If you're a mid-to-high handicapper and like your irons filled to the brim with the latest tech, Doc Hock has delivered again with the Callaway Epic Forged Irons.
The premium irons are a pet project of Dr Alan Hocknell, chief of Callaway's R&D, who was given a blank canvas to design irons with all the fruit, the irons he would want to play himself - easy to launch, impressively long, very forgiving but with a much smaller head size than a game improvement iron to supply a degree of playability and minimal offset.
The Tech
In the engine room of Callaway Epic Forged Irons is a new variable-thickness face cup that powers the irons' effortless distance.
There are four unique variants of the face cup employed throughout the set to optimise spin and trajectory for each individual iron and they are a raging success, with ultra-hot ball speeds recorded off the clubface of every Epic Forged iron.
Callaway have also managed to squeeze their trademark microspheres into the long and mid Epic Forged irons - the first time the tech has ever been applied in a forged iron.
Thousands of tiny microspheres are injected into a slab of urethane, within which a slug of tungsten - used to precisely lower the irons' centre of gravity for easy launching - is "suspended".
The urethane microsphere slab also supports and permits flexing of the clubface/face cup to promote ball speed while also improving the feel of the Epic Forged irons by reducing undesirable vibrations.
While the short irons in the Callaway Epic Forged set don't need any microsphere love, they have a piece of MIM (metal injection moulded) tungsten set slightly higher in the clubhead to improve flight control and provide extra stopping power on the greens.
Callaway Epic Forged Irons Specs
The irons are forged from 1025 carbon steel and feature the most aggressive lofts of any Callaway set - the seven iron boasts a loft of only 27 degrees - but it's not simply to pump up distance figures: the strong lofts take advantage of the launch, spin and dazzling ball speed gains to produce a flight and apex typical of the number on the sole of each Epic Forged iron.
A choice of premium graphite shafts - Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver or Aerotech Steelfiber FC - is the standard offering, along with Golf Pride Velvet grips.
Buy Callaway Epic Forged Iron - Steel Shaft
Buy Callaway Epic Forged Irons - Graphite Shaft
Australian Launch date: August 9 2019
Golfer: Men's
Hand: Right/Left
Material: Steel
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver/Aerotech Steelfiber FC
Flex: Regular, Stiff
Grip: Golf Pride Velvet
Design: Cavity Back
Set: 5-PW,GW,AW,SW
Epic Forged iron lofts: 5: 21°, 6: 24°, 7: 27°, 8: 31.5°, 9: 36°, PW: 41°, AW: 46°, GW: 51°, SW: 56°
Alex Etches stats from his review:
