Crushing the One Iron?

Had a chance to hit a guy's old Titleist DCI 981 - 1 iron this afternoon. He says he keeps it in his bag to keep the ball low when getting out of trees and such.

Took one swing. Hit it solid. Carried about 220. Gave it back to him. Pretty sure I was just lucky.

I never met someone who had one in the bag. Anyone using 1 irons or used to?

I played in a member guest against a guy who gamed a 1 iron.  He was hitting it 250, very odd to see.  His handicap was BS which made it an interesting afternoon.

Use to, I carried a 2 iron until about 4 years ago, still have a 2 iron that goes with my Ping ISI Nickel set and my Mizuno MP 62.

You must be God? God is that you?

Depends, some 3 irons now might be 1 irons.. So i wouldn't go by the numbers anymore.. I wouldn't find it to hard to hit, if you can hit a 3-wood off the ground you should be able to hit a 1 iron, it has more loft..

There is a lot more than loft in play here. How much does the club weight and how fast you can swing it matter along with things like cg weighting.

Just for grins, stock Titleist DCI 981 1 iron specs:

Loft - 17° (Lol, RBZ 3 iron is 17.5° IIRC)

Lie - 58°

Length - 39.5"

Swingweight - D1

Offset - .260

Bounce - 0°

Shaft - Steel, 118g

I used to carry a 1 iron.when I spent the winters in Arizona . If a hit the ball into the desert, I would carry 1 iron in case I ran into a rattlesnake!

I have one, I can hit it ok off the tee but it doesn't carry very far and rolls a decent bit. Off the ground, it's really hard to hit in part due to the sole design and high CG. A 2 iron is a somewhat sane option for people with high swing speeds and good ballstriking who want a driving iron, I might get one for windy days myself. But a 1 iron is just a bit too little loft. It's really hard to launch and get a playable ball flight even if you can hit long irons well. Even the 2 is a specialty club only; if you have the beef to hit it well, you'll seldom need it except off the tee. Plus there are almost no makers still producing them, and many have illegal grooves. About 18 degrees seems to be the practical limit for a traditionally designed iron.

Creeping lofts and today's ball have all but killed the 1 and 2 irons. You can't hold most greens with them and they're hard to hit off the deck. Woods and hybrids get a better trajectory but go much higher, especially off the ground. Most of the time from that distance range, you need the height and spin more than the low trajectory and straightness. Plus they're a bit hard to fit into the bag, unless you carry only 2 wedges or skip an iron.

After a quick search I found that I have two Ping Eye 2 Black Dot 1 irons.

Took one to the range and found that it hit about even with my 3 wood, but the trajectory was less than half as high and had plenty of roll. Hitting a punch shot around 100 yards with it was pretty easy. Very straight.

Couldn't do much with a low cut - read...no control.

I had one of those, it was part of a 1-W set. I took it to the range a handful of times...let's just say when I did hit it well, it was very cool. But it was a low percentage shot for me.

I still have a callaway x-12 oversize one iron that is very comfortable to play although it has 16° of loft.

It has a small offset and in my case a steel shaft.

It has a very low penetrating ball flight and when you get the sweet spot and it's pretty dry on the fairway it can travel as far as a three wood or even a bit more.

If you don't get the sweet spot it remains short but usually is still there in the fariway someway like a well hit 4 iron.

It really depends on how hard the ground is...

I took some lead tape and taped about 15 layers on it's bottom back to get a lower center of weight which raised the ball flight slightly and increased the swingweight...

I just carry this iron, when it is very dry and windy.

But my alternative now is a Mizuno fli-hi 2 iron with 18° loft and tons of lead tape that is also very comfortable to play and goes as precise and far when it's less dry and windy.

That's really a nice club and much more forgiving and fun.

I can really recommend this one.

After reading your post, I am keeping it in the trunk for the windy day that will be coming my way...when having fun will be enhanced by doing something new instead of trying to score the best I can.

I am now going to check the forecast for windy days coming this next week

Still carry a 1, Vision FS. Great for playing here on the shore where most shots need to be low due to the off-shore winds. I also keep it for good practice use, helps with swinging the woods

I had a Ping one iron cut down to nine iron length. Comes in handy when I need to hit a low shot under trees. Even use it around the green when the grass is too long for my putter.

It would seem I am one of the few people who carry a 1 Iron. I tend to believe that irons offer more accuracy that woods so I'm happy to have it in the bag and I use it a few times per round depending on the wind. Of course it is going to be hard to hit if you already struggle with the low irons. Can't say I find the notion off putting myself.

yes i play with the dci gold 1 iron and hit it about 260 all day i will not take it out of my bag and it is nearly 20 years old what a peach when driving with it