ORLANDO ? When it comes to irons, golfers have never had it so good. At this year's PGA Merchandise Show, iron designs are running the gamut. Companies such as Hogan, Mizuno, Nike and MacGregor are taking forged clubs to new heights.
TaylorMade has transferred some of its successful ideas from its wedges for its new iron series, and Callaway is running hard with its X-16s.
Getting new designs out of forged clubs is something Hogan has rebuilt its brand on in the past few years. New at this year's Show is what the company considers to be its most forgiving game-improvement iron to date, the Hogan Edge CFT.
"Everybody would like to play a forged iron, but there's that perception out there that they're difficult to hit," says Alan Gilcrest, vice president of Ft. Worth-based Supreme Golf. "But ever since the Hogan Edge in 1999, all that's really changed."
Hogan has used a two-piece construction featuring a Compression Forged Titanium (CFT) face. The muscle back cavity design has more weight in the perimeter and back of the clubhead. The bottom line is that it provides a lower, deeper center of gravity for optimal launch angles throughout the set, says the company.
Mizuno has been the leader on the tours for most of the past decade in forged products and now has a mid-cavity product designed for good players that offers a little more forgiveness than the traditional blade. The new MP-30s have a slightly larger clubface than the MP-33s with a progressive cavity design.
Gilcrest says he's already seen a lot of interest at his off-course stores in Nike's new irons, where the idea was to build a more playable set of forged irons. Tom Stites, Nike's R&D director for golf clubs, didn't have to look far for the idea of the company's new Forged Pro Combo irons. All they had to do was check out staff player David Duval's bag.
The result is a set of three different types of clubs. The long irons are full cavity back with a low center of gravity and high moment of inertia. The mid-irons (5, 6, 7) are muscle cavity, a hybrid between blades and perimeter-weighted clubs. And the short irons are blades with a high center of gravity to help prevent ballooning and encourage workability.
At Precept, forgiveness and playability have come in the form of the Tour Premium CBs, which feature tungsten weights in the long irons for a lower center of gravity to help get the ball in the air. MacGregor has gone more along the lines of Nike in one of its latest offerings, the new 1025CM Mixed Set - 1025C cavity backs (3-6 irons), the 1025M muscle backs (7-PW).
TaylorMade's new RAC (relative amplitude coefficient) series of irons borrows from the concepts of the company's wedges introduced last year. Having already introduced the RAC oversize irons in the fall, TaylorMade has added a forged muscle back (MB) and low trajectory (LT) versions of the irons.
All incorporate RAC technology, which includes "Feel Pockets" that are precision-milled into specific positions in the back of the clubhead. They also have a Tuned Performance Cartridge and Gliding Sole design, but are demonstratively different in terms of playing characteristics, much like the company's new drivers, says Benoit Vincent, TaylorMade's vice president of research and development for clubs and balls.
"I think we learned to make a clean, non-faulty classic product," says Vincent, who's been with TaylorMade for 13 years. "Here, we've made a clean, but technologically superior product. Everywhere, we've added technology where you would not expect it."
The differences in the three models are as the names imply - oversize for power and forgiveness. The muscle back is more of a player's club that most resembles the wedges and the low trajectory version is in between, though it's closer to the oversize than the muscle back.
"I think these will be stronger than the 300 Series," says Randy Zanatta, co-owner of Minnesota-based Golf Galaxy. "They have a visible technology, which is always something we like to talk about, and it's something that the consumer can see."
Meanwhile, Callaway has extended it best-selling line of irons with the Steelhead X-16s that features a new "notch" weighting design. The Steelhead X-16 irons are available in standard and Pro Series versions.
"The design idea was to push more weight out to the heel and toe areas of the clubhead to improve forgiveness on off-center hits," says Richard Helmstetter, senior executive vice president and chief of new products for Callaway Golf.
Nicklaus Golf's CGX (eXact Center of Gravity) irons "take the guesswork out of game improvement," says the company, with a design that corrects the tendency for most golfers to fade or slice long irons and draw or hook short irons.
Top-Flite is back in the iron business this year with something that's a little different. The new Top-Flite Tour irons have a conventional enough shape, but something called Reverse Groove Technology helps set them apart. The RGT places rib support behind the scorelines to deliver the thinnest iron clubface possible for maximum perimeter weighting.
Cleveland has introduced the TA7 Tour irons, with less offset and shorter blade length than the original TA7s. The TA7 Tour irons feature something called Micro-Cavities, designed to lighten and stiffen the top of the blade to make it a more solid structure with a lower center of gravity.
Tour Edge's most forgiving and playable iron yet is the Bazooka 350J irons, made of one-piece investment cast iron. Tommy Armour is offering the new 845 Stripe irons, designed by Roger Maltbie for all levels.
Zevo uses a lightweight "flying buttress" structure in the back of the cavity of its Z-1 irons to stiffen a super thin clubface, allowing more mass to be distributed to the clubhead's perimeter.
Mistushiba has brought back its Mirage irons, now the Mirage II. They incorporates a medium center of gravity. Mistushiba is also debuting a better-player club with extremely soft-feeling 1020 steel under the Paragon name.
Speaking of feel, there's Feel Golf, where Lee Miller has been designing soft-feeling irons for years. Pixl Golf is offering a set of blade irons that feature the same pixel technology found in the putters and wedges, offering forgiveness and feel. Yonex's V-Mass 350 irons feature new UL Tour Titanium graphite shafts that are "tour tuned" for optimal trajectory.
PowerBilt's TPC 7.0 irons also have a forged feel, says the company. Featuring a satin finish, they feature a dual relief sole to reduce drag digging and modified U-grooves. Tiger Shark is featuring its new Great White Dorsal Weight System stainless steel irons that can be paired with Variable Flex Point frequency sorted graphite shafts and Variable Flex Point stepless steel shafts. Infiniti Golf has the easy-to-hit 935 irons and 922 player's clubs. And Vulcan Golf is offering its irons with a precise custom fitting system.
And finally, when it comes to alternative methods of golf, there's Natural Golf, which is offering the new Pipeline Irons, its most popular yet, built from 450 steel.
