I have had two iron sets thus far, both being titleist irons, the 710MB and then the 2021 edition t100. Both irons are amazing and I would happily play both any day of the week. Both iron shafts are identical and the sets are the same length and swing weight is the same.
looks- the top line looks almost identical for both the t100 and the 710mbs, however the blade length is significantly shorter on the mbs which to me is more appealing to look at, as the aim small miss small saying I find can hold true, even with ball striking. The toe section on the MB is higher and I love the face profile as it is a more triangular shape than the t100 which almost has a more rounded profile. When looking down at the t100 especially with longer irons I can see the back of the iron which in my head makes it seem like a driving iron of sorts and encourages me to hit a straighter shot whereas with the 710mb I tend to shape the ball a lot more.
Performance and feel- it goes without saying, the t100 is a incredibly forgiving iron in comparison to the 710MB, when hitting on track man, a 3 mm change in strike resulted in around 7 yards of carry difference with the 710mbs, and I would have a significantly larger standard deviation between distances, the largest difference was the dispersion being vertical distance rather than horizontal. With the t100 my dispersion is a lot tighter, with almost every shot hitting the same total distance, slight change in carry depending on the strike.
The shot shaping is a lot different as well, with the 710 MB I had a tendency to draw the ball but the blades tend to have a mist straighter ball flight, as a result my iron play has improved significantly.
However, the feel when you hit it with the blades is like no other, there is a much more consistent feel across the face with the t100 but also there is not as good feedback as to when I hit it centre. I had to get a feel for it and develop that feel but with the blades the feedback was immediate. The sound of the blades is much more of a thud while it sounds more tinny off the face of the t100.
The blade face feels much softer than the t100, however, the soft feeling quckly decreases the further from the sweet spot and the feedback is much harsher.(not a bad thing), I found heel shots however felt better than toed misses with the 710mb.
The t100 had an opposite feel, toed shots were much better feeling and the feeling when hit from the centre was felt even when I didn’t hit it centre. The feedback to me was done through sound and less feel. Only large misses would have a different feel while with the slight misses, the feedback was sound based. A deeper sound when hit central.
Turf interaction and sole-
All praise goes to the t100 for its sole and turf interaction, for a more forgiving iron, the thinner sole means that the turf interaction is incredible, I feel like I can hit many different shots with minimal digging, which was an issue I saw with the 710mbs. Fat shots would be greater exaggerated with the 710s and out the rough the club would get caught and dig a lot more.
Numbers-
The t100s blow the blades out the water in all categories but spin, my dispersion was tighter, with 7 yards farther carry on average, and the noticeable distance was better gapping especially with longer irons, this both being due to faster ball speeds and more forgiveness and consistency with the t100. The blades would spin more and both would launch in similar windows but I would be reaching 3-6mph on average faster ball speeds with the t100.
While numerically the t100 simply are the better iron, the feel of the 710mbs are unmatched, I feel any blade just simply looks amazing but I play my better golf when using the t100 and they look very similar when looking down. If anyone has any suggestions as to an iron which fits inbetween the two please let me know!
