What are the best irons in golf for 2019…and possibly 2020?

It’s an interesting question to ask anyone who works in golf equipment since it opens up a Pandora’s box of debate and discussion, which inevitably results in the conclusion that every player has to go out, work with a fitter, and find the best set for him/her. There is no one single best iron for every golfer in 2019, but there is a best iron of 2019 for you—and that’s where we come in to help you find your ideal set.

2019 has been a big year for irons, with OEMs taking bigger steps to push the science of structure, materials, and processing to move mass and further optimize MOI and COG to provide improvements across the board. In certain iron categories, clubheads are generating maximum potential speed over larger areas of the face, just like a driver, while in other parts of the market, some iron models have been shrunk to improve workability for the players looking for shot-shaping control.

So what do you look for? What do you need? With so many great irons released in 2019, the decision-making process can be overwhelming, and that’s why at GolfWRX, we are here to help you go through that process and help you ask the right questions to find the iron set for you.

Best irons of 2019: How we did it

Even before starting the process of building the survey, we reached out to our trusted fitters to discuss how they sort through the endless number of iron options available to golfers. The consensus was simple—the best fitters in the world see all the options available in the marketplace, analyze their performance traits, and pull from that internal database of knowledge and experience like a supercomputer whenever they are working with a golfer.

It’s essentially a huge decision tree derived from experience and boiled down to a starting point of options—and it has nothing to do with handicap.

Since modern iron sets are designed into player categories that overlap the traditional “what’s your handicap” model, we at GolfWRX believe it was important to go beyond handicap and ask specific questions about the most crucial performance elements fitters are looking at to help golfers find the best set of irons for them. From overall performance, to shotmaking, to helping players achieve better trajectories and speed, we strived to ask the right questions.

We have developed separate categories that will help you the reader determine what rankings are most important for your swing and game. Please click the links to read about the winners in each category as they are launched… 

• Most technology packed
• The shotmakers
• Pure enjoyment
• Easiest to launch
• Overall top performers

Just like with our Best Drivers of 2019 survey, we consulted leading fitters in the industry and compiled our results anonymously. The methodology is simple: We want to give you the tools to go out and find what works best for you, with recommendations for your individual needs, with feedback from the people that work every single day to help golfers get peak performance out of their equipment.

We at GolfWRX then worked internally to craft a survey that allowed the fitters to be honest…we want the truth just as much as you do, and to prevent anyone from feeling they couldn’t be, we allowed all of the results and quotes to remain anonymous unless otherwise stated. We can’t thank the fitters enough for their time!

Best irons of 2019: Meet the fitters

Ben Giunta: Owner, The Tour Van
Alex Panigas: Fitter, TXG
Chris Kendall: Fitter, TXG
Cam Kennedy: Fitter, TXG
John Sawatsky: Fitter, TXG
Ryan Johnson: Fitter, Carl’s Golfland
Brent Norton: VP Shop Operations, Miles of Golf
Craig Allan: Golf Performance Manager, Sea Island Performance Center
Timothy Briand: SVP Customer Experience, True Spec Golf
Shawn Zawodni: Fitter, Miles of Golf
Nick Sherburne: Founder, Club Champion
Dominic Choma: Fitter, Miles of Golf
Matthew Sim: Fitter/Director of Operations, Modern Golf

Best irons of 2019: Technology packed

This is the “give me everything you got” list. These irons are the cream of the crop for offering technology to improve feel, distance, and ball speed. The great thing about the Technology category is it’s not reserved for higher handicap golfers—it’s for anyone looking to get everything they can out of their game in an iron that also suits their eye.

These are the top 5

(Question to fitters: What is your best technology-packed iron of the year?)

Callaway Epic Forged: Built with the idea of offering speed and shotmaking in one package, the Epic Forged achieves all of that thanks to technology that is being used for the first time in a forged iron.

From the fitters: “Urethane microspheres, VFT cup face, suspended tungsten energy core. No other iron on the market offers all of this without having the iron look overly flashy, a bit chunky, or too long. Callaway has really nailed the tech on this one and it has MONSTER ball speed (despite the lofts) that I have seen rival some hybrids.”… “Great distance head. The face tech can give anyone more ball speed.”

PXG Gen 2 0311 P: PXG is a company known for pushing the envelope of hollow iron technology, and the Gen 2 0311 irons are doing just that. The 0311 P irons have moderate blade lengths and offset to satisfy the needs of a wide range of golfers and offer an ideal balance of playability and forgiveness in a blade-like package.

From the fitters: “I wouldn’t just pick the 0311 P, I’d pick the whole Gen 2 line. If you are looking for technology, looks, ball speed, and forgiveness the Gen 2 line delivers.” … “Forged hollow body construction injected with their Cor2 damping materials = great sound, feel, and overall distance.”

TaylorMade P790: The P790 can be found in multiple GolfWRX best iron categories, which goes to show the impact this iron has had on the marketplace for golfers and fitters alike.

From the fitters: “Players clubs with blended forgiveness integrated into the long irons. Speed Foam improving speed and feel in the long irons” … “It is just such a user-friendly iron. It fits anyone from a 20 handicapper down to tour players. The ball speed retention is massive on it and the sole width and blade length are usable for almost anyone. Couple that with a generally overall pleasing aesthetic and it’s a winner on all accounts.”

Titleist CP-01: A players distance iron featuring high-density tungsten weighting, averaging more than 100g per head in the lower-lofted irons. The alloy faces are the thinnest unsupported faces in golf, and they wrap under the sole to maximize the hitting area and ball speeds.

From the fitters: “Incredible ball speeds, maintained spin and awesome for the player that wants the absolute best.” …  “I’m pretty sure the CP-01s contain 1/3 of the tungsten on earth, most stable club for its size!”

Cobra King F9 SpeedBack: By utilizing multi-material technology, Cobra pushes the boundaries of conventional iron shaping to optimize low CG and high MOI. The SpeedBack offers a forged face, CNC milled grooves, and Cobra Connect powered by Arccos—if that’s not technology-packed, nothing is!

From the fitters: “Ridiculous center gravity placement, excellent distance with high launch, lots of different metals in the head” … “They just go high, straight and far!”

Read all the comments or make your own in the discussion thread in the forums here.