Recommendations for a Driving Iron

[John Bachman]

I was looking for something to carry to replace my CLK hybrid. It’s a great club but I just hit it too far to use in place of a 3 iron no matter how I adjust it. I play the MP20 MMCs, 4-PW so I just got the MP20 HMB 3 iron. I’m hoping it will help. It looks and works more like an iron. I’ll just change the loft weaker on my 3 wood to help with gapping. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by John Bachman

[Mr_Theoo]

Gapr lo if you can find one. I used it last time I played with @MattF and was able to attack par 5s with it quite well

[jestein16]

I use a Cobra King sz 4 iron as a driving iron.  Has a i95 aerofiber shaft in it.  Best decision ever and probably my best weapon.  I can hit it anywhere, off the tee, out of the rough.  It’s a game improvement club so it’s super forgiving and ridiculously long.  I always feel super confident when it’s in my hands.  Got the idea from fowler who at some point was playing a f9 as a driving iron.  If your a cobra guy should def try one.  

[jestein16]

Also I’m not sure if the king utility and forged tec irons are any different since they look exactly the same, but I play the forged tec and the speed zone I suggested is a million times more forgiving and much longer.  I’m a 1.2 index and I wouldn’t want to use my four iron forged tec as my driving iron. Try the speedzone or radspeed.  I wouldn’t play them for anything less than a driving iron personally but you will be amazed how easy they are to hit and how long they are.  It’s a perfect driving iron.

[dropduble]

SIM UDI 18*

[Headhammer]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. An additional question; since I will use the club mostly as a driving iron would you recommend staying with the same shaft in my irons or go up to the beefier shat in my woods?

[kikbuti]

I play a 19-degree Ping G400 3-iron Regular flex.  The sole is wider than my Ping G Max irons and it's weighted.  I rarely have a miss with this club from the rough, fairway or tee.  My miss rate with hybrids was unacceptable costing too many strokes.  10 years ago, I played a 19-degree Titleist 503-H Stiff Flex.  It was prone to the occasional hook like other hybrids.  That doesn't happen with the Ping G400 crossover.

I am a 20-handicap senior.  Hybrids just don't work for me.  I notice other seniors struggle from the rough with hybrids and fairway woods.  They're called fairway woods for a reason.  To save strokes, get a crossover iron, take your medicine, and hit it down the fairway for an easy up and down.

[jestein16]

Re shaft, it’s always hard to generalize what will work for someone else.  I play steel in my irons and went with with a graphite steelfiber i95.  It’s only about 10 grams lighter than my steel shafts in my irons so not to big an adjustment.  If you put a graphite in I would recommend something close to the weight in your current irons (within 10-20 grams lighter.)  Personally I couldn’t be happier with shaft and club.  If you go with the speedzone, you can buy direct from cobra and an upgraded graphite shaft will only cost you between 15-50 dollars more.  The speedzone single irons are on sale for $86 so the whole thing is also going cheaper than a titleist utility iron.  I’ve only hit 2 other utility irons but there’s no way I would trade anything for my speedzone.  It’s just so easy to hit.

[paul6057]

On 10/28/2021 at 6:46 PM, Headhammer said:

As the title says I'm thinking about adding a driving iron to my bag. I like my hybrids from the deck, but not off a tee box with a tight landing area or coming out of a shoot. Right now my longest iron is a 5 and I hit it about 190 off the tee. It is my goto club when faced with a tight line off the tee, but I would like to get a little more distance. I feel more in control with an iron so I'm looking for an easy to hit & control iron. Whatcha got?

This sounds a lot like me. My longest set iron is a 5 carrying about the same as you, then I carry two hybrids at 19 and 24 degrees, and then I'm currently using a P790 UDI 2 iron. I loved it at first, then went out of love with it for a while. The struggle I had was the head felt very light, so I've added some lead tape to it and I've been enjoying it again. Standard carry with that is around 215, but I use it to hit a lot of knockdown shots. If the ground is firm though, it can roll out to 260+ as it goes like a bullet.

 

Before that I used an MP H4 Mizuno driving iron, which, being a Mizuno, looked and felt great. Bit of a chunky head in comparison to the P790 UDI though. They had metal shafts in them though, and so I switched to the TaylorMade because I wanted to try something with graphite and less weight.

[dropduble]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:37 PM, vagabon68 said:

Got a Taylormade 790 2 udi. Don’t use it due to beyond my skills lol. I would be willing to part with 

Pics?  Might be interested!

 

[CRW]

I’m using the New Level utility and have been happy with it. I had the P790 UDI last year and they perform similarly for me. The New Level has a slightly wider sole, but they narrow the head as it approaches the top line so it doesn’t look wide at address. 

https://www.newlevelgolf.com/online-store/NLU-01-Utility-Irons-p227515327

 

[vagabon68]

On 11/23/2021 at 4:46 PM, dropduble said:

Pics?  Might be interested!

 

I will get some tomorrow for you 

[vandyland]

For those of you that have a driving iron and a hybrid, do you feel like (off a tee) the driving iron is more accurate? I know a hybrid has more spin so it (if the lofts are equal) will hold a green better but I really just want an accurate 220 yd club off the tee for a few tight (30 yd landing zone) holes I play. My hybrid is pretty accurate but, as everyone has mentioned, has the ability to hook and I cannot really ever get it to fade. 

[RollingGreens]

I’ve used the cobra utility in the past and I wasn’t much of a fan.  Was interested in the sub70 driving iron because of the various shaft options. I currently have a 4 iron in the hot metal lineup and love it. Although for the sake of tinkering I thought of changing to a hybrid/driving iron shaft in the 4 iron

[CRW]

2 hours ago, vandyland said:

For those of you that have a driving iron and a hybrid, do you feel like (off a tee) the driving iron is more accurate? I know a hybrid has more spin so it (if the lofts are equal) will hold a green better but I really just want an accurate 220 yd club off the tee for a few tight (30 yd landing zone) holes I play. My hybrid is pretty accurate but, as everyone has mentioned, has the ability to hook and I cannot really ever get it to fade. 

I am more accurate with the driving iron on average but that is because I have a tendency to hook hybrids.  I think I've had a terrible mis-hit 1 time this year with my driving iron.  Last year and early this year I had a ton of terrible mis-hits with my hybrid.  It might be the specific hybrid I had, but I've had bad experiences in the past so I tend to avoid them most of the time.

[Donn lost in San Diego]

Try Mizuno.  I bot a MP 18 MMC Fli Hi 3 iron, fitted to a Recoil shaft.  Works good for me.  Hit lo stingers off the deck, or hit regular lofted shot, and off the tee is good for 80% of my driver distance and no slice.  I bot it cuz I already had an older Mizuno Fli Hi 24degree that is a GFF.  The new ones are not GFF but Miz is good with their metallurgy. 

[Kocher Clamp]

I use a Hogan UiHi , it’s my favorite iron most of the days when I go out.

[Stugotz]

Wait a few months and be sure to demo the Mizuno 2022 FliHi Driving irons.  Mizuno released this video yesterday 11/28/21   2 thru 4 

 

[BMart519]

8 hours ago, vandyland said:

For those of you that have a driving iron and a hybrid, do you feel like (off a tee) the driving iron is more accurate? I know a hybrid has more spin so it (if the lofts are equal) will hold a green better but I really just want an accurate 220 yd club off the tee for a few tight (30 yd landing zone) holes I play. My hybrid is pretty accurate but, as everyone has mentioned, has the ability to hook and I cannot really ever get it to fade. 

A driving iron will always have the advantage of a flat face vs the bulge and roll on a hybrid to help lateral dispersion. The driving iron CG is closer to the face than on a hybrid due to the head size, this also reduces gear effect on strikes away from CG. Looking at my own data I consider my dispersion with my driving iron to be around 40 yards on most shots versus 50-55 for a hybrid. This excludes my worst misses. 

[ncwoz]

On 10/30/2021 at 9:09 AM, Headhammer said:

Thanks for all the great suggestions. An additional question; since I will use the club mostly as a driving iron would you recommend staying with the same shaft in my irons or go up to the beefier shat in my woods?

I've been playing a Ben Hogan UiHi with a steel shaft in it, and am likely going to find a nice graphite shaft for it this off-season. Steel feels a bit heavy to me at that length, and I'm also more concerned with distance with that club, because it's nearly exclusively a tee ball club for me. 

Finding a good graphite option hasn't been the most straightforward for me though, so there is that to consider as well.