Equipment
An introduction to haywoodgolf
Recently, I was in Vegas for some golf with friends (promise, it was golf only). During my round, I, unfortunately, broke a shaft on a root and had to get it re-shafted. Luckily, my buddies at Club Champion were there to help, and while the club was being prepped and set, they showed me a prototype head from a company in Canada by the name of haywoodgolf. The club had a sleek look, and because I was unfamiliar with the brand, and intrigued, I reached out to the company to learn more.
This story is about my experience with Joshua Haywood and his company.
The haywoodgolf story
Joshua, a long-time golfer, started haywoodgolf out of frustration after visiting his local Golf Town, Canada’s version of Golf Galaxy, to buy a new set of wedges. After exploring all the options and testing the few clubs he found visually appealing, he priced out a set that cost around $600 CAD.
After a little deliberation, and walking out of the store empty-handed, Joshua came to the realization that there must be a way to reduce the cost of clubs while maintaining the integrity and quality golfers have come to expect. After months of research, and dozens of prototypes of forged wedges tested in different conditions, Joshua officially launched haywoodgolf.com in June of 2018. With a select product release of non-conforming wedges, which offered the average golfer more spin and control, buyers were responding very positively to their quality, modern and minimalistic designs, which cost only half the price of the major OEMs.
As the team listened to feedback from existing users and from folks that decided against purchasing, they started working on the new design of their signature series forged wedges as well as their two-piece stainless steel game improvement signature irons, which have been tested and approved as conforming to the rules of golf by the R&A. The clubs are offered in both right and left-handed and have black and silver finish options.
With the wedges starting at $99 USD and iron sets at $650, I needed to find out if they measure up to what I had in my bag.
Testing of Signature irons
Josh kindly sent me a haywoodgolf signature series 7-iron, which I fitted with an Accra 70i R-flex shaft, measuring 37” inches long and 30 degrees of loft. This data was collected at Golf Galaxy in Wesley Chapel using Foresight and was compared to my personal 7-iron; a Cobra Forged Tec 37” iron with Accra 70R with a 29.5 degrees loft. Here are the numbers
Beyond the testing at Golf Galaxy, I actually used the club for almost two weeks, hitting range balls plus many shots on the course.
Bottom line, what did I think?
To be honest, I was shocked in the most positive way at the performance. I saw from my testing that they matched up to the major OEMs, while being almost half the cost. I’m very fond of its clean look, and even including the little-bit thicker top line it has (similar to the G700 or TaylorMade 790) along with a touch more offset than I’m used to. The club is hollow-body design, not foam-filled, and I noticed no difference in feel or distance versus a club like the P790, which are, and I have hit multiple times. I really enjoyed hitting the haywood iron, which feels very solid and has a crisp sound to it.
I consider these clubs to be one of the best bang for your buck sets of irons on the market. Haywood Golf has created an excellent product, and I think players looking for a new set would be wise to consider their products.
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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Geoff
Jan 14, 2020 at 7:12 am
If you like these guys you’ll really love golfworks. Their maltby clubs have been around forever and they have very simple but beautiful designs at even better prices than seen here. Can get a wedge with premium shaft for $60.
westy
Jan 14, 2020 at 4:57 pm
Nice. Dude is going after it, way to hijack.
Mark
Jan 14, 2020 at 1:05 am
On a site like WRX, I suspect there will be many readers, like myself, who want to know more about who designs them and the process for selecting a manufacturing resource. (I doubt Haywood has the volume required to do business with Tier 1, Taiwanese-owned, China-based manufacturers.)
Dan
Jan 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm
I found something similar to their irons and wedges on alibaba. Very likely that they didnt do the design and just stamp their logo on them.
Eric
Jan 14, 2020 at 3:06 pm
How can you make such a statement like this (Alibaba) without any concrete evidence? Not fair in my book to the owners, who may have done a lot of work on the design and securing a producer.
Looks like great stuff, the best of luck to this company?
Dan
Jan 15, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Its not like u have the any evidence that the owners actually design their irons.
William
Jan 15, 2020 at 7:19 pm
And Its not like you have any evidence that they don’t.
Jim
Jun 17, 2020 at 6:27 pm
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000482009668.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.35ae3c00oCEbsj&mp=1
And you can find any grind, loft, etc model of Vokey you want on AliExpress. The owner was actually selling OEM Aliexpress rangefinders in Vancouver locally before then – so he knows his way around Chinese sourcing.
haywoodgolf
Jan 13, 2020 at 7:08 pm
Here there – haywoodgolf here.
We appreciate you checking out our site.
If you select the last photo on the irons page, that is the spec sheet, and then you can click the actual photo itself in the larger format and it will zoom in for you to make the spec sheet very clear.
SV677
Jan 15, 2020 at 2:39 pm
Sorry, I missed that. Thanks.
SV677
Jan 13, 2020 at 2:38 pm
After reading your article I thought I would click on the link to learn more about Haywood’s products. Their site gives different options when purchasing, but since they give no specs for the irons it is impossible to know if one would want a longer or shorter iron or have the lofts changed, which are options they offer. Being a left-handed player I am always interested in new alternatives, but I anticipate a company actually giving me information about their product.
Johnny Penso
Jan 13, 2020 at 6:05 pm
Specs are there. Click on a set and on the bottom left where you see the various angled shots of the clubs are the specs. It’s tiny, but if you click on it you can read it…barely.