CRITERIA
Our judges evaluated Hot List candidates in four areas.
- Performance ( 45%)
The utility of a product, or what happens to the ball when it’s struck by the club. - Innovation ( 30%)
How a club’s technology, including custom-fitting, advances the category. - Look/Sound/Feel ( 20%)
What the golfer experiences before, during and after impact. - Demand ( 5%)
The relative interest in a product and its reputation.
All judging is based on a 100-point scale.
97-100 ★★★★★
88-96 ★★★★
70-87 ★★★
51-69 ★★
≤50 ★
(L) Low-Handicapper | (M) Mid-Handicapper | (H) High-Handicapper
CALLAWAY
APEX PRO 16
Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★ ½
Look / sound / feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★★
VERDICT Callaway hasn’t always tried to conceal its technology, but it has done a good job here. In the long irons, two tungsten plugs are inserted into holes in the cavity to provide a higher launch. A lightweight stainless steel is inserted in the middle irons to keep ball flight down. In the short irons, the holes are left empty for an even more penetrating trajectory. This set is a smart choice for the low-handicapper who doesn’t have a lot of time to practise.
COMMENTS (L) I was hitting that flight window nearly every time. (M) There’s a lot of mass behind the ball, so misses are extremely playable.
MIZUNO
MP-25
Performance ★★★★ ½
Innovation ★★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★★ ½
Demand ★★★ ½
VERDICT How do you get distance out of a classic shape? The MP-25 achieves this by using the same boron-infused carbon steel featured in the company’s JPX EZ Forged iron. The boron allows for a thinner clubface and a hidden cut-through slot behind the face that increases the potential for the type of ball speed not normally found in a forged players iron. It’s old-school looks with the benefits of modern engineering.
COMMENTS (L) It’s like a boxing glove: It feels soft but packs a powerful punch. (L) As players irons get closer to game improvement, the workability tends to suffer, but not with these. You can easily work the ball right or left.
NIKE
VAPOR FLY PRO
Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★★
Demand ★★ ½
VERDICT It might not be as tour-pro cool as others, but the rebel-black look still pleases at address. Like the Vapor Fly model, the set uses multiple constructions with hollow-cavity long irons, three resin-pocket middle irons and three resin-cavity short irons. The resin is lighter than steel, allowing designers to redistribute weight and enhance feel. The bevelled leading edge is a nice bonus, producing clean divots with less dig.
COMMENTS (L) It has a cushy feel with a pleasant sound. (M) The 4-iron hits moon balls. I say that in a good way. Terrific height and distance.
NIKE
VAPOR PRO COMBO
Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★ ½
Look / sound / feel ★★★★
Demand ★★ ½
VERDICT “Forgiving” and “blade” don’t usually go
together, but Nike has pulled it off with its Vapor Pro Combo. The look at address is pure players iron. However, the combination of a thin, high-strength steel face plus extra weight in the toe to keep the centre of gravity in line with the centre of the face brings plenty of heat on mis-hits. The True Temper DG Pro shaft completes the ensemble.
COMMENTS (L) Whatever they put in the back to dampen vibration works: Strikes on the toe still felt good. (M) There was a lightness to these that made me feel like I could speed up my swing in the hitting zone.
PING
I
Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★★ ½
Demand ★★★★ ½
VERDICT This is a game-improvement club housed in the shape of a players iron. Ping took a different approach to club length, adding a quarter of an inch in the 3- through 9-iron (from the i25) and strengthening the lofts by 1 degree in the 3- through 8-iron. Distance, however, isn’t the focus. Ping engineers increased the moment of inertia by using tungsten in the toe of the 3- through 7-iron. It’s a players iron all right – very playable.
COMMENTS (L) The sole provides a turf interaction that’s the best feel of sod meeting steel you can find. (M) It’s amazing how they make a cast club feel soft.
PING
S55
Performance ★★★★ ½
Innovation ★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★★ ½
Demand ★★★ ½
VERDICT Even in its second year, this club is as relevant as ever. Improvements from the S56 include a change in the lofts of some irons to achieve the proper distance gapping. The 6-iron was strengthened half a degree, the 7- and 8-irons are 1.25 degrees stronger, the 9-iron is 1.5 degrees stronger, and the pitching wedge is a degree strong. Also, a tuning port in the cavity helps lower the centre of gravity, allowing the 4-iron to be weakened a quarter of a degree.
COMMENTS (L) It has a minimalistic look but provides lots of forgiveness. (M) The first thing I noticed was the smooth impact: No clank and plenty of giddy-up.
TAYLORMADE
PSI
Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★ ½
Demand ★★★★ ½
VERDICT A challenge with getting more speed in a players iron is not sacrificing feel. A key to ridding this iron of vibration is the use of a thermoplastic rubber often found in automotive parts. The material was placed between the face and the back of the undercut cavity to keep the thin face – less than two millimetres thick – feeling sweet. Elsewhere, the long irons are easier to hit because of tungsten weighting, and the forged short irons provide the control pin-seeking players want.
COMMENTS (L) Offers enough assistance while maintaining a players look. (L) Some jet fuel in them. Exceptional distance.
TITLEIST
716 AP2
Performance ★★★★★
Innovation ★★★★ ½
Look / sound / feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★★★
VERDICT Ever since the first AP2 in 2008, Titleist has produced attractive, sweet-feeling and forgiving forged irons. Add this one to the list. It has a traditional look with more than enough playability, and the tungsten weighting (25 per cent more than in the previous AP2) is a clever means of placing weight in the low heel and toe areas. The weight adds stability on off-centre hits and makes you feel like there’s some heft when you strike the shot. These are surgical tools that allow you to pick the course apart.
COMMENTS (L) Inviting to play without the intimidating look. (M) The 4-iron was easy to hit, which is a true test of playability.
TITLEIST
716 CB
Performance ★★★★ ½
Innovation ★★★ ½
Look / sound / feel ★★★★★
Demand ★★★
VERDICT Titleist has hidden significant improvements in a visually pleasing shape. The latest CB is a traditional, forged cavity-back design that includes heavy tungsten forged into the 3- through 7-iron to more precisely locate the centre of gravity to improve energy transfer at impact. Also, the pre-worn leading edge delivers the kind of playability a user of this kind of iron demands.
comments (L) These irons are so much easier to launch than they look. (M) It’s the perfect club for a feel player – plus I noticed they’re a half-club longer than last year’s CB.
WILSON
FG TOUR V4
Performance ★★★★ ½
Innovation ★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★★
Demand ★★
VERDICT This is a players iron that checks off all the right boxes. Clean look? Check. Easy-to-hit long irons? Check. Workable middle and short irons? Check. Good sound and feel? Check. The tungsten in the sole (18 grams in the 3- through 7-iron) helps launch the ball high with a steeper angle of descent to give your shots stopping power on approaches into greens. The extra mass behind the centre of the face produces a powerful feel at impact, too.
COMMENTS (L) The turf interaction was impeccable. You have to hit way behind it to hit a bad shot. (M) Sharp-looking club. Love the head shape. Very true to what a players iron should look like.
COBRA
KING FORGED CB/MB COMBO
Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★ ½
Look / sound / feel ★★★★ ½
Demand ★★ ½
VERDICT When it comes to shape, a tour pro’s eyes are unbeatable. Enter Rickie Fowler, who helped develop this iron, which features cavity-backs through the 6-iron and muscle-backs the rest of the way. A tungsten toe weight aligns the centre of gravity with the middle of the face for better energy transfer. The black finish makes you feel as if you have tour-pro sticks in your hands. Ditto the topline, which appears as thin as when Jack Nicklaus was striping 1-irons.
COMMENTS (L) A squeaky clean look. (M) It had a nice thump with some sizzle off the face that produced a consistent trajectory.
TAYLORMADE
PSI TOUR
Performance ★★★★
Innovation ★★★★
Look / sound / feel ★★★ ½
Demand ★★★★
VERDICT Slots have been a staple of TaylorMade irons since the introduction of the RocketBladez a few years ago – and have evolved. In this forged iron, produced with plenty of feedback from its tour staff, TaylorMade uses face slots to provide consistent distance on heel and toe hits and sole slots on the 3- through 7-iron to assist shots struck low on the face. It has a thinner topline, less offset and a narrower sole than the
regular PSi model.
COMMENTS (L) It’s a warrior. It just gets down into the dirt and busts through it like nothing can slow it down. (L) You definitely get a little bit of jump out of the middle and longer irons.
