Hey guys,
I am reviving this thread--it was actually the #1 result on google when searching "most forgiving irons". Well done.
Anyway, I am also a newer player, picking up the game about 4 months ago. While I have practiced and improved dramatically, I am not hitting the dead center of the club every time, in fact this probably happens on 20-30% of my swings. I am fortunate to have my practice facility inside of a very large golf store, where I can demo any club. Almost all their employees are golfers, including a few low handicappers, and they all recommended the Taylormade Burner Plus irons.
I also tried the Burner 2.0, R11's, Callaway black "X" series. I was told that Mizuno are a little harder to hit. They didn't have any competitively priced Ping clubs of comparable level.
On Ebay you can get yourself a set for around $200. I paid $300 but it included customization; shortening, lie angle, new grips, as well as the exceptional customer service I receive in general from being there every day practicing at their range and will continue to do so.
The other clubs were not "bad", in fact I liked everything I tried. I just found that the Burner Plus was the most forgiving. By this, I mean there are many times that I can feel I didn't hit it square, or even close to it, yet the ball still travels straight and almost the distance I was hoping for. I hit a lot of good shots with the other clubs, the Pluses just gave me the best shots on my poorer swings. On the course, this will save a lot of strokes.
