OAKMONT, Pa. — Bryson DeChambeau has been hinting at a shakeup to his iron setup for more than a year. Even when he made noise at the 2024 Masters with a set of 3D-printed Avoda blades, the reigning U.S. Open champion was working behind the scenes with LA Golf on an iron concept that he believed could “innovate beyond what’s known so far.”
“I’m building some equipment that you guys might know or might not know about, but we are very excited to be showcasing that next year,” DeChambeau told Golf Digest’s The Loop podcast. “We’re going to change the game. We’re going to ruffle some feathers, I’d say, in a good way. We’re going to innovate beyond what’s known so far.”
After going through three versions of the iron, DeChambeau plans to use this week’s U.S. Open as a proving ground for the design to see if it can handle one of the most brutal tests in golf.
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After offering a glimpse at the irons during an Asian Tour event in January, DeChambeau officially put a set of custom LA Golf BAD V3-W irons in the bag last week at LIV Golf Virginia.
Born of a year-long engineering collaboration with Jeff Meyer, LA Golf’s chief design officer, the 3D-printed, single-length (37½ inch) set offers a hollow construction made from 316L stainless steel with tungsten weights affixed to the toe of each iron to shift the center of gravity (CG) towards the geometric face center.
“The tungsten weight is heaviest in the 5-iron and [gets] progressively lighter through the set,” Meyer told Golf Digest, “with the tungsten weight [in the pitching wedge] weighing about 12 grams lighter.”
Repositioning mass within the head to alter CG is nothing new in the equipment industry. What makes this set unique from many of its counterparts is the addition of bulge, better known as curvature, to the face.
As Meyer confirmed, the prototype set has a “bulge radius progression through the set, with the 5-iron having the smallest radius [more bulbus] and flatter in the short irons.”
For DeChambeau, adding bulge at his swing speeds (around 130 miles per hour) helps create a gear effect on the ball to reduce the potential for a severe hook or slice. It’s a concept that’s been used in the metalwoods space, but unlike the bulge-and-roll found on a driver, DeChambeau’s iron faces only have horizontal bulge, not vertical roll.
“There is no roll,” Meyer confirmed. “The face thickness is consistent, providing consistent distance on slight mishits.”
The other subtle adjustment to the face design is a heel section that was made slightly flatter than the toe section to match DeChambeau’s in-to-out swing path. It’s a personalized modification only the 32-year-old can appreciate.
DeChambeau finished T-4 last week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club outside Washington, D.C., using the irons for the first time and has every intention of using them at Oakmont — they were the only set in DeChambeau’s bag on Monday afternoon—where ball-striking could ultimately determine the winner on Sunday afternoon.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
