Titleist T Series Irons - 2023 Forum Review

[ole gray]

Okay, today is round 2 of 3 for this Tuesday's dogfight and the driver goes back in the bag. Something else is going in the bag that will hopefully calm down my chipping woes and help me settle down around the greens.  Titleist if ya listening I honestly believe you could sell a shat pot full of Titleist brand chipping type clubs.  Beautifully designed maybe like the T350s and they would fly off the shelf! Anyways I picked up a Ping ChipR yesterday to help this old fart cut a few dozen  strokes off around the greens and get back in the mid to low 70s.  More to come later!

[ajlacombe]

Does anyone know the breakdown on the T-Series irons, which are forged and what parts are forged?  I am asking with respect to loft/lie adjustments.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

10 minutes ago, ajlacombe said:

Does anyone know the breakdown on the T-Series irons, which are forged and what parts are forged?  I am asking with respect to loft/lie adjustments.

All 4 of the T-series irons are able to be adjusted. The composition of each is as follows:

[Shrek74]

12 minutes ago, ajlacombe said:

Does anyone know the breakdown on the T-Series irons, which are forged and what parts are forged?  I am asking with respect to loft/lie adjustments.

If someone knows more accurately, please correct anything I have wrong.

T200 and T350 are forged faces only. Bodies are not.

T100 and T150 are fully forged.

[chisag]

19 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

If someone knows more accurately, please correct anything I have wrong.

T200 and T350 are forged faces only. Bodies are not.

T100 and T150 are fully forged.

 

... Correct and while the 100 and 150 are silly easy to bend to specs, the 200 and 350 can be bent without much difficulty, just not as easy as the 100/150's. I adjusted a set of T100S a few weeks ago and had to be careful with bar pressure because bending them 1* easily turned into 2*. 

[ajlacombe]

23 minutes ago, Ben Joest said:

All 4 of the T-series irons are able to be adjusted. The composition of each is as follows:

This is precisely why I asked the question.  I just listened to a podcast where teh Titleist designers were on it, and I think the T200 and T350 have cast bodies - meaning I would not attempt to adjust them for fear of breaking and that they are tough as nails.  The 100/150 are forged bodies.  Thankfully my set is all 150s except the 5i  

Thanks for the replies. Its good to be able to adjust them but it can be bad because if you have a loft/lie machine and are a tinkerer, you might spend too much time messing with them  

[chisag]

1 minute ago, ajlacombe said:

I think the T200 and T350 have cast bodies - meaning I would not attempt to adjust them for fear of breaking and that they are tough as nails.  The 100/150 are forged bodies.  Thankfully my set is all 150s except the 5i  

 

... This is a common misconception. Forged or cast has nothing to do with how bendable an iron is and the only thing that matters is the kind of metal used. Cast 17-4 stainless is a very hard metal and tough to bend, but cast 431 is softer and most definitely bendable without any issues. The most popular carbon steel used in iron construction is cast 8620 used in most wedges and easily bendable. It is more durable than 1020/25/30 that bends easier but again is also less durable. I am sure the fact that 8620 is much cheaper has nothing to do with these OEM decisions.  

[ajlacombe]

14 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... This is a common misconception. Forged or cast has nothing to do with how bendable an iron is and the only thing that matters is the kind of metal used. Cast 17-4 stainless is a very hard metal and tough to bend, but cast 431 is softer and most definitely bendable without any issues. The most popular carbon steel used in iron construction is cast 8620 used in most wedges and easily bendable. It is more durable than 1020/25/30 that bends easier but again is also less durable. I am sure the fact that 8620 is much cheaper has nothing to do with these OEM decisions.  

Not to be argumentative, but if you look at this article and see the chart comparing casting and forging, the first item on Structural Integrity is a good description why I feel that forging is easier to bend than casting.  Or maybe I should say more reliably bent. The more porous the end product is, the more likely you are going to have a gap in the area of the bend which can lead to breakage. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by ajlacombe

[chisag]

27 minutes ago, ajlacombe said:

Not to be argumentative

 

... Kinda like "no offense intended"   I have been bending clubs for over 25 years and I have no idea what engineering machine parts are like, but I do know irons. There is absolutely no difference at all when bending cast 8620 and forged 8620. One can certainly argue the grain structure after forging creates a denser 8620 that may or may not have any influence on how a wedge performs. Personally, I gave up paying attention to forged vs cast long ago.

[ajlacombe]

1 minute ago, chisag said:

 

... Kinda like "no offense intended"   I have been bending clubs for over 25 years and I have no idea what engineering machine parts are like, but I do know irons. There is absolutely no difference at all when bending cast 8620 and forged 8620. One can certainly argue the grain structure after forging creates a denser 8620 that may or may not have any influence on how a wedge performs. Personally, I gave up paying attention to forged vs cast long ago.

That was a serious comment - I am not trying to be a jerk.  I have been an engineer for over 40 years and when you said there is no difference between the casting and forging, that goes against everything with respect to the two processes that I have known for a long time since castings will have voids in the metal structure, and in my mind it has to have an effect since a void is how a break happens.

I am a hack club bender and would rather not break my clubs  That was the reason for the question.  That and I had some AP3s that were super difficult to move and my local shop would not touch them, deferring to Titleist to try and adjust them.

So how does one find out if the cast iron is OK to bend?

[ole gray]

Today's round was much better than the 7 club round (89) yesterday. 37/38 75  today.

I started off with a double on the first hole so the round started in a funk however I hung tough.  I bogied holes #4 & #9  with birdies on #3 & #8.  Front nine is par 35 with only one par five. 

Back nine I birdied #11 & #13 with bogies on12, 16, 17, & 18. 

@chisag I changed my target line more towards the right center of the green instead of outside of the green trying to draw it back and hit some beauties. I won close up and birdied our par 3 #8. 

Oh, and my chipping was MUCH better today!  Picked up a Ping ChipR after yesterday's round, and practiced 30 minutes prior to today's round and OMG it made it so much easier. 

Today was my fourth round in the '70s since I started testing the T350 irons. Folks you need to understand that these irons are very user friendly and they make a hard game more fun. I'm absolutely giddy playing golf with these puppies. 

Stay tuned as I have one more round this week to try and shoot my age! (73)

[funkyjudge]

1 hour ago, ajlacombe said:

That was a serious comment - I am not trying to be a jerk.  I have been an engineer for over 40 years and when you said there is no difference between the casting and forging, that goes against everything with respect to the two processes that I have known for a long time since castings will have voids in the metal structure, and in my mind it has to have an effect since a void is how a break happens.

 

You are correct in that statement!  I am also an engineer and my minor was Production Management.  As part of my degree program at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), I had to take two semesters of Metallurgy (and three semesters of hands-on Machine Shop). There are certain metals, including several grades of stainless steel, plus aluminum bronze and copper, that are very much prone to porosity (a/k/a "voids") in the casting process, and are thus much more likely to break when bent or hit on a hard object like concrete.

The above being said, certain grades of steel, such as 8620 carbon steel, are quite easy to forge or cast and they tend to react very well in the casting process, making them malleable and equally easy to bend whether cast or forged.  However, this is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE FOR ALL TYPES OF STEEL, STAINLESS OR OTHERWISE!  In this case, Sam is only partially correct, as not all (not even a majority of) cast steel clubs are easy to bend, and many grades of cast stainless steel are virtually impossible to bend without extreme force, which is more likely to induce breakage.  This is why Ping Golf has always required that any of their cast irons be sent back to the factory for bending (they also have always used some of the hardest and least-bendable stainless steel material for their cast clubheads, which is why their irons almost never go out of spec, even if they are played off of much hardpan and hit off of mats on concrete bases).

Maltby (a/k/a Golfworks) used to publish a list of clubs that were "not bendable", and believe me it was and is not a good idea to attempt to bend the irons on that list. Most times, it is because of the types of stainless steel or steel alloys used in the clubheads' construction that these clubs found a place on the "do not bend" list, but sometimes it was because of the inserts/medallions, etc. in the clubheads or the fact that the clubs were made from multiple materials that they were listed as "not to be bent".

Edited September 26, 2023 by funkyjudge

[chisag]

3 hours ago, funkyjudge said:

  In this case, Sam is only partially correct, as not all (not even a majority of) cast steel clubs are easy to bend, and many grades of cast stainless steel are virtually impossible to bend without extreme force, which is more likely to induce breakage.

 

... I must have worded it poorly. There have been plenty of cast stainless steel irons I could not bend and gave up trying. Of course I would never attempt o bend a Ping iron. OK, I did once many years ago when I first got my first LL machine and even tried heating the hosel but couldn't move them.  I thought it obvious that a hard stainless steel would not be used in a forging. My main point was using the same softer metals, there would be no difference in the ability to bend an iron or wedge and it wouldn't matter if they are cast or forged. I am sure you remember the "Form Forged" irons that were faux forged after being cast then pressed once and again easy to bend my TA1's 2* up. 

... But I am not an engineer (although I have played one on TV ) and have no doubt yours and ajlacombe's metal knowledge is far superior to mine. What I do know is I have never had a problem bending Titleist cast irons and wedges, which is where this conversation started. That said, my experience is limited to what I play and what my friends play as I am not a Pro Fitter or Clubmaker. Virtually all my personal irons have been forged other than a few Titeist irons like the 762B's, but plenty of my wedges have been cast and I bend them 2* up with no problems at all. I bought my first LL machine when I was on staff and received my set of irons from Titleist and I was hitting the 7 and 8 very close to the same distance. When measured, they were the same loft as the 8i was stronger than stated spec and the 7 iron weaker. Figured if I wanted my irons to be the correct specs, I should learn to bend them myself. 

[chisag]

5 hours ago, ajlacombe said:

That was a serious comment - I am not trying to be a jerk.  I have been an engineer for over 40 years and when you said there is no difference between the casting and forging, that goes against everything with respect to the two processes that I have known for a long time since castings will have voids in the metal structure, and in my mind it has to have an effect since a void is how a break happens.

I am a hack club bender and would rather not break my clubs  That was the reason for the question.  That and I had some AP3s that were super difficult to move and my local shop would not touch them, deferring to Titleist to try and adjust them.

So how does one find out if the cast iron is OK to bend?

 

... I think we were talking around each other and I didn't think you were being a jerk at all. Like I said, in my experience 8620 cast or forged will bend just as easily. AP3's are a whole other iron and metal of course and like I said to Doug, my bending experience is mostly Players Irons that are almost always a softer metal and usually forged. Most of my wedges have been 8620 and most of them cast and I never had a problem bending them 2* rather easily.

... As for the question of which cast irons are OK to bend, OEMs will have guidelines and even an hourly customer service rep should have info on how much you can bend their irons. So when in doubt give them a call or shoot them an email. 

[ajlacombe]

13 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... I think we were talking around each other and I didn't think you were being a jerk at all. Like I said, in my experience 8620 cast or forged will bend just as easily. AP3's are a whole other iron and metal of course and like I said to Doug, my bending experience is mostly Players Irons that are almost always a softer metal and usually forged. Most of my wedges have been 8620 and most of them cast and I never had a problem bending them 2* rather easily.

... As for the question of which cast irons are OK to bend, OEMs will have guidelines and even an hourly customer service rep should have info on how much you can bend their irons. So when in doubt give them a call or shoot them an email. 

Very cool - thanks for the info.  Always fun learning new stuff.

[bens197]

It's that time...wrap up time...I had a nice day on the executive course I grew up playing and hit some really good shots and some not so good shots.  +2 for a fun little walk in some gorgeous sun.  Hope you guys have a good day.

[ole gray]

Finished off my week today with a 41/39 80.  The cool thing is after we had teed off on #10, I told my wife she could hit one of my TSR1 hybrids since the Lady she was riding with stopped for a potty break. She pulled out my 4 hybrid and whacked the heck out of it!  Her eyes turned bigger than a country boy at a cornbread eating contest. She smiled and said these are mine. I said honeychild you can have them after I kick the bucket.  Oh and by the way she shot 79 today to beat me by one shot. 

[chisag]

32 minutes ago, ole gray said:

She pulled out my 4 hybrid and whacked the heck out of it!  Her eyes turned bigger than a country boy at a cornbread eating contest. She smiled and said these are mine. I said honeychild you can have them after I kick the bucket. 

 

... Christmas present solved. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Providing Mother Nature cooperates, I will be getting out for my 7 Titleist club round tomorrow. Right now the plan is have 4 utility thru PW + putter in the bag. Although pending how things go in the morning, there may be a surprise guest joining them… Feeling curious yet? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

[bens197]

Summing up yesterdays iron-only round before my final review.

I’ve attached a copy of the scorecard…it’s much better as an irons course as you can see from the yardages.  I shot +3 with one birdie.  I’ve never broken par here and despite its length, its remained a formidable test for me.

Par, Par, Bogey, Bogey, Birdie, Bogey, Par, Par, Bogey

[GolfSpy_BEN]

The weather held today, and I played a round at the home course, Majestic Springs. I played with the 4U-PW Titleist irons, an Odyssey putter and the previously teased special guest star, a Ping G430 hybrid I picked up this morning. All of you contrarians, will likely point out that it wasn't a true "irons only" round with the inclusion of a hybrid. First) You are technically right, good for you! and second)

I shot a 2 over 37 on the front and 2 under 34 on the back to finish Even. All in all, I am very happy with this round and the performance of the Titleist irons. And now I will bore you with a hole-by-hole recap, because:

Hole 1 - Hybrid off the tee to the right rough, just off the green. From 120 out, a PW to 15 feet. Two putts for par

Hole 2 - This hole is my nemesis. There is a creek that meanders through 2 areas of this hole, and the further of the 2 requires a straight drive that carries 258 to clear it. For that reason, it is always an iron off the tee. Today I hooked a 6 iron to left side of the fairway that caught a branch and fell straight down, leaving me 207 to the pin. This is a good yardage for the 4 Utility, so I hit that and topped it. Bad news it went 75 yards, good news it got me past the second creek leaving me a PW into the green that finished 30 feet from the hole. Two putts and I was in for bogey. I don't hate anything, but I really dislike this hole.

Hole 3 - Short par 3 playing 122 today. Played a PW to 20 feet. Missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par.

Hole 4 - Long Par 5. Hybrid off the tee to the left rough, hybrid second shot to the right rough 100 yards out. Knockdown PW to the green leaving 25 feet for birdie. Lagged to a foot and tapped in for par.

Hole 5 - 156 yd Par 3. Hit an 8 iron short and wound up off the front of the green to the left. Played a bump and run PW to 3 feet and made that for par.

Hole 6 - Short Par 4 that is guarded by water on the right and a bunker on the left. Perfect hole for the hybrid. Hit it 220 to the center of the fairway, leaving a 100 yds in. Over cooked the 3/4 PW and left a 40-footer for birdie. Lagged it to 2 feet and made the par.

Hole 7 - 138 yd Par 3. Hit a beauty of a 9 iron to 12 feet. Missed the downhill birdie putt on the left edge and made the 3-foot come backer for par.

Hole 8 - Long uphill Par 5. Smoked the hybrid off the tee to the center of the fairway. Followed that with another hybrid to 90 yds out. Played a 3/4 PW in but came up short of the green in the right front fringe. Bumped the PW to 8 feet and made the putt for par.

Hole 9 - Par 4, Another great hybrid off the tee to the center of the fairway- with 176 yds to the pin. 7 iron came up a little short leaving me an 8-yard chip to the pin. Skulled that past the pin setting up a 40-foot par putt. My best putt of the front nine came a revolution short of going in. Tapped in for bogey.

Hole 10 - Par 4, Hybrid to the right side of the fairway, 9 iron in from 135 yds out to 15 feet. Missed birdie putt and made the 2-footer for par.

Hole 11 - Long Par 5, 2 great hybrid shots left me with 100 yards in. Hit the PW to 12 feet, barely missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par.

Hole 12 - Uphill Par 4. Nice hybrid to left side of the fairway left an 8 iron in. Pured the 8 to the back of the green, problem was the pin was in the front. Lagged from 80 feet away to 6 feet and made the left to right 6 footer for par.

Hole 13 - Par 4, hit the hybrid to the left side of the fairway for a good look in. 100 yards out. PW to 20 feet. Lagged to 2 feet and made the tapper for par.

Hole 14 - Short par 3, PW came up short right. Hit a chip that I thought was going in, until it slid 6 inches past the hole. Tapped in for par.

Hole 15 - Longish Par 5, Hit a perfect hybrid to the center of the fairway and followed with a 9 iron to get past the massive sycamore tree that guards the green. Hit an absolute peach of PW pitch shot to 3 feet. Made the birdie.

Hole 16 - Par 4, Hybrid to the left side of the fairway leaving 90 yards to the pin. Hit a flawless PW to 3 feet and made the short birdie putt to get back to par on the round.

Hole 17 - 158-yard Par 3, Hit an 8 iron that was on a great line, but the wind held it up leaving me about 8 yards short of the green. Hit another chip that I thought was going in until it didn't, leaving about a foot for par.

Hole 18 - Par 4, Hit the hybrid out to the right side of the fairway, followed by a 9 iron that made it to the front of the green, pin was in the back about 60 feet away. Lagged to within 5 foot and dispatched the putt to finish the round level par.

Not too shabby. 

[Josh Parker]

@Ben Joest hell of a round!  As someone who can't hit a driver to save my life, I rely on my iron play.  

Would it make it much easier to score better if I could hit the dang thing...... absolutely, but your round kind of shows that it can be done hitting the irons well.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Just now, jdparker said:

@Ben Joest hell of a round!  As someone who can't hit a driver to save my life, I rely on my iron play.  

Would it make it much easier to score better if I could hit the dang thing...... absolutely, but your round kind of shows that it can be done hitting the irons well.

Thanks JD! 
 

While the irons were as solid and dependable as I have come to expect them to be. The Ping hybrid I just added to the bag today was otherworldly. Straight reliable distance every time. It has me seriously wondering why I play driver at all.

The answer for me,  of course, is the one out of three drives I hit that goes 300+ and reminds me why I keep it around. We won’t talk about the other two though.

[Josh Parker]

6 minutes ago, Ben Joest said:

Thanks JD! 
 

While the irons were as solid and dependable as I have come to expect them to be. The Ping hybrid I just added to the bag today was otherworldly. Straight reliable distance every time. It has me seriously wondering why I play driver at all.

The answer for me,  of course, is the one out of three drives I hit that goes 300+ and reminds me why I keep it around. We won’t talk about the other two though.

I know!  Except my driver is 1 out of 8.  I like my hybrid off the tee and my 3 wood has been good for me as well.  But I did just take my first lesson so I'm hoping I can get it back in the bag finally. Lol

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Coming Soon…
 

As my testing period wraps up, I am starting to put together my thoughts in the final review format. While there is a ton of data to comb through, the performance of these irons cannot be denied. As a bit of a teaser, you’ll want to check this review out, as one conclusion in particular surprised me. Stay tuned.

Lastly, if there are questions or things you all would like to ask or see, please let us know!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

My final review of the T150/T200 blended set is now up. One more time I offer a profound and sincere thanks to MyGolfSpy and Titleist for the opportunity to test these irons. 

 

[GregB135]

My last three rounds were all at the league Team Cup event at the Hammock Beach resort. (Great place for golf. Course conditions beat PGA National hands down, for less than 1/2 the price per round - just sayin'). 

The first two rounds were partner rounds, best ball and alternate shot respectively. So, I didn't keep detailed stats for either round.

Saturday morning four-ball was tough. I was struggling with a bad pull during warmup, and that eroded my confidence once we got on the course. It took me a bit to get going, epecially off the tees. Once I started hitting the ball in play though, the irons continued to come through. Wierdly enough, it's the longer clubs that are showing the biggest improvement. The 6i, 5i and 4h all earned their money during the round, but my partner and I just had too much ground to make up after the early struggles, and we lost 3 and 2. Shot of that round was a 180 yard hybrid, into the wind, at an uphill green that gave me a chip and putt par, while the rest of the foursome all missed the green and had much more challenging up-and-down opportunities. 

Round two was a bit better, even though my partner and I didn't have time (due to tee time intervals) to talk too much about strategy. So, even though I struggled a bit with my irons in the morning, I was left as the tee-shot player on three of the four par 3s. This time I was paired with a player who has a very similar game to my own, so it was easy for us to ham-and-egg our way around a few missed shots. I was a bit sharper all around, but hit I think 6/9 GIR on my approach shot holes. Shot of the round this time was a 146 yard 8 iron that landed middle green and rolled down the slope to give us a good look at a back left pin. That shot put us in position to win that hole and take the match 3 and 2.

This was my singles match score card, on the more challenging Conservatory course (absolutely fantastic btw). I had the one bad four hole stretch where my entire swing took a vacation. The rest of the round, iron play and putting had me out-pacing my opponent. I had 4 GIR on each side and a bit better than my normal share of up-and-down pars. Again, I putted really well, so every one of those 8 GIR turned into a par or better. Notable shots were a 185 yard hybrid from a flower bed lie that set me up for a hole winning par/net birdie on number 7. Then, on number 10, I nailed a 5 iron to 20 feet to set up another par/net birdie that gave me a 3-up lead thru 10. The next four holes got the match back to even up though. 15th was a 9 iron GIR that I won with a conceded par. 16 should have been a playbook par, but I had my only 3 putt of the day at a bad time and lost that hole to a par. 17 was an uphill par 3 that both of us missed a bit short and I made a clutch putt for par to take a one-up lead to the 18th tee. My tee shot on the par 5 18th was in the fairway but the green complex did not warrant attacking it in two with a one up lead. I made a nice layup with a 7-iron that I didn't strike well, but the forgiveness factor of the T200s sent the ball to just about it's intended landing area anyway. Same for the PW approach shot from there that left me a nice little uphill 9 footer. The match was conceded before I got a chance to putt though, but I did clean up the par to make it academic, and won 2-up.

So out of those three rounds I saw an increase my GIR average increase from 4-6/round to 7 per round. If I look back at all three of those score cards and throw in my weekend prior's 77 () where I hit 10 GIR, I've got 4 out of 8 nines carded under 40. I haven't seen numbers and scores like that since more of my hair was brown than gray. Needless to say it has been a welcome change.

As I am crafting my final review over the next couple of days, you can expect the play-it or trade-it line to read PLAY IT!!

As usual, this testing experience has been a lot of fun. This group of testers certainly made sure of that through both this thread and the private message chat. Look for the final review maybe late tonight or on Monday. I'll also try to update the thread with one more irons only round now that I've gotten the feel for them to maybe see what they can really do.

 

[GregB135]

On 8/14/2023 at 11:44 AM, Ben Joest said:

The averages shown below show my concerns over this being too big of a loft gap proved unfounded. However, as this is the blend point for this set, nowhere is it more apparent that what is gained (distance & forgiveness) in the T200 line, is done so at the expense of feel. The T150 irons are among the best feeling irons I have hit. Where as the T150 8 iron feels fantastic, the T200 7 iron feels muted by comparison. The chart below shows the performance of the 7 iron is there, but the feel isn’t the same. So much so, that I will be ordering a T150 7 iron to swap out with the T200. The 5 & 6 are clubs that I traditionally struggle with, so the loss of feel isn’t as jarring, in the interest of consistent performance.

 

Something that will appear in my review as well regarding the feel of the new T200s. Comparing them directly to their orignal T200 ancestors the feel of the new ones is as you say, "muted". That's not to say they don't give good feel feedback, it's just not as harsh on the mis-hits as with the prior generation.

[rkj427]

16 hours ago, Ben Joest said:

My final review of the T150/T200 blended set is now up. One more time I offer a profound and sincere thanks to MyGolfSpy and Titleist for the opportunity to test these irons. 

 

Great review @Ben Joest 

Hope that you have continued success with these irons, even if you do eventually decide to change the shafts. 

[sirchunksalot]

Really enjoyed the final review @Ben Joest! I'm glad to hear the Titleist irons are working out for you and they're going to be staying in the bag. It'll be interesting to hear how getting the T-150 7 iron will improve your gapping. 

Good job, my friend!