It’s time to end golf’s biggest equipment stigma

What’s the first thing you think when you hear the phrase ‘game-improvement irons’?

There’s a strange stigma attached to clubs literally designed to make this ludicrous game of ours much easier. And it’s got to a point where equipment manufacturers have simply stopped referring to their latest models as such.

But now we at bunkered are on a mission to change that. And I, as the resident mid-handicapper, will lead the charge into the new world.

First, a little bit about me and my game. See if this sounds familiar. I’m a reasonably good golfer. I play off 12 and generally score quite comfortably in the mid-80s. (For 18 holes, you swine!)

I drive the ball well, largely thanks to modern technology helping what was more often than not a card-wrecking power fade. I hit my woods well. I’m a good wedge player, particularly now I have TaylorMade’s Milled Grind 4 range which genuinely feels like I’ve entered a cheat code. And I putt the ball well, particularly from inside six feet thanks to all that practice during the various Covid lockdowns.

But put an iron in my hand and I generally come unstuck. And, like Rory McIlroy trying to put a certain jacket in his wardrobe, I’ve tried everything. Players’ irons, distance irons, hollow-body irons, cavity-back irons, irons from various brands. But I’ve always balked at game-improvement irons.

It’s for the same reason you all do it, too.

It’s not all because when we think of game-improvement irons we’re picturing those aesthetically unappealing, wide-soled heads that are so big they leave you wondering if you’ll even get to the top of your backswing without toppling over.

No. It’s because we are too good for game-improvement irons.

But these times they are a-changin’, and game-improvement irons are no longer just for beginners, or those players we so politely refer to as “choppers”. Indeed, a few years back, Nick Taylor put the TaylorMade SIM Max irons in his bag in a desperate bid to add to his solitary PGA Tour title from 2014. It worked. He now has four. Even Sergio Garcia is at it.

Long gone are the shovels of yesteryear. The gap between all-out forgiveness and the ball-striker’s butter knife is ever narrowing.

And no-one is doing more to rid game-improvement irons of their stigma than TaylorMade.

When I got one of the brand’s new Qi irons in my hands – and did that thing that all golfers do when we first hold a golf club where we look at it at address then give it a little waggle before upending it to fully inspect the head while desperately thinking of something intelligent to say – I couldn’t believe they were for someone like me.

At the risk of turning this into a full-on advertisement, the sleek design, with that familiar speed pocket and cap that wraps itself round the back of the clubhead, is nothing short of stunning, and a world away from how you would imagine a game-improvement iron to look.

I went to the TaylorMade fitting bay at True Fit Golf Centre in Warrington where I was taken through the full custom-fitting process.

I tried both the Qi and Qi HL – that’s High Launch – models in a variety of shafts and grips until we stumbled on the one that, ultimately, will help me and my ball to find more greens.

• How much does it cost to put your logo on a golfer?

• How does an equipment manufacturer sign a player?

So, how will my first foray into the world of game-improvement irons go?

Before we had reached the first tee, I was showing off my new kit to my playing partners – each of whom refused to believe they were designed for a mid-handicap player.

I’ve now played a lot of golf – including taking part in the Big Golf Race for Prostate Cancer UK – since my fitting and the most noticeable aspect is they are making me enjoy golf from the fairway again. I’m not standing over a shot and fearing the worst.

Sometimes, I even know where the ball is going before I hit it – and not in a bad way. I’m not duffing shots 15 yards or thinning them through the back (not nearly as often, anyway) in a bid to get the perfect strike. I can relax and swing my swing.

I know anything off-centre will still work to some degree, I’m getting the ball in the air with minimal fuss, and it’s going in the right direction. Isn’t that what we all want?

Most importantly, I feel like I’ve got my mojo back.

Now, who’s with me? Together, let’s get rid of that stigma…

My new TaylorMade irons

Model: TaylorMade Qi HL
Set: 5-AW
Shafts: Project X 6.0 (+½”, 2° upright)
Grips: Golf Pride MCC +4 Midsize

Do you use game-improvement irons? Get in touch!

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor