How to choose the best golf irons for your game

How to choose the best type of golf irons for your game

Don’t buy new golf irons until you’ve read this guide to the key things you should be considering when choosing the right set.

Many golfers take great care in selecting the perfect driver but plough on with a set of hand-me-down irons they’ve had for a decade. Considering you’re likely to hit your driver 14 times in a round, at most, and hit 25-40 iron shots, it makes sense to put a lot of care into choosing the best golf irons for your game. A set of irons also makes up the largest chunk of your golf bag (likely at least half of the clubs in your bag will be irons) and can be the most expensive golf equipment you buy, with many brand-new sets retailing well into four figures.

We’ve tested thousands of irons over the years so we’re well-placed to talk you through the different types of golf irons and what you should be looking for when choosing your next set.

Choosing the right type of iron for your game

There are five main categories of golf iron:

Blades

Blade golf clubs have small, thin heads, designed to offer great looks, feel, and control.

Blades typically have weak, traditional lofts (34° or even 35° for a 7-iron) and produce good spin rates but less distance than other types of golf iron.

Don’t expect as much forgiveness or help with launch as you get from other golf irons.

Blade golf irons are typically used by very good golfers, but it’s worth noting that even many of the world’s best golfers don’t play blades these days, preferring irons that offer a little more ‘help’ on less-than-perfect strikes.

See our test of the best blade golf clubs, sometimes known as muscleback irons.

Players’ irons

Players’ irons are typically aimed at low handicappers to elite golfers, with many tour pros choosing to use models from this category. They have many similar characteristics to blades (small heads, weak lofts, nice looks) but often have a little more technology packed in to boost distance and/or forgiveness slightly.

If you strike your irons consistently well and don’t need much help with distance or forgiveness, the best players’ irons could be for you. Make no mistake, though, there are far more forgiving and distance-boosting irons available in other categories.

Players’ distance irons

A hugely popular category of iron, spearheaded by the TaylorMade P790, players’ distance irons pack a lot of distance and forgiveness into head shapes that still look great. Their versatility makes them popular with high handicappers all the way down to elite golfers.

The best players’ distance irons will typically create more speed and distance than blades or players’ irons, and whilst they may not generate quite as much spin, the high launch helps shots hold greens.

Mid-handicap/game-improvement irons

These hugely versatile irons offer plenty of distance and forgiveness in a package that still looks and feels nice, albeit perhaps not as sleek as the categories we’ve already mentioned.

The best mid-handicap irons are incredibly versatile and can be used by high-handicap golfers who are competent ball strikers all the way down to very low handicappers who value extra forgiveness over looks.

High-handicap/slow swing speed irons

These irons tend to be the most forgiving and produce the most distance. Their bigger, chunky heads are packed with technology to make it as easy as possible for golfers of all abilities to get the ball airborne and heading in the right direction. They won’t win any awards purely on looks or feel, but if you struggle to hit irons well, the best high-handicap irons could help you.

Cast vs. forged irons

There are two ways that lumps of metal are turned into something that looks like a golf iron.

The first is a process known as ‘forging’, in which a single piece of steel is stamped under massive force into the correct shape. Forged irons are more traditional and are historically perceived as offering the softest feel.

The other option is ‘casting’, in which the metal is melted down and poured into a cast, forming the correct shape as it resolidifies. Cast irons tend to be more hardwearing and enable manufacturers to be more creative with shapes and technology.

Some modern irons come with forged faces but cast bodies, which attempt to offer the soft feel of forging coupled with the technology that can be packed into a cast head.

Nowadays, it tends to be blades and some players’ irons that are forged, with the majority of other irons being cast.

The question of cast vs forged is unlikely to be the deciding factor in choosing the best irons for your game as there’s no tangible performance difference, but it’s good to understand the two.

What does offset do in golf irons?

Offset sets the face of the club back slightly from the hosel, which helps golfers square the face at impact.

Generally, irons aimed at better players will have less offset, while irons aimed at beginners and high handicappers will have the most offset.

Iron lofts and distances

There are no standard lofts when it comes to irons. A traditional, blade-style 7-iron for instance, might have a loft of 34-36°, while a powerful game-improvement 7-iron might be as low as 27° in loft. But both will have a ‘7’ stamped on the bottom.

The loft is a key factor in distance, which is why irons aimed at higher handicappers (who typically want more distance) tend to have stronger lofts. These strong-lofted irons have heads packed with a low center of gravity to enable high launch despite the low loft.

Unlike when buying a golf driver, maximizing distance isn’t the main thing to consider when choosing irons. Instead, there are two things you should be looking for…

First, you want to ensure the irons you’re considering carry the distances you want and don’t leave any big yardage gaps between clubs.        

Secondly, distance consistency will make a huge difference to your performance on the course. Having an unforgiving iron that loses 30 yards of carry distance on your mis-hits will leave you finding greenside bunkers and water hazards, whereas an iron that generates more consistent distances will get you close to pin-high more often and scoring better.

The longest and shortest iron in your set

The most common set of irons might contain seven clubs, 4-iron down to pitching wedge, but it’s not unusual to see a different set make-up.

Nowadays, many golfers are ditching long irons in favor of hybrids or fairway woods, so a set of irons starting at 5-iron or even 6-iron can work better for them.

At the opposite end of the bag, some golfers may want a gap wedge, sand wedge, or even lob wedge as part of their iron set. Others prefer to buy specialist wedges instead, but if you love your irons and want your wedges to match, there’s nothing to stop you doing that.

Read our guide on how to choose whether long irons, hybrids, or fairway woods are right for you.

We’ve also got an article on how to choose the best golf wedges for your game and course.

Shaft flex

The shaft is often referred to as the ‘engine’ of the club. Shafts come in different weights and flexes, and getting a shaft that matches your swing speed and tempo will make life a lot easier.

Generally speaking, golfers with faster swings will want a heavier shaft with stiffer flex, while those lacking speed will want a more lightweight shaft with softer flex.

The best way to ensure you get iron shafts that work well for you is via a custom fitting.

A good custom fitting will also ensure you get the right length shafts. Generally, taller golfers will need longer shafts and vice versa, but it’s a bit more sophisticated than that as it depends on how you deliver the club at impact, so a fitting is well worthwhile before buying a set of irons.

SUBSCRIBE TO TODAY’S GOLFER: Print and Digital access, discounts and rewards!

About the author

Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor

Rob has been a writer and editor for over 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.

He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.

You can follow him on YouTube where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.

Rob is a member at Royal North Devon, England’s oldest golf club, where he plays off a three-handicap.