Equipment
Are these the next, new Titleist irons?
Since 2011, Titleist has unveiled new models of its AP1, AP2, CB and MB irons every two years in the U.S. — and more specifically every other July.
The lone curveball? In the fall of 2012, Titleist debuted its 712U, a hollow-cavity, fast-faced iron that’s been extremely popular with tour pros and amateurs as both a driving iron and a long iron replacement.
The 712U has been such a good performer, in fact, that many golfers have wondered why Titleist has not yet created a full set of hollow-cavity irons. Well, it appears that the company has, at least for the Japanese market.
Photo from GolfWRX Member yUmaRouS
The 716 T MB irons use a multi-material construction to lower the center of gravity (CG) of the fast-faced irons. It can be expected that they will be more forgiving than the 712U, and fly a little farther, too.
A Titleist representative told GolfWRX that the 716 T MB is a Japan-only product. No word if something like them will be available when the Titleist unveils its next line of irons, which are expected in July.
Click here to visit our forum, where the photo originally leaked.
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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As much as some can't stand him....
Jul 2, 2015 at 9:51 am
I know someone who has them, says they were the worst feeling Irons he has played in a long time….maybe because they are hollow? I don’t know
Tom Wishon
Jun 26, 2015 at 5:49 pm
BTW, these irons which are made exclusively for the Japan market are manufactured by Virage Tech Industrial of Chengdu, China and not by any of the Japanese forging companies. And on top of that Charles Su, owner of Virage Tech, owns the utility patent pending for this iron design as well – Pub. No. US 2014/0123471 A1; Pub. Date – May 8, 2014. Not Titleist. These irons really are as close to a work of art as can be made presently in the golf industry. And BTW #2, Virage Tech is also the manufacturer of the new this year Hogan forged irons.
christian
Aug 8, 2015 at 9:04 am
They are cast, so why any of the japanese forging houses would be involved beats me.
denny b.
Jun 20, 2015 at 3:20 pm
Speaking of Asian Markets. I have a set of Ping eye 2 becu 1 thru sw and Ping ISI becu 1 thru sw. the former in very good and latter in excellent condition. I heard selling these in Japan will bring a very good price. Just asking as I have no idea if true or how to accomplish selling them. Thanks for any input.
Jim
Mar 7, 2015 at 12:04 pm
These clubs look a lot like a set of taylormade irons I bought back in the late 80’s. the Taylor’s were not as polished as these but looks like the same concept.
BOBBY D
Feb 25, 2015 at 3:38 pm
TITLEIST…# 1…THE BEST
Waqar
Feb 18, 2015 at 6:58 am
Japanese made or made for Japan only clubs are always of higher quality as the Japanese have a very low tolerance for lack of quality. No one can match them in metal working.
Titliest is Korean owned, tmag is German owned, Honma is Chinese owned, cleveland is srixion or Japanese owned, XXIO is Dunlop owned. Honma makes golf sets which are sold for USD 50,000 per set. Rich Asians (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and others) which there are plenty of, buy these clubs. This is the future of golf merchandise market.
When major companies spend millions on R&D of a product, they recover this cost from their Asian clients, and once this is done they bring the technology to Europe and America. Plus there is so much innovation by very small Japanese companies that it makes worthwhile for major companies to have a strong presence in this market.
SUMO
Feb 12, 2015 at 5:35 am
Here’s a translation:
A revolution born to keep on attacking aggressively.
All for hitting your best shot.
Hybrid Muscleback iron.
Technology:
-high technology multi-compound hollow muscleback iron
-blade look preferred by tour pros
-thin face designed for faster ballspeed off face
-tungsten weight on toe and heel for high MOI hollow design
– lower deeper center of gravity means higher trajectory even with strong lofts
forged, shafts DG, NS950 NS Modus
5-P costs 1620 dollars, 234irons cost 270 dollars extra
Japan’s probably a cash cow for golf companies, some golfers here play golf to show off fancy clothes and bags and clubs instead of fancy swings, which isn’t good or bad.
LindyLoulie
Feb 11, 2015 at 1:52 pm
These look great! My only question is… why do U.S. golf gear companies, e.g. Titles, TMAG, Callaway, and others, offer the Asian markets certain models of clubs, putters, etc. that we in America don’t have access to??? They are AMERICAN companies, so they should allow AMERICAN customers access to ALL their products! I have no doubt that the Asian markets have access to products sold to the U.S. market.
I collect putters, and I have seen many Asian-market-only TaylorMade putters which I would have loved to be able to purchase. I can — if I order from Japanese golf shops for outrageous prices + pay duty taxes! I have a Scotty Cameron 34″ Circa 62 #3 with the leather “steering wheel” grip (putter) that was made only for the Asian market. The Circa 62 line was only available in 35″ length here in the U.S. — except for the Holiday and My Girl special editions which were 34″ and 33″ respectively. I was able to get that 34″ Asian putter on eBay in like-new condition.
Anyone have some insight into this policy of “export only” clubs made by American companies? Would love to hear the rationale behind it.
Ren
Feb 11, 2015 at 5:36 pm
Well, for what it’s worth, Titleist is now owned by Fila, a Korean company. And Taylormade is under the Adidas umbrella, a German company. We live in a time when it may not be accurate to say any one multi-national company belongs to any one nation.
As to why they offer certain products in Asian markets only, I believe that the market for new clubs in many Asian countries is still relatively small with a lot of concentrated wealth. That is not representative of Asia at large, but the market for new clubs within Asia. This is contrasted with an American golf club market which I would guess has a lower avg income among purchasers of new clubs, as well as a lower tolerance for what they’d find acceptable. So these companies probably do a little cost/benefit analysis and realize that they’d never sell enough super-high-end clubs in the US to make it worth it. Which is the adverse reason they probably don’t offer low-tolerance OTR clubs in Asia.
They probably suspect that the very small group of people in the US who would have spent big bucks for clubs will find ways of getting them anyways, and then the big manufacturers don’t have to dilute the brand equity of the JDM clubs etc., or worry about moving high-cost/lower-margin goods in the US.
Hope that finds you well and leads you to ponder just how interconnected this world has become.
LindyLoulie
Feb 12, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Ren, thanks for enlightening me. I am quite surprised that Titleist is owned by a Korean company! I thought the American company, Titleist owned Fila! Just like I thought TaylorMade owned Adidas.k Boy, I sure got that backwards. Explains a lot.
I am aware that in Japan golf is primarily a sport for the elite with country club memberships being next to impossible to obtain by anyone, much less the common man/woman. That said, however I understand that the Japanese and Koreans are “Golf Fanatics.” I have read that because Japan is so small there are few courses, and to obtain a membership in one a person must pay huge amounts of $$$$$$$ just to get on a waiting list until a member dies. I understand that most folks have to be happy “playing” at a local multi-tiered driving range. This being the case, it is understandable that what you say is true. The elite are willing to pay big bucks for the premium equipment. It is a huge status symbol. Look at the XXIO, Honma, OnOff, and Maruman brands. VERY expensive clubs.
I guess when seeing things from this perspective we are fortunate to be able to purchase good clubs here in the good ol’ U.S. for what are pretty reasonable prices compared to what the Asians and Europeans have available to them.
I recently had the opportunity to try XXIO and Honma clubs. BEAUTIFUL sticks! BIG $$$$$!! Would have paid the price, however they were too head-heavy for me which caused problems for my arthritic hands. But I do have to say that the quality was there!
Yes, the world truly IS interconnected. Too bad we all can’t just get along despite our cultural differences!! 😉
christian
Aug 9, 2015 at 9:43 pm
They have access to all the USDM stuff PLUS the JDM lines.
Otherwise the logic (simplified) goes something like this: US customers sre looking for a bargain and brands compete mainly on price, Japanese customers are obsessive about tolerances, quality, fit and finish. Not price
rer4136
Jun 11, 2015 at 1:29 pm
All of this also explains why there are virtually no jobs for Americans. Bravo Bridgestone for at least making golf balls in the U.S.
Golfraven
Feb 11, 2015 at 8:10 am
Uhh, nice. Where is the rest of the 916 line?
Fnar
Feb 11, 2015 at 3:16 am
Titty is losing to both TM and Callaway in overall sales in clubs. Balls they sell well but not clubs. So now it’s time to join the band wagon. After all, Titty is owned by an Asian company, so it might as well do what it needs to do to keep up with Asia and the rest of the world and not just club sales in America. I mean this club looks exactly like the Nike Vapor Speed, which is a fantastic club for the amateurs. So why not?
And I hear Titty has a D4 and a D5 driver ready…….. so it’s turning into another TM or Callaway!
Designs Clubs
Feb 11, 2015 at 11:29 am
Wow! Might want to research that data before making that claim. While their overall club sales MAY be higher (I’m not even positive that is true at current typing), their market share has been declining (I am positive of that). Titleist has be one of the main companies picking up the lost market share from TM and Callaway.
slider
Feb 10, 2015 at 6:43 pm
I would play these
Donnie
Feb 10, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Those just *look* JDM…. (i.e. cool stuff that we’ll never get)
Fsubaseball21
Feb 10, 2015 at 4:48 pm
Driving iron? RSI – UDI. Taylormades new one. Just did a product test. It’s the best ever made in this category. Hands down!
slider
Feb 10, 2015 at 6:07 pm
taylormade definitely has a market in the golf world but when it comes to producing good quality products they are definitely far behind titleist
NN
Feb 11, 2015 at 12:50 am
They’re both made in China ; )
HackerDad31
Feb 11, 2015 at 10:37 am
Can you elaborate? just curious as to where this opinion comes from.
Regis
Feb 11, 2015 at 3:57 pm
Which product innovations has Titleist introduced to golf: Metal woods; Rescue clubs(hybrids); Adjustable Shafts; Speed Slots (also known as Active Recoil Channels) ?
Kees
Feb 10, 2015 at 3:58 pm
Titleist trying to compete with the Mizuno H5.
Never really understood these utility clubs. Never deliver the distance and ease of use of a hybrid, nor the feel and accuracy of an iron.
Chris
Feb 10, 2015 at 6:03 pm
Hybrids are hook machines for better players
Chris
Feb 10, 2015 at 6:54 pm
Like the PGA tour players that use them? What a ridiculous statement.
theo
Feb 10, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Christopher – You’ll learn how to hit a hybrid soon. Keep practicing. In the meantime we’ll let Zach Johnson and Jordan Spieth know your thoughts on hybrids.
Teaj
Feb 11, 2015 at 8:28 am
Both are played on tour, I am going to the Utility Iron so I can flight the ball how I want high into a green and low off the tee, hybrids tend to fly high no matter what. at least that is my experience unless I thin the crap out of a hybrid.
Kees
Feb 10, 2015 at 3:54 pm
Japan only release: probably to compete with the Mizuno H5.
Have to admit that I never really like these utility clubs. Never seem to deliver the distance and ease of use of a hybrid, nor the feel and accuracy of an iron.
To each his own I guess.
paul
Feb 10, 2015 at 3:41 pm
i have a 712u 3 iron and its money in the bank. can’t wait ’till these drop.
Chris
Feb 10, 2015 at 2:44 pm
a set will be on the BST in 3…2…1…
Mike
Jun 1, 2015 at 4:47 pm
NOW!