- 3 minutes ago
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.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00In this video I'm going to be taking you through some of the very best latest releases in the
00:04compact distance irons category and by the end of the video I'm hoping you're going to have a
00:08much better idea of what might work for you and stick with me to the end because I might just
00:12name my personal favourite. I've done a few of these videos before and I've seen a few videos
00:18out there where people are kind of telling you what looks the best and I find that really difficult
00:22to get my head around. I've been thinking about it more and more because what I like the look of
00:26you might completely hate and vice versa. So I think probably the best way to go about this is
00:31highlight a few characteristics within irons that you might be looking for. So the first one of those
00:37in this category I'm going to split up to a couple because some of us in this category might still
00:41be
00:41looking for that forgiveness and confidence at address whereas some others might still want to
00:45be veering towards that kind of better player look. So to start with I'm going to be going on the
00:49confident side of things. If you're someone who's looking for maximum confidence inspiration at
00:54address I've got three that I'd like you to take a look at. The first of which is the PXG
00:590311P
01:00Gen 7 iron. Now not the world's catchiest name I think you'll agree but it's a really strong iron
01:06particularly in the visual element I'm talking about there of confidence inspiring. When you get
01:11out of the bag it's got a relatively thick sole compared to some of the others so that could help
01:14sort of give you connotations that we're going to get through the turf and there might be a bit of
01:18forgiveness there but when you put it in behind the ball there's a nice healthy blade length
01:22and a reasonable top line there it's not thin it's not thick it's just in a really nice comfortable
01:28place and just a smidgen of offset so every time I've tested this I put it in behind the ball
01:33and
01:33I think yeah I can play this this is a comfy looking iron. Now the second one I want to
01:37talk to you about
01:38in that regard is the Tor Edge Exotics C725. Now I've been really impressed with Tor Edge across the
01:45board particularly in terms of their aesthetic. Again as soon as I pull this out the bag and put it
01:50in
01:50behind the ball the blade length is just that little bit longer than some so you feel like
01:55you've got a bit of play heel to toe so you feel like you've just got a little bit of
01:58leeway and
01:59just every time I put these in behind the ball whether it's the longer iron the mid iron or the
02:03short iron I just get that feeling that I've just got that bit of margin for error which is something
02:08which can be really important to some people. But finally the one I probably think stands out maybe
02:12in the confidence inspiring category is the new Hogan Legend iron. This is the direct to consumer brand
02:17which we'll probably touch on a little bit later but in this category I think it stands out just
02:22simply because it's just got a little bit more size. Now as I said some of you are going to
02:26prefer
02:26something a little bit more compact but we've got a really meaty head here. It still does all the same
02:31sort of performance characteristics as a lot of these other irons but it's just wrapped up in a much
02:35friendlier much more user-friendly package it's going to give you that confidence. So this is one I'd
02:41really take a good look at particularly on price as well but if we're talking visuals it's going to give
02:44you confidence the Hogan Legend is a really good start. So those are the friendlier looking irons
02:49now let's have a look at the stuff in this bag. It's got a bit more of that better player
02:52aesthetic
02:52and I'm going to start with a Srixon iron the ZX-I5. Now this aesthetic we always talk about sort
02:58of
02:58looking behind the board but I think this aesthetic starts when you just grab it out of the bag
03:02straight away it just looks classy it looks premium it's got a real better player feel just with the
03:07finishing and you can see that Tor VT sole that I love so much which helps serve interaction.
03:12As soon as you see that you know you're dealing with something that's got a bit of refinement to
03:15it but as you do put it in behind the board it's a little bit more angular than some there's
03:19some
03:19of the more yeah an angular toe less rounding less soft it's quite a harsh looking head but
03:25for me I really like that sort of boxed off look and a lot of players will really enjoy that
03:30minimal offset and a relatively thin top line it's just got that real better player connotation about
03:35it and in a similar vein the Titleist T200. So again when you pull it out the bag from a
03:40shelf
03:41appeal point of view just oozes sort of that premium class there's no gimmicks there's nothing
03:45flashy going on here you just know you're dealing with a nice classy better player iron and again
03:51then in the playing position we're just dealing with slightly less offset than some in this bag
03:56and a slightly thinner top line and those are the sort of differentiating factors that make me think
04:01about game improvement to better player irons it's just those little details and I think Titleist have
04:06nailed it in this T200 so again if you're looking at a better player aesthetic that's really one to
04:11consider. Now another one I wanted to mention was the TaylorMade P790 the new version for 2025. Now
04:17it could probably still sit in the confidence inspiring category but I wanted to mention it
04:22because they've kind of drawn the aesthetic back a little bit towards the better player when I put it
04:27down against the 23 version we've got a significantly thinner top line there's been a few little visual
04:33refinements particularly the transition from the hosel into that top line looks so much better from
04:38a shaping point of view that I think that's worth pointing out if you're someone that's steered clear
04:42of P790 before because you just wanted that slightly better player look well now you can get it in P790
04:49you've still got all the performance but they've just reined it into kind of that better player model
04:53that I'm talking about here I'm a big fan of this one but I think in this category when we're
04:57talking
04:58about looks in terms of the better player stuff you're going to do well to beat the Mizuno Pro
05:04245. Now I've said this before when I was testing this out they sent me the whole lot they sent
05:08me
05:08the 241s the blade the 243s and these and I kept reaching for the wrong one when I was trying
05:14to pick
05:14up the 245 to test it out I kept picking up the blade because they look so similar particularly from
05:20the back you could put these in the bag and people are going to be thinking you're playing a set
05:23of
05:23Mizuno Forge blades but you still get all the performance benefits of the hollow body and the
05:28distant stuff we're talking about in this category but it is disguised again down by the ball probably
05:34the least offset of anything I've got here a very thin top line there still isn't much between these
05:39in terms of looks between the 241 and the 245 so for that reason if you are shopping in this
05:44category
05:45and you do want something a little bit in that better player style then you're not going to go wrong
05:49with the Mizuno Pro 245. Right so I'm going to talk about feel now and I think feel in this
05:56particular
05:56category the compact distance or the player's distance whatever you want to call this category
06:00it's quite an interesting one because we've got a few different players converging in this category
06:05what we might have is some people who've traditionally played maybe a blade or a very small cavity who are
06:12getting on in years or just need that extra distance boost so some of those players might want
06:17something that feels a bit more familiar down that end if you like in terms of that softer forged
06:23feeling so it's important that some of these clubs can give us that but on the flip side of that
06:27we
06:27might have players coming from a game improvement category who are used to and like some some of that
06:32more robust industrial feel that really kind of shows off the power within here so I'm not going to
06:38try and tell you what you like again it's similar to the looks what I like the feel of could
06:42be
06:43completely different to what you do so I think that's a bit of a redundant exercise nowadays so
06:47I'm just going to highlight a few of the models that I think show us both of those and I'm
06:51going to
06:51start with some of those that just give us that again I keep saying better player feel but the
06:56the feels that I associate with those sort of softer more traditional forged irons so the first of
07:02which I want to talk to you about is the Strixon ZX-I5. Now I've spoken about this in terms
07:08of looks so
07:09we already know it's got those refined looks and that doesn't stop when we start getting into
07:13the feel it's very very soft the turf interaction on these in particular
07:20is really really good the Tour VT sole for me is one of the best soles in golf and you
07:27see that
07:28so many non-contracted players out on Tour that are playing Strixon irons and this is a big part
07:33about it it's split in two and it just really helps a really smooth entry and exit into the turf
07:38I was quite shallow on that one so it wasn't a great sort of demonstration of it but it really
07:43helps players whether they're shallow whether they're steep get in and out of the turf and the
07:47ball just melts into and off the face it's a really soft feeling iron. The next one I wanted to
07:53talk
07:53about is the TaylorMade P790. Now again it's similar to what I said in looks that what they've done here
07:59both in terms of that aesthetic and in terms of the feel is they brought it just a little bit
08:04closer
08:05to maybe the P770 and the P7CB both in refinement of looks and in the feel you still get a
08:13really
08:13interesting sensation off the face here you know you know something's coming with a bit of power
08:20and you can feel it and it goes but you also get a real depth of strike which I didn't
08:26think was
08:26present in some of the previous P790 models they're a bit clickier a bit firmer the ball melts in and
08:32it
08:32really explodes off here it's a really strong feeling iron. Now the next one I want to talk
08:38to you about is the Tacomo 101T iron now this is really popular not least because of its exceptional
08:44value nice minimalist minimalist looks but maybe the softest of the bunch of what I've tried here
08:50and I found that with the the MBs this I tried and the CBs really soft irons and it continues
08:56even
08:57in this sort of hollow body construction which is designed for power I see that power which is great
09:05and I know it's there but I'm getting really sort of marshmallow-y soft impact feel so if you're
09:11someone who prefers that really softer feel then the Tacomo is a great one to look at but like in
09:16the
09:16looks category there's another one here is a Mizuno iron that I think blows the others away in terms of
09:22feel now this is the JPX 925 Forge so I'm not sure if I've ever come across an iron that
09:28I find
09:29so confusing in all different compartments of my brain I pick this out and I see Mizuno I see the
09:34finish it's premium it's got forged written on it so immediately I'm getting those better player vibes
09:40I put it in behind the ball and I see a relatively long blade length but a nice compact head
09:45so I feel
09:46like I know what I'm gonna get then I strike it and once again I get that beautiful Mizuno soft
09:56feel
09:57and then the confusion starts because I look at the launch monitor and it's just gone miles the ball
10:02explodes off the face of this club everything about this screams compact Forge premium better player
10:08I think this is the standout in that particular category of feel for me
10:14okay so on to another style of feel all together now this is the category I'm talking about for
10:19players that may have come from more game improvement style irons maybe you're on that
10:24journey you're getting better through golf and you're coming out of a package set or like I said
10:28that very much game improvement iron and you're coming into this player's distance category from
10:32that side so you might be used to and you might like something a bit firmer a bit clickier that
10:37doesn't
10:37maybe disguise the power quite as much so the ones I've selected in that regard I'm going to start
10:41with the tour edge exotic c725 now I'll hit a couple away here because this really does exude power as
10:52soon as I hit it it's audibly firmer there is a bit of a click to it some people won't
10:59like that
11:00some people absolutely love it it is like I said audibly a little bit clickier but what I like about
11:06that is that sort of kind of in builds that sense of power that clicky that firm noise and that
11:12firm
11:12feel makes me feel that the power's already there so maybe I don't have to subconsciously put as much
11:20into it I can put some smooth emotions on the on this ball because I know the power's in that
11:24club
11:24I get that feeling from impact so that's one that I really like another one that jumps out to me
11:29here
11:30now let me let me leave that one for last actually I'm going to get the pxg 0331 p gen
11:357 so I do like
11:37this iron I think it sets up really well in fact I like the whole pxg iron range this year
11:42and this one definitely for me sits on that slightly firmer end of the scale again if I just clip
11:48one
11:48away I don't know how well it shows up on the audio but much like that tour edge iron it
11:57is audibly
11:58just a little bit clickier a little bit firmer and the ball just doesn't seem to stay on the face
12:04as
12:04long as some of those other irons that I used to start with it's on and off in a flash
12:07and you know
12:08it's got some power so that's a really good one again in terms of that sort of more robust feel
12:13but the one that stands out for me here is the ping i530 for someone who wants just that utter
12:18feeling of
12:19raw power this is a nice blend this probably to me is the softer of the three but it's still
12:24on the
12:25firmer end but the ball just seems to explode off the face of this thing it's a really nice compact
12:30setup and every time I hit it I know it's hit it's really just pops out there and I know
12:38I've got
12:38no issues whatsoever in terms of raw yardage it is just exceptional and you feel it as soon as it
12:45comes off the face it's gone so in terms of the robust feeling irons those are the ones I'd recommend
12:53right so let's get on to the all-important performance it's all very well having a great
12:57looking iron and a great feeling iron but we need all this numbers all the data to stack up on
13:02the
13:02launch monitor so what I'm going to do I've done a lot of testing with all of these clubs I'm
13:07going
13:07to pop the data up on the screen now for you I'm going to get rid of it in a
13:10second so if you do want
13:11to digest that a little bit more feel free to pause it now and have a look otherwise it's gone
13:17so let's get into a few of the performance categories I want to talk about now I'm going to talk
13:20about one to start with it's less quantifiable it's nothing to do with the data you've just seen
13:24it's about forgiveness now the three irons that I probably saw the best results on my heel and toe
13:32strikes and particularly my miss which generally is low on the face I want to talk about the Ping
13:38i530 to start with the technology in that club just supports it's so stable anything off center
13:45is gobbled up and flattered and the ball speed retention that I saw with the Ping i530 I hit some
13:51pretty questionable strikes in testing with that particular iron and I very rarely lost more than
13:56one and a half to two miles per hour is exceptional on ball speed retention so that's one to consider
14:02again I'm going to mention the TaylorMade P790 it's kind of the grandfather of this category
14:07but this particular iteration is really really good they they have as I've said brought it back to more
14:13a better player feel in terms of the aesthetics and that impact feel and sound but what we haven't
14:19lost is any of the playability again ball speed retention is up there with that Ping and the spin
14:25rates are very very stable when I hit that ball low on the face which I do quite a lot
14:29a lot of irons I
14:30see spin up a lot and I lose a lot of distance the spin sort of characteristics stay very very
14:36stable
14:36with that P790 so that's really one to look out for there a real surprise for me was quite a
14:42late
14:42entry to this the Hogan Legend iron now I've talked to you about how forgiving it looks well it carries
14:47through into its performance I think maybe it's just the sheer volume of the head it is a little
14:52bit bigger than some of the others so it gives me the confidence that I'm going to hit it a
14:56little bit
14:56better but when I do spray it off that heel and toe I saw some really nice tight dispersion so
15:01in terms
15:02of the forgiveness style of irons or the the most playable or user-friendly those are the three
15:07I would have a really good look at if that's what you're prioritizing now onto a couple of the more
15:12quantifiable categories that we need to know about we forget about this sometimes in in irons we're
15:16always looking for that carry number or you know that that overall distance boost particularly in
15:21this category but we still need to be able to hold greens it's getting very sunny out here so pretty
15:26soon this ground is going to firm up and if I've got a six iron in over over a bunker
15:31to a tight pin I
15:32need to know that I can get it up and down and stop it with some sort of efficiency and
15:37there's a few
15:38in there that I'd like to talk to you about there looking at the data so the Wilson Dynapower Forged
15:42did a really really good job that was actually my highest launching at 17.4 degrees and the highest
15:48peak height at 106 feet for me now this will all vary from player to player I'm just giving you
15:53my
15:53findings the other one I want to mention in that category is the Tacoma 101T again a really good launch
15:59launch number sort of mid 17s and marginally more spin which helped it to be the only other one that
16:05I got over 100 feet of height and when we get that height we see that peak that sort of
16:10descent angle
16:11steepening and that just gives you a little bit more chance of holding it on the green so that's
16:15something I want you to bear in mind when you're selecting iron we often overlook that you need
16:19that height to be able to get some control so those are the ones that will help you do that
16:23if we are talking raw distance there were three that stood out for me the P790
16:27produced some really savage distance in there as you'll see from the carry numbers the JPX Forge that
16:32I've spoken about disguised wrapped up it's really it's like a stealthy distance bat it looks like a
16:39forged iron and it's so surprising what you see on the launch monitor numbers particularly when it comes
16:43off so delicate and buttery soft but don't let that fool you that provides some serious distance and
16:50then the other one the Tor Edge Exotics really good third place in that carry distance number and it's
16:56some exceptional value there which we'll probably get onto a little bit in a moment there are some
17:01other things you probably want to look out for as well turf interaction I talk about it so much with
17:06irons I'm on a beautiful practice ground here and I'm really seeing what I've seen in other practice
17:11sessions that I've had here the Tor VT sole from the ZXI5 the Suixxon iron it's just exceptional both
17:18entry and exit so a lot of these irons with their shaping of the sole focus very much on getting
17:23the
17:23club into the turf in the right way but that VT sole with the symmetry on the back really focuses
17:28on getting it out so it slips in and out with minimal disruption it's a really nice feature that
17:33enhances the overall feel of the iron the Hogan Legend I'm going to mention it again it's got a
17:38very similar sole it calls it its V sole but it's got a really high bounce leading edge so there's
17:43no
17:44I found it very difficult to duff that iron if you like I don't hit many full duffs but my
17:49miss would
17:49generally be a little bit on the heavier side and when I do that that higher bounce leading edge just
17:55stays out the turf a little bit longer and I got away with that so that for someone who might
18:00be
18:00prone to a fat shot think about that Hogan Legend iron and the P790 again I keep mentioning it but
18:06it's
18:06a very good overall iron it's been redesigned with an increased radius on the sole not necessarily
18:11extra width but just an increased radius which just helps it slip through that turf a little bit
18:17more if you want someone wanting the wider forgiving sole the Ping i530 is a really really
18:23good option as is the Wilson Dyna Plower Fords or the Titleist T200 it doesn't look that thick when
18:29you pick it up but in practice it plays a little bit wider for me I've noticed it just sliding
18:33through
18:34in certain conditions a little bit better if you're looking for a bit more precision in the shorter
18:38irons now that's something I've tried to bring into my iron reviews often we look at just seven irons
18:43and six irons and see what the data number says but we're going to play a whole set of these
18:47right
18:47and the shorter irons are your scoring irons so we need them to be versatile and do the job we
18:54want
18:54them to do and my personal favorites of what I saw in the shorter irons I keep saying at the
18:59TaylorMade P790 either of the Mizuno irons the Pro 245 or the JPX 925 Forged or the Strixon ZXI5
19:08really refined very versatile the soles are great the heads aren't too big you'll be able to get
19:13some good short iron results with those sorry to interrupt everyone but if you are enjoying this
19:18video don't forget to subscribe to the channel hit that like button and comment down below which of
19:23the irons I'm talking about do you like the look of have you tried any I want to hear all
19:27about it
19:30let's talk a little bit about value and that's really important particularly in today's economic
19:34climate but I don't want to patronize you and tell you what is good value for money because we'll all
19:39have different ideas of that so what I'll do is I'll put the prices of everything in this bag
19:43up there so you can take a look and from what I'm saying about them from your experiences and
19:48you'll be able to make your own mind up on what is really good value for money but one thing
19:52I
19:52definitely did want to talk to you about was the direct to consumer model that seems to become
19:56a lot more prevalent in the last couple of years so we've got companies like
20:01Hogan Tacomo who you'll all be familiar with by now and even Tor Edge to a certain extent are
20:06operating on kind of a hybrid direct to consumer model so what we get with direct to consumer is
20:12we're missing out that middleman where we've got to build in some margin for the people who are going
20:15to sell it in their retail outlets and that saving goes direct to you so you're getting some
20:19significantly reduced product now historically people have associated a lower price with a lack of
20:26performance but if you head back to that performance chart you'll probably see well in
20:31fact you'll definitely see very similar very comparable performance between everything I've
20:36got in my hand here and some of the much bigger brands that cost almost double at times now there
20:43are some drawbacks from going direct to consumer there is you can't often try before you buy with
20:49direct to consumer because they're not in a retail outlet so they might not have a custom fitting car
20:54and again custom fitting you're not generally going to get that from a direct to consumer point of view
20:59unless you already know your specs or sometimes you can go through an online fitting process but from
21:05my experience those can be a little bit hit and miss that said there'll be plenty of people who take
21:11advantage of the value on offer from direct to consumer well I hope that's given you a good indication
21:17of what's out there on the market in that players distance or compact distance category now I've
21:23tried to steer away from telling you too much about what you like I've tried to just present the facts
21:28as they are to give you the opportunity to make your own decision but that still doesn't stop me
21:33from having a couple of favorites now before I get to the two that I've selected that I think really
21:37stand out I've got an honorable mention so the Tacoma 101T I think is just a really good strong iron
21:44I love the minimalist looks the performance stacks up against just about everything else isn't quite as
21:49aggressively lofted as everything else so there's quite a lot of stuff around the 30 31 mark in terms
21:54of the seven iron loft this comes in at 32 so will help as we saw in the launch and
21:59spin category
22:00that helps players who are looking for that very important parameter and just an all-round great iron
22:05at some pretty exceptional value but the two that really stuck out for me and it might be clear from
22:11the way I've been talking through the video so the Mizuno JPX 925 forged just blew me away in terms
22:17of what it
22:18produces data wise you get that forged soft performance but some exceptional distance and
22:24it really stands out in this category but and it might be boring but I still think this is the
22:29godfather of this category the TaylorMade P790 it's been leading this category for some time I really like
22:35the refinements TaylorMade have gone with this year of just that slightly thinner top line a much better
22:41hosel to top line transition and just making it feel just a little bit more premium but retaining
22:47all the power and all the forgiveness so this would be very hard to beat for me and be a
22:53great starting
22:54point if you're shopping in this category I hope you've enjoyed that thanks for watching and we'll see you next
22:58time
23:28we'll see you next time
23:29you
23:29You