Is iron technology changed that much in 10-15 years?

[strangegrey]

I know the drivers, wwoods, hybrids have really changed the game for the weekend wariors...

But I have to say, irons don't seem that different. My first set of irons was a Taylor Made burner irons with steel shafts. I gave them to my brother years ago...and started cycling sets every few years. Went to Berthas, then to Titleists, then to golfsmith heads then back to titleists.

Recently, I was at my brother's place and I pulled out my old set of Burners and smacked a few balls at the nearby range. I haven't hit such sweet, perfect shots in years...

I simply cant get the same satisfaction out of my titleist 762s.


Is buying the latest and greatest, with respect to irons, all that it's cracked up to be?

[jaqattack02]

I've been curious about that too. I currently own and play a set of old TM Burner Oversize irons I got from a friend of a friend for $50. I really don't know whether I want to stick with these for a good while, maybe getting them re-shafted, or if it would be worth it to get something new. At the moment, since I hit them pretty well, I've decided to stick with the Burners at least until next year sometime.

[DDBowdoin]

over the years irons have become increasingly forgiving. there's been a lot of advances in pushing the center of gravity lower and deeper in clubs today. these features allow the club to get the ball airborne fast. there has been some tinkering with materials and softer metals but it really depends on what category iron you are looking at. game improvemnt, super game improvement... vs. players irons.

It's a really good question, one thing for sure is that companies have really stepped on the marketing train and have really pushed the aestethics of clubs. Especially with color selection which allows consumers to recognize certain manufacturers on tour based on a quick television shot.

[Big Lex]

I think if you asked industry people about this, they would say that iron technology has changed markedly during the last 10-15 years.

The basic ideas and concepts in iron designs hasn't really changed I guess(perimeter weighting, low CG in game improvement clubs, etc.), but the greater use of multiple materials, greatly expanding manufacturing capability allowing more extreme shapes and weight distributions, etc., have given us a huge variety of irons today, whereas 15 years ago, designs were much more similar from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Still, I'm not sure that performance is all that much better today than it was 15 years ago, although I'm sure it's at least a little better.

[Heat]

I think if you asked industry people about this, they would say that iron technology has changed markedly during the last 10-15 years.

I think that iron technology for the average golfer has improved but less in the higher levels

[Ghetto P]

Dude, look in my bag. Duh.

[boodaboy16]

I still have my first set. They were hand me downs. Power Bilt Citation blades (circa 1980s). I hit them almost as good as my TA1s (circa 2000). And, if I had them reshafted they probably wouldn't play much different.

It's possible cavity back clubs have changed some. I just posted earlier tonight about a thread on the titleist 775. I played with those a few rounds and they are absolute idiot sticks. You can hit the ball off center hit a bit and still get straight high ball flight. That said, I never played cavity back clubs until 5 years ago.

[allin]

I think iron technology for higher handicaps has changed a lot. The wide sole irons like callaway fusion, adams os2 etc. Mid handicappers have been helped big time by hybrids,. I think lower handicaps are more affected by the balls and maybe fairway woods which allow them to hit such long shots from the fairway.

[thumper07]

I know the drivers, wwoods, hybrids have really changed the game for the weekend wariors...

i think most of this is because you titlest irons are not forgiving. taylormade burner irons in their day were game improvement irons. i think at a 20 you should be playing a game-improvement iron. i'm a 11.4 and you couldn't pry mine from my cold dead fingers.

-matt

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

Good post and a good topic. I posted something like this a few months ago. In the last 10-15 years I think irons have changed some but nothing near the drastic changes in other categories, especially balls and drivers. I think iron technology has made subtle advances over the years but more than anything else I think there are more options as far as iron sets go now. Much more to choose from and the introduction of the super game improvement sets have really changed things for the high handicapper. Hybrids have changed the game eliminating the hard to hit long irons for some. Obviously companies are going to say the technology has changed a lot (afterall that's what they do for a living), better weight disbursement, MOI, better components, etc but I don't really buy it. I agree with what someone else said, some of the cosmetic changes are more noticeable and I can't help but think that's marketing. I mean, does that little bar behind the Titleist 755 and 775's or that gel insert behind the new Cleveland irons really make a difference? Perhaps but I can't help but think it's more marketing than anything else.

My Cleveland TA5's are about 5 years old now. The past year or two I have thought about replacing them with something new but I can't seem to pull the trigger. I tried newer clubs in that same category (I'd put them in game improvement) Mizuno MX-23 and 25, Titleist 775, Cleveland CG4/CG4Tour, and so on. Those clubs are really nice but do they make that much of a difference? I dunno... I guess in the end I always say it doesn't.

I think the key with irons is taking care of them. Once the grooves are worn then I think it's time for a new set but as long as they are kept in good condition I don't see a why older sets can't perform as well as "newer" ones. Heck, last I checked (and this was last year so it could have changed) Tim Herron was still using a set of Ping Eye 2's!

[clstrat]

hmmm...i would say yes. i know i'm new here and as that goes, internet credibility is crap, however for those that like opinion here it goes...

i played ping eye 2's all through highschool and starting college. thought that irons would never get any better. then i took a few 5 years off or so while i was trying to finish school and pay down some bills. so i come back to the game and here i am with a great "feeling" set of ping eye 2 irons. i picked up a MacGregor NVG2 Mid 7 iron at the range and bomb it 12 yards past my ping eye 2 7 iron. i sold the eye 2's on ebay the very next day. now, i must admit that the MacGregor's don't have that sweet feeling like the eye 2's did in the middle of the clubface, but when i'm pulling a 9 iron instead of a 7 iron at 145 yards, that's good enough for me.

[hackerdave]

Speaking of old irons -- I've just started up playing golf with a 20 year-old set of blades (MacGregor something or other.) Any thoughts on what a good replacement might be? ~ 35 handicap (I can't hit straight to save my life) or putt. Was looking at Adams A2 OS / A3 / Tech OS or perhaps Ping G5/G10? I have a 105 mph driver swing speed (and I seem to be able to hit drives mostly straight at least!)

[ettsn]

My initial thought when I saw this topic was, no they haven't really (in spite of everything the marketers tell us). On a lark, I dug out a couple old clubs: an old forged blade iron from the late 80s and a niblick from the 40s (from my grandfather's set). Both were insanely difficult to hit well, especially the old niblick. And I don't mean just compared to my practically automatic BBs, but compared to almost anything modern (when I went shopping for clubs, I hit practically everything -- blades, semi-cavity, super-GI, etc). Iron technology probably hasn't evolved too much since the late 90s, but compared to almost anything before that, they are lightyears ahead.

[SuaSponteMn]

i picked up a MacGregor NVG2 Mid 7 iron at the range and bomb it 12 yards past my ping eye 2 7 iron. i sold the eye 2's on ebay the very next day. now, i must admit that the MacGregor's don't have that sweet feeling like the eye 2's did in the middle of the clubface, but when i'm pulling a 9 iron instead of a 7 iron at 145 yards, that's good enough for me.

This is more than likely due to the fact that iron lofts have gotten stronger since you purchased your Ping Eye 2's, not really related to the McGregor iron being any better. To the contrary, from what I've heard from others, the Eye2 is a fantastic iron, even by today's standard. If I liked Ping and owned them, I probably would have sent them to Ping's WRX department, had them tumbled and have the paintfill redone, and continued to play them.

As for iron technology as a whole? I think it's progressed, but at a snails pace in comparision to everything else in the game, IMO marketing and consumer buying tendencies have a lot to do with this. Most people (sadly, myself excluded) find irons that are comfortable, and stick with them for 5 years minimum, while we could potentially buy a new driver every year, or at least every other year. The manufacturers have nothing pushing them to drive iron R&D; at the same pace as Drivers and Putters...