INDEPENDENT & UNBIASED

MyGolfSpy accepts $0 advertising dollars from any of the major golf manufacturers. We believe in always putting #ConsumerFirst.

120

Hours Researched

9,199

Shots Hit

17

Products Considered

36.1 million

Readers

how to support our work

OUR JOB IS YOUR GAME

Are you playing the right irons for your game?

Unfortunately, for most of us, the answer is “no.” The right irons for every golfer combine precision, distance, and forgiveness – all while maintaining a pleasant appearance at address.

So, how do you choose? If you don’t hit the center of the clubface nearly every time, chances are you need some help from your clubs. That’s where game improvement irons come in. These are designed to offer more forgiveness across the clubface, and even give you a little bit of the extra distance you’ve always wanted (or used to have).

This year we levered our Testing Facility in Yorktown, VA and put 17 of the top game-improvement models to the test. With over 9,000 shots hit, this is the most comprehensive and independent iron test in the world.

If you’re in the market for irons in 2018, this test is for you.

DEFINING THE GAME IMPROVEMENT CATEGORY

What characteristics define a game-improvement iron?

These types of clubs typically have a larger profile, some depth inside the cavity, and stronger-than-traditional lofts throughout the set.

While these aren’t your most workable clubs, what they will offer is some forgiveness for those inevitable off-center strikes, and that little bit of extra distance you might need to get it to that back pin placement.

The handicap level for these types of irons varies from scratch golfers, all the way into the high-teens. Game-improvement irons know no limits when it comes to the skill level of golfers gaming them. Some tour pros will often replace long irons with these easier-to-hit clubs.

REFINED ANALYTICS

Each year we strive to bring you the most accurate data possible to help you make the right purchasing decisions. As with years in the past, we’ve worked to improve our analytics, tightening our outlier detection system and tweaking our calculations. We’re still utilizing strokes gained, but have added another piece to the puzzle – statistical significance.

All testing was conducted inside our fully independent test facility located in Virginia. All testers used Bridgestone Tour B-RX golf balls for consistency and to reduce test variables. All ball data was collected using the world’s most trusted launch monitor, Foresight Sports GCQuad. All head data was captured using the Foresight’s HMT.

SHOTS HIT: 9,199
DATA POINTS: 662,328
TIME: 120 hours
TESTERS: 20
HANDICAP RANGE: +2 – 15
AGE RANGE: 25 – 83
DRIVER SWING SPEED RANGE: 80 mph – 120 mph
IRONS TESTED: Three irons, a short, middle, and long iron from each set

Data. Aggregated. Normalized. Delivered.

RESULTS AND RANKINGS

For all MyGolfSpy Most Wanted Testing, we yield to only one boss – the launch monitor. There is no panel of judges, no round-table discussions and certainly no voting. As with all Most Wanted tests, we collected the standard set of launch monitor metrics (ball speed, launch angle, spin rates, distance, offline, etc.).

Our Most Wanted winner is the club that finished in the statistically significant top group (based on Strokes Gained) for the highest percentage of our testers. To simplify things a bit, we call the final order TRUERank; a metric that includes the order of finish (rank), along with the percentage of golfers for whom each club was shown to be in the top group.

For more information, view our How We Test page.

WIN! – The #1 Overspeed Training Kit

SUPERSPEED GOLF

Enter MyGolfSpy’s Giveaway!

2018 Best Game Improvement Irons

Srixon Z585

Most Wanted Game Improvement Iron

Short Iron Rank	1st
Mid Iron Rank	4th
Long Iron Rank	2nd
TRUERank	1st (67%)

Shop & Support

When you shop online consider using our special link. It helps support this site and other golfers around the world. #ConsumerFirst

Buy

Trade In/Up

Callaway Rogue

Short Iron Rank	2nd
Mid Iron Rank	7th
Long Iron Rank	6th
TRUERank	2nd (58%)

Shop & Support

When you shop online consider using our special link. It helps support this site and other golfers around the world. #ConsumerFirst

Buy

Trade In/Up

TaylorMade M4

Short Iron Rank	4th
Mid Iron Rank	1st
Long Iron Rank	7th
TRUERank	3rd (57%)

Shop & Support

When you shop online consider using our special link. It helps support this site and other golfers around the world. #ConsumerFirst

Buy

Trade In/Up

2018 Most Wanted Players Distance Iron Data

2018 Most Wanted Game Improvement Rankings

Club Name	Long Iron Rank	Mid Iron Rank	Short Iron Rank	TRUERank	% in Top Group
Srixon Z585	2nd	4th	1st	1st	67%
Callaway Rogue	6th	7th	2nd	2nd	58%
TaylorMade M4	7th	1st	4th	3rd	57%
Cleveland Launcher CBX	4th	2nd	11th	4th	53%
TaylorMade M3	4th	11th	4th	4th	53%
Fourteen TC 544	2nd	2nd	16th	6th	52%
Wilson Staff C300	15th	4th	4th	7th	50%
Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal	1st	16th	11th	7th	50%
PING G400	15th	11th	3rd	9th	48%
Callaway EPIC	7th	4th	11th	9th	48%
Cobra KING F8 ONE	7th	7th	7th	9th	48%
PING G700	7th	7th	7th	9th	48%
Cobra KING F8	13th	11th	7th	13th	45%
Titleist 718 AP1	13th	11th	11th	14th	43%
Ben Hogan EDGE	7th	16th	7th	14th	43%
Tommy Armour TA1	15th	15th	11th	16th	40%
VEGA Mizar	7th	7th	17th	17th	37%

Below you’ll find the data from our 2018 Most Wanted Players Distance Test. Note that you can use the Iron Model filter to limit the display to specific models. Also note that, by default, we show the comparative metrics for long irons. To see middle and short irons, use the Iron Type drop-down located on the top right of the charts.