Callaway XR Irons Review

Fantastic review James...I really liked these when I hit them, just have to save up :)
 
Great review as usual!
 
I liked that review, alot. Tins of tech in these irons, had to read it a couple times. What I want to know is will these knock out your gamers.

For me, no. I went with XR Pro's because of these though (as crazy as that sounds, it IS a compliment on them). I wanted the smaller profile, and I retained all the distance I found in these and TON of the forgiveness. Could I game them? Absolutely, and happily without looking back, which is saying something. So technically, they did knock out my gamers, at least the massive tech in them and the Pro's did. :alien: Thanks buddy!

James, you say that the XR irons really delivered on distance and competes with the Apex, which you personally feel are some of the longest irons you have swung. Do you think the 3 degrees of stronger loft in the XR's is the main reason they seem to be delivering longer distances? It seems like brands love to promote their GI clubs as the "longest irons they've ever made" but then when you look at the specs the lofts are much stronger than the last generation's and/or the lengths of the clubs are longer. In this case it looks like the XR's 3i-7i are a full club stronger,

Maybe you're looking at the Apex Pros, but that statement isn't correct. Lofts are very similar throughout both sets. Lengths aren't far off either.

Hawk nailed this and I know you said it was a mis-compo on your part but I do want to make the point that even with stronger lofts, these launch HIGHER than weaker lofted comparisons. I know this has been beaten to death on the forum but it honestly surprises me people still harp on lofts. Stronger, yes, but HIGHER than the HIGHER lofted counterparts, how is that a knock on stronger lofts? To me, its a compliment on the tech we are seeing in clubs right now. Its amazing. These, for me, are a 170 yard carry 8i, that launches and flies higher than the "traditional" lofted 8i which I can only hit 155. That's a win in my book.


Thank you everyone I know some are vehement believers that clubs aren't improving, which blows my mind, just look at an iron like these, this is tech we've not seen implemented like this before, and it WORKS. I really appreciate your comments on the homepage, they mean more to us three than you know!
 
Nice writeup Jman. I think these irons look great, I can't wait to hit them. Also, the fact that they offer a LW in the set makes me happy!
 
Great thoughts James, sounds like Callaway has a true winner with the new line. Really glad you touched on offset as well, very informative.
 
Well written JMan. I love the XR irons. So much tech in an iron. I'm excited for where this technology could go.
 
Excellent write up James! These are going to be the favorites when i go for new sticks in a month or so...
 
Another excellent writeup James. Callaway R&D did a great job with the XR's. I really do think that the Cup 360 technology could really help golfers of all handicap levels. My normal miss is low on the face and the added forgiveness the XR's provide put these irons at the top of my list to demo this year.
 
Thanks all!
 
Solid review buddy. My dad was asking me about these the other night. I think he's almost ready to move on from the Razr X irons I gave him a few years ago. They sound like they have built upon and improved the foundations that the X line has had over the last 10+ years.
 
I'm excited to get fitted and give these a try this season. Little disappointed after seeing the specs though.

I know it's all about ball speed and launch angle, but the 7-iron that I hit well and as far as my Razr X 6 in the stores is guess what, spec'd closer to my Razr X 6 in length and loft than the Razr X 7.

I hit the XR 7 same as my Razr X 6. No wonder, it IS my Razr X 6. That's disappointing. No magic technology after all. It's not easier to hit because it's a shorter club going the same distance - it's exactly the same length. I'm just hitting a 6 iron with a 7 stamped on it. :)

I've stopped evaluating irons in distance anyway. I evaluate more on feel, forgiveness. Forgiveness equals more consistency which should equal a greater average distance overall.

Still, with all the claims of revolutionary, new tech, it's a little disappointing to see these specs dispel the distance claim.

Hopefully they'll deliver the greater forgiveness and better averages/dispersion. The LM will tell the story.
 
I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen huge distance gains with this or if I'm just on a super simulator? I was hitting a 7i 155-165 yards where I'm currently hitting my 7i 135-145 yards.


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I need to see these in person. I'm sort of over the fact of big heads at address. If anything, the larger head just gives me more confidence over the ball. I should check these out while places are still doing 150% trade in bonuses
 
I need to see these in person. I'm sort of over the fact of big heads at address. If anything, the larger head just gives me more confidence over the ball. I should check these out while places are still doing 150% trade in bonuses
Philly, would you class the speedblades as big heads? Genuinely curious to get a baseline to compare these for you.
 
I'm excited to get fitted and give these a try this season. Little disappointed after seeing the specs though.

I know it's all about ball speed and launch angle, but the 7-iron that I hit well and as far as my Razr X 6 in the stores is guess what, spec'd closer to my Razr X 6 in length and loft than the Razr X 7.

I hit the XR 7 same as my Razr X 6. No wonder, it IS my Razr X 6. That's disappointing. No magic technology after all. It's not easier to hit because it's a shorter club going the same distance - it's exactly the same length. I'm just hitting a 6 iron with a 7 stamped on it. :)

I've stopped evaluating irons in distance anyway. I evaluate more on feel, forgiveness. Forgiveness equals more consistency which should equal a greater average distance overall.

Still, with all the claims of revolutionary, new tech, it's a little disappointing to see these specs dispel the distance claim.

Hopefully they'll deliver the greater forgiveness and better averages/dispersion. The LM will tell the story.
Curious, did you read the review?
 
Really nice review James. I saw these in person for the first time at a Golf Galaxy this past weekend. I have so many other iron possibilities going through my head now...and I don't even need irons, I didn't need them to complicate my thoughts, but they sure did...ha.
 
Philly, would you class the speedblades as big heads? Genuinely curious to get a baseline to compare these for you.

No I wouldn't. Thicker top line yes. But the head size to me seems to be a good size
 
No I wouldn't. Thicker top line yes. But the head size to me seems to be a good size
I think these you surprise you at address then, some think they're shovels and they just are nowhere near that IMO in offset, length, topline, or size.

As a comparison the prose are smaller than the speedblades.
 
I know it's all about ball speed and launch angle, but the 7-iron that I hit well and as far as my Razr X 6 in the stores is guess what, spec'd closer to my Razr X 6 in length and loft than the Razr X 7.

I hit the XR 7 same as my Razr X 6. No wonder, it IS my Razr X 6. That's disappointing. No magic technology after all. It's not easier to hit because it's a shorter club going the same distance - it's exactly the same length. I'm just hitting a 6 iron with a 7 stamped on it. :)

So are your Razr X irons spec'd differently than the stock configuration? Because when I look at the specs, 6 iron in that set is stronger lofted than the 7 in the XR and the shaft length is longer than the 7 in the XR, and the lie angle is different. So I'm not sure what you mean when you say the XR 7 iron is the same as your Razr X 6.
 
I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen huge distance gains with this or if I'm just on a super simulator? I was hitting a 7i 155-165 yards where I'm currently hitting my 7i 135-145 yards.


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Well, I have i20's now that I hit a 7i MAX 140, that would be a perfect strike, most typically 135ish. Perfect strike XR 7i (yes, I know there is a loft difference, I.just.don't.care) is low 150's, so 12-13 yds difference for me. Somewhat less compared to the MT588 7i that I gamed the last half of last year, but still +6-8 yds.

As you can see from the above numbers, I'm not a very fast swinger....so distance IS important to me, but so is dispersion. Given the added forgiveness of the XR's - I hit some shots all the way out on the bare metal toe that flew very well and still gave me 135+ yds and stayed on a very reasonable line - it was a no brainer for me to pick up this set, I could put them within a couple yards of the centerline time after time after time on the sim. I tried ALL of the major manufacturer sets in similar categories in the past month (or had last year as in the case of for example Pings), and the XR's clearly stood out as the best *for me*. I actually could hit the Pro's decently enough, but am just loose enough with my swing that I figured I might as well stay with the added forgiveness of the mainline XRs - I'm not in the least hung up about head size or 'Pro badging'.

Side note, I'm actually an OK ball striker relative to my hcp, I can get off the tee and to the green OK, if I could putt I'd probably be a 12 instead of 18.3 as I ended last season. I average 36.x putts.

Feel wise, I didn't find them too clicky nor too dead. Clicky for me is any of the recent TM offerings, they just feel (and sound, but feel is #1) awful to me. But I think they were quieter/less clicky in the graphite I chose (PX5.5) than they were in any of the steel shafts.
 
I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen huge distance gains with this or if I'm just on a super simulator? I was hitting a 7i 155-165 yards where I'm currently hitting my 7i 135-145 yards.

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I'm a club longer through the set from my VPC and a half club from the Apex I gamed last season.

As I mentioned in the review, the tech is real.
 
Well, I have i20's now that I hit a 7i MAX 140, that would be a perfect strike, most typically 135ish. Perfect strike XR 7i (yes, I know there is a loft difference, I.just.don't.care) is low 150's, so 12-13 yds difference for me. Somewhat less compared to the MT588 7i that I gamed the last half of last year, but still +6-8 yds.

As you can see from the above numbers, I'm not a very fast swinger....so distance IS important to me, but so is dispersion. Given the added forgiveness of the XR's - I hit some shots all the way out on the bare metal toe that flew very well and still gave me 135+ yds and stayed on a very reasonable line - it was a no brainer for me to pick up this set, I could put them within a couple yards of the centerline time after time after time on the sim. I tried ALL of the major manufacturer sets in similar categories in the past month (or had last year as in the case of for example Pings), and the XR's clearly stood out as the best *for me*. I actually could hit the Pro's decently enough, but am just loose enough with my swing that I figured I might as well stay with the added forgiveness of the mainline XRs - I'm not in the least hung up about head size or 'Pro badging'.

Side note, I'm actually an OK ball striker relative to my hcp, I can get off the tee and to the green OK, if I could putt I'd probably be a 12 instead of 18.3 as I ended last season. I average 36.x putts.

Feel wise, I didn't find them too clicky nor too dead. Clicky for me is any of the recent TM offerings, they just feel (and sound, but feel is #1) awful to me. But I think they were quieter/less clicky in the graphite I chose (PX5.5) than they were in any of the steel shafts.

Are you noticing the gains on the course during a round of golf or just through simulator and range?


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I'm not the one you are quoting, but for me they very much carried over.

Both in these AND in the XR Pro's.

The tech in these is legit, it honestly is.
 
I'm a club longer through the set from my VPC and a half club from the Apex I gamed last season.

As I mentioned in the review, the tech is real.

I believe what you say, for me though I'm always Leary of simulators, I've bought a lot of clubs that were great on the simulator but sucked when playing them during a round (maybe why I have 5 3ws in my garage)


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So are your Razr X irons spec'd differently than the stock configuration? Because when I look at the specs, 6 iron in that set is stronger lofted than the 7 in the XR and the shaft length is longer than the 7 in the XR, and the lie angle is different. So I'm not sure what you mean when you say the XR 7 iron is the same as your Razr X 6.

Was going by Samesman's statements. Checking Calloways site, you're right. Good. Now I'm excited again. But I really don't need the distance. It's extra foregiveness I'm most interested in.
 
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