We can all salivate over the pretty irons the best players in the world use, but realistically most golfers need a lot more help than a better player iron provides.
That is where game-improvement clubs come in.Featuring multi-material constructions, hollow-body or deep cavity designs, high levels of forgiveness and so much more, the game improvement iron category is a supremely technologically driven segment of the equipment industry.
Covered here are the latest and greatest from the biggest names in golf, as well as some you may know a little less about, all offering higher flights, longer distance and ease of use that make iron play a dream rather than a disaster.
CALLAWAY BIG BERTHA 23
Callaway’s Big Bertha brand is one of the most famous in golf equipment, and the company has reinvigorated the line-up for 2023 with the new irons one of the standout products.
Built with speed, forgiveness and ease of use in mind, the latest Big Bertha irons feature artificial intelligence (A.I.) in the production process, as well as tungsten weighting for optimal centre of gravity (CG) and increased moment of inertia (MOI).
Comprised in a thicker topline, wider sole, enhanced offset and longer blade length package, the A.I. designed cup face is optimised for consistent distance across the face with specialised designs for each iron.
The company also launching the Big Bertha Reva 23
irons with a similar technology package in a women’s specific design.
CALLAWAY GREAT BIG BERTHA
This model marked a new direction for Callaway, with the Great Big Bertha signalling the company’s first ultra-premium multi-piece, titanium design.
Engineered to deliver driver-like power in an iron, this model features a titanium body and face combined with significant amounts of tungsten weighting to boost launch and ball speed, while urethane microspheres internally help the face to rebound quickly as well as improving feel.
CLEVELAND LAUNCHER XL
Launcher XL are built for players seeking forgiveness and accuracy through hollow-body long irons and cavity back short irons.
The blended constructions helping with longer, higher launching long irons, while the short irons allow for more control.
Launcher XL deliver a 15 percent increase in high-toe MOI over the previous generation, with the ‘MainFrame’ club face optimised in shape, weighting and thickness for each individual iron, with maximised COR delivering ball speed boosts.
‘Action Mass CB’ helps square up the club face at impact and a V-shaped sole creates an improved strike via less resistance from turf at impact.
CLEVELAND LAUNCHER XL HALO
Cleveland were one of the early adopters of the hybrid-iron style and the latest iteration is the Launcher XL Halo built as a super game improvement option that launches high and far to turn the most average iron player into a better one.
Increasing MOI by 17 percent on the previous model, MainFrame is again used in this model to lift distance throughout the bag, while ‘Gliderails’ on the long irons deliver excellent turf interaction, with the mid- and short-irons incorporating a V-shaped sole.
Counterbalanced for a better transition and to increase swing speed, these irons take the performance of a hybrid all the way to the bottom of the bag, a combination plenty of hybrid lovers should consider.
COBRA AEROJET
COBRA’s Aerojet line is all about distance, and the design of the iron model in the family, offered in both One Length and variable, is no different.
Labelled the company’s “most technologically advanced iron”, the Aerojet features a ‘PWRSHELL’ insert that maximises speed and launch, as well as an A.I. designed ‘H.O.T’ face built for efficiency of speed and spin across the hitting area.
The ‘PWR-BRIDGE’ of the head allows the face to flex more for greater distance, while the acoustics of the model have been finely tuned for a preferred sound and feel, with each club eligible for free Arccos Smart Sensors to help track and improve your game.
MIZUNO JPX923 HOT METAL
Like every club featured here, Mizuno’s JPX923 Hot Metal and Hot Metal HL irons focus on improving distance, but landing angles are also a major consideration to improve scoring ability for golfers with higher handicaps.
The company calls the line “our fastest flying, fast stopping irons” which are powered by Nickel Chromoly, a new material with so much additional ball speed, engineers switched their focus to feel and stopping power.
Stronger than Mizuno’s initial Hot Metal material by 35 percent, 4335 Nickel Chromoly enables a high-energy eight percent thinner clubface.
Vibrations are taken care of by a V-Chassis, while flight is optimised through the JPX923’s CG design.
The standard Hot Metal is a full speed, high stability cavity for straight flight and distance, whereas the Hot Metal HL launches higher for players with moderate swing speeds or aggressive shaft lean.
PING G430
PING’s G430 irons offer up to 7-10 yards of increased distance while also improving accuracy, that’s a combination any golfer would gladly take and run with.
A lower CG combines with stronger lofts and a thinner face for greater carry distance coupled with the forgiveness that PING has always been known for.
‘PurFlex’ cavity badges incorporate seven flex zones that allow more free bending to increase ball speed across the face of the model that features a shorter hosel for better looks and CG placement. The G430 also offering improved turf interaction, tungsten toe weighting and a hydropearl 2.0 chrome finish for improved performance in wet conditions.
PING G710
The G710 is PING’s longest and most forgiving iron delivered by a maraging steel face that works with the body to create a wood-like flexing for significant power increases.
A 5 percent MOI boost on the predecessor, G700, helps with forgiveness, while landing angles were a major focus during development to once again make these a playable distance iron.
SRIXON ZX4 MK II
Srixon’s ZX4 Mk II might look like a better player’s iron, yet the hollow body design contains technology that will help mid- to high-handicap players.
Primarily driving that performance is Srixon’s MainFrame technology, a variable thickness pattern of grooves, channels, and cavities carefully milled into the backside faces to maximise flex at impact.
This design also moves weight to the perimeter of the head for forgiveness, while ‘PureFrame’ creates improved feel through precise placement of forged metal behind the face that also reduces vibrations.
TAYLORMADE STEALTH & STEALTH HD
TaylorMade has further advanced its ‘Cap Back’ design in the Stealth irons, which improve the face’s ability to flex for distance through a unique multi-material design that replaces the steel on the back of a hollow-body construction with a polymer composite material.
Supporting the topline and working with the Thru-Slot Speed Pocket to support the face, reimagining the Cap Back design for these irons also saw engineers push the weight of the head lower to lift launch and improve higher handicap player’s ball flight with their irons.
The Stealth HD model takes this even further in a low-profile and larger head with an exceptionally wide-soled super game improvement option.
TITLEIST T300
Called the “ultimate game improvement iron” by Titleist, the T300 is the most forgiving part of the hugely popular T-Series irons that are played on Tour and all over the world by recreational golfers alike.
Still with a hint of “player’s” design as you would expect from Titleist, the T300 is powered by updated Max Impact technology which maximises speed across a new variable face thickness design.
A mid-sized, fast, cavity-back design utilises a 40 percent increase in Tungsten for more precise CG placement, higher MOI and optimised launch and spin characteristics.
TOUR EDGE EXOTICS E723
The latest iron model from Tour Edge, this iron features a 360-degree undercut design, multi-material electro-form cap incorporating carbon fibre, ‘VIBRCOR’ and ‘Diamond Face VFT’ technologies to push distance, launch and forgiveness further.
The ‘E’ stands for extreme, as in extreme forgiveness and the E723 lives up to the name as proven in this month’s review on page.116.
TOUR EDGE EXOTICS HOT LAUNCH E523
Effectively a full set of hybrids, the E523 irons place emphasis on ease of launch, playability and correcting mis-hits to go straighter.
Offset and weighted for a draw-bias to fight slices, the shallow face is easy to hit from any and every lie, while the ‘Houdini Sole’ reduces drag and turf interaction by 35 percent and moves the CG to make this iron ridiculously easy to get up in the air for every player.
XXIO PRIME
When it comes to game improvement clubs, XXIO is positioned as a premium option using the best of best components, and the new Prime irons are no different.
Remarkably lightweight and packed with ball speed boosting technology, Prime irons feature Rebound Frame, Weight Plus Technology and aerodynamic improvements to make iron play easier for those with slower swing speeds who often suffer swing fatigue during a round.
HOW THE GAME IMPROVEMENT IRON CATEGORY WAS CREATED
These days in golf equipment design, much of what companies are doing is aimed at a certain golfer and category where all brands play in the market.
Game improvement irons are certainly reflective of that, as shown by just how many options are featured across these pages.
That wasn’t always the case, and while plenty of club designers attempted to make iron
models that were easier to play, it was PING and Karsten Solheim who truly revolutionised irons with various cavity back designs.
The Eye2 is the standout here, it was the first iron to use a significant cavity back design that earned widespread acclaim from Tour players and average golfers thanks to its quality of feel, control and forgiveness.
The success of this model is shown by the fact that seeing a set of Eye2s in a golfer’s bag now, some 40 years after they were first released, is not that surprising for equipment aficionados.
Another iron that signified a shift in the game improvement market came in 1994 when Callaway released the first ever Big Bertha iron.
Possessing an exceptionally thick topline that has to be seen to be believed these days, these irons were one of most forgiving irons made at that point and continue to hold up as an easy to hit model 20 years down the track.
Spawning many subsequent Big Bertha models in the years that followed (including the latest this year) this iron model identified Callaway as a major player in the forgiving iron market.
As you will note from the irons featured in this 2023 Game Improvement iron guide, things have come a long way from these two models, with hollow-body constructions, use of materials like tungsten and titanium and so much more, yet look at the Eye2 and you can see their hallmarks in plenty of the newer irons.
That tends to happen when you help inspire a golf equipment revolution like these two models did.
