The 2009 Rankmark iron test
The 2009 Rankmark iron test is in the books and the results are certainly interesting!
Let’s face it, manufacturers love talking about their irons and how they can improve your game. They lecture about feel, forgiveness, distance, consistency, accuracy, heal / toe weighting, MOI, launch angles, etc. The list goes on, on and on. Once you have read all of the manufacturer’s claims, what do you actually know about their irons (beyond what they want you to know)?
A well known golf publication recently published the results of their iron reviews. I attempted to pick a set of irons for myself using the information they provided. I read every review, including the manufacturer’s spiel and an explanation of the technology written by the magazine. I reviewed all of the fancy graphs and charts. I highlighted pertinent facts and observations in each review so that I could compare the irons by different manufacturers. Finally, I created a table of my own with prices, shaft types, technology claims etc.
What decision did I reach? More of that of minute…..
What do golfers want to know about irons that they plan to purchase? Simple, will I play better golf? Will I hit the ball further, more accurately, more often? Will I lower my scores and enjoy the game more? Will the new irons minimize the weaknesses in my swing, and maximize the strengths? All of the astounding facts regarding MOI, weighting etc are just that, facts.
All of these facts provided by manufacturers and blindly repeated in magazines mean little in the hands of a Rankmark tester. As I have said before, the clubs we test do not have a manufacturer’s highly refined marketing message taped to the shaft.
Back to test. For this iron test, we included sets from the following manufacturers
Callaway X22 Tour
Callaway X22
Callaway FT
Callaway Big Bertha
Callaway Womens X22
Callaway Womens Big Bertha
Cleveland CG7
Cobra S9 II
Hippo Hex2
Mizuno MP 52
Mizuno MX 200
Nicklaus Polarity HCT
Nike Slingshot HL
Ping Rapture V2
Ping G10
TaylorMade 2009 Burner
Titleist AP2
Titleist AP1
Vector 25C
Wilson Di9
Yonex Nanospeed i
Several people have asked why we did not include hybrids. The reason is simple. The irons test takes much more time to complete. We want to provide the testers the ability to hit the clubs as many times as they need to make a fully informed decision. That said we do have an iron test with hybrids scheduled for later this year.
We conducted the test again at our favorite facility, Costa Mesa Golf Club under the supervision of John Ortega director of instruction and Brad Booth, Head PGA professional. The weather cooperated and the testers turned out eager to test.
The overall winner of the test was Titleist! Congratulations!
Testers really did favor Titleist over all others. In fact, Titleist took top honors in look, feel and accuracy with either the AP1 or AP2. In forgiveness, the testers rated the Titleist number 3, but preferred the Ping G10, Rapture V2 and the Callaway FT. Not surprisingly perhaps, Titleist did not place in the high handicap category. Testers preferred the Ping G10 for the top spot.
In the women’s category, Callaway took top honors with the Big Bertha, Callaway, Vector, Ping and Wilson rounding out the top 5 with the DI9. In the senior’s category, Callaway FT took 1st place. Cobra S9, Callaway X22, Ping Rapture V2, and Titleist AP1 closed out the top 5.
So what do the tests results tell you? It depends. It depends on your handicap, whether you are a man, women, or senior. We have test results for each of those categories. We also provide the results according to price. The key point is you can see the top 5 clubs in each category as reported by golfers just like you. As you know, our tests include high handicappers, low handicappers, women and seniors. The testers are not compensated for their time, nor are the manufacturers charged to submit clubs. Our testing is raw and unbiased.
As for my exercise to compare reviews conducted by a popular golf magazine. The jury is still out. In all honesty, I have yet to figure out a way to compare the clubs as listed in the magazine. Short of blinding believing the hype, I cannot figure out how to compare one manufacturer’s claim that his irons are more forgiving etc. than their competitor.
If you decide that you can depend upon reviews conducted by golf magazines, please let me know how that works out for you. Once you have read the manufacturer’s spin on their irons, and read how the technology is supposed to work, I would love to hear how you compared clubs by different manufacturers. Short of buying the clubs and testing all of them on the range, I cannot think of how it is possible to arrive at a set of irons that will work for your game.
Wait, maybe I should try the Titleist AP1s……..
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