow cavity areas, tungsten weights to lower CG, etc. The last couple sets I've played have been fairly indicative of that:

Bridgestone J15 DF (current set)
Srixon Z Star
Adams CB3
Adams CMB
 
Max Forgiveness, Max Distance, and high launch. Some offset is cool and perhaps 1* flat on my lie angle.

Thick topline is cool. Smaller profile heel to toe to help focus a little more.
 
It has to look good on the rack first of all or I won't be tempted. Only like chrome finishes too, tried black and a matt finish and just didn't like it. I also like to see minimal to no offset as it just screams hook to me.

I don't think ill ever play anything with a proper cavity ever again after switching from a set to my MP-59 which are like a super friendly blade but still with a thin top line.

All about looks really and then after that it can't feel clicky off the clubface or be offensively loud like some bigger heads are.

One thing I also really don't like is a long blade length as I get a bit lost in where I want to hit the ball.

Not picky at all :bulgy-eyes:
 
I am a fickle beast when it comes to irons. If I am playing a players iron, I long for a more forgiving rocket launcher of an iron. Something to mitigate my misses. When I am playing a more forgiving iron, I really want a smaller profile that I can work a little more.

Right now, I am playing a workable players iron, so right now, I want a forgiving iron.
 
player's gi for me. higher launch, mid/low spin, nice forgiveness, all bundled up in the most compact presentation as possible.

bridgestone j15 driving forged may be the quintessential example of this for me, followed closely by cf16.
 
What do you look for in an iron?

I’d like to say performance but the truth is looks matter a lot. The smaller the profile that I can still have performance in the better. I also prefer the more standard finishes. I am not sure how to quantify it but some size and top line is fine but there comes a point where I can’t do it


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Smaller profile with a more traditional look - blade or simple cavity.
Minimal paint/colors - chrome with black paint fill looks best.
No designs/patterns on the ferrule.
Forged - they do feel better to me regardless of whether it's a material, sound, or design difference that causes it.
 
Looks matter to me. Vain, yes but I don’t buy irons often. I don’t actually play near as much as most THPers. I love everything about the game and work in the sporting goods industry. I’m a14 Handicap. I do not want my irons to scream game improvement or be a weird color. I want a traditional look with some GI since I play so little.
 
To me, the JGR HF2 is the best combination of all those traits I’ve thus far encountered. Are there better looking? Sure More forgiving? Definitely. Better feeling? Maybe. But this particular model scores high marks with me across the board.
 
The over-riding factor for me is what do I "want" to play at any given time... This is one of the reasons why I have historically had multiple sets of irons getting bag time at any given time and also have frequently changed irons through the years... I like trying new stuff - sometimes that's a "big" GI type iron, and sometimes that's a very "players" type club (my soon-to-be-received irons fall in this latter category.
 
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1) Must look great to me. I like minimal offset, thin top line, and shiny.
2) Distance control
3) Have some backspin to spare, to work with my shallow attack angle.
 
I am definitely in the players distance category. I don’t mind a little offset, but not much. I also would like the irons not to be ultra low spin. A shaft in the 100 to 110 gram weight range also suits me best.
 
For me it’s all about performance, if it feels right and get good numbers, I don’t care about the loom at all.


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Main thing for me is a mix of looks and distance. In both the looks and accuracy departments, I wish I could go with a full on players' profile. I'm confident in my ability to hit blades, and I love the precision, but the truth is that I need more distance than I usually get from that style of club. So I try to find an acceptable middle ground and tend to gravitate toward irons marketed in the "players distance" category.
 
Through trial and error I’ve found I play best with a players cavity back. As far as what I look for is not a lot of offset. My miss is left and it can get in my head. Also spin, I am look for every last rev I can get.
 
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