Callaway Paradym Irons - 2023 Forum Review

[cksurfdude]

On 6/30/2023 at 3:26 PM, Golf2Much said:

.. still struggle getting the height and ball rotation with the Paradym X's 

Tried them at a demo day earlier this season, and not for me either... (fwiw also 67 and not a high speed swinger)

Raw carry distance was good BUT trajectory, height, spin all were decidedly *not*. And yeah there was a LOT of rollout.

Cannot say if this was part of my problem with it, but there's a large slug of tungsten all the way out in the toe and I felt like I had trouble properly rotating the face back towards square at impact...

Obviously YMMV so am happy for those who had success with these!!

[MattWillGolf]

I broke out my PXG 0211 irons as a comparison five months out. And granted the lofts of the Paradym X irons are stronger, I hit the clubs based on loft rather than the number on the sole. Putting that aside, the Paradym X irons deliver a much higher ball flight and are definitely more forgiving on mishits. This has further cemented in my mind that the Paradym X irons are here to stay.

[Javs]

51 minutes ago, MattWillGolf said:

I broke out my PXG 0211 irons as a comparison five months out. And granted the lofts of the Paradym X irons are stronger, I hit the clubs based on loft rather than the number on the sole. Putting that aside, the Paradym X irons deliver a much higher ball flight and are definitely more forgiving on mishits. This has further cemented in my mind that the Paradym X irons are here to stay.

I did the same with my PXG Gen 5’s yesterday. I can also attest the Callaway  Paradyms were longer and more forgiving. 

[funkyjudge]

On 8/29/2023 at 2:04 PM, MattWillGolf said:

I broke out my PXG 0211 irons as a comparison five months out. And granted the lofts of the Paradym X irons are stronger, I hit the clubs based on loft rather than the number on the sole. Putting that aside, the Paradym X irons deliver a much higher ball flight and are definitely more forgiving on mishits. This has further cemented in my mind that the Paradym X irons are here to stay.

I have hit my Cobra King Forged TEC X irons a few times and even hit my Tour Edge Exotics C721 or C722 irons, which I had played for a couple of years prior to getting the Cobras. I hit those other irons reasonably well, but I still prefer the Paradyms and thus they stay in my bag.

Edited October 10, 2023 by funkyjudge

[Javs]

Wanted to post a late season update on the Callaway Paradym irons. First off, they are absolutely still in my bag! They continue to be the best irons I have hit. These are definitely a player’s distance iron. They are forgiving and wow do they go far! However, when I am swinging well they are like throwing lawn darts at the pin. This has been evident by my handicap dropping from a 5 to a .09. Additionally, there have been several rounds in the 60’s. Key rounds were 63, 64, 65 and many more. The performance has been amazing. The confidence these irons have inspired have transformed my game. Yes, I am now retired and have more time to devote to practice and playing, but the technology and added distance have made the road to improvement easier. Bottom line, these irons have secured their place in my bag. They performed so well that I purchased a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver. This was the longest driver I have hit to date. I want to thank My Golf Spy, all the great Mods and Callaway for the opportunity to test and review these irons! This was my first testing and hopefully I was able to pass on quality feedback to my fellow forum members. Any questions and I would do my best to provide you with answers. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

2 hours ago, Javs said:

Wanted to post a late season update on the Callaway Paradym irons. First off, they are absolutely still in my bag! They continue to be the best irons I have hit. These are definitely a player’s distance iron. They are forgiving and wow do they go far! However, when I am swinging well they are like throwing lawn darts at the pin. This has been evident by my handicap dropping from a 5 to a .09. Additionally, there have been several rounds in the 60’s. Key rounds were 63, 64, 65 and many more. The performance has been amazing. The confidence these irons have inspired have transformed my game. Yes, I am now retired and have more time to devote to practice and playing, but the technology and added distance have made the road to improvement easier. Bottom line, these irons have secured their place in my bag. They performed so well that I purchased a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver. This was the longest driver I have hit to date. I want to thank My Golf Spy, all the great Mods and Callaway for the opportunity to test and review these irons! This was my first testing and hopefully I was able to pass on quality feedback to my fellow forum members. Any questions and I would do my best to provide you with answers. 

Thanks for the "late" season update. That is some impressive gain in the handicap.  As I'm sure you well know, going from a 5 to a scratch is much harder than going from a 10 to 5 or a 20 to 15 etc.   Some awesome scores in there.

And while I did move on from my Paradyms, certainly not for performance reasons, but due to the incoming T Series, I can say my buddy who purchased the irons and FW at the same time I did, is still gaming his and dong quite well.   He hit a 3 wood yesterday on a par 5 during a scramble round, that we knew had no chance of reaching the green 282 out according to the GPS. But we figured we'd be left with 60 yards or so.   He absolutely nutted it and we got up there to find we were 30 yards out.  We gave him a bit of a hard time for not being able to manage those last 30 yards....LOL

[Shrek74]

4 hours ago, Javs said:

Wanted to post a late season update on the Callaway Paradym irons. First off, they are absolutely still in my bag! They continue to be the best irons I have hit. These are definitely a player’s distance iron. They are forgiving and wow do they go far! However, when I am swinging well they are like throwing lawn darts at the pin. This has been evident by my handicap dropping from a 5 to a .09. Additionally, there have been several rounds in the 60’s. Key rounds were 63, 64, 65 and many more. The performance has been amazing. The confidence these irons have inspired have transformed my game. Yes, I am now retired and have more time to devote to practice and playing, but the technology and added distance have made the road to improvement easier. Bottom line, these irons have secured their place in my bag. They performed so well that I purchased a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver. This was the longest driver I have hit to date. I want to thank My Golf Spy, all the great Mods and Callaway for the opportunity to test and review these irons! This was my first testing and hopefully I was able to pass on quality feedback to my fellow forum members. Any questions and I would do my best to provide you with answers. 

Have you found any issues with holding greens with the more pressed lofts? I think the irons are supposed to still shoot the ball high due to the tungsten and all of that, but I was just curious to know if you've noticed anything with peak height, descent angles, spin, etc if there have been any issues with stopping power at all.

[Javs]

3 hours ago, Shrek74 said:

Have you found any issues with holding greens with the more pressed lofts? I think the irons are supposed to still shoot the ball high due to the tungsten and all of that, but I was just curious to know if you've noticed anything with peak height, descent angles, spin, etc if there have been any issues with stopping power at all.

Great question: no the lofts are stronger, but the flight is high and spinning enough to hold greens just fine. In fact, I went to a lower spinning ball. I can still back it up just fine with every iron in the bag. The PW and AW do exactly what I want them to do on shorter shots. I can still hit the low spinning shots to get the one hop and stop. Plus, remember I am now hitting less loft farther. Example: today I hit an 8 iron with a draw to a back left pin at 175 to 2 feet. I hope that answered your question. 

[Shrek74]

Great question: no the lofts are stronger, but the flight is high and spinning enough to hold greens just fine. In fact, I went to a lower spinning ball. I can still back it up just fine with every iron in the bag. The PW and AW do exactly what I want them to do on shorter shots. I can still hit the low spinning shots to get the one hop and stop. Plus, remember I am now hitting less loft farther. Example: today I hit an 8 iron with a draw to a back left pin at 175 to 2 feet. I hope that answered your question. 

That's great to hear. I worry about this with all the pressed lofts on the market these days. These may be on my list for fitting come May.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[Javs]

2 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

That's great to hear. I worry about this with all the pressed lofts on the market these days. These may be on my list for fitting come May.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 

I would give them a look!

[funkyjudge]

3 hours ago, Shrek74 said:

Have you found any issues with holding greens with the more pressed lofts? I think the irons are supposed to still shoot the ball high due to the tungsten and all of that, but I was just curious to know if you've noticed anything with peak height, descent angles, spin, etc if there have been any issues with stopping power at all.

I will absolutely second what JAVS posted regarding the Paradym irons (I was the other tester for the standard Paradyms). I hit the Paradym irons plenty high with plenty of backspin, and find that even the 5-iron provides great stopping power on the greens. In my match today, I hit approach shots with everything from the 6i to the PW that stopped within a couple of feet of my pitch marks.

One other thing — my GHIN Handicap has dropped from 16.8 to 14.3 since this April when I started using the Paradyms and my league handicap in the statewide NJ Senior Men’s Golf League has dropped all the way from 18 to 12 since I started playing these irons (the league has its own weighted handicap system that does not follow USGA or World Handicap guidelines, and I have had a lot of scores in the low 80s from mid-season through today).

Edited October 10, 2023 by funkyjudge

[Shrek74]

I will absolutely second what JAVS posted regarding the Paradym irons (I was the other tester for the standard Paradyms). I hit the Paradym irons plenty high with plenty of backspin, and find that even the 5-iron provides great stopping power on the greens. In my match today, I hit approach shots with everything from the 6i to the PW that stopped within a couple of feet of my pitch marks.
One other thing — my GHIN Handicap has dropped from 16.8 to 14.3 since this April when I started using the Paradyms and my league handicap in the statewide NJ Senior Men’s Golf League has dropped all the way from 18 to 12 since I started playing these irons (the league has its own weighted handicap system that does not follow USGA or World Handicap guidelines, and I have had a lot of scores in the low 80s from mid-season through today).

Love to hear it. And congrats on the super drop in your handicap. That's awesome.
I saw TXG just fit one of their viewers into the Paradym irons and it was pretty obvious to the others tested.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[MuniGolfer]

On 4/3/2023 at 11:07 PM, funkyjudge said:

INTRODUCTION:  

On this forum most know me as “funkyjudge” (it’s a nickname given to me by my former boss and later business partner of 11+ years; don’t ask, it’s not that interesting how he came up with that nickname). As a few forum members who were regulars at the original Golf Equipment Aficianados (4GEA.com, where I was a moderator) know, my real name is Doug and I have been a golf equipment “junkie” for at least 35 years.  I am currently 74 years old and have been playing this great game of golf for about four decades.

I live in Bucks County, PA (about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia, and 10 miles from Trenton, NJ, but I grew up in Western NY State (near Buffalo), and lived in NY City from the late 1970s through the early 1980s.  My “home” golf course is Makefield Hghlands Golf Club in Yardley, PA, and I play for their “Challenge Cup” team that plays matches against other clubs in the area (PA and NJ).  I also play for teams at two other golf courses in Eastern PA and Central NJ.

In a former life (1990s to early 2000s), I worked for Golfsmith International. I started out working in the golf retail division, and spent four years training clubfitters and club repair technicians who worked at the various Golfsmith superstores. During this time, I also worked in the Golfsmith equipment trailer (a/k/a “tour van”) at various stops on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours, plus at a few men’s and women’s major golf tournaments.  Following my days with Golfsmith, I went on to represent several OEM golf club and component manufacturers and although I am now semi-retired, I still hold the title of Fitter/Dealer with a few manufacturers (mostly high-end shaft companies), and do a limited amount of clubfitting and club building in my semi-retirement.

I am a bit better than a bogey golfer, with a current USGA Handicap Index that varies from 14-16 depending on the time of year and how much competitive golf I am playing (that Index actually dropped as low as an 11 in the last couple of years). I was once a single-digit handicapper, with an index as low as 6.5 to 8 from my 40s through about age 60.

Speaking of competitive golf, I play in several competitive golf leagues - including the statewide New Jersey Senior Men’s Golf League (my team has won three state championships in the 8+ years that I have played on the team). I also play on the John Caliendo Winter Golf Tour, which has been in existence for 54 years, and which currently has more than 150 members, including close to 40 PGA Professionals and several NCAA golf coaches. Not all of the competitive golf that I play is limited to senior golfers, as many events include golfers from 20-something years old to age 80+.

When I am not playing golf, I play music with two bands, and still do some recording sessions. I have written or co-written songs that have appeared on the “albums” of rock-and-roll and modern country artists, and I also play jazz, funk, R&B and blues music.  My main instrument is bass guitar, but I also play a variety of brass instruments (I played trombone and baritone horn in my college jazz ensemble).  In addition, I am a vocalist.  My wife and I also enjoy travel, both to play golf and to do non-golf things together, and we have visited more than 35 states domestically, most of Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and much of continental Europe.

My work history, in addition to the time that I worked for Golfsmith, was in the construction industry (management of a $1.5 billion international commercial construction company) and in the print and electronic media industry, including working for a magazine and website that served the private golf resort and country club industry.

I am very thankful for this opportunity to test the Callaway Paradym Irons, and look forward to providing thorough and valuable feedback on these irons to the mygolfspy.com community!

 

MY EXPECTTIONS FOR THIS TEST:

First and foremost, I am looking to fairly evaluate the performance of the new Paradym irons. Since I have specified my tester set with as near to identical specifications as I have in my 2021 Cobra King Forged Tec X irons (lengths, lie angles, shaft weight and flex), I should easily be able to evaluate the irons on an equal basis regarding performance.  These irons also have a similar construction to the custom-fitted set of Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons that I have been playing for nearly three years prior to receiving the Cobra irons from a fitter friend of mine about six weeks ago.

The timing of this test could not have been any better for me for a few reasons;

1. Our golf season is ramping-up into high gear with all leagues and competitions underway as of April 1.
2. My annual Myrtle Beach golf trip takes place from April 27 - May 4 this year, so I will have plenty of opportunities to play 18 to 36 holes per day with the irons.
3. My golf swing (or at least my iron swing) is in especially good shape right now, thanks to a full winter outdoor golfing schedule, plus playing in two indoor winter leagues on golf simulators.

WHAT WOULD CAUSE ME TO KEEP THESE IRONS IN MY BAG AS MY #1 SET?:

If these irons perform better than the Cobras, they will definitely make it into my bag on as "permanent" a basis as any clubs can have with me.  I go into this test with no lofty expectations, but I also enter the process with a completely open mind and will give the Paradym irons every opportunity to make it into the #1 position for me!

 

UNBOXING, IN-BAG PHOTOS, COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS:

Clubs arrived within the last hour; notifications from both Callaway and UPS, plus UPS tracking information and updates were both timely and accurate. Here’s a few photos.  In addition, I am adding photos showing the clubs in my bag, along with my observations and impressions based not only on the unboxing, but also on the measurements that I took on the clubs and frequency measurements on the HZRDUS Silver 75-S shafts:

Observations —

Callaway did a great job in assembling these irons to my requested specifications (1/2 to 1 degree flat, standard length in the 7 iron through AW, but 38” vs 38.25” in the 5 iron and 37.5” vs 37.625” for the 6 iron).  All irons are D1 swingweight, which is a bit light for me and is probably a factor in the stiffer than expected frequency numbers on these shafts — more on that later.

Packaging was extremely secure and well-supported/padded; better than I have seen from several other equipment manufacturers, who shall remain anonymous.

Now, regarding those shafts — HZRDUS shafts have a history and reputation for being stiffer than many other shafts of a similar weight and flex designation from other manufacturers, and these 75 gram graphite shafts are no exception to that trend. They frequency at about 40% stiffer than other similarly-weighted graphite iron shafts, including KBS Tour Graphite Iron (TGI) 80-S shafts. The D1 swingweights on these irons may have something to do with this phenomenon, as the “industry standard” for measuring a shaft’s butt frequency is a D3 swingweight at “standard length” (eg - 38” long 5-iron). I suspect that adding a few strategically-placed strips of lead tape to the backs of these iron heads would make the irons play to a “standard stiff flex” for mid weight graphite iron shafts, but I definitely would not do that for the duration of the testing period, because not many people who buy these irons will have that option available to them, and I want to test the irons as they were built.

Overall, these are very good-looking irons, with just enough offset and a medium topline width (neither too thin, nor too thick). They have a very similar profile and size to the Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons that I played from January, 2021 until about 4 weeks ago, so I feel comfortable with the Paradym irons right out of the box. 

I was going to keep the Paradym irons out of my bag until I had an opportunity for a launch monitor test and evaluation plus one range session, but because I feel comfortable with the look and specs of this set of irons, they are staying in my bag and I will play them in tournaments tomorrow and on Saturday.

(more to follow; stay tuned)

 

 

Callaway Paradym X Irons – Official MGS Forum Review by Doug Mael (funkyjudge):

I also wish to thank both Callaway Golf and MyGolfSpy for providing this fantastic opportunity to test and play the new Paradym Irons; it has been both a blast and a great learning experience!

Just a brief refresher - As stated in my initial comments, I am currently a 15-handicapper (my USGA Handicap Index is exactly 15.0), and I am 74+ years old.  I played to a single-digit or a 10 handicap as recently as five years ago, but still I had some apprehensive thoughts regarding whether I am still a good enough golfer to game the standard Paradym iron model.  Those apprehensions were quickly put to rest within the first range session and round that I played with these irons.  If you have been following my many updates throughout the nearly (15) 18-hole rounds and (5) 9-hole rounds that I have played with these irons, you will see that I have shot rounds of 78, 84 and 80 while using the Paradyms, and my handicap index has dropped more than a full stroke since this test began.  To be fair, I have shot a few rounds in the 90s while using these irons, but very little of those higher scores had anything to do with the irons, with the exception of some iron shots that I hit over the greens or well past the pins to which I was playing (more on that later in this final review).

Virtually all testing of these irons was done on-course, following an initial "shake down cruise" at an all-grass practice range at the club (Makefield Highlands Golf Club in Yardley, PA), where I am a member and where I play about 1/3 of my competitive golf.  I am a Professional Clubfitter, and as such I not only have two personal launch monitors, but also have access to four $100,000+ launch monitors and simulators at Baylinks Golf in Newtown, PA, where I do much of my clubfitting work.  I did collect data both outdoors (at Makefield Highlands) and indoors (at Baylinks Golf) immediately after receiving the Paradym Irons.  In addition, I measured all aspects of these irons on my various gauges and frequency analyzing equipment prior to my first round with the clubs.  NOTE: All specifications as received out-of-the-box from Callaway were spot-on, or within 1/2*, and all swingweights and club lengths were 100% dead-on!

First Impressions: (19 out of 20)

As I said in the final paragraph above, I was greatly impressed with the quality and looks of these clubs, as well as the attention to detail in assembling the clubs to my slightly non-standard specifications.  The job that Callaway did in packing the clubs was also excellent (not quite a PXG or Sub 70 job of packaging, but far better than I have seen from many OEM golf club manufacturers.  There are photographs of the unboxing and the clubs in my Vessel golf bag on day one after receiving them within this post in my April 4, 2023 Initial Impressions, and there are more to come in this section of the Official Review.

Callaway Golf says the following about the Paradym Irons: "Distance irons are obviously long, but discerning players also want an exceptionally high level of feel. So why not have both in one club?"  I have found this to be 100% true in the case of the standard version of these Paradym Irons, and there will be more on this subject when I get to the portion of this Final Review entitled "The Numbers", as well as in the "On-Course" section.  Meanwhile, here are a couple of "beauty shots" of the irons in my bag (taken yesterday), as well as a couple different views of the 7-iron:

 

Aesthetics: (9 out of 10) 

As you can see from the photos above, and as you'll see in other photos which will follow, the Paradym Irons are certainly a thing of beauty.  I am not a fan of colors (other than black) in the cavity or on badging on golf irons, and that is where my one point deduction came from here.  However, they are good-looking clubs, and the blue section plus the three-section badging on the back of these irons would not prevent me from continuing to play the Paradym Irons.  I have played a variety of different Tour Edge Exotics "Player's Distance" irons, as well as Cobra's latest version of the King Forged Tec X irons in recent years, and I find those irons to have a slightly "cleaner" look, but the Forged Tec X irons are far too bulky and have more offset and a thicker topline than I prefer.  But, to be fair, the Forged Tec X is more of a direct competitor to the Paradym X model, so that's not a true "apples-to-apples" comparison!  Here's a few more views of the Paradym 7-iron behind the ball in my front yard's "rough", plus one without a ball from the top, and one showing the sole width; I think you'll agree that these have a contemporary "player's distance profile":

 

The sound from these irons is a solid "THWACK" when you strike the ball cleanly, and the feel is quite soft (not as soft as my Tour Edge Exotics C721s or some PXG irons that I have had the opportunity to hit, but very nice, nonetheless).  When you miss the sweet spot by any significant amount, you'll certainly feel that you have missed it, particularly on thin (or even slightly thin) shots, but to me this is what irons are supposed to do!  You shouldn't feel that you have hit a perfect shot when clearly you have not hit one.  I didn't feel in any way that the differences in feel from well-struck to poorly-struck shots affected my performance; in fact, I think that this helped me to hit (or strive to hit) better golf shots.

 

The Numbers: (8 out of 10)

I played these Paradym Irons in a real variety of playing conditions, in 35* F. and in 86* F. temperatures, in little to no wind, and in 25-35 MPH winds with gusts of more than 40 MPH.  Thus, I had ample opportunities to hit a variety of shot types, including lots of punches and knock-down shots into those strong wind gusts.  On one of my bad driving days, I decided to play nothing but irons on the back nine, and I teed-off with the Paradym 5-iron on all par-5 and par-4 holes, plus one 189 yard par-3.  Therefore, I have lots of data to go by in on-course playing conditions, which I will discuss in this section. Before I get to that discussion, just a few words about the data that I collected from my indoor and outdoor launch monitor sessions - I found trajectory with these irons (I have the Project X HZRDUS Gen 4 Silver 75-S shafts in mine) to be high, and I can stop shots on most greens with no problem.  I did encounter some rock-hard greens on two courses that I played during this testing period, and no shot, even one that reaches a 120-foot apex as mine do, will stop quickly on those types of greens!  Spin rates with the Paradym Irons is a bit lower than I would expect (I generally expect to see backspin numbers within 85-90% of 1000 x the iron number for today's stronger-lofted irons; in other words, a 7-iron should generate about 6,000 RPM of spin, a 5-iron close to 4,000 RPM, and a PW about 8,500-9,000 RPM).  These Paradym Irons were falling short of those numbers by about 500 RPM in each club.

Distance is VERY good with these irons, and that actually created a dilemma for me that took most of the testing period to sort-out. If you have read my in-progress reviews and reports throughout the testing period, you'll notice that I have hit many iron shots over greens or to the back of greens with front pin positions with these irons. I adjusted as I went along, but still had the occasional "flyer" or unusually-long iron shot, right up through this past week.  Here's the most recent example from just a few days ago: On a 185-yard+ par 3 hole, I pulled the 6-iron because I know that over the green on this hole is the worst possible place to be.  We had no significant wind behind us or into us, and yet I still hit the ball close to 10 yards over the back of the green.  I just DO NOT hit 190+ yard 6-irons unless there is LOTS of wind behind us.  This shot was an extremely well-struck 6-iron, but still I shouldn't have hit it 195 yards in the air!  This alone is the reason that the Paradym Irons didn't get a 10 of 10 from me in this category.

Control (other than occasional distance control issues), is great with the Paradyms, and workability is OK -- but workability isn't really something that you should expect in great abundance with this type of iron design.

I discussed forgiveness earlier in this Final Review; just a quick recap: You aren't going to get a lot of forgiveness when you miss the sweet spot by a significant amount; however, the Paradym Irons are plenty forgiving on small misses.

Here's a chart that I put together that compares the Paradyms in terms of loft and distance vs. the two iron models that I have played most recently prior to receiving these irons for testing early last month:

IRON LOFTS AND DISTANCES

                 Callaway Paradym        Cobra Forged Tec X      T. E. Exotics C721

5-iron       23* - 180 to 188 yds.      21* - N/A                        23* - 170 to 178 yds.

6-iron       26* - 165 to 175 yds.      24* - 170 to 175 yds.      26.5* - 160 to 165 yds.

7-iron       29* - 152 to 158 yds.      27* - 155 to 163 yds.      30* - 148 to 153 yds.

8-iron       33* - 138 to 145 yds.      31.5* - 140 to 148 yds.    34* - 132 to 140 yds.

9-iron       37* - 122 to 130 yds.      36.5* - 122 to 128 yds.    39* - 115 to 122 yds.

PW           42* - 114 to 120 yds.       42* - 112 to 118 yds.      44* -107 to 112 yds.

AW           47* - 103 to 110 yds.       48* - 100 to 108 yds.      49* - 98 to 105 yds.

 

On-Course: (20 out of 20)

I am not sure whether the 2 points that I deducted in "The Numbers" should have been deducted there or here, but I am not going to double-ding these irons, because the performance that I got from them was generally excellent.  In the areas such as performance under pressure, and being able to execute shots when they counted most, these irons were stellar -- in fact, this was probably their strongest suit! I was happy with my ability to hit approach shots close to some difficult pins and win several closest-to-pin prizes on my recent Myrtle Beach trip.  I have also been able to pull-off some remarkable approach shots in my two-man better ball tournament, where I shot 78 and in my travel golf leagues.  The shots that I flew past pins or over greens were already factored in when I dinged the Paradym Irons by two points above; otherwise, they have been remarkably-good performers!

Did they help improve my scores?  Does a 16.8 handicap drop to a 15.0 and does that golfer shoot three scores of 78 - 84 within a 6-week period?  I think the fact that I can answer "yes" to both of those questions says it all here.

 

The Good, the Bad, and the In-between: (18 out of 20)

I've posted a lot about the good (distance, sound and feel, plus generally great looks), and a little about what I find at least mildly annoying (busy looks in the three-section "badge" on the back of the irons, and to me the blue color accent looks a bit "tacky").  Here's a few more factors:

Good: Other golfers do notice these irons, and they ask a lot of questions about them (maybe the blue is doing it's intended job here, after all); Most others who comment on the clubs like their looks (again, maybe it's just me who doesn't like the blue and the three-piece badge)

Bad: I don't know why there seem to be the occasional "flyer" from the rough, plus extra-hot shots from off the tee and on tightly-mown fairways, but it has happened to me more than it has in nearly three years when playing my two sets of irons mentioned earlier and shown in the chart embedded above in "The Numbers" section.

 

Play It (them) or Trade It (them)?: (18 out of 20)

I think that I will probably keep these irons in my bag, but I am not 100% sure, due to the factors that I have detailed above (mostly, the "flyer" issue).  They generally look great, they perform well and feel fantastic (sound is very good, too!).  I would rate them up there with my Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons, and they give me several more yards than the C721s, particularly in the shorter irons. One thing that I am definitely going to do now that the "official" testing period has ended is bend the lie angles another 1/2* to 1* flatter (they came at 1/2* flat, but since almost all of my misses seem to be left with the Paradym Irons, it looks like they need to be flattened a bit more).

I think that the standard version of the Paradym Irons, as I have been testing, are best-suited for good ball-strikers.  However, this is not to say that a low to mid-teens handicapper cannot have great success with these irons, as I am living proof.

 

Conclusion:

If you read nothing else here (and I know MGS fanatics too well to think that you will just jump to the conclusion, but still there may be a few who do that), know this:  The Paradym Irons are terrific clubs; they perform exceptionally well, look pretty darned good (some say that they are "beautiful"), sound and feel great, and should appeal to better golfers -- maybe not scratch guys like chisag, but very good golfers would probably do exceedingly well with these irons in their bags!

 

Final Score:  92 out of 100

Those who know me, who have had me as a professor at Drexel University or an instructor at NYU, or who were ever graded by me in the hundreds of clubmaking and clubfitting classes that I have taught as a Golfsmith instructor, will know that 92 out of 100 is a pretty danged good grade from me.  These are solid irons and getting a 92 from me means that they are in the top 10% of all irons, which makes them a great choice for you decent ball-strikers!

 

POST-REVIEW UPDATE:

After playing the Paradym Irons exclusively for more than six weeks, and more than 19 total rounds of golf (fifteen 18-hole rounds, and at least eight 9-hole rounds), I thought that I would put my Cobra King Forged Tec X irons back in my bag on Monday, and see if my iron play would be just as good with those irons -- it wasn't!  I hit some good shots with the Cobras, but excellent contact didn't feel nearly as good as with the Paradyms.  In addition, my distances were just a bit "off" with the Cobras .... mostly short of expectations by about 5-10 yards.  I started trying to hit the ball harder, which certainly did give me some longer carry distances, but virtually every one of these shots was a dead-pull.

Back in my bag went the Paradym Irons for my travel league match (18 holes) yesterday.  The feel was SOOOOOO much better than with the Cobras, and for the most part I got the carry distances that I expected with every iron, with one exception (more about that in just a minute). In addition, chipping with everything from the 8i through the AW was superb with these irons, where chipping has never been the Cobra Forger Tec X irons' strong suit!  Now, for that one exception: I pulled the 7-iron for my tee shot on a par-3 hole that was slightly uphill and had a pin in the rear third of the green and tucked behind a bunker.  We calculated that it was 155 - 157 yards to the center of the green and my playing partner shot the flag at 168 yards (remember, it was also slightly uphill). There is a pond to the right of that bunker, but it ends at the front third of the green, so it is only about 148 - 152 yards to carry the pond (only about four paces or 12 feet from the putting surface).  The green slopes right-to-left, especially in the rear half of the green, so if you carry the right-hand bunker your ball will roll toward the center of the green. I hit a really solid tee shot that carried over this front/greenside bunker quite easily and was thinking "that shot is going to end up close to the hole".  We never found my ball, and my teammate/playing partner first said, "It must have taken a crazy bounce into the pond".  We didn't see a ball at the edge of the pond, and the water gets murky/muddy about 3 or 4 feet from the edge.  Finally, we came to the conclusion that I probably did hit the green but bounced off the back into the really bad "junk" (swampy, reed-filled marshland behind the green), so I took my penalty drop back there and scrambled to an up-and-down bogey.

Other than the mysterious 7-iron shot described above, where my ball was never found, I got exactly what I expected with the Paradyms yesterday, hitting the first two greens (long par-4 that calls for a layup shot off the tee because of a water hazard all the way across the fairway at 220-230 yards off the tee that requires a 285+ yard carry at a minimum to reach the other side, and a 508-yard par-5) with my 5-iron on both holes.  These two shots were both between 188-194 yards, and I was pin-high on hole #1 and about 30' short with a slightly uphill putt on hole #2.  I hit approach shots where I was planning on putting them, in other words below the hole for uphill putts, on almost every hole, and only missed 2 or 3 greens (and not by much) other than the lost ball on that par-3 that I described in the paragraph above.

Yes, the Paradym Irons are now staying in my bag!

I HAVE FIGURED OUT THE "HOT DISTANCE" ISSUE!

Watching this video, I came to the realization that all of the "super hot" distances that I have been getting with the Paradym Irons came from shots where I was hitting the ball dead out of the middle of the face --

If you watch until near the end of this video, you will see the differences between hitting the ball slightly off-center (heel and toe), massively off-center (heel and toe) and absolutely dead-center on the face.  The tester hit thin shots and shots that were slightly thin, in addition to the heel and toe shots and the dead-center hit(s), all with a Paradym 6-iron, and the balls hit dead-center with a square face went 12 yards farther than his average of "otherwise good" shots, and up to 23 yards longer than the average toe hits. It is clear to me that those "hot" and "flyer" shots that I was hitting must have been absolutely pure strikes in the center of the sweet spot, because this is almost exactly what I was seeing. He also hit shots with a clubhead speed in the low-mid 80s, which is exactly my clubhead speed range with a middle iron, as well as shots with his normal 95 MPH 6-iron speed, and the shots hit at 82 to 84.9 MPH with that Paradym 6-iron almost identically matched my experiences with these irons.

Mystery solved!

 

2nd POST-REVIEW UPDATE: 

Last Thursday, I played another travel league match using the Paradym irons, and last night I played nine holes in my regular Monday evening recreational league. Results were mixed -- fantastic results last Thursday, including several shots that I stuck really close to the pins (within 8-10 feet), helping me to shoot a net 68 (with my 15 handicap, that's a rarity in itself), and more importantly to beat my opponent handily by a score of 3-0. I won both nines by 3 holes and beat an opponent that I was giving 6 strokes.

Last night was quite a different story, and I knew that it would be after hitting less than 10 balls from my small bucket while warming up on the range. I was hitting the ball all over the clubfaces -- high, low, toe and even a heelward shot (not a shank, but about 1/2' to 3/4" toward the hosel from the center of the face).  I am going to chalk this up to the fact that I did a pretty extensive workout yesterday and no matter how much post-workout and pre-round stretching I did, I felt very "tight".  Note to self: This has happened twice now, so other than stretching no more workouts on golf days!

I still love the Paradym irons, and even contacted Callaway Golf and had them build me a custom Paradym X 4-iron to go with the 5-AW set of Paradyms.

 

The Flyer issue you have been seeing was a really common issue with early hollow bodied irons like the P790 and the ping i500. Some of those manufacturers have remedied that. For instance, I play the 1st gen P770 and my favorite thing about them is the extremely consistent distance control on slight toe, heel, and thin misses. I know they worked hard on fixing the Flyer complaints from the 1st P790s to these. The only place I notice a difference is high on the face can pull up short. I have heard good things about the ping 230s and have hit the newer P790s and have felt that the Flyer issues have been remedied like I have seen with my P770. Hopefully callaway can also remedy this in future iterations, as it seems like they have a great iron on their hands that can hit it high and far, but still puts a decent amount of spin on the ball.

[funkyjudge]

1 hour ago, MuniGolfer said:

The Flyer issue you have been seeing was a really common issue with early hollow bodied irons like the P790 and the ping i500. Some of those manufacturers have remedied that. For instance, I play the 1st gen P770 and my favorite thing about them is the extremely consistent distance control on slight toe, heel, and thin misses. I know they worked hard on fixing the Flyer complaints from the 1st P790s to these. The only place I notice a difference is high on the face can pull up short. I have heard good things about the ping 230s and have hit the newer P790s and have felt that the Flyer issues have been remedied like I have seen with my P770. Hopefully callaway can also remedy this in future iterations, as it seems like they have a great iron on their hands that can hit it high and far, but still puts a decent amount of spin on the ball.

You are correct about the “flyer” issue with several brands when it comes to their hollow-body irons. I have seen this with earlier generations of Tour Edge Exotics irons (EXS220, and also with their C721, E721, C722 and E722 irons), Cobra Forged Tec and Forged Tec X, plus PXG’s 0211 irons. Tour Edge seems to have fixed this issue to a great degree, as you say that TaylorMade did with the P790 irons. I’m not sure whether PXG has done so with the second and third generations of their 0211 irons, as I have only ever hit the first gen 0211 irons more than three years ago.

[GolfSpy_APH]

On 8/22/2023 at 12:17 AM, BKervin said:

[Testing Review Placeholder]

Introduction

I can’t believe I was chosen to test these Callaway Paradym ☓ irons as an additional reviewer.  Thank you so much to MyGolfSpy, Callaway and @Golf2Much.  @Golf2Much was kind enough to offer the irons that where not what he had selected returned to Callaway – Callaway told him he could keep them but he offered them back to forum.  I was asked to if I would like to be an additional tester on these.  Thank you everyone for allowing this opportunity to put my hands on these beautiful clubs, what a privilege!

I was born and raised right here in Bradford, Pennsylvania area.  I have 2 grown children and 3 grandchildren.  My son lives here in Bradford and my daughter lives in Spencerport, NY (near Rochester).  Currently, I am insuring businesses on a part time basis (more retired than working). 

I started golfing over 20 years ago with my husband and children.  I had not really had the time to commit to golf as I would have liked working.  My husband retired January of 2022.  My employer offered me a part time position at that time so we could enjoy his retirement.  It was just too good to pass up.  This has allowed us to winter in Pawleys Island, SC January – April.  We golfed most everyday while there.  My handicap is not at a great number at 28.5 but I am working on getting that down.

The course that I play on regularly is the Pennhills Club here in Bradford.  Walter Travis designed the course and the first 9 holes were completed in 1922.  14 of the 18 holes involve water on the 6,400 yard course with undulating greens making it a challenge. The course is far more open at this time than it had been, as there was a tornado that took out many trees and the course was closed for a few weeks to clear them and get power back to the clubhouse.  The clubhouse is like an old castle.

I do not have a long drive nor a high swing speed, but I can typically keep the ball in the fairway or just off the fairway.  I have learned how to hit out of the sand with the winters in South Carolina.  My true strength is my putting.  I am not sure if it’s the undulating greens that I am used to playing but I seem to be able to read the greens fairly well. My biggest challenge is my approach game.  I have been working on my irons and currently have PXG 0211Z clubs that I was fitted for this winter.  These replaced my TaylorMade Miscela clubs.

I did not have a fitting for these clubs but have brand new hand my downs from @Golf2Much.

Unboxing

These clubs had to make an around the block trip to my home.  They went from Callaway to Key West and then north to me.  They were packed extremely well and made the journey unscathed.  You can see that there was cardboard between each club. Each club was sealed in plastic and then bubble wrapped.  @Golf2Much included the packing slip so that I could see what was shipped.  The pictures of these irons just don’t do them justice.  They are beautiful.  They are polished to a shiny gloss almost mirror like with the face being a more matted finish.  The blue Callaway Parardym X insignia is just gorgeous. The Aldila Ascent Shafts design with black, grey and blue compliment the blades very nicely. The Golf Pride CP2 Pro Wrap grips are comfortable and very grippy.  No slip in the hand without a glove on as I unbox them.

With the technology behind the clubs, it’s hard to believe they can look so beautiful and unassuming.

Final review:

Thank you MyGolfSpy and Callaway for the opportunity to review the Paradym X irons.  It was my pleasure.  This is my first testing opportunity with MyGolfSpy, I do not have all the statics that others have with their computer analysis, but hope you find this review informative from the higher handicapped recreational golfer that plays very frequently.

First impressions (20 out of 20 points):

Callaway states that these irons will improve my game with a more forgiving forged face based on AI technology.  I am eager to put these to work for me.

These irons are beautiful to look at and I hope they are as forgiving and improve my consistency as they are designed to do.  Pictures of these irons just can’t do them justice. The feel, the look, the precision of craftsmanship in these irons is remarkable.  They have a cohesive blend from the grip to the head.  There isn’t one place that your eyes stop that doesn’t bring pleasure if such a fine piece of equipment.

Aesthetics (10 out of 10 points)

These irons are so easy on the eye.  I thought that the shiny metal shaft would create reflection or glare for me but have found that they do not have any impact.  I have never had a chrome shaft, so this was totally new to me.  The irons feel good in the hand with a sublte weighting of the club head.  The nice click when you strike the ball is pleasant to hear as well.

I have had other golfers ask what I am playing as they are such an attractive club.  I have even had others ask to use them for a stroke or two.  They are never disappointed either.

The Numbers (10 out of 10 points)

My mid game with irons has always been a challenge to me.  I don’t seem to be able to be consistent in the swing, loft or direction of the ball off the face of the PXG 211 irons.  I am not a long hitter with my drive around 130 – 150 so my irons play a big part of my game. 

These clubs where much more accurate to the green – consistently getting me either on the green or fairly close to the green, which is the way of my game not a club error.  The feel in my hands provide stability with consistent swing, whether it was a full swing or a partial swing.  The irons provide about a 10 – 12 yard gain.

The distance is much more consistent as well as the trajectory.  I was hitting each of the irons a consistent distance, as you can see by the chart below compared to my current PXG 211s.  I did not compare club number to club number as the loft was different from the PXG to the Callaway.  i used the comparable PXG 211 loft.

Callaway Paradym X 7, 8, 9, PW, AW - I did not currently have an AW and did not have anything to compare it to in my PXG lineup.

PXG 211 6, 9, 8, 9, PW - I kept the 6i in play as there wasn't a Callaway to compare it to.

Each of the Callaway clubs played a straighter and tighter flight.  Landing on the green 50% more than with the PXG.

On The Course (20 out of 20 points)

The irons are solid on impact and have me on the green more frequesntly.  They are consistent in the distance and the accuracy of the ball flight.  The ball comes off the face with a nice arch that is easy to achieve with each swing (other than operator error).  The “shiny” shaft did not impact my play – I actually forgot that they were shiny until someone would comment on them.

My iron usage had been erratic at best – too long, too short, too right, too left – you name it and that was me on the approach to the green.  I was becoming more and more frustrated with my green approach.  The Callaway Paradym X has changed my mind about this area of play.  They have created a consistent straight flight with consistent distance creating a much more enjoyable game for me.  The head of the club provides more forgiveness than I have seen in my PXG 211s.  The Paradym X in the rough is such a smooth transition from the PXG 211s.  I always could feel the pull of the rough on the face/toe of the iron with the PXG but I don’t feel that with the Paradym X.   I have even received compliments on my improved iron play during league play.  This in itself is a complement to the iron.

The Good, the Bad and the In between (20 out of 20 points)

While I was not part of the original group having the clubs custom built for me, the good would need to start with the look of these irons right out of the box.  From the grip to the brilliant shiny shaft to the gorgeous head with the blue Callaway inset is just a pleasure to look at.  If looks were it’s only badge of glory, it would be disappointing unless hung on the wall as art, but the effects of these irons on my game are incredible.  With my slow swing speed and an inconsistent swing these preformed so much better than anticipated.  I was on the green 50% more than with my PXG 211s.  They removed a great deal of the variance of my ball strike and trajectory of the ball in a much straighter direction.  It helped remove the far left or right shot.  It built much more confidence in my swing.  I was able to reduce my index from 31.5 to 28.5 over a short period of time.  Having my best game ever while using these irons.

They have earned a spot in my bag at this time as they are improving my outcome on a consistent basis.  This also creates confidence in myself and my game, which can only increase my ablity to play, it definitely won't hurt it.

 

I cannot find anything “ugly” about these irons – they are simply a beautiful piece of equipment that has enhanced my game.

Play It or Trade It? (20 out of 20 points)

This is a definite Play It!  From the door step to the green these irons do not disappoint.  They only improved my game.  The straighter line, the higher trajectory, the closer to the green – I just can’t go back to the old irons.

Conclusion

I have played Miscella clubs for most of my golf life with a change to the PXG 211s February 2023.  I have never been in love with an iron like I have the Paradym X. Before the Paradym X I hated to even consider needing to pull out an iron.  The Paradym X are terrific irons that helped my confidence with a much more consistent straighter and tighter trajectory.  They have increased my distance by 10 – 12 yards with a much more accurate outcome.  Callaway is setting a high standard for great irons that also look so pleasing to the eye from the grip to the shiny chrome shaft to the forged head with the Callaway blue emblem.  I am a higher handicap player and these are a game changer for me!

Final Score (100)

 

Great review and thanks for sharing your experience with these irons!