What are the Best Irons for Beginners?
Forged, cavity back, SGI, perimeter weighting – As a beginner you’re probably scratching your head right now. Its little wonder, as there’s so much to take into consideration when choosing the best beginner irons. If you’d like to learn about more than just finding the right golf irons, I’ve also written a guide on finding the best beginner golf clubs.
Iron play forms the bread and butter of your game, so it’s essential you make the best choice when buying your irons. In this article I’ll teach you everything you need to know about finding the best golf irons for beginners, including what to look for, and what I recommend!
Contents
What to Look for in a Beginner Set of Irons?
The most important thing for a beginner like you is consistency. To get that consistency your irons needs to be Super Game Improvement Irons (SGI’s). These SGI clubs feature maximum perimeter weighting, a larger offset, wider sole, and a lower center of gravity.
Whilst you’re allowed up to 14 clubs in your bag, you should only choose 6-SW & PW, making sure the SW/PW have extra bounce. The bounce on the sole of club helps the clubhead glide through the sand or the rough.
As a beginner you should drop the longer irons such as the 3, 4, and 5, and instead replace them with hybrids with higher loft, as they’re much easier to hit on those longer par 4’s. Replace the longer irons with the 3, 4, and 5 hybrids.
The choice of which beginner irons are best also boils down to your swing speed. On average women, juniors, and some seniors have a swing speed of 65-80mph. The slower your swing speed, the more loft you’ll need to help get the ball up in the air and further down the fairway. Men who have a swing speed between 80-90 mphcan begin to add more irons to their bag (5-6), but you should always hit hybrids and woods with higher loft instead of the longer irons as a beginner/high handicapper.
Shaft flex is another thing to watch out for relating to swing speed. The slower your swing speed the more flex you’ll need in order to create more momentum in your clubhead. For women and seniors you should always opt for a graphite shaft with soft to senior flex. For men whose swing speeds are higher, steel shafts with regular flex shafts are ideal.
Do you need to invest heavily in your beginner irons?
No, but I recommend you spend a good amount. The more you invest in a set of SGI clubs the longer you’ll get out of them. This then promotes consistency as you’ll be playing with the same set of irons for a long time.
What do I think are the best beginner irons?
If you have the budget then you can’t go far wrong with a set of Callaway or Ping irons. The G10’s from Ping and the Big Bertha irons from Callaway are well renowned for being the highest quality and one of the more forgiving set of irons you can buy.
However, not everyone has the budget to be able to invest in a set such as those. But not to worry as there are plenty more affordable options out there. Take for instance the Callaway Strata Complete Set. Compared to the average price of over $500 for second hand Ping’s and Callaway’s, then the affordability of the Callaway Strata irons are a real bargain!
UK Visitor?
If you’re from the UK, the Callaway clubs listed above cost a fortune to be shipped over from the US, but not to worry, you can still buy similar clubs over in the UK too. If you’re looking for a quality affordable set of irons in the UK then the Wilson ProStaff Profile VF are a perfect alternative!
