MacGregor V-Foil M675 Iron Review

I’ve always thought the strength of my golf game is my putting. But a friend of mine who also was a golf instructor for years tells me that my iron play is definitely my strength. Perhaps that is because my first set of clubs were hand-me-down Browning blades from my dad. I love the the feel and look of great irons, which is why I’ve been using Hogan irons for the last couple of years. I didn’t lose a step when I put the M675 irons by MacGregor in my bag.

The Look
The appearance of the M675 irons is quite unique. MacGregor uses a 100% Satin-Nickel-Chrome finish rather than the standard “shiny” chrome finish. The best way to describe the look is that they look like brushed aluminum. They are shiny but wouldn’t show scuffs or fingerprints quite the same way a standard shiny iron would. You would not have as much of a risk of getting blinded by the sun reflecting in your eyes with the M675s satin finish.

These irons are basically blades with what I would call a “progressive combo muscle back.” The pitching wedge and short irons are blades with a little muscle. The long irons have a fairly large rounded muscle back. The 3 iron practically looks like a cross between a hybrid and a muscle back. And by the way, the 3-iron flat out flies.

The top line and face widths between the long and short irons are quite different. Note the picture of the 7- and 8- irons at right. The top line of the shorter irons (PW-8I) is rounded from toe to hosel. The long irons (7I-3I) have a straight top line from toe to hosel. The width of the hitting area in the long irons is about ¼” wider than in the short irons. This set looks like a combination of two different sets.

Design And Technology
MacGregor uses two different types of forged steel in these irons. The 3-6 irons are crafted from forged 1045 Carbon Steel and the 7-PW are crafted from forged 1025 Carbon Steel. The 1045 steel is a harder metal, more suitable for low spin and more distance. The 1025 steel is a softer metal to give you more feel, spin and distance control on your shorter shots. Perhaps it is just me, but I like the feel of the long irons better than the shorter clubs in this set.

The faces of the irons are constructed with harder metal in the center and softer metal around the outside. They call this “V-Foil Speed” technology. The softer outside increases feel and power for off center shots. The off-center shots I hit didn’t feel terrible like a typical blade.

The set employs a variable muscle-back weighting technology. What that means is the muscle back progressively gets bigger the longer the iron. There are internal Tungsten weight cylinders positioned in the back toe and heel of the 3- and 4-iron.

The faces of the irons really caught my eye. They have your standard grooves, but when I first glanced at the clubs I thought I’d seen an optical illusion. For a second I swear I saw a rainbow on the club face. No, wait, I did see a rainbow! There is a very light series of arches in a rainbow shape literally milled right into the face of the club. You can really see it when the light is just at the right angle. I began to wonder if this was even legal but I suppose it is. MacGregor mills this rainbow into the face at 1/1000 of an inch. They call these lines “U-Groove Scoring Lines.”

Look closely at the image above to see the U-Groove Scoring Lines.

As I looked at the rainbow patterns in all the club faces it was at this point that I noticed what appeared to be some flaws in the workmanship. The 3I’s U-Groove pattern was consistent except in the top toe area where the milling machine apparently dug in a little too deep on some of the grooves. I found another milling problem with the 5I, which had barely noticeable grooves.

Custom Options
MacGregor offers a complete set of custom options for the M675s. You can have the topline, toe, leading edge, and sole all ground to your liking. Custom fitting of club length, lie, loft (within 1/60th of a degree), swingweight, shaft, and grip size are all available through MacGregor’s custom express fitting options. The standard shaft is the True Temper Dynamic Gold 300 available in R, S, and X flexes. Other special-order shafts are “available” but the MacGregor website fails to mention any by name.

On the Course
My first test with the M675s was a baptism by fire. No range, no practice shots. I hit the course for 18 holes on a very tight track. In a tournament, no less. I hit a four iron first into a short par 4, and the ball went long, straight, and high. My buddy (and opponent) said “Wow! Is that the first time you’ve hit that?” The rest of the round I was really enjoying hitting these irons. I completely forgot I was playing in a tournament or that I had a bet with my buddy. We actually had quite a match going. He even put together a four-hole birdie streak. When the round was over, I had shot a 72 and beat my buddy by one stroke. I even won the tournament!

The next round was almost as fun. I shot 75, but had some driving trouble and hit many shots from some fairly thick rough. It was at this point that I found out these M675 are great out of the rough. The club cuts through almost like there’s no rough at all. The ball really launches out of the rough with these irons as well. I hit a great long 3-iron on the par-5 14th hole from about 235. That shot lead to an eagle. I also had to hit more “creative” shots due to the fact that my drives were ending up in strange places, like behind trees. The first was a long par 4 with a giant dead tree in the middle of the fairway. Naturally my drive ended up directly behind this tree. I had to hood the 5-iron from about 175 and try to hit a very low shot which needed to turn over right to left. I succeeded in executing the shot, but I misjudged the distance and the low turnover flew the green! The next “creative” shot was just about the same situation, only I had to cut a left-to-right shot around another tree. Same thing happened again. I shaped the shot perfectly in trajectory and line, but flew the green again. With some practice I’m sure I could get the distance dialed in. If you are capable of shaping creative shots, these irons will certainly perform well for you.

Conclusion
My final conclusion is that these are simply great irons. They have great “feel” and performance for me, especially in the long irons. (I must like the Tungsten weight cylinders). You can work the ball, control your trajectory, and control distance very well with these irons. Off center shots still respond quite well. MacGregor is making some great golf gear.

This review was done by Tony Korologos of Hooked on Golf.