Most Forgiving Irons 2021
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Many of you are shopping for your first set of golf irons. Many others of you are looking to upgrade your current set even though, or because, you still struggle with consistent ball striking. If you fall into one of these groups, you should be looking for the most forgiving irons you can find.
Forgiving irons generally have cavity backs. Just like it sounds, cavity back irons have a cavity behind the club face that is formed by a deeper sole as well as a hollowed out area behind the club face.
The cavity allows for better perimeter weighting, or weight that is distributed throughout the entire face of the club, rather than just in the center. The result is a larger sweet spot. And while a larger sweet spot doesn't get rid of mishits, it does often improve the results of mishit shots.
So why doesn't everybody just use forgiving clubs? Because there's a trade-off. The perimeter weighting reduces feel and the ability to shape (hitting draws and fades) shots. You also lose some distance compared to if more mass is placed directly behind the center of the face. That said, technology has come a long way in helping to mitigate these trade-offs. But these trade-offs still exist.
We set out with 15 of the most popular irons designed for forgiveness with the goal of finding the most forgiving irons on the market. The testers were several members of our staff, as well as several of our students. Below you will find the results as well as our top picks from our testing.
Most Forgiving Golf Irons Reviews
Our Top Pick for Most Forgiving Irons
Cleveland Golf Men's Launcher XL Halo Irons
Review
If you're familiar with hybrid clubs, you know they are a cross between an iron and a fairway wood. The Cleveland Golf XL Halo Irons are more like a cross between an iron and a hybrid. The club head isn't quite as deep as a true hybrid, but it's deeper than your standard cavity back irons.
The depth of the sole is an important feature, as it allows for the center of gravity to be pushed even further away and down from the club face. The lower and further back the center of gravity from the face, the more forgiving the club will be.
The Launcher XL Halo irons helped improve thin shots as well as fat shots. Golfers who struggle getting the ball up in the air with good height will find that these irons make getting the ball up a breeze. The forgiveness of the Cleveland Golf Launcher XL Halo irons is truly unparalleled. They are the runaway winner of our pick for most forgiving irons.
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Best Irons for Forgiveness and Feel
Callaway Rogue ST Max OS Irons
Review
The Callaway Rogue ST Max OS Irons are a much more traditional cavity back iron than the Cleveland Golf HB irons. Callaway is one of the biggest names in the world of golf clubs and they are known for creating high quality clubs. The Rogue ST Max OS is no exception. The quality is very good and they are a great looking club as well.
The Rogue ST Max OS irons feature a lower, further back center of gravity, as most cavity back clubs do. Where the Callaway really stood out though is with the control and feel they were able to get out of the Rogue ST Max OS. The whole set of irons had good forgiveness, but especially with the 7 through 9 irons and pitching wedge, we were really surprised with the feel.
This is a great set of irons. They offered really nice forgiveness. However, the prominent feature for us was the feel you get out of them in addition to the forgiveness. These definitely had the best feel out of all of the cavity back irons we tested.
The fact that these irons offer both great forgiveness and feel means you will be able to use them for a long time without them holding you back. For these reasons, the Callaway Rogue ST Max OS iron set is our top pick for best irons for forgiveness and feel.
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Runner-Up Pick for Golf Irons With Forgiveness and Feel
TaylorMade Golf M4 Irons
Review
TaylorMade is another heavy hitter in the world of golf clubs. The M4 irons offer a good combination of forgiveness and control. These are very good quality irons, as is typical with TaylorMade clubs.
The M4 irons feature some great technology to enhance the forgiveness and the control, as well as distance, particularly in the longer irons. In addition to the large cavity back, TaylorMade added weight to the toe and sole of the head, offering improved forgiveness on mishits.
These irons are very comparable to the Callaway Rogue X irons. The M4 are just as forgiving, they just fall a little short on feel, though they still do have surprisingly good feel for how forgiving they are. These clubs will also grow with you; they won't hold you back as you advance your skillset.
Though they have slightly less feel than the Rogue ST Max, they have a lower price point, which may be more attractive to you. The M4 is our runner up pick for best irons for forgiveness and feel.
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Longest Forgiving Golf Irons
Cobra LTDX Irons
Review
Cobra is known for producing clubs that provide great distance. Therefore, it was no surprise that the LTDX irons outperformed most of the other clubs we tested in distance. They are also well made, quality clubs.
As with all of our other picks, the Cobra LTDX irons had really good forgiveness. They aren't at the level of forgiveness of the Launcher XL Halo (no other club is), but are certainly comparable to both the M4 and the Rogue ST Max sets.
As mentioned, the Cobra LTDX irons really shined in the distance category, in addition to offering good forgiveness. They are also incredibly affordable, which is why they are our runaway pick for budget friendly forgiving irons. They also win the pick for longest forgiving irons.
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FAQ
The golf irons that are easiest to hit will be the most forgiving irons. This usually means a club with a cavity back. In our testing, we found the Cleveland Golf Launcher XL Halo irons to be the most forgiving.
This question could be interpreted a couple of different ways. Is the question which single iron in a set of irons is the easiest to hit? If so, the higher the iron, the easier it is to hit. Thus the 9 iron is the easiest to hit. Or if you consider a pitching wedge an iron, the PW is easiest.
If the question is which of all of the brands and models of irons is easiest to hit, our answer after extensive testing is the Cleveland Golf Launcher XL Halo irons.
A high handicapper will want a club that's easier to hit; in other words, a more forgiving club. If you scroll up this page, you will find our top picks for most forgiving irons.