GOLD


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Callaway Apex)Callaway

Apex (2019)  
Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★★
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★★★

VERDICT
We put the previous Apex on the Mount Rushmore of irons, and this is a worthy follow-up. The body is forged from soft carbon steel, and the cupface – where the face wraps around the sole and topline to create more rebound – extends to the 8-iron. Some refinement to the shaping on the pitching and gap wedges cleaned up our one nitpick from the previous Apex. True Temper’s Elevate 95 steel shaft completes a classy package.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Callaway Apex)COMMENTS 
(L) Smooth and hot. They look a little more upscale than the last generation of Apexes.

(M) The 4-iron is as easy to hit as the wedge. The ball seemed to keep going on a medium trajectory.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Callaway Rogue Pro)Callaway

Rogue Pro    

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★★
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★½
Demand ★★★★

VERDICT
The Rogue Pro’s key attributes are mostly unseen, but they’re designed to bring power to a compact iron with a thin topline and sole (a look preferred by better players). One significant feature is the use of air-infused microspheres within a urethane compound inside the clubhead. The urethane helps impact feel more cushion-like and provides face-flexing heat to the thin, wraparound cupface. Unseen, yes. But not unappreciated.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Callaway Rogue Pro)COMMENTS 
(L) This will give anyone a power game, even if you’ve never had one or simply lost it.

(M) Slight mis-hits will not leave you short of the green. That’s a big plus for anyone.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Cobra King Forged Tec Black)Cobra

King Forged Tec Black • One Length            

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★
Demand ★★★

  
VERDICT
A nice encore to the original Forged Tec, including a one-length option and the addition of Cobra Connect grip sensors that provide player analytics through the Arccos round-tracking system. As with many of Cobra’s irons, the Forged Tec Black uses multiple materials to bring speed and feel to an iron with a traditional shape. Feel is achieved with a carbon-fibre and aluminium medallion insert. Oh, and we applaud the 5-iron through gap wedge standard set.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Cobra King Forged Tec Black)COMMENTS 
(L) If you asked someone who didn’t play golf to pick the coolest-looking irons, they’d probably pick these.

(M) I launched the ball with a consistent trajectory. Also easy to put a good swing on it.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro)Mizuno

JPX 919 Forged    

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★½

VERDICT
The company is legendary for tour-proven forged irons with an appealing look. That heritage continues here. Infusing boron into the carbon steel strengthens the material, allowing for a thinner face and better weight distribution. Hidden in the sole is a cut-through slot. The slot creates more spring-like effect through a larger area of the face and makes room for a deeper undercut cavity. This helps create a lower centre of gravity to promote a higher ball flight.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro)COMMENTS 
(L) Pretty. They should be hanging in the Louvre. Forgiving on everything but my worst swings

(M) The head frames the ball nicely. Centre hits feel like a soft continuation of the swing.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro)Mizuno

JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★½
Demand ★★★½

   

VERDICT
Mizuno used its expertise in metallurgy to produce a dynamic club in a pleasing package. The use of a strong but malleable steel alloy allowed engineers to create a new multi-thickness face structure to increase ball speed. The company also devotes a lot of effort to getting the sound it wants. Here, internal ribs have been re-engineered to produce a satisfying sensation at impact. The grooves also have been altered for a better transition to the scoring clubs.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro)COMMENTS 
(L) If you’re not that good a ball-striker, this club will smooth out some of your flaws.

(M) The contact feels soft, but there’s plenty of power. That’s a winning combination.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Ping I500)Ping

i500    

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★½
Demand ★★★★½

VERDICT
If you took the best characteristics of the company’s i200 and G700 irons and melded them, you might get the i500. The iron’s hollow structure and forged, heat-treated, high-strength steel face insert allow for five times the bending of the face at impact compared to a cast iron. This leads to a distance boost with a higher launch angle. A benefit of the thin face insert is saved weight, some of which is used in a tungsten toe weight to mitigate distance loss on mis-hits.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Ping I500)COMMENTS 

(L) A nice crack coming off the face. The short clubs really launch, but you could keep it lower if you wanted to.

(M) Great spin, but not at the sacrifice of a good launch angle.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (PXG 0311 P GEN2)PXG

0311 P GEN2  

Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★½

 

VERDICT
You know that guy, the middle-handicapper who insists on using irons designed for better players? Steer that fella this way. The 0311 P has a thinner topline and less offset than the original 0311, so you get that tour-player look. Other enhancements include a refined sole geometry and an internal face perimeter with a cutout design to foster speed and forgiveness. Call this a club that gives you all the help you need with a look that says you don’t need any.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (PXG 0311 P GEN2)COMMENTS 
(L) A good blend of head size and topline. It feels like enough mass down there to make it go.

(M) A nice thump at impact. A powerful sound, like the ball is getting in the way of your swing.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (TaylorMade P790)TaylorMade

P790    

Performance ★★★★½
Innovation ★★★★★
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★½
Demand ★★★★★

VERDICT
This second-year iron still gets high marks for finding a way to make a hollow-construction iron feel good and maintaining all the speed benefits in a compact clubhead. A comforting club that doesn’t have the industrial look of some others. The flexible urethane foam filling inside the head damps sound while allowing the face (which wraps around the sole) to flex. Tungsten weights in the 3 through 7-iron add stability on those hard-to-hit clubs.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (TaylorMade P790)COMMENTS 

(L) Tremendously long, and a loud crack through the ball. The heads aren’t very big, but they have a lot of help in them.

(M) As perfect a sound and feel as I’ve ever had in a club.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Titleist 718 AP3)Titleist

718 AP3

Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★★
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★★½

VERDICT
The most technologically ambitious of the AP irons brings a multi-faceted approach with three separate constructions within the set, led by a hollow, tungsten-loaded design in the 3 through 7-iron. A thin, L-shape face insert wraps around the sole to provide better face flex, particularly on shots struck low on the face. The 8 and 9-iron have a standard face insert, and the wedges are single-piece construction. An iron for serious golfers regardless of handicap.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Titleist 718 AP3)COMMENTS 
(L) You can really be aggressive through the ball and not get any big hooks or slices.

(M) It’s like classical music when you make contact. That swish is brilliant.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


SILVER


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (SRIXON Z585)Srixon

Z 585

Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★½
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★
Demand ★★½

VERDICT
Designed with a focus on distance, the Z 585 features a speedy face plate with a groove indented on the perimeter of its interior, creating, in essence, a slot around the entire face. The revised Tour VT sole has a higher bounce angle towards the leading edge that tapers for less bounce on the trailing edge. The shaft, grip and other options (including the ability to sub Z U85 utility irons) are impressive, and a clean look is maintained.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (SRIXON Z585)COMMENTS 

(L) The rocker sole makes my divots feel the same time after time.

(M) Plenty of giddy-up. There’s more forgiveness here than you think. Clean shape at address offers no distractions.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High


2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Wilson C300 Forged) )Wilson

C300 Forged    

Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★
Look • Sound • Feel ★★★★
Demand ★★½

VERDICT
When designing irons for better players, one of the challenges is knowing how much game-improvement is appropriate. Wilson focused on a clean look, then added distance technology. The offset was kept to a manageable level, and the face insert was forged from soft carbon steel. To boost distance, the company again used its “power holes” in the sole, with two rows of the urethane-filled openings up through the 8-iron.

2019 Hot List: Players Distance Irons (Wilson C300 Forged)COMMENTS 
(L) The grill is cooking because these have lots of sizzle. There is a turbocharger in the middle and long irons.

(M) Surprisingly crisp sound. Leaves a satisfying feel at impact.

Handicapper  (L) Low  (M) Middle  (H) High