Strong lofted compact irons?

[frequentlurker]

This is a bit of an oddball question...

 

I'm looking for strong lofted irons (preferably forged) that still have a *very* compact head. I currently play Sub70 659CBs that were bent 4+° strong. I like the compact head shape but bending them so strong resulted in some unseemly offset.

 

For context, I play to a 7.3 index and am a decent ball striker, but I don't have a ton of speed. The longest iron I play is a 6i that carries ~160. For distances of 165+, I play hybrids.

 

I really enjoy a forged feel with small, compact iron heads, but I can't seem to find a set of irons that meet this description with a 7i loft anywhere close to the 28° 7i I play today.

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

[frequentlurker]

This is a bit of an oddball question.

 

I'm looking for strong lofted irons (preferably forged) that are very compact.

 

I currently play Sub70 659CBs that were bent 4+° strong. I like the head size/shape but bending them so strong resulted in an unseemly amount of offset.

 

For context, I play off of 7.3 and am a decent ball striker, but I don't have a lot of speed. The longest iron I play is a 6i that carries 160. My 7i loft is 28°.

 

I'd love to find a forged, compact club head with lofts comparable to what I'm playing, but I don't seem to be able to find any that meet my description (with the strongest lofted 7i I can find in a compact head usually being 30-32°).

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

[fang510]

T100s and maybe Fourteen? You're right on lofts and would still have to bend them. 

[Hickory4ever]

2 hours ago, asofine said:

This is a bit of an oddball question.

 

I'm looking for strong lofted irons (preferably forged) that are very compact.

 

I currently play Sub70 659CBs that were bent 4+° strong. I like the head size/shape but bending them so strong resulted in an unseemly amount of offset.

 

For context, I play off of 7.3 and am a decent ball striker, but I don't have a lot of speed. The longest iron I play is a 6i that carries 160. My 7i loft is 28°.

 

I'd love to find a forged, compact club head with lofts comparable to what I'm playing, but I don't seem to be able to find any that meet my description (with the strongest lofted 7i I can find in a compact head usually being 30-32°).

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

I don’t see why you bent the clubs in the first place. Just hit the 6 iron in its native loft.

[frequentlurker]

39 minutes ago, Hickory4ever said:

I don’t see why you bent the clubs in the first place. Just hit the 6 iron in its native loft.

 

I was coming from PXG Gen 4XPs. Asked the builder at Sub70 to adjust the lofts to make 'em not INSANELY dissimilar from my PXGs. He went a lil overboard and bent them to the exact spec as the PXGs. I actually hit the Sub70s well, launch/spin are decent, etc., but the offset is just a little much to look down on for me.

 

Liked the PXGs, too. They were just a little shovely to look at.

 

Maybe it's impossible to have the best of both worlds (compact head and strong lofts), but I would think (perhaps wrongly) that there are other decent ball strikers in the market without a ton of speed who still want a compact head? I guess one obvious solution is to just get weaker lofted irons and accept that I'll be hitting 5i instead of 6i (and so on). But my big fat ego would prefer not to do that 😛

Edited July 13 by frequentlurker

[frequentlurker]

Double post

Edited July 13 by frequentlurker

[craz-e]

1 hour ago, fang510 said:

T100s and maybe Fourteen? You're right on lofts and would still have to bend them. 

 

Both very good shouts, could also look at the PCG 0317 T's and strengthen the lofts by a couple of degrees. 

 

Otherwise you could go full custom, someone like National Custom and get something that fits your eye and whatever number on the bottom of the club you want. 

[Hickory4ever]

8 minutes ago, asofine said:

 

I was coming from PXG Gen 4XPs. Asked the builder at Sub70 to adjust the lofts to make 'em not INSANELY dissimilar from my PXGs. He went a lil overboard and bent them to the exact spec as the PXGs. I actually hit the Sub70s well, launch/spin are decent, etc., but the offset is just a little much to look down on for me.

 

Liked the PXGs, too. They were just a little shovely to look at.

 

Maybe it's impossible to have the best of both worlds (compact head and strong lofts), but I would think (perhaps wrongly) that there are other decent ball strikers in the market without a ton of speed who still want a compact head? I guess one obvious solution is to just get weaker lofted irons and accept that I'll be hitting 5i instead of 6i (and so on). But my big fat ego would prefer not to do that 😛

Check your ego at the door, hit the right club regardless of the number on it. Today’s 7 irons are old 5 irons in disguise. Today’s loft jacking is ridiculous. 

[puresurfr]

The Mizuno Pro 243 might be what u are looking for

[frequentlurker]

2 hours ago, Hickory4ever said:

Check your ego at the door, hit the right club regardless of the number on it. Today’s 7 irons are old 5 irons in disguise. Today’s loft jacking is ridiculous. 

I know this is the common refrain, but everything I've read says that there's a lot more to these new irons than simply "jacking lofts." As I understand it, some of these 28-30° 7 irons are still launching high and coming down steep enough to stop like a "proper" 7 iron. And of course we should all check our egos, but let's not pretend that we all don't want to look at a sharp club. I'd like to look at a sharp club without having to hit a 5i from 160 yards. Call it vanity, but I know that a *lot* of golfers feel the same way.

[frequentlurker]

2 hours ago, puresurfr said:

The Mizuno Pro 243 might be what u are looking for

That's still a 32° 7i loft unfortunately.

[frequentlurker]

I'm seeing Ping i530 with power spec lofts or Cobra Forged Tec X as being the only maybe kinda options so far.

Edited July 13 by frequentlurker

[Gabbagool]

Forged Tec maybe bent a degree strong?

 

 

[bekgolf]

I'd look at the Callaway Apex line.

[argee1977]

When i tested a load of forged clubs last month, the Cobra Forged Tec X were the longest on show for me, lovely clubs and look nice as well, i ended up with i530s, but there was nothing in it between them, i just really wanted the pings before the test and they did the job during it.

[POKeefe]

What you’re suggesting you want is a players distance iron. Callaway Rogue ST Pro, Mizuno 225 or 245, Titleist T200, Maltby TS1-IM all are pretty compact and have 30.5ish degree 7 irons. Realistically, what everyone else is saying is correct. It’s pointless to have super loft jacked irons. It just messes up your gapping.

[frequentlurker]

10 minutes ago, POKeefe said:

What you’re suggesting you want is a players distance iron. Callaway Rogue ST Pro, Mizuno 225 or 245, Titleist T200, Maltby TS1-IM all are pretty compact and have 30.5ish degree 7 irons. Realistically, what everyone else is saying is correct. It’s pointless to have super loft jacked irons. It just messes up your gapping.

My gapping right now looks like this...

 

18° 3Hybrid- 200 
22° Hybrid - 190

26° Hybrid - 180

24° 6i - 165

27.5° 7i - 155

31° 8i - 145

36° 9i - 130

42° PW - 115

46° GW - 105

54° - 85

 

It's weird but it works fine. The clubs you mention have 7is that would track more closely to my 8i. I suppose I could adjust to playing 5-PW instead of 6i-GW, but again, it'd be nice to not have to swing a club as long (even in terms of shaft length) as a 5i to hit a ball 160+. 

Edited July 13 by frequentlurker

[frequentlurker]

19 minutes ago, argee1977 said:

When i tested a load of forged clubs last month, the Cobra Forged Tec X were the longest on show for me, lovely clubs and look nice as well, i ended up with i530s, but there was nothing in it between them, i just really wanted the pings before the test and they did the job during it.

Thanks for this. I'll definitely go have a look at these in person and see if I can hit em on a simulator.

[BombinJim]

The fourteen MB’s came with pretty strong lofts IIRC.

[R.Patrick]

Seems like you could add a 5i to your current set and bend everything 1* strong and you are good to go.

[Llortamaisey]

Callaway Epic Forged ‘19

[Ben B]

12 hours ago, asofine said:

This is a bit of an oddball question.

 

I'm looking for strong lofted irons (preferably forged) that are very compact.

 

I currently play Sub70 659CBs that were bent 4+° strong. I like the head size/shape but bending them so strong resulted in an unseemly amount of offset.

 

For context, I play off of 7.3 and am a decent ball striker, but I don't have a lot of speed. The longest iron I play is a 6i that carries 160. My 7i loft is 28°.

 

I'd love to find a forged, compact club head with lofts comparable to what I'm playing, but I don't seem to be able to find any that meet my description (with the strongest lofted 7i I can find in a compact head usually being 30-32°).

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

I'd say go with the Mizuno 245s straight up. The lofts are very close to what you currently play. They are designed to look more compact and blade like but play like a game improvement iron that is very forgiving and gives golfers with slower swing speeds the height and distance they need. As mentioned, the reason the lofts are stronger is that they launch the ball considerably higher but with less spin. Due to the steeper descending angle, the ball still has plenty of stopping power on the green. 

 

As you mentioned, you have a slower swing speed so simply taking a compact forged blade or players cavity and bending them strong will only create problems. These style clubs are going to be lower launching in general. So if you bend them strong they are going to launch even lower with less spin. For someone with a slower swing speed this means you will carry the ball less and have a hard time keeping balls on the green. Surely this isn't what you are after. So I'd highly recommend not going this route. 

[JohnKHawk]

Callaway Paradym irons appear compact at address & are fairly strong lofted. 7 iron is 29 degrees.

[jimb]

2023 Titleist T200.  Relatively compact with a nice profile at address.  

[teedub21]

Bend your sub-70’s back two degrees and add the 5 iron.  

[Pnwpingi210]

Mizuno 245

cobra 3d printed

cobra tour bent strong

fourteen has models

vega has some models

Zx5

[mgoblue83]

I think you need to be careful.

 

The wide soles, low cog and hidden tech are allowing you to play strong lofts by helping to increase your vertical launch angle.

 

Without the tech I don’t think you have enough speed to launch the ball high enough and keep it in the air. 

[hook_or_slice]

14 hours ago, asofine said:

..... And of course we should all check our egos, but let's not pretend that we all don't want to look at a sharp club. I'd like to look at a sharp club without having to hit a 5i from 160 yards. Call it vanity, but I know that a *lot* of golfers feel the same way.

 

When you hit a G430 with a graphite shaft 7i from 160 it goes a long way in convincing yourself it is a "sharp club".

[frequentlurker]

31 minutes ago, hook_or_slice said:

 

When you hit a G430 with a graphite shaft 7i from 160 it goes a long way in convincing yourself it is a "sharp club".

Haha fair. 

[hammergolf]

21 hours ago, asofine said:

This is a bit of an oddball question.

 

I'm looking for strong lofted irons (preferably forged) that are very compact.

 

I currently play Sub70 659CBs that were bent 4+° strong. I like the head size/shape but bending them so strong resulted in an unseemly amount of offset.

 

For context, I play off of 7.3 and am a decent ball striker, but I don't have a lot of speed. The longest iron I play is a 6i that carries 160. My 7i loft is 28°.

 

I'd love to find a forged, compact club head with lofts comparable to what I'm playing, but I don't seem to be able to find any that meet my description (with the strongest lofted 7i I can find in a compact head usually being 30-32°).

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

The Callaway Paradym or AI Smoke irons are very strong lofted and pretty compact.