Have you ever hit a 1-Iron?

[ctyankee]

I would have no shot hitting that Tempo 1 iron. None whatsoever.

[LBlack14]

I just sold a PING Eye 2 1 iron and shipped it out today. Have a Tommy Armour Ti100 1 iron with a TA stiff graphite shaft if anybody's interested.

[Golfaway]

I currently have a Mizuno MP Fli Hi 2 iron in my bag, and I really regret getting it. I have a lot of trouble hitting it even off the tee. It's marevelous for low punch shots under the trees or even under the bushes. Much easier to punch than, say, a 5 iron, due to the very open club face. Other than that it really has no use in my bag. I just like the professional look of the MP line (the cut muscle) and it's always there sitting tempting me to try hitting it and regreting after it.

[Parker0065]

I carried a Hogan Apex (Blade) 1-iron from 1988 to 2000 and used it quite often, usually once per round. I normally used it off the tee on tight par-4's, aproach shots to par-5's, or real long par-3's. The ball flight for me was just slightly lower than my 3-iron and I hit it around 230yds.


The best shot I ever hit with it I also won a $5 bet on the shot. My brother and I were playing a round with our cousin who had never played with us before. We came to this extremely long 235yd par-3. I pull out my 1-iron and my cousin says "your hitting a 1-iron, I'll bet you $5 you won't even come close to the green". My brother tried to save him and said "I wouldn't bet him if I were you, he's pretty good with that club". But he insisted he wanted to bet. I was more than comfortable hitting the club but the shot I hit was a little extra special. It never left the flag, landed 5 feet short of the hole, almost rolled in and finished 18 inches past the cup. My cousin almost fell over and my brother and I laughed all the way to the green! Sweetest $5 I ever earned,,,lol!

[Dartguy]

There were a few years in the 90's when I didn't carry a wood in my bag. I couldn't hit them, probably mental. I had a cheap Wilson 1-iron that I could kill. I would hit it 260+. One day a friend on the 18th said if I could hit it over a hill, he would by me a drink at the clubhouse. I swung as hard as I could, and it measured 318!

I later got a Ping Eye 2 1 and 2 iron. Loved them both. I am 6'3" so I decided to lengthen my irons by an inch. I added 2.5 inches to the 1-iron, and it became unhittable. About that time, I found some confidence in a driver, so the old 1 got put in the old-club bag. I still carry the 2 iron, but hardly ever use it.

[PhilsRHman]

Sounds familiar -- for the first several years of playing I was hopeless with driver and not much better with 3 wood. I found a 2 iron that I hit incredibly well. When I got a new set of irons, decided to get a 1 iron with it. It was impossible to hit, so I stuck with the old set's 2 iron.

I've still got the 1 iron and it's in great shape, for obvious reasons. I actually like to use it now as a training aid. I'll bring it to the range and hit a few dozen balls with it. You might be able to sit and hit pretty 7 irons all day, but the 1 iron takes your practice to a whole new level. The slightest breakdown in your swing will create the ugliest shots of your life -- plus the sting in your hands on a mishit is a good reinforcement.

There's no doubt that hybrids and more hittable woods have brought our scores down, but there's something romantic and comforting about trying to hit that 1 iron, and I swear, there's no sweeter view in golf than a crisply hit long iron, flying on a low/boring trajectory, with a little draw at the end.

[Happy Dragon]

I carried it for years, they were not uncommon in Kansas. Blade? Uh yeah, not a lot of room back there. You needed to hang on or it would sting your hands.

That looks like the same club Old Tom Morris used to putt with.

Intimidating!

[Paulbee]

Carried a 1-iron for a while. Great weapon to have if you're hitting them well. Not so good if you're not.

Back in 1647, when I was a young man, I bought a set of Jack Nicklaus instructional videos. One of the tapes was about the long game and one of the lessons was on the 1-iron, which Jack hit as good as anybody in his day.

Eventually the tape gets to the bit where Jack was going to show us "how to hit a 1-iron high" .

Kind of lost interest at that point.

Great rewards if you can master the 1-iron.

[ks8829]

a friend gave me a Ping eye 2 BeCu 1 iron that I was hitting off the tee and sometime from the fairway, but I have not tried that for over 10 years especially since the hybrids and improved fairway woods.

[k2theablam]

I own a 0 iron. It's a Tommy Armour 845 cavity back that came with the set when I bought it locally. I also have the matching 1-3 irons to boot. I highly doubt I'll ever use them though.

[misty_mountainhop]

I hit, or let's say at least tried hitting a 1 iron. A Callaway X-14 cavity back 1 iron (I didn't even know there were X-14 1 irons) and all my tries went in vain. Hit it off the tee, all I could get was wrist pain and no more than 50 yards with severe left and right ball flight.

With (some) respect (don't take it personally as there are other similar remarks here),

IT isn't useless......I suspect you might have something to do with it. Why on Earth would you think that as a 28 hcp. player, you could hit a 1-iron properly? I would say that if you can hit anything over a 4-iron, consistently well, that is the mark of a good swing....and I don't include hybrids in this.

[James_Black]

I own a 0 iron. It's a Tommy Armour 845 cavity back that came with the set when I bought it locally. I also have the matching 1-3 irons to boot. I highly doubt I'll ever use them though.

Thought John Daly was the only person to own one?

Did they release them to the public? edit: A 1-iron has 15-16 degrees of loft. What loft would a 0 iron have?

[max power]

A 1-iron has 15-16 degrees of loft.

A modern 1 iron might be 15* or 16*, but traditional 1 irons were 17* or 18* (equivalent of modern 2 iron).

[ND Fan]

When I was playing a lot it was my go to club. I loved that thing it was the epitome of a butter knife. I think the model was a Cleveland 788 that thing looked less like a golf club and more like a putty knife but it was absolutely solid. I still have but see no need for it any more as my 16 degree hybrid is much more versatile.

[bunkerputt]

I used to be afraid of anything lower than a 4-iron. Now I think I've got the speed to hit something like this, but I think it would take an old wound ball. The balls nowadays aren't designed for these clubs. I remember Tiger saying he took his college 1-iron to the range and couldn't get it up in the air. He couldn't figure out how he used to hit it. Then he tried an old sleeve of Titleist professionals and the ball soared. You gotta have the ball match the club to get it up in the air. One of my favorite shots to see, though completely useless, is a 3-iron stinger with a ladies ball. It shoots off ultra low and then climbs like an F-14. It's good for turning heads at the range. That's about it.

[James_Black]

I used to be afraid of anything lower than a 4-iron. Now I think I've got the speed to hit something like this, but I think it would take an old wound ball. The balls nowadays aren't designed for these clubs. I remember Tiger saying he took his college 1-iron to the range and couldn't get it up in the air. He couldn't figure out how he used to hit it. Then he tried an old sleeve of Titleist professionals and the ball soared. You gotta have the ball match the club to get it up in the air. One of my favorite shots to see, though completely useless, is a 3-iron stinger with a ladies ball. It shoots off ultra low and then climbs like an F-14. It's good for turning heads at the range. That's about it.

How is it useless? Wouldn't it have a good bit of distance and would stop/spin back on greens?

[bunkerputt]

How is it useless?

Ballooning is a loss of distance. You are right, it would probably land softly, but I can float a Pro V1 with the same swing, better distance, still lands softly, doesn't get affected by the wind (Texas) and gives me better control around the greens. The ladies balls are cool to look at when they fly away, but that's about it. I don't play a ball because it looks cool, I play it because it helps me score. Obviously nothing in golf is completely useless, so maybe I mis-spoke. I should have said the costs don't outweigh the benefits.

[cougar978]

I got a used Ping Zing 2 1-iron a few years ago just to see how it would perform on the course - it's now used to poke the cats out from under the bed.