What's the driving iron with the widest face/blade? Looking for a players club with a little more face surface area/bigger sweet spot.

[dbornack]

Basically, what's a players driving iron with the most sq. inches of face area?

 

Thanks!

[Howard_Jones]

8 minutes ago, dbornack said:

Basically, what's a players driving iron with the most sq. inches of face area?

 

Thanks!

Scratch EZ1 iron heads is the only head i know can fit that description.

 

[dbornack]

2 minutes ago, Howard_Jones said:

Scratch EZ1 iron heads is the only head i know can fit that description.

 

They don't make a driving iron it doesn't look like.  I don't need one advertised as "forgiving", I'm more curious about you guys out there with anecdotal evidence that have maybe even measured the blade length, face height, etc.  Talking about the big box companies too.  Mizzy, Titleist, etc.  Using Fly-Hi MMC and MP20 HMB right now, and they're OK..  It's winter, feel like experimenting.

[T-W]

The hogan uihi pretty closely fits that description. Ended up sticking with my tmb as the uihi just didn’t fit my eye. I’ll sell you the uihi for $50 + shipping if you’re interested. 

[Cwebb]

This one from Maltby definitely has a longer face/blade length than most.  Very forgiving, especially towards the toe...

https://www.golfworks.com/maltby-ke4-fdi-hybrids/p/ma0305/

[ChipNRun]

1 hour ago, dbornack said:

Basically, what's a players driving iron with the most sq. inches of face area?

 

That's about like asking which players wedge has the most offset...

 

You might consider a GI or cavity-back 3i. Tour pros often go into GI for their long irons. Golf shops often have a couple of 3 irons left over from someone who only wanted 4-PW in their set.

Edited December 4, 2021 by ChipNRun

[dbornack]

26 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

 

That's about like asking which players wedge has the most offset...

 

You might consider a GI or cavity-back 3i. Tour pros often go into GI for their long irons. Golf shops often have a couple of 3 irons left over from someone who only wanted 4-PW in their set.

I hear you..  I would almost just go for an MP33 1i, but.. technology is there with hollow-body driving irons, and I think that would help a bit.  By players Driving iron, you know what I mean.  Thinner top line, can't see the back of the head at address, minimal offset.  If I were going to design a club it would look like that, but have a slightly deeper face, low center of gravity, and the blade length of the longest Mizuno blade (not sure which model that is off the top of my head).  

[dbornack]

1 hour ago, T-W said:

The hogan uihi pretty closely fits that description. Ended up sticking with my tmb as the uihi just didn’t fit my eye. I’ll sell you the uihi for $50 + shipping if you’re interested. 

What's the loft?

[T-W]

47 minutes ago, dbornack said:

What's the loft?

22 degree, 4 iron. Tour v 120x standard length and lie. 

[Cwebb]

On 12/4/2021 at 12:10 PM, dbornack said:

I hear you..  I would almost just go for an MP33 1i, but.. technology is there with hollow-body driving irons, and I think that would help a bit.  By players Driving iron, you know what I mean.  Thinner top line, can't see the back of the head at address, minimal offset.  If I were going to design a club it would look like that, but have a slightly deeper face, low center of gravity, and the blade length of the longest Mizuno blade (not sure which model that is off the top of my head).  

 

You're going to see some of the back of the head at address on all these hollow body driving irons

[cw1209]

Titleist U510. Definitely has some beef and easier to hit than most. Takes a .370" tip hybrid shaft. No longer the current line and can be had at a discount. I still have one I will swap with my hybrid on occasion. 

[animalgolfs]

G425 Crossover is huge -bigger than G710

[Dr.Frankenputz]

I definitely wouldn’t call it a “player’s” driving iron but the OG crossover is freaking enormous. Good luck finding a bigger face. 

[CUBuffaloes]

Sub 70 699 Pro. Not as much offset as some of the others mentioned but larger face area.

[dmbrill719]

TM P790 seems it might fit the bill for what you're seeking. 

[Tupperwolf]

8 hours ago, animalgolfs said:

G425 Crossover is huge -bigger than G710

My recommendation as well, I have a 2i and 4i that make the bag depending on my bag setup, they are great clubs and due to the black head you don't see the chunkiness the way you do with other driving irons.

[PittShark]

14 hours ago, CUBuffaloes said:

Sub 70 699 Pro. Not as much offset as some of the others mentioned but larger face area.

I'll second this.  I played the 699U Pro for roughly a year before switching late this year.  Minimal offset, not a thick top line, but the overall size of the face is really large.

[vandyfan]

I have both the 699 pro utility and 699-u (19.5 degree) demos in my car that I just got but haven't had a chance to hit yet. Other than the offset and the sole width it looks like it is very hard to tell them apart. I think I will lean towards the 699 pro utility as I really don't want something that goes left or launches too high. Pro is on the left in pictures.

 

 

[CUBuffaloes]

These are all 4 irons. Front to back: Sub 70 699 U (not the Pro), Mizuno MP-18 Fli Hi, Maltby TS2, and Titleist U500.

[Valtiel]

On 12/4/2021 at 10:16 AM, dbornack said:

Basically, what's a players driving iron with the most sq. inches of face area?

 

Thanks!

If you're specifically looking at bigger face area because you think that means bigger sweet spot then you should actually be looking at MOI first. A big face without a higher MOI design will just create more surface area hit to bad feeling shots from. And...
 

On 12/4/2021 at 12:10 PM, dbornack said:

Thinner top line, can't see the back of the head at address, minimal offset.  If I were going to design a club it would look like that, but have a slightly deeper face, low center of gravity, and the blade length of the longest Mizuno blade (not sure which model that is off the top of my head).  

...some of these criteria are a bit contradictory in a "you can have it cheap, fast, or good, but you can only pick two" kind of way. Like @Socrates said, you're nearly always going to be seeing some of that back bulge on a modern driving iron, and the ones you won't are smaller headed, smaller faced designs. Same deal with face height and CG since a bigger face is a taller face, and a taller face is a higher CG design. Shorter heads = lower CG. You're going to have to find which criteria you're willing to compromise on a bit since you won't find it all in one club. 

- Thinner topline with lower offset, lower CG, and higher MOI - Titleist U500, Taylormade P790, Callway X-forged UT
- Highest MOI and longer blade length, but chunkier and more offset - PING G410 Crossover, Mizuno JPX Hotmetal, Srixon ZX Utility

 

For the tallest possible faces you're going to want to look at various GI and SGI irons, but they will almost all have chunkier top lines and lots of offset. A PING i210 or JPX 919 long iron with some of the offset bent out might be worth looking at as well. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Valtiel

[dbornack]

Thanks so much everybody - you guys really delivered.

 

I'll be checking a few things out in the off season.