The 10 Most Forgiving Irons

Can playing the most forgiving irons for your abilities help you shoot lower scores? Here's a personal anecdote that gives an undisputed answer to that question.

A couple of decades ago, I got a set of Alien Tutch Chamber Irons by Pat Simmons to review. They were ugly. I was embarrassed to have them in my bag. But the first round I played with them, I shot even par (I was a 6-handicap at the time).

The ball went straight and high with not a lot of spin, but I hit almost every green. It was boring.

I couldn’t take them out of the bag at that point, so I told myself as long as I was breaking 80 with them, they had to remain in play. They stayed in my bag for months before I finally had the excuse – a score of 81 – to put my Pings back in the bag.

You can argue it was ego that removed the Aliens from my bag. The bottom line is that a small number of us play the most forgiving clubs available.

Golfers tend to prioritize looks, feel, and ego over forgiveness. I wanted to shape shots a little more, and I wanted cooler clubs in my bag, so the Aliens were out. But sometimes I wish I still had them.

You can argue that iron play is the most critical aspect of your golf game. After all, isn’t that how you get to the green for those birdie putts? A lousy iron game leaves you scrambling for par, and bad iron shots often lead to double bogey or worse.

Forgiveness is a great trait to have in your irons. Good players don’t need irons to account for hitting behind the ball, but hitting greens with off-center strikes is always an asset.

Higher handicap players should seek as much forgiveness as possible. That includes irons that have a wide sole to help with turf interaction and offset to minimize slice.

Here are 10 of the most forgiving irons on the market for various levels of players.

• TaylorMade Qi HL (Game Improvement)
• Titleist T350 (Game Improvement)
• PING G730 (Game Improvement)
• PXG Black Ops (Game Improvement)
• Callaway Paradym AI Smoke (Game Improvement)
• Cobra Darkspeed (Game Improvement)
• Wedgewood Golf (Super Game Improvement)
• Cleveland Launcher XL (Super Game Improvement)
• PXG GEN7 0311 XP (Players Distance)
• TaylorMade P-7MC (Players)

Pros: 

• Straight and long
• Easy to launch
• Forgiving turf interaction

Cons:

• Difficult to shape shots

The TaylorMade Qi HL irons are the higher-launching version of the TaylorMade Qi irons. Both are quite forgiving with a design that produces an extremely high moment of inertia and forgiveness on off-center hits.

The Qi HL irons have higher than normal lofts, but you really don’t sacrifice distance because they are fairly hot. If you don’t have a high clubhead speed, the Qi HL irons will stay in the air longer.

They are also ultra-light in terms of weight and shafts. A wide sole makes for easy turf interaction. And for game improvement clubs, they look pretty good at address.

Pros: 

• Beautiful design
• Impressive distance
• Forged feel

Cons:

• Ball flight might be a bit low for a game-improvement iron

In general, Titleist irons have always been for better players, or at least serious golfers. So if you’ve ever considered playing Titleist clubs, this might be a great entry point for you.

The T350 irons have the largest clubhead in the T Series and a forged face. They feel and look great, yet aren't so intimidating at address. They don’t look like they're hard to hit, and they are not.

The hollow design translates into more distance, and the softer edges and wider sole give them built-in forgiveness if you miss your spot. Despite some tungsten weighting in the sole that helps get the ball up in the air, they don’t fly as high as some other irons on this list.

Simply put, the Titleist T350 irons have a premium look with great feel.

Pros: 

• Pleasing aesthetics
• Very long
• Nice feel for a cast iron

Cons:

• Strong lofts

Ping’s latest game-improvement iron is the company’s best to date, which is saying something since forgiveness has always been in Ping's DNA. The hot face and stronger lofts produce exceptional distance, which puts the G730 irons among the best in this category.

Ping says an advanced heat treatment of the 17-4 stainless steel is responsible for more flex off the face. A very wide sole combined with a low center of gravity produces good launch conditions despite the lofts being stronger than most. A wide profile and perimeter weighting also add forgiveness.

Pros: 

• Super easy to hit
• Impressive distance
• Clean appearance

Cons:

• Can’t work the ball as much as Players irons.

I’ve been playing PXG 0311 Gen 4 irons for a couple of years now. I love the combination of looks and forgiveness. The new Black Ops irons from PXG take forgiveness to a whole new level, and they look pretty good, too. 

Black Ops is really PXG's first real game-improvement iron. The Black Ops irons have what the company calls a “dual cavity” design. There’s an insert in the outer cavity to distribute weight low and back on the perimeter. PXG used its XCOR2 in the inner cavity, which it has also used inside some of its other irons. 

A high-strength, extremely thin face combined with “Power Channel Technology” also combine for ball speed and forgiveness. This is an iron, quite frankly, that any level of player could game, although low handicap players may not like that it’s not very workable.

Pros: 

• Very forgiving across the face
• Good looks
• Impressive distance

Cons:

• Doesn’t spin the ball as much as some other irons

Artificial intelligence is the buzzword on many of the new clubs, and AI is behind Callaway's AI Smoke irons. This kind of sophisticated design capability has resulted in perhaps Callaway’s most forgiving irons ever. You can hit it all over the face and get pretty good results with lots of ball speed and a tight shot dispersion.

The hollow-body design and stronger lofts help add distance, yet the ball launches with plenty of height if you’re a player with moderate to high clubhead speed. 

These irons, with their chrome finish and smoke banner, have a really good, clean look, too. Plus, there’s not a lot of offset, so you can definitely work the ball with these irons.

Pros: 

• Cool aesthetics
• Ball jumps off the face
• Nice feel for a distance iron

Cons:

• Dark finish doesn’t appeal to everyone

The first thing I noticed when I hit Cobra’s Darkspeed irons on the range was how the ball just jumped off the face. That might be partly because of the light foam material in the hollow clubheads. Cobra says that creates 25% more face deflection and more distance than its previous game improvement irons. 

The Darkspeed irons also feature a large PWRSHELL with an updated face design engineered to deliver more speed, spin, and a larger sweet spot.

Cobra suspended the refined PWR-BRIDGE weight on a single post inside the clubhead to encourage faster ball speed. The imposing charcoal finish and intricate logo design on the back of the clubhead instill confidence at address.

Pros: 

• Shank proof
• Very easy to get up in the air
• Go fairly straight

Cons:

• Strange looking

If you are a beginner or desperate, you might want to look at these irons from Wedgewood Golf. Wedgewood designed these irons with nothing but forgiveness in mind.

These are basically hybrid irons with one very important feature: the hosel sits well above the clubface, which all but guarantees you can’t shank them.

The Shank bug has bitten me, and I've thought about ordering a set of these for myself a few times. The extreme bounce in these clubs also helps them glide through the turf. 

I don't recommend these for better players, but it’s hard to find irons more forgiving than these Wedgewood clubs. 

Pros: 

• Very long
• Easy to launch
• Progressive design through set

Cons:

• Nicks show up easier than some other irons

I’ve personally tested the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons and can confirm that they are easy to hit and very long. I probably hit the 7-iron in this set a good five to 10 yards longer than my own 7-iron. You’re basically hitting a lofted hybrid, but at address, the Launcher XL Halos actually look pretty decent.

One big plus for these irons is that they have what Cleveland calls a “Rail to V-shaped sole design.” The “Gliderail” in the long irons gradually transitions to a V-shaped sole in the short irons. 

The wedges actually have a three-tiered sole design, which makes them somewhat versatile. Still, you’re not going to want to open these up like a traditional wedge. If you like clubs that go high, far, and straight, this is a great option.

Pros:

• Rear weight allows fitting for swing weight during fitting session
• First PXG iron to match the USGA’s COR limit, resulting in maximum distance
• Availalbe in chrome and black finishes

Cons:

• Top end price point

PXG has released its first iron that matches the USGA’s coefficient of restitution limit. PXG says the achievement was 10 years in the making, and will help you hit the ball farther than ever with your irons.

PXG engineers created a new core material, QuantumCOR, which helped them move mass to optimize performance. 

The XP version of the new 0311 GEN7 irons are the more forgiving of the line, complimenting the P (players) edition.

Pros:

• Standout forgiveness among players irons
• Sleek, attractive looks
• Compact footprint appeals to better players

Cons:

•  Less forgiving than any other iron category mentioned in this article

Just because you’re a solid ball-striker doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit from some forgiveness in your irons. TaylorMade built these gems specifically for low-handicap players, but they still pack top-of-class forgiveness in the category.

The compact footprint and five-times forged feeling will attract better players to these irons.

Despite the forgiveness, the P7MC irons still deliver precise feedback from every shot, whether you hit the sweet spot or not.