Best driving/utility iron

What are peoples thoughts? Never kept up with utility irons. I know the New Level 4995-HB looks great.

I really like the New Levels - I've got 3 that the shafts dont match but I've been surprised with how forgiving they are. I just bought their 902 irons (phenomenal) - so Im going to sell them and and replace with one that matches closer with my irons. I got the 3 originally to try, as I was playing baby blades that I love 7-PW but 5 iron and longer were getting problematic. The 902's are so easy to hit that I dont need the 24 or 21.

I dont think they play quite as long as some of the others off the tee- I hit my T-MB about the same distance off the ground but 8-10 yds longer off the tee - but bad swings arent punished as much.

Srixon u85

I wanted to love the cobra utility...nope. Then I thought the Ping g410 crossover looked promising....nope. The new Titleist offerings are on my short list but it’ll take a few good rounds in a row for me to start thinking utility again as I’m in a happy spot with my 5w and 4 iron right now.

Members have mentioned the Srixon and Ping Crossover; I agree with both based on ownership depending on what your objectives are?

The U85 will be the most versatile off the tee, fairway, light rough and one of the better feeling clubs. Looks will be the downside.

The crossover with the tour shaft is long and a stinger trajectory off the tee; that’s it. Not the best feeling may be because it’s the internal ribs/jail break technology?

Im talking in terms of graphite shafts. If its iron shafts you prefer, Callaway can be had used and even the ping i500 will blend well into iron shaft sets.

I am a huge fan of the U65. I shafted mine with my same iron shaft. It’s very long when teed up. The wide sole also helps a ton when I’m in places where a traditional hybrid would be used. I don’t get the softest landing into greens with it but I can elevate it with some effort. I have tried multiple graphite shafts in it. The best was a steelfiber i110. It was lonnnnnng but didn’t offer me the gap I wanted.

I'm a big fan of the Callaway X Forged UT. Has everything I want in a utility: looks great at address (less offset, same head size similar my Cobra Forged Tour 5-iron, not overly thick top line and no bulge showing in back), gives me a higher trajectory than my 4-iron, is excellent from the tee, fw and light to medium rough, has a medium sole profile, and feels great). I have a Steelfiber shaft in it and it rocks!

I have a King F7 4 iron that's 20* with an Aldila NV Hybrid 105g Stiff shaft in it that's tipped about 5/8" beyond what Aldila's tip trimming instructions are for a 4 hybrid. I can knock it down 200 or let one fly to 225 or so. This time of year with roll I'm catching some at 250-260 which is only about 20 yds behind my driver.

It's a little finicky off the deck but i do carry a hybrid as well. Off a tee it just flat out performs. One of my home courses has 7 holes where I hit it off the tee and im usually in 5 or 6 fairways of those 7. I've also gone 7/7 multiple times. My only qualm is that there's a bit too much offset for my liking but it hasn't affected things too much.

Just got a 718 T-MB on a lark from the bay and going to try it out with another NV HY 105 shaft I have, and maybe some others, but it's going to have to flat out perform in order to bump the F7 out of the bag.

I just put a Cobra Forged Tec 3i in the bag as a driving iron. The 3i from the set, NOT the utility. The sole on the 3i is better for me than the utility.

I've had very good success with the TM GAPR LO but even better success with the Mizuno mp20 HMB 2 iron. GAPR is awesome off the tee and very forgiving but wasn't the best off the deck. Mizuno is incredible off the tee especially on dry days when it rolls forever. Off the deck, it is incredible. Easy to get up in the air but can shape shots like no other

I have an 18° Srixon U85 and absolutely love that club. Being a higher handicap player I caught heat from my buddies asking why the hell I got a 2 iron, and it could be the best club in my bag. Hybrids never fit my eye well so I bought this instead and it’s great off the tee, also pretty forgiving in most scenarios. Missile launcher with a steel PX 6.5 shaft in it.

As a mid handicapper (mid-high...trending the wrong way), I can't find any fault with the Maltby KE4 Tour FDI.  For $75 USD with a Tensei Blue shaft and Lamkin Grip, this thing has it all.  It's great on not so perfect strikes.  Very forgiving indeed.  Off the tee I carry it around 220.  Off the deck about 205.  My driver SS is averages around 103MPH.  My buddy, 9Hcp has the Srixon U85 and liked it (got rid of the Ping) but didn't love it until he put in a Graphite Design shaft.  Now he won't shut up about it.

Big fan of the old King Utility. I like that I can use it for more purposes than a traditional hybrid. E.g. punch shots, recovery shots, out of the rough, and easier to turn in different direction. I also find my distance and trajectory with them to be more consistent. With a hybrid my misses can end up pretty high and come up short. Before this I had the old Callaway Utility Proto X, I liked it but didn't find it as versatile as the King. It's adjustable too - not something I've ever used, but it could help me blend the utility to a new set of irons if I replaced my current set with a different lofted set of irons.

I've tried the Taylormade, didn't like it too much. It was a little too small, I like a meatier utility for the confidence factor.

Haven't tried the new King Utility, hoping to hit one soon.

...after trying everything listed above and more over the years, nothing performs better all-around for me than the Fourteen Type-7

I’m glad no one said TMB. Bought and sold 3 of them now. Feel like a pitch of the handle of a wooden bat on a 42 degree Iowa day, while raining.

Taylormade udi!!

Mizuno MP-20 HMB utility iron. I use the 2:iron currently and it's easy to launch, penetrating flight, looks are killer.

The Srixon U45/65/85 line is really hard to beat. It's got to be tops in forgiveness and ease of use, effortless to launch these. Not to mention might just be the best feeling club in my bag, which is saying something gaming the buttery soft 745s in my irons.

Another mp20 hmb response from me.

I have the 4i with sameshaft as my other irons. I liked it so much I grabbed a 3i. I put a 100g hybrid shaft in it. First swing...couldn't have been better. Made me worry...first swing or first shot with a club being supremely perfect is usually bad news. But shot after shot was just stellar. High flight and great control.

The hmb is not a hot faced udi. It doesn't go as high as my 3h. It isn't as long as my 3h. It sits perfectly between my 4i and 3h.

Titleist U510 or Mizuno MP H5

Easiest to hit- Titleist 510, Cleveland uhx

Easy to hit with good feel- Srixon u85

Long and low hitting but less

forgiving- TaylorMade UDI

Callaway Apex UT.

I second the TM UDI from above - it's so straight and looooong. I consistently have one or so a round that go 280 and consistently 250+. Plus I can go high or low with it.

I find the Titleist U500 to be a very versatile club. With the right shaft, you can achieve a well rounded club that can be used off the tee and off the deck.

I've got a Tensei Pro White shaft in a 2i, and I can fire bullet stingers with it. Depending on conditions, those stingers can sometimes have equal total distance to a driver, but with much more consistency.

I also use my U500 to hit into par 5s, and admittedly, the spin/stopping power is no where near as effective as a 5w, but it is still possible.

I’ve owned a few recent models as below.

Ping G Crossover

Ping G400 Crossover

Cobra King Utility

TM P790 UDI

Wilson Staff Model Utility

The hardest to hit was easily the P790 which was absolutely awful with a HZRDUS yellow shaft. I could throw the ball further. The others were all ok but I could hit my old Ping G400 4I at power-spec loft better than all of them consistently and just as far. I now have a G410 5I at power spec loft and I get the same length from that as I did from any of the #3 utilities on average. The utilities were perhaps 10y longer on a shot right out of the middle, but that wasn’t always a given.

The best wasn’t a utility, but my Titleist TS3 hybrid, which has a utility type of flight but is far easier to hit long and straight, way more forgiving, considerably more versatile, longer and just nicer all round.

sounds like every spring baseball game i ever played.

For me after having tried several, it's easily the U85. With an i95 shaft I find that my 20* U85 flies higher and lands softer than my Rogue 4H with an EvenFlow blue.

I tried the 2020 King Utility today. Looks to be slightly larger than the previous model so maybe it's a tad more forgiving, but I saw no difference in the #'s on my shots.