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Discover The Best Players Distance Iron
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Aug 18, 2025
Irons expert Joe Ferguson runs through the best compact distance irons or players distance irons on the market in 2025 so you can make a better buying decision should you be a mid handicapper looking for a new iron set this year that combines distance and forgiveness with a compact look at address.
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In this video, I'm going to be taking you through some of the very best
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latest releases in the compact distance irons category. And by the end of the video, I'm hoping you're going to have a much better idea
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of what might work for you. And stick with me to the end, because I might just name my personal favourite
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I've done a few of these videos before, and I've seen a few videos out there where people are kind of telling you what looks the best
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And I find that really difficult to get my head around. I've been thinking about it more and more, because what I like the look of, you might completely hate and vice versa
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So I think probably the best way to go about this is highlight a few characteristics within irons that you might be looking for
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So the first one of those in this category, I'm going to split it up to a couple because some of us in this category might still be looking for that forgiveness and confidence at address
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whereas some others might still want to be veering towards that kind of better player look
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So to start with, I'm going to be going on the confidence side of things. If you're someone who's looking for maximum confidence inspiration at address, I've got three that I'd like you to take a look at
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The first of which is the PXG 0311P Gen 7 iron. Now, not the world's catchiest name, I think you'll agree
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but it's a really strong iron, particularly in the visual element I'm talking about there of confidence inspiring
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When you get it out of the bag, it's got a relatively thick sole compared to some of the others, so that could help sort of give you connotations
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that we're going to get through the turf and there might be a bit of forgiveness there. But when you put it in behind the ball
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there's a nice healthy blade length and a reasonable top line there
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It's not thin, it's not thick, It's just in a really nice, comfortable place and just a smidgen of offset
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So every time I've tested this, I put it in behind the ball and I think, yeah, I can play this
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This is a comfy looking iron. Now, the second one I want to talk to you about in that regard is the Tor Edge Exotics C725
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Now, I've been really impressed with Tor Edge across the board, particularly in terms of their aesthetic
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Again, as soon as I pull this out the bag and put it in behind the ball, the blade length is just that little bit longer than some
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so you feel like you've got a bit of play heel to toe, so you feel like you've just got a little
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bit of leeway. And just every time I put these in behind the ball, whether it's the longer iron
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the mid iron or the short iron, I just get that feeling that I've just got that bit of margin
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for error, which is something which can be really important to some people. But finally, the one I
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probably think stands out maybe in the confidence-inspiring category is the new Hogan Legend
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iron. This is a direct-to-consumer brand, which we'll probably touch on a little bit later. But
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In this category, I think it stands out just simply because it's just got a little bit more size
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Now, as I said, some of you are going to prefer something a little bit more compact, but we've got a really meaty head here
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It still does all the same sort of performance characteristics as a lot of these other irons
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but it's just wrapped up in a much friendlier, much more user-friendly package
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It's going to give you that confidence. So this is one I'd really take a good look at, particularly on price as well
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But if we're talking visuals, it's going to give you confidence. The Hogan Legend is a really good start
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So those are the friendlier looking irons. So let's have a look at the stuff in this bag. It's got a bit more of that better player aesthetic
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And I'm going to start with the Strixon Iron, the ZX-I5. Now, this aesthetic, we always talk about sort of looks in behind the board
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but I think this aesthetic starts when you just grab it out of the bag. Straight away, it just looks classy
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It looks premium. It's got a real better player feel just with the finishing
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And you can see that Tor VT sole that I love so much, which helps serve interaction
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As soon as you see that, you know you're dealing with something that's got a bit of refinement to it. But as you do put it in behind the board
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it's a little bit more angular than some there's some of the more yeah an angular toe less rounding
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less soft it's quite a harsh looking head but for me I really like that sort of boxed off look and
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a lot of players will really enjoy that minimal offset and a relatively thin top line it's just
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got that real better player connotation about it and in a similar vein the Titleist T200 so
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again when you pull it out the bag from a shelf appeal point of view just oozes sort of that
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premium class there's no gimmicks there's nothing flashy going on here you just know you're dealing
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with a nice classy better player iron and again then in the playing position which is dealing with
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slightly less offset than some in this bag and a slightly thinner top line and those are the sort of
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differentiating factors that make me think about game improvement to better player irons. It's just
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those little details and I think Titleist have nailed it in this T200 so again if you're looking
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at a better player aesthetic that's really one to consider. Now another one I wanted to mention was
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the tailor-made P790, the new version for 2025. Now it could probably still sit in the confidence
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inspiring category but I wanted to mention it because they've kind of drawn the aesthetic back
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a little bit towards the better player. When I put it down against the 23 version we've got a
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significantly thinner top line, there's been a few little visual refinements particularly the
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transition from the hosel into that top line looks so much better from a shaping point of view that
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I think that's worth pointing out. If you're someone that's steered clear of P790 before
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because you just wanted that slightly better player look, well, now you can get it in P790
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You've still got all the performance, but they've just reined it into kind of that better player model
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that I'm talking about here. I'm a big fan of this one. But I think in this category, when we're talking about looks
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in terms of the better player stuff, you're going to do well to beat the Mizuno Pro 245
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Now, I've said this before, when I was testing this out, they sent me the whole lot
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They sent me the 241s, the blade, the 243s and these and I kept reaching for the wrong one
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When I was trying to pick up the 245 to test it out, I kept picking up the blade because they look so similar
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particularly from the back. You could put these in the bag and people are going to be thinking you're playing a set of Mizuno Forge blades
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but you still get all the performance benefits of the hollow body and the distance stuff we're talking about in this category
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But it is disguised again down by the bull, probably the least offset of anything I've got here
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a very thin top line, there still isn't much between these in terms of looks between the 241 and the 245
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So for that reason, if you are shopping in this category and you do want something a little bit
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in that better player style then you not gonna go wrong with the Mizuno Pro 245 Right I going to talk about feel now and I think feel in this particular category the compact distance or the player distance whatever you want to call this category
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it's quite an interesting one because we've got a few different players converging in this
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category what we might have is some people who've traditionally played maybe a blade or a very small
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cavity who are getting on in years or just need that extra distance boost so some of those players
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might want something that feels a bit more familiar down that end, if you like, in terms of
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that softer forged feeling. So that's important that some of these clubs can give us that. But
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on the flip side of that, we might have players coming from a game improvement category who are
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used to and like some of that more robust industrial feel that really kind of shows off
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the power within here. So I'm not going to try and tell you what you like. Again, it's similar
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to the looks. What I like the feel of could be completely different to what you do. So I think
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that's a bit of a redundant exercise nowadays. I'm just going to highlight a few of the models
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that I think show us both of those. I'm going to start with some of those that just give us that
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again, I keep saying better player feel, but the feels that I associate with those sort of softer
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more traditional forged irons. The first of which I want to talk to you about is the Strixon ZX-i5
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Now, I've spoken about this in terms of looks, so we already know it's got those refined looks
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and that doesn't stop when we start getting into the feel. It's very, very soft
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The turf interaction on these in particular is really, really good. The Tour VT Sol, for me
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is one of the best sols in golf. And you see that there's so many non-contracted players
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out on Tour that are playing tricks on irons. And this is a big part about it
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It's split in two and it just really helps a really smooth entry and exit into the turf
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I was quite shallow on that one, so it wasn't a great sort of demonstration of it but it really helps players whether they're
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shallow whether they're steep get in and out of the turf and the ball just melts into and off the
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face it's a really soft feeling iron the next one I wanted to talk about is the tailor-made p790 now
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again it's similar to what I said in looks that what they've done here both in terms of that
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aesthetic and in terms of the feel is they brought it just a little bit closer to maybe the p770 and
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the P7CB both in refinement of looks and in the feel. You still get a really interesting
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sensation off the face here. You know something's coming with a bit of power
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and you can feel it and it goes, but you also get a real depth of strike, which I didn't think was
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present in some of the previous P790 models. They're a bit clickier, a bit firmer. The ball
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melts in and it really explodes off here it's a really strong feeling iron now the next one I want
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to talk to you about is the Tacomo 101T iron now this is really popular not least because of its
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exceptional value nice minimalist minimalist looks but maybe the softest of the bunch of what I've
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tried here and I found that with the the MBs this I tried and the CBs really soft irons and it
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continues even in this sort of hollow body construction which is designed for power
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I see that power which is great and I know it's there but I'm getting really sort of marshmallow-y
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soft impact feel so if you're someone who prefers that really softer feel then the Tacoma is a great
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one to look at but like in the looks category there's another one here is a Mizuno Iron that
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I think blows the others away in terms of feel. Now this is the JPX 925 Forge. So I'm not sure if
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I've ever come across an iron that I find so confusing in all different compartments of my
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brain. I pick this out and I see Mizuno. I see the finish. It's premium. It's got Forged written on it
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So immediately I'm getting those better player vibes. I put it in behind the ball and I see a
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relatively long blade length but a nice compact head. So I feel like I know what I'm going to get
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then I strike it and once again I get that beautiful Mizuno soft feel and then the confusion
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starts because I look at the launch monitor and it's just gone miles the ball explodes off the
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face of this club everything about this screams compact forged premium better player I think this
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is the standout in that particular category of feel for me. Okay so on to another style of feel
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all together. Now this is the category I'm talking about for players that may have come from more
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game improvement style irons. Maybe you're on that journey, you're getting better through golf and
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you're coming out of a package set or like I said that very much game improvement iron and you're
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coming into this player's distance category from that side. So you might be used to and you might
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like something a bit firmer, a bit clicky that doesn't maybe disguise the power quite as much
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So the ones I've selected in that regard, I'm going to start with the Tor Edge Exotic C725
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Now, I'll hit a couple away here because this really does exude power
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As soon as I hit it, it's audibly firmer. There is a bit of a click to it. Some people won't like
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that. Some people absolutely love it. It is, like I said, audibly a little bit clickier
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But what I like about that is that sort of, kind of in-builds that sense of power, that clicky
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that firm noise and that firm feel makes me feel that the power's already there so maybe I don't
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have to subconsciously put as much into it and I can put some smooth emotions on the on this ball
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because I know the power's in that club I get that feeling from impact so that's one that I
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really like another one that jumps out to me here and there let me let me leave that one for last
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actually I'm going to get the PXG 0331P Gen 7 so I do like this iron I think it sets up really well
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In fact I like the whole PXG iron range this year And this one definitely for me sits on that slightly firmer end of the scale Again if I just clip one away I don know how well it shows up on the audio but
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much like that Tor edge iron it is audibly just a little bit clickier, a little bit firmer and the
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ball just doesn't seem to stay on the face as long as some of those other irons that I used to start
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with it's on and off in a flash and you know it's got some power so that's a really good one
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again in terms of that sort of more robust feel but the one that stands out for me here is the
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PING i530 for someone who wants just that utter feeling of raw power this is a nice blend this
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probably to me is the softer of the three but it's still on the firmer end but the ball just
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seems to explode off the face of this thing it's a really nice compact setup and every time I hit it
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i know it's here it's really just pops out there and i know i've got no issues whatsoever
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in terms of raw yardage it's just exceptional and you feel it as soon as it comes off the face
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it's gone so in terms of the robust feeling irons those are the ones i'd recommend
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right so let's get on to the all-important performance it's all very well having a great
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looking iron and a great feeling iron but we need all this numbers all the data to stack up on the
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launch monitor so what I'm going to do I've done a lot of testing with all of these clubs I'm going
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to pop the data up on the screen now for you I'm going to get rid of it in a second so if you do
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want to digest that a little bit more feel free to pause it now and have a look otherwise it's gone
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so let's get into a few of the performance categories I want to talk about now I'm going
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to talk about one to start with it's less quantifiable it's nothing to do with the data
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you've just seen it's about forgiveness now the three irons that I probably saw the best results
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on my heel and toe strikes and particularly my miss which generally is low on the face
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I want to talk about the Ping i530 to start with the technology in that club just supports it's so
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stable anything off center is gobbled up and flattered and the ball speed retention that I saw
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with the Ping i530. I hit some pretty questionable strikes in testing with that particular iron
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and I very rarely lost more than one and a half to two miles per hour. It's exceptional
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on ball speed retention so that's one to consider. Again I'm going to mention the tailor-made P790
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It's kind of the grandfather of this category but this particular iteration is really really good
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They have as I've said brought it back to more a better player feel in terms of the aesthetics and
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that impact feel and sound but what we haven't lost is any of the playability again ball speed
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retention is up there with that ping and the spin rates are very very stable when I hit that ball
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low on the face which I do quite a lot a lot of irons I see spin up a lot and I lose a lot of
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distance the spin sort of characteristics stay very very stable with that P790 so that's really
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one to look out for there a real surprise for me was quite a late entry to this the Hogan Legend
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iron. Now I've talked to you about how forgiving it looks. Well it carries through into its
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performance. I think maybe it's just the sheer volume of the head. It is a little bit bigger
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than some of the others so it gives me the confidence that I'm going to hit it a little bit better but when I do spray it off that heel and toe I saw some really nice tight dispersion
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So in terms of the forgiveness style of irons or the most playable or user-friendly those are the
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three I would have a really good look at if that's what you're prioritizing. Now on to a couple of
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the more quantifiable categories that we need to know about and we forget about this sometimes in
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in irons we're always looking for that carry number or you know that overall distance boost
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particularly in this category but we still need to be able to hold greens it's getting very sunny
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out here so pretty soon this ground is going to firm up and if I've got a six iron in over a
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bunker to a tight pin I need to know that I can get it up and down and stop it with some sort of
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efficiency and there's a few in there that I'd like to talk to you about there looking at the
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data so the Wilson Dynapower Forged did a really really good job that was actually my highest
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launching at 17.4 degrees and the highest peak height at 106 feet for me now this will all vary
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from player to player I'm just giving you my findings the other one I want to mention in that
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category is the Tacoma 101T again a really good launch launch number sort of mid-17s and marginally
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more spin which helped it to be the only other one that I got over 100 feet of height and when we get
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that height we see that peak that sort of descent angle steepening and that just gives you a little
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bit more chance of holding it on the green so that's something I want you to bear in mind when
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you're selecting iron we often overlook that you need that height to be able to get some control
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so those are the ones that will help you do that if we are talking raw distance there were three
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that stood out for me the P790 produced some really savage distance in there as you'll see
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from the carry numbers the JPX Forge that I've spoken about disguised wrapped up it's really it's
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like a stealthy distance bat it looks like a forged iron and it's so surprising what you see
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on the launch monitor numbers particularly when it comes off so delicate and buttery soft but
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don't let that fool you that provides some serious distance and then the other one the
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Tor Edge Exotics really good third place in that carry distance number and it's some exceptional
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value there which we'll probably get onto a little bit in a moment there are some other things you
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probably want to look out for as well, turf interaction. I talk about it so much with irons
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I'm on a beautiful practice ground here and I'm really seeing what I've seen in other practice
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sessions that I've had here. The Tor VT sole from the ZXI5, the Srixon iron, it's just exceptional
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both entry and exit. So a lot of these irons with their shaping of the sole focus very much
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on getting the club into the turf in the right way. But that VT sole with the symmetry on the
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really focuses on getting it out. So it slips in and out with minimal disruption
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It a really nice feature that enhances the overall feel of the iron The Hogan Legend I going to mention it again it got a very similar sole it calls it its V sole but it got a really high bounce leading edge so there no I found it very difficult to duff that iron if you like I don hit many
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full duffs but my miss would generally be a little bit on the heavier side and when I do that that
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higher bounce leading edge just stays out the turf a little bit longer and I got away with that so
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that for someone who who might be prone to a fat shot think about that Hogan Legend iron
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and the P790 again I keep mentioning it but it's a very good overall line it's been redesigned
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with an increased radius on the sole not necessarily extra width but just an increased
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radius which just helps it slip through that turf a little bit more if you want someone wanting the
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wider forgiving sole the Ping i530 is a really really good option as is the Wilson Dynoplower
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Ford's or the Titleist T200 it doesn't look that thick when you pick it up but in practice it plays
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a little bit wider for me. I've noticed it just sliding through in certain conditions a little bit
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better. If you're looking for a bit more precision in the shorter irons, now that's something I've
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tried to bring into my iron reviews. Often we look at just seven irons and six irons and see what the
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data number says but we're going to play a whole set of these right and the shorter irons are your
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scoring irons so we need them to be versatile and do the job we want them to do and my personal
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favorites of what I saw in the shorter irons I keep saying at the TaylorMade P790 either of the
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Mizuno irons the Pro 245 or the JPX 925 Forge or the Srixon ZX-i5 really refined very versatile
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the soles are great the heads aren't too big you'll be able to get some good short iron results with
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those sorry to interrupt everyone but if you are enjoying this video don't forget to subscribe to
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the channel hit that like button and comment down below which of the irons I'm talking about
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do you like the look of have you tried any I want to hear all about it let's talk a little bit about value and that's really important particularly in today's economic
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climate but I don't want to patronize you and tell you what is good value for money because
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we'll all have different ideas of that so what I'll do is I'll put the prices of everything in
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this bag up there so you can take a look and from what I'm saying about them from your experiences
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and you'll be able to make your own mind up on what is really good value for money but one thing
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I definitely did want to talk to you about was the direct-to-consumer model that seems to have
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become a lot more prevalent in the last couple of years. So we've got companies like Hogan
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Tacoma, who you'll all be familiar with by now, and even Tor Edge to a certain extent are operating
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on kind of a hybrid direct-to-consumer model. So what we get with direct-to-consumer is we're
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missing out that middleman where we've got to build in some margin for the people who are going to sell it in their retail outlets, and that saving goes direct to you. So you're getting
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some significantly reduced product. Now, historically, people have associated a lower price with a lack of performance, but if you head back to that performance chart, you'll probably see
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well, in fact, you'll definitely see very similar, very comparable performance between everything I've
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got in my hand here and some of the much bigger brands that cost almost double at times. Now
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there are some drawbacks from going direct to consumer. There is, you can't often try before
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you buy with direct-to-consumer because they're not in a retail outlet so they might not have a custom fitting car and again custom fitting you're not generally going to get that from a
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direct-to-consumer point of view unless you already know your specs or sometimes you can go through
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an online fitting process but from my experience those can be a little bit hit and miss. That said
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there'll be plenty of people who take advantage of the value on offer from direct-to-consumer
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well i hope that's given you a good indication of what's out there on the market in that player's
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distance or compact distance category now i've tried to steer away from telling you
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too much about what you like i've tried to just present the facts as they are to give you the
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opportunity to make your own decision but that still doesn't stop me from having a couple of
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favorites now before i get to the two i've selected i think really stand out i've got an
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honourable mention. So the Tacomo 101T I think is just a really good strong iron. I love the
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minimalist looks, the performance stacks up against just about everything else. It isn't quite as
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aggressively lofted as everything else so there's quite a lot of stuff around the 30-31 mark in
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terms of the seven iron loft. This comes in at 32 so will help as we saw in the launch and spin
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category that helps players who are looking for that very important parameter and just an all-round
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great iron at some pretty exceptional value but the two that really stuck out for me and it might
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be clear from the way I've been talking through the video so the Mizuno JPX 925 forged just blew
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me away in terms of what it produces data wise you get that forged soft performance but some
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exceptional distance and it really stands out in this category but and it might be boring but I
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still think this is the godfather of this category the tailor-made P790 it's been leading this
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category for some time I really like the refinements TaylorMade have gone with this year
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of just that slightly thinner top line a much better hosel to top line transition and just
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making it feel just a little bit more premium but retaining all the power and all the forgiveness
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so this would be very hard to beat for me and be a great starting point if you're shopping in this
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category I hope you've enjoyed that thanks for watching and we'll see you next time
23:03
Thank you
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