New twist on the “best irons for beginners” question

[dgarland]

Here’s a little twist on the “what’s the best iron set for a new golfer” question. I coach a high school golf team and run some junior clinics at my local course. I’m looking for a few options for good sets of irons that are easy for novices to play. I’ve been using Cleveland TA5’s but I’m all out of those sets. I usually let kids “borrow” them and never ask for them back. So I need them to be playable, cheap, & easy to find, usually on eBay. Does anyone have a suggestion as good as or better than the TA5’s?

[JAMH03]

 

[Rapatt95]

Ping G5 irons would make a great option. There’s also several sets of TA5 on eBay for reasonable prices right now as well

[Louis_Posture]

Ping Eye 2

[st1800e]

1 hour ago, Louis_Posture said:

Ping Eye 2

Only caution I would add, is the shaft they typically came with (ZZ Lite?) are quite stiff.  May not be appropriate for a novice with a slower swing.  Economy shafts in reg or lighter are available for a reshafting.  

[ChipNRun]

These two are a bit newer, but are plentiful on the used club market. One benefit: many XR and G sets feature lighter shafts of benefit to 8th graders or smaller HS players.

 

The heads on both models launch the ball well and generate good spin for stopping power on greens.

 

Both can be found in $300-$400 price range if you hunt around.

 

Ping G30 irons also can work, if the shafts match the golfer.

[Kyfra]

Top Flite XL 2000. Super easy to hit, can be found around $100

[jplroper]

Tommy Armour 845 Silver Scots, you can pick those up under a hundred pretty easily. They also have the 845 Oversize.

[Stuart_G]

IMO - just getting a decent fit for shaft weight, playing length, and grip size is going to do WAY more for the playability than what head you select.

 

Almost any GI or Player's cavity head will do the job nicely.   But my personal favorite oldie's have been Callaway Razr-X and Razr-X tours,  TM SLDR, and Ping i5's.

 

 

[tocino]

I always recommend my friends/family who are just starting out and don't want to go with a walmart/big-box sets to try any of the Ping G-series irons first. Really any SGI set from the major manufacturers will do (TM, Callaway, Cobra, etc...)

[jplroper]

Another good used club is the Callaway x14, available with the Memphis 10 steel shaft of graphite, that iron has won alot Also the Titleist DCI 981. I would think if you picked up a box of grips and re gripped the irons yourself you could have some pretty nice playing irons pretty cheap.

[ChipNRun]

On 8/14/2023 at 11:43 AM, Stuart_G said:

Almost any GI or Player's cavity head will do the job nicely.   But my personal favorite oldie's have been Callaway Razr-X and Razr-X tours,  TM SLDR, and Ping i5's.

 

TM SLDR irons a vastly underrated model. One of first TM models to feature ThruSlot polymer-filled sole cavity to boost launch on longer clubs. Sets had ThruSlot heads in 7i and below, and more traditional one-piece cavity back for 8i and above (prevent ballooning).

 

SLDR irons are the foundation of my TM-only backup bag.

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by ChipNRun
Reset picture.

[JAM01]

Wilson Staff D100 and forward. 

[Stuart_G]

14 hours ago, ChipNRun said:

 

TM SLDR irons a vastly underrated model.

 

 

I agree.  I think the release and marketing of the RSi's so soon after the SLDR's came out was a big disservice to them.   Or maybe it was the bad hype (unforgiving nature) of the SLDR driver that lead the company to move away from the name.   Who knows? - but whatever the reason, a great iron design was swept under the carpet.  I liked them much better than the RSi2's that were supposed to replace them.

 

Although I'm not crazy about TM's short bore depths on their irons - but that's been going on for a long time.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Stuart_G

[ChipNRun]

14 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

I think the release and marketing of the RSi's so soon after the SLDR's came out was a big disservice to them. 

 

Side note: This was the peak of the arms race between TM and Callaway. One key incident: I had a slack year for golf in 2014. The first time I saw the Jet Speed woods and hybrids was when they were on clearance at the Feb. 2015 golf expo in St. Louis.

 

I had missed that Jet Speeds even existed in the 2014 time frame.