Iron technology is easily overshadowed by the glitz and glam of drivers. It’s hard to argue with the massive distance gains made in the last decade that have led to longer courses and deeper rough. But the iron technology has improved by leaps and bounds as well. Many companies like PXG and TaylorMade developed a line of irons that have a hollow head design to increase ball speed off the face. Tungsten is being injected into smaller forged irons to improve moment of inertia(MOI) and increase forgiveness. A common misconception is that companies have lowered the lofts to increase distance, however that is not 100% true. Companies have lowered the lofts, but the reason is the ball is launching much higher and faster than ever before and the only way to control gapping and trajectory is with the loft. Iron gains have not only been from the engineering but also a new concept, combo sets. A combo iron set is made up of more than one type of iron, for instance 4 iron through 7 iron will be a hollow design for more forgiveness and 8 iron through gap wedge will be a smaller forged iron for precision. This ability and willingness to split your iron set allows golfers to get the best of both worlds. Not as glamorous as the sliding weight ports and artificial intelligence of the drivers but iron technology has made tremendous strides and is often overlooked.
