For most golfers, default golf clubs to use for hitting golf balls off the fairway are 3 and 5 woods. There are some golfers who deviate from the standard, and use hybrids and irons instead. Throughout last few years, professionals have been ditching woods and hybrids for irons. That made me question the default option of using fairway wood, and set out on a quest to find best driving iron to take place of woods in my golf bag.
Utility Clubs Comparison
Driving iron reviews 2020
Mizuno fli-high 2 iron
Japanese manufacturer released MP13 series of new irons recently and this 2-iron certainly stands out as one of the best driving irons of 2020
. It is from MMC family, which refers to variety of materials used to build these clubs. Mizuno R&D team came up with the idea of mixing materials to maximize club’s forgiveness. As the name probably suggests, Mizuno Fli-Hi comes with high backspin to increase your distance. This driving iron looks and feels very good as well. Especially, compared to other driving irons, which sometimes feel shallow because of their structure. Mizuno Fli-Hi is one of the most popular utility irons used on tournaments. Sometimes that is due to sponsorship agreements, but other times players genuinely love these clubs. In comparison to other irons on this list, it’s somewhat affordable, although not cheap by common standards.
Callaway Golf 2019 Men’s X Forged Ultility Individual Iron
This driving iron belongs to Callaway X forged series released earlier this year. From the day it went on sale, it has been one of the most popular choices for better players looking to ditch fairway woods and hybrids for utility irons. It has very stylish looks, which shows that Callaway has put a lot of effort into making utility iron that is both very well designed and looks good. Due to the fact that Tungsten material is used in making this club’s head, among many other technological feats, this driving iron is incredibly forgiving. It is on higher end of driving irons, both in terms of price and sophistication. It is probably the best driving iron for better golfers right now.
King Utility Iron
Cobra is one of the best brands that innovate in driving iron space. They came out with King utility iron in 2017. It has been fan favorite ever since. It is technically 3 iron, but loft settings are flexible, so it fills all the gaps in your long game. With hollow head, this utility iron is designed to go high and travel long distance. Head contains 65 grams of tungsten, which is premium material and gives this golf club required forgiveness and perfect feel. It’s not strictly driving iron as it’s loft is flexible. Considering the fact that this is the only driving iron with adjustable loft on this list, i think it is truly the best utility iron on market right now. It also looks quite different from other driving irons. It’s similar to regular 3 and 4 irons in that regard.
Srixon 2017 Z Utility U65 Iron
Srixon has been making a comeback last few years, and their U65 iron is definitely one of their finest clubs so far. Hitting it feels very much like hitting any other iron, so if you’re a beginner and want to get driving iron but aren’t sure how well you’re going to hit it, worry no more, because Z Utility 65 iron has you covered. It’s overall very similar to regular irons, even in looks. There’s big difference in backspin and distance though. It has hollow head design just like most utility irons on this list, which further increases its accuracy.
Taylormade p790 UDI
TaylorMade blended two excellent irons to make this one – TaylorMade P790 and TaylorMade UDI. The result, as you can probably guess, is even better than either of these clubs were on their own. It is designed for better player, but it is popular among all types of golfers nonetheless. It is only available as 2 iron with 17 degree loft. It looks good, feels good and fares on the golf course even better. This TaylorMade iron really lives up to the name, so if you’re looking for ultimate driving iron, look no further.
The Confusion
Deciding which one of the three options to choose can be confusing, especially if you’re beginner, but that’s not what i’m going to be discussing in this post. If you’re reading, it’s likely that you’ve made your decision to get driving iron for yourself. All i’m going to say, is that even though they themselves use driving irons, most professionals still advise beginners to use fairway woods. Widely accepted opinion is woods are simpler to hit with slower swing, which beginner golfers tend to have, so woods are better for beginners. With that out of the way, let’s move forward with my driving irons review. Also, one more thing – driving irons are also called utility irons, so i’ll be using both names interchangeably as i write this guide.
Choosing the best utility iron in 2020
At first glance, all utility irons will look the same. Manufacturers all promise the same thing – game-improvement design, increased distance and accuracy. You need to read through those lines to actually find out how good driving iron is. I’ve compiled few of the key features of driving irons that are worth paying attention to.
Don’t forget that the best use for driving irons is windy situation. By keeping golf ball closer to the ground as it flies across, you make your shot less vulnerable to wind, improving your distance and accuracy.
Good driving iron must be easy to hit. That is a broad definition, but basically, it must have good weight proportions, must be well designed, shaft must be light so that it doesn’t get in the way of your swing. The weight of the shaft usually depends on the material it consists of. In my experience, graphite is the best choice 99.99% of the time.
Needless to say, price is also an important factor. You’ll find basic, off-brand utility irons for less than hundred dollars, but best utility irons tend to be priced between one to two hundred, sometimes even more. Good materials aren’t cheap, and as i’ve mentioned before, using good materials is crucial towards the goal of manufacturing excellent golf club of any kind.
Last, but definitely not least – design. When talking about golf clubs, design doesn’t just mean how clubs look, but something much more important. The shape of golf club and its parts, weighting and basically everything related to golf club’s physical condition or appearance – all falls under design umbrella, at least that’s how i like to think of it. Golf club manufacturers have been spending a fortune on research and development of golf club designs. That’s why designs have improved so much in the last few decades. In fact, it is due to these innovations that driving irons came to be. 30-40 years ago, making iron that is substitute for fairway woods would be unthinkable.
