- 2 months ago
Irons expert Joe Ferguson runs through the best game improvement irons on the market in 2025 so you can make a better buying decision should you be looking for a new forgiving iron set this year.
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00:00In this golf bag I have with me some of the best game improvement irons of 2025 and by the end of
00:06this video I'm going to hopefully give you a much better idea of which one of these irons
00:15might suit your game.
00:22So I've come to the beautiful and sunny Stoke Park Golf Club to take you through some categories
00:26such as looks, sound, feel and performance to try and help you avoid any mistakes when you're
00:31purchasing decisions this season. So without further ado let's get stuck into the looks.
00:42A looks is always a very subjective topic what I like to look of you might hate and vice versa so
00:48I'm not going to stand here and tell you what the best looking iron is because you might flat out
00:52agree and I'll cop it in the comments for that. Instead I'm going to highlight some very specific
00:56characteristics about how these individual models look and you can make your own mind up and that
01:01should help you make a better decision. So if you are someone who's prioritizing or looking for the
01:05most confidence inspiring look you can I've picked out a few models here that you might want to take
01:09a look at starting with the Ping G730. Now when you put this down at address it's got quite a long
01:15heel to toe length which is always good, got a healthy little bit of offset and we've got an even
01:19healthier top line which gives a little bit of confidence you've got a bit of mass behind the ball.
01:24Second one I think you should probably take a look at is the Cleveland Halo XL full face. Now
01:29we've got a big chunk of metal behind the ball here it's almost more akin to a hybrid. It's not
01:34masses of offset but again there is a really healthy thick top line to make you think you've got a bit
01:39of real estate in behind that golf ball. Next one is out left field a little bit but it's the Tor Edge
01:45X725. It's very similar actually to the Cleveland I've just picked up in that it's almost a little bit
01:52hybrid like. Once again the top edge is very very thick and it's got a little bit more offset even
01:57than that Cleveland Halo XL so if you're someone who misses the ball right that might be something
02:01you want to see gives the face a little bit more time to square up. And finally the PXG Black Ops now
02:08this is probably the longest heel to toe length that I've seen so you feel like you've got acres of
02:12space on that club face to hit if you're a heel or toe striker. Again we've got a nice healthy top line,
02:17there's plenty of room to hit so this is a really good choice if you're looking for maximum confidence.
02:22However if you're someone who's shopping in this game improvement market and you want the help on
02:26offer and you want the technology but maybe you want it wrapped up in a slightly more refined bow then
02:31I've got a couple you might want to take a look at here. The first one of those is the Srixon ZXI4.
02:36Now this is a beautiful looking iron to me there's still plenty of size to give you the confidence that
02:41you're going to hit a good shot but it is slightly more compact than some of the others in the bag there.
02:45There's a touch less offset involved in this club and the overall shaping to me just screams
02:51slightly towards that better player end of the market. It's a really classy looking golf club.
02:56Similar to that I've got the Titleist T350. Again there's enough size to give you the confidence
03:01but it's beautifully shaped particularly the transition here from the hosel into the top line
03:06is really smooth and really well done and again gives me some reminders of that better player style
03:12of iron. It's a really clean minimal look here and the final one I want to talk to you about is the
03:17Callaway Elite Iron. I've been a big fan of the looks of this from the get-go. The shelf appeal to
03:22me is excellent from the back it looks really clean, really minimal. I love the high gloss finish
03:28and again the shaping is just a little bit more refined than some in the bag which will remind some
03:33of you more of the better player irons you may have seen and that's why you maybe want to take a look at these.
03:43Now on to the sound and feel which are essentially the same thing and I'm going to sit on the fence
03:48again here because I'm not going to profess to tell you what you like. A lot of these clubs
03:52sound and feel very different. We get some that sound and feel quite firm
03:57which some people absolutely love that kind of industrial robust kind of feel. Some of them feel
04:05a little bit softer, a little bit buttery, maybe a little bit marshmallowy
04:10which some people again absolutely crave. There is a third feel that I notice in my testing in this
04:15category which I just call springy or lively. You get a really sort of yeah lively kind of a feel
04:22again which some people absolutely love. So instead of telling you what you like the feel of I'm just
04:29going to present the facts as they are your honour and we're going to start with some that feel a
04:33little bit firm. So if you are someone who's looking for that kind of firmer more robust industrial feel
04:39I would suggest trying some irons like the TaylorMade Qi irons, perhaps the Wilson Dynapower or even the Ping
04:47G440. In testing I just find the ball coming off the face very quickly doesn't feel like it's
04:52on the face for that long, gives that slightly clickier sound that some people absolutely love.
04:57Moving down the scale if you're looking for something a little bit softer, again I would
05:01suggest having a look at the Srixon ZX-I4, perhaps the Mizuno JPX Hot Metal or even the Tor Edge X725.
05:10Slightly different to the firmer ones, they just feel like they're on the face a little bit longer and
05:14give that slightly more mellow acoustic. Now the springy ones are interesting because they feel the same as
05:19the soft ones, they do melt into the face like that but they just feel like they're exploding off with
05:23a little bit more power and if that's something that maybe appeals to you I'd take a good look at
05:28the PXG Black Ops but also have a good look at the Cleveland Halo XL Full Face.
05:38So on to the all important performers, yes sound and feel are important, looks are obviously important but
05:43we all want to know how those clubs are going to perform. So I'm going to magically put up the data that
05:48I've collated from all my testing on screen now for you to take a look at and now there is a lot of
05:53numbers and a lot of data up there so feel free to pause the video, take a look, digest that and pull
05:57out some parameters that maybe you're looking for in your irons now. Now some of you might be looking
06:03at that data and saying well they don't really look like my numbers, what does this guy know about
06:07testing game improvement clubs and yeah I take that argument on board. I'm a PGA professional, these
06:12clubs aren't necessarily designed for me but what I would say is I've got a relatively repeatable
06:17golf swing so I feel like I get some fairly accurate data between these clubs and can really
06:21highlight the genuine difference between those models. That's my argument and I'm absolutely
06:26sticking to it but I just wanted to pull some data to have a little bit of a chat about from that chart.
06:31Starting with one of the characteristics which I think is really important in this area which is
06:35the ease of launch or best stopping power. It's really important to still be able to hit the green with
06:41these clubs and keep them on it. We quite often get caught up in this loft jacking trying to make
06:45the club go as furthest as possible in the launch monitor and it's not always beneficial for our
06:50game. The three I've picked out that I think do a really good job on that are the Ping G440, the PXG
06:56Black Ops and the DS Adapt Max. All good high launch numbers, strong peak heights which help you keep it
07:03on the green. Now the second part I wanted to talk about is just raw distance, raw carry through the
07:08air and as you can see from the data chart that you might have taken a look at the PXG Black Ops was
07:13the longest for me. I've got 196 yards of carry out of that seven iron. The Ping G440 also did a really
07:19good job with a slightly higher launch and lower spin albeit at 195 yards and the tailor-made QI is also
07:26a bit of a rocket launcher wasn't far behind there. Now there are some more unquantifiable bits I like to
07:32talk about because irons are so nuanced and the first one of those I want to talk about is turf interaction.
07:37There's lots of different types so if you're someone who's looking for that kind of better
07:41player turf interaction where you're going to get a pinchier more neater strike then the Strixon ZXI4
07:48is one well worth a look at. The Tor V Soul on that is the MV of all manufacturers. It runs throughout
07:54their range and carries on to that ZXI4 and helps promote really good ground interaction. Similarly the
08:00Callaway Elite they've done a really good job with shaving off the back edge and a little bit of leading
08:05edge relief as well to help that entrance and exit into the turf. Now one other thing I wanted to talk
08:11to you about which we sometimes leave out of these iron reviews and I think it's really important to
08:14include is the short iron performance. Quite often we just talk about that seven iron data and hope that
08:19translates but I've made sure I've tested the full sets of all these and my two standouts in the short
08:25iron area which we know are our scoring clubs they're so important would be the Mizuno JPX925 Hot Metal and the
08:31Callaway Elite. The shaping of the short irons is just absolutely spot on the soles aren't too thick
08:37so you get a bit of versatility there and they just provide that little bit more refinement in the
08:41shorter irons than maybe some of the others in the bag. However if you are someone who wants the
08:45reassurance of a slightly wider sole to give you a bit of bounce and help on those fat shots
08:50the Tor Edge X725 does an exceptional job of that as does the Cleveland Halo XL full face both
08:57really wide sold and are really forgiving in terms of their turf interaction.
09:07In the current economic climate we all want to make sure we're getting value for money right so
09:11what I'm going to do is I'm going to pop all the recommended retail prices of everything in this bag
09:15up there on the screen for you to take a look at and you can decide from what you've seen whether
09:19you think that represents good value for money however I do want to pick one out that I personally
09:24love in this category and that is the Tor Edge X725. Now this comes in at £706 or £899 for a seven
09:34club set and everything I've seen about this club from the build quality the looks to the performance
09:40for me that represents outstanding value for money. So there you have it I hope that's given you a much
09:45better idea of what's available in the game improvement iron market in 2025 for you now I don't
09:51necessarily think it's possible or even responsible to name a best overall iron because we all need so
09:57many different things right and these irons all offer so many different things however if you were
10:02to twist my arm and make me get off the fence there was one iron that I saw consistently high up across
10:07the board through all the parameters that we tested and that was the PXG black ops iron I think it's well
10:12worth a try if you're in the game improvement iron market this season I hope you've enjoyed this video
10:17and we'll see you next time
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