Driving irons, what are your experiences good and bad

[higherplane]

Recently played golf in Arizona.  Courses had high tee shots off hills to fairways below, with seemingly thin landing areas.  Being the traveler and playing with good golfing locals, was only one without a driving iron.   I tried hitting 3 wood and driver but shots were towering and lucky to his fairway, also tried hybrid but again towering although slightly better controlled.   Driving iron looked to limit dispersion and had lower trajectory.  Thoughts?            

[chris_]

Which courses did you play? I rarely play with guys with a driving iron. There's definitely some hard downhill holes that a stinger is the shot to play. 

[vandyland]

On 2/5/2024 at 12:16 PM, higherplane said:

 Driving iron looked to limit dispersion and had lower trajectory.  Thoughts? 

Yes to both, provided you have enough speed to get enough out of them. At low swing speeds, these don't work very well. The thing I like about mine (Mizuno Fli-Hi 21.5*) is that it has a flat face (not bulge and roll like fairways and drivers) so it doesn't hook or slice much and does tend to flight down a little bit. Mine is actually probably a higher flight option than most. I don't love it off a tight fairway lie so it is almost exclusively a tee club. I have room in my bag for such a luxury. 

Mishits are fairly punishing however. If you clang one of these way off the toe or heel they won't go anywhere. 

[Guest-0]

So when it comes to driving irons I had a love/hate relationship with mostly hate coming to mind. I had tried the Srixons and Titleists and just didn't like them BUT I had a need for that 240 straight as a string club in my bag for some of the places I play. Holes with runout areas or doglegs at 250ish were killing me. So my buddy was testing game improvement irons to find himself a new set and he said "wow hit this thing" it was a Cobra Radspeed iron (dumbest name ever) so he hands me this gaudy looking iron with a carbon top line?? I Hit laser after laser with the 5 iron he had handed me and they were all about 225 ish??? And wouldn't stop they just ran and ran. It was effortless so I ordered  a 4 iron which get this, is 19` the lofts have gotten absurd but I had a Modus 120 put in it the custom club was a whopping 120 bucks and it immediately went in the bag and as it turns out I use this on 75% of the par 4s I play now as I was also tired of driver to 40 or 60 yds which is a tough shot so now I stripe the easiest ever 4 iron to hit about 240ish and have a full wedge or better in. That stupid 120 dollar club is responsible for me going from a 13 to a 10 in 2023. Try one they are silly

[GolfSpy_APH]

Reminding myself to chime in here later on!

I have had a few and in general really like them, however it is very situational at the same time.

[Matumbo]

I have an old Titleist 2 iron blade. I don't hit it too often but can typically hit it better than I hit a 3 wood or hybrid. I've been looking for an upgrade recently. 

 

[Javs]

I carry a 17, 22 and 25 degree hybrids from PXG. With the 17 degree in the bag I have no need for a driving iron. The hybrid is more consistent, forgiving and can be used on shots into par 5’s. 

[Byrnzee]

I made the decision to put a driving iron in my bag last year to replace my 3-hybrid. I went on a golfing trip with some friends and one of my buddies had a 2-iron that he was just roping down the middle of these tight fairways.

I totally agree with @vandyland that they are not for everyone. But if you have fairly high swing speed and are looking for a reliable straight shot off the tee especially, it might be worth trying one out. 

[Guest-0]

Matumbo, Good morning, saw your post about the old 2 iron blade and man when they are good they are sooo good but bad actually hurts Do not hesitate to try one of these strong lofted 4 irons from the game improvement lines all the big boys are making!!  I cannot stress how easy that 4 iron *19°* is to hit!!! Super forgiving and crazy piercing trajectory!! I love it in the wind or anywhere I want that 240 ish instead of risking overpowering the hole with Driver. I never realized how often I would actually use it and there are many days now where driver only comes out on a few 4s and the par 5s

[taylorjonasher]

I just picked up a U505 2i a few weeks ago. I like it so far in the sim and on the mat, we'll see how it holds up on the course. If it's anything like indoors, it'll be an absolute weapon - I flushed one 240 in the sim yesterday with it! 

[Matumbo]

8 minutes ago, Marlin Dave said:

Matumbo, Good morning, saw your post about the old 2 iron blade and man when they are good they are sooo good but bad actually hurts Do not hesitate to try one of these strong lofted 4 irons from the game improvement lines all the big boys are making!!  I cannot stress how easy that 4 iron *19°* is to hit!!! Super forgiving and crazy piercing trajectory!! I love it in the wind or anywhere I want that 240 ish instead of risking overpowering the hole with Driver. I never realized how often I would actually use it and there are many days now where driver only comes out on a few 4s and the par 5s

Haha, yes, they definitely can! I don't play blades (yet) but I just happened to find it for a great price and have been playing around with it. I'm still deciding on what I want in my bag so haven't pulled the trigger yet on a new one. 

[Rob Person]

I'm glad I caught this topic. My far off future adventure in clubs will involve replacing the top of the bag with 3, 4, 5, 6,,7 hybrid irons. I don't have a high swing speed for a blade driving iron

2024 has had a number of releases like the Halo/Launcher XL and the Tour edge Hot Launch. Are these considered driving irons?

Edited February 8 by Rob Person

[OdinSnipes414]

42 minutes ago, Matumbo said:

I have an old Titleist 2 iron blade. I don't hit it too often but can typically hit it better than I hit a 3 wood or hybrid. I've been looking for an upgrade recently. 

 

Sub 70 makes an amazing 17 degree 2 utility that hits like butter

[Guest-0]

Rob, Driving irons have always had "their own" category often dubbed UDI but in today's every evolving iron market I truly feel any strong lofted option that allows for ease of that Stinger shaped straight as a string controlled tee shot can be dubbed a driving iron and you mentioned a couple examples that fit that bill. To me It makes no sense to pick up a "driving iron" that is not so easy to hit when I can get the exact same result way more frequently with a "game improvement" iron. Also when buying single irons they are highly customizable (shaft, loft/lie) and cheap?? 120 dollars for mine while the "driving irons" I tried were near 300. In the end whatever allows you to step to the tee with confidence in knowing you are about to stripe one with control right down the middle constitutes a "driving iron"

[Wib081]

On 2/5/2024 at 1:16 PM, higherplane said:

Driving iron looked to limit dispersion and had lower trajectory.  Thoughts?            

I tried the Cobra 2020 Utility model in 4 iron and I will say when I caught it good the flight, shape, and distance were exceptional but like @vandyland mentioned the miss hits were punishing. I ended up parting ways with it, but that said I’m not opposed to trying other manufacturers because those good hits were amazing to watch fly! 

[Matumbo]

15 minutes ago, OdinSnipes414 said:

Sub 70 makes an amazing 17 degree 2 utility that hits like butter

Thanks! I've been following Sub 70 for a bit and like the looks of their stuff. They're definitely in the running when I'm ready!

[Rob Person]

15 minutes ago, Marlin Dave said:

Rob, Driving irons have always had "their own" category often dubbed UDI but in today's every evolving iron market I truly feel any strong lofted option that allows for ease of that Stinger shaped straight as a string controlled tee shot can be dubbed a driving iron and you mentioned a couple examples that fit that bill. To me It makes no sense to pick up a "driving iron" that is not so easy to hit when I can get the exact same result way more frequently with a "game improvement" iron. Also when buying single irons they are highly customizable (shaft, loft/lie) and cheap?? 120 dollars for mine while the "driving irons" I tried were near 300. In the end whatever allows you to step to the tee with confidence in knowing you are about to stripe one with control right down the middle constitutes a "driving iron"

Thanks for the response and information. 

Would the ones I mentioned be considered more of utility irons? I have used a couple of utility woods,(18⁰, 22⁰) with limited success. The ones mentioned are seriously muscled backside irons.

[BallsLeon]

Big fan of my Sub 70 3 iron utility. Biggest thing for me is how straight it is, never seems to get too out of control. 

I don’t have a tremendous amount of swing speed, but I find the misses to be less punishing than with a wood. Misses don’t get up too high, but still usually have the ball speed to roll out quite a ways. 

[higherplane]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:54 PM, chris_ said:

Which courses did you play? I rarely play with guys with a driving iron. There's definitely some hard downhill holes that a stinger is the shot to play. 

Played Lookout Mountain and Wigwam.  Like your idea of stinger shot.    

[Guest-0]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Thanks for the response and information. 

Would the ones I mentioned be considered more of utility irons? I have used a couple of utility woods,(18⁰, 22⁰) with limited success. The ones mentioned are seriously muscled backside irons.

Absolutely!!!! Any oversized cavity back or hollow body iron can be used as a "driving iron " I really think the criteria for me is a strong lofted club you can put in play in the place of your driver or three wood but iam no expert at all but that customized 120 dollar Cobra sure changed my idea on that spot in my bag

[Guest-0]

2 hours ago, BallsLeon said:

Big fan of my Sub 70 3 iron utility. Biggest thing for me is how straight it is, never seems to get too out of control. 

I don’t have a tremendous amount of swing speed, but I find the misses to be less punishing than with a wood. Misses don’t get up too high, but still usually have the ball speed to roll out quite a ways. 

AND THE SUB 70 unlike the Srixon or TM or Titleist is 100 bucks not 300 bucks and looks GREAT!!!!!

[Fred Mitchell]

I carry a TaylorMade DHY which to me it leans farther towards the utility side than the driving side of most of these clubs, almost a tweener for true driving iron  and hybrid.  Might be a good option for you to try. I am far from a good golfer so its a bad example but I can get pretty deep in the rough with it and a hard stinger under obstacles is very comfortable and if I am having a bad day around the green its a pretty failsafe chipper lol.

[Guest-0]

5 hours ago, Wib081 said:

I tried the Cobra 2020 Utility model in 4 iron and I will say when I caught it good the flight, shape, and distance were exceptional but like @vandyland mentioned the miss hits were punishing. I ended up parting ways with it, but that said I’m not opposed to trying other manufacturers because those good hits were amazing to watch fly! 

Wib, so this is an example of what I was talking about. I tried the Srixon and Titleist and when striped they were a piercing 240 and exactly what I wanted but misshits were brutal!!! So in looking at some of the Game Improvement irons the lofts were in the 19° to 21° right in that slot I wanted. I bought a 4 iron @19° got to select the shaft for 120 bucks it hits the ball with piercing trajectory the exact same distance??? Yes it doesn't say UDI or cost 300 bucks but damn it's soooo easy to hit and miss hits result in very little loss??? PING G425. TM Sim Max, Cobra Radspeed any of these GI Irons in a  4 or 5 iron will work and can be bought single for under 150

[Guest-0]

6 hours ago, Wib081 said:

I tried the Cobra 2020 Utility model in 4 iron and I will say when I caught it good the flight, shape, and distance were exceptional but like @vandyland mentioned the miss hits were punishing. I ended up parting ways with it, but that said I’m not opposed to trying other manufacturers because those good hits were amazing to watch fly! 

Now go try the exact same companies 4 iron from whatever their Game Improvement line is!!! Doesn't say UDI on it but the results are identical !!!  

[Wib081]

1 hour ago, Marlin Dave said:

Wib, so this is an example of what I was talking about. I tried the Srixon and Titleist and when striped they were a piercing 240 and exactly what I wanted but misshits were brutal!!! So in looking at some of the Game Improvement irons the lofts were in the 19° to 21° right in that slot I wanted. I bought a 4 iron @19° got to select the shaft for 120 bucks it hits the ball with piercing trajectory the exact same distance??? Yes it doesn't say UDI or cost 300 bucks but damn it's soooo easy to hit and miss hits result in very little loss??? PING G425. TM Sim Max, Cobra Radspeed any of these GI Irons in a  4 or 5 iron will work and can be bought single for under 150

Dave, 

So hilariously I have the Radspeeds in the bag currently and hadn’t even thought of picking up the 4 iron! After reading your post I’m considering grabbing a the 4. You’re right the name is awful. I need to reshaft them though. Free from the company wellness reward program. Thanks for that tip! Embaraseeed I own the irons and didn’t think of trying that idea

[blackhawk1539]

I for some reason have always struggled with woods and hybrids. Switched this past summer to a driving iron and love it. I am a bit biased towards them though. I’d also recommend the Brnr Mini driver if you’re looking for a low trajectory club. Mine is a 13.5 loft, with the weights set to higher launch, even then the thing still is low.

[Guest-0]

5 hours ago, Wib081 said:

Dave, 

So hilariously I have the Radspeeds in the bag currently and hadn’t even thought of picking up the 4 iron! After reading your post I’m considering grabbing a the 4. You’re right the name is awful. I need to reshaft them though. Free from the company wellness reward program. Thanks for that tip! Embaraseeed I own the irons and didn’t think of trying that idea

So those Radspeeds and my buddies Ping G425s are far and away the easiest and longest irons I've ever hit!!! For me anything other than off the tee wouldn't work but man I love it on a tight track!!! I am going to sound crazy here as iam a 10 hdcp but I really think iam probably 90% fairways with that thing. I played Harbortown and hit my driver 3 times and that thing a bunch and shot a great round for me! I was hitting it way too high with the stock shaft so had them put a Modus 120 in it and it's a laser

Edited February 9 by Marlin Dave
Forgot something

[Sheldon Raes]

I haven't found one I get along with especially well. I much prefer the M2 3Hybrid I have in the bag. Off the tee it's good for 230m and 60% of the time it works every time!

[chris_]

I cannot hit them, especially the Pings. Me and Ping irons of any sort just don't seem to get along. But I can hit a standard long iron fairly decently. I use a TMB 3 iron bent strong currently. I like it a lot. 

[taylorjonasher]

On 2/9/2024 at 6:13 AM, Sheldon Raes said:

I haven't found one I get along with especially well. I much prefer the M2 3Hybrid I have in the bag. Off the tee it's good for 230m and 60% of the time it works every time!

Please tell me you named it "Sex Panther"!