Finding the right set of irons is about as important as it gets for golfers.
After all, they’re the clubs you’ll swing the most in a typical round, and the biggest golfing investment you’re likely to make.
Like lots of things in the sport, they can come with hefty price tags, and it’s always worth taking care when investing. Premium sets certainly aren’t cheap, but if you find the right ones, they’ll prove invaluable in improving your game and help you make countless memories on the course.
What kind of irons should you buy?
There are endless options out there, but we’ve focused on our picks of the best irons for mid to low handicappers looking to take their game to the next level and get scores down.
We’ve tried to cover a wide brief here, and there are plenty of choices for players of all abilities to consider in the list below. That said, scratch players looking for their next set of blades might want to check elsewhere.
What else do you need to consider when buying irons?
It might sound obvious, but we’d always recommend booking a custom fitting before you pull the trigger on a new set it you can. It’s not always possible, but getting hands on with a set of clubs before you splash the cash is always the best way to feel assured the purchase you’re making is the right one.
These are our picks of the best iron sets for mid to low handicappers to buy in 2023.
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Ping i230
The impressive i230s are definitely at the more premium end of the spectrum when it comes to new sets. The price reflects that, but for a real luxury set of irons which will last a decade or more, these are a very good bet.
The design is stripped-back and might be a little minimalist for some tastes, but they sit nicely in the bag and the ‘hydropearl 2.0 chrome finish’ feels luxurious in hand. The slightly smaller profile might scare off a few players looking for more of a muscle-back look, but we found it to be more forgiving than expected. For lower handicappers, though, the clubs offer plenty of shot-shaping capabilities – after all, if pros like Tyrell Hatton have them in the bag, it’ll serve weekend warriors just fine.
We found the ball flight to be nice and consistent, with a generous but controllable amount of elevation on most strikes. There’s a very solid feel on strikes out the middle, and great response off the club face even on shots slightly out of the toe. Simply put, we really enjoyed hitting the i230. We looked forward to pulling it out of the bag and having a go at the green with them, and we can’t give much more of a sign of approval than that.
Buy now £999.00, American Golf
Srixon ZX5 MKII series
Srixon’s ZX series offers pretty much everything mid to low handicappers could ask for. In our testing, we tried out a mixed set made up of the new versions of the ZX4 and ZX5 in the longer irons, as well as the ZX7 in the longer irons. The ZX5 is the Japanese brand’s new range aimed at players looking for more forgiveness on off-center hits. They’ll provide a helping hand when it comes to getting the ball up in the air and around the course.
The ZX7s are aimed at better players looking to place an emphasis on shot shaping and creativity when finding greens. For us, we preferred the reassuring feel of the ZX5. That’s in part down to the ridged Tour VT sole, which helps the ball glide through the turf and helps to avoid snagging if you’re off the fairway.
The ZX5s are pretty long, plenty of fun to hit and feel reassuring through impact. They’re also fantastic looking clubs, which you don’t always get with clubs this forgiving. The sleek looks are some of the best we tried and there’s plenty of shelf appeal here.
Overall, they more than live up to the reputation for quality that you get from Srixon irons. If you can, we’d recommend getting fitted for a set, as the option to swap in ZX7s and ZX4s into the bag to suit your game could work really well for plenty of players.
Buy now £899.00, Scottsdale Golf
Wilson Dynapower
It’s been a big year so far for Wilson, which has stepped up its irons and driver selections with the Dynapower range. The brand has gone back to 1956 for inspiration, which was the year it first launched the Dyna-Powered irons, only these are a little easier to hit than we imagine those clubs were back in the day.
We were seriously impressed with these Wilson irons, which were really fun to hit. That’s mostly due to the fact they’re absolute rocket ships: they’re a little stronger lofted than your traditional set and they are incredibly hot off the face. There are other clubs out there that will appeal more to better shapers of the ball, but these were the most forgiving and easiest to get launched that we tested. That’s mainly due to the weight distribution through the bottom of the club, which offered palpable forgiveness.
Other distance irons in this category can often look bulky and ungainly, but the Dynapower clubs are pretty elegant with nice red detailing on the heads. Having said that, the extra mass in the back of the club head might not be to everyone’s tastes and the offset does lead to a draw bias – which we found complimented our swing well, but probably won’t be right for everyone.
They really do feel powerful through impact, and to our amazement we found ourselves hitting our seven iron significantly further than usual at close to 200-yards on the range. People won’t need all that distance all the time, but they could be a great fit for a lot of mid-handicappers. They’re also great value for money for the right player, at almost half the price of some of the most premium irons on the market.
Buy now £679.00, American Golf
Titleist T300
Titleist has a wealth of options for all kinds of players, and picking out an option for mid to higher handicap players will always be a tough task. The T300, though, is described by the brand as its “ultimate” game-improvement iron, and it’ll suit a really wide range of players.
Here, the emphasis is clearly placed on forgiveness and distance. That’s at least partly down to its variable face thickness design and the cavity back with added tungsten, which helps to provide a reliable ball flight and compact strike on off-center strikes.
Like many modern player improvement irons, the lofts are pretty strong, with the 7-iron coming in at 29o. It does feel like a very powerful iron, something which the brand puts down to the Max Impact 2.0 A Cantilever Core Support Structure and a high resilience polymer core.
Thankfully, all of that technology doesn’t impact the looks or the feel. The T300 is still a good looking club, with a thin profile on the face that feels powerful. Most importantly, as with all player improvement irons, they’re easy to hit, go an awfully long way and will serve players looking for confidence-boosting clubs to take out onto the course.
Buy now £849.00, American Golf
TaylorMade P790
The TaylorMade P-series are classics of their kind, and there’s a reason golfers of all talent levels choose to invest in them. The TaylorMade P790s were updated at the end of 2021 and remain excellent options. If you’re after a shiny new set in 2023, they’re still one of the sets we’d recommend checking out.
First, there’s the looks. Aesthetically, they’re pretty hard to beat when it comes to sleek players’ irons. The minimalistic design is one of the slickest out there and offers the look of a bladed set. They mix those elegant looks with an excellent hollow-body performance, compact feel, a big sweet spot and more forgiveness than most irons of this type.
They feel superb on impact, with a forged steel face that offers buttery contact on good strikes. It’s no surprise that the P790 is the biggest selling TaylorMade forged iron. They’re modern classics for a reason, and there’s no doubt the P790s will be go-to irons for a wide variety of golfers.
Buy now £989.00, American Golf
Mizuno JPX 923
There’s just something so elegant about Japanese irons, and the Mizuno JPX 923 are some of the nicest on the market in 2023.
There are plenty of models in the JPX range to try out. We tried the Forged and the Tour version, and the Tour is the one which jumped out at us the most. They’re firmly in the players category with playability designed for the better ball strikers, and it’s clear the emphasis with these clubs is placed on holding greens and shaping shots. They also feel fantastic off the face with some of the best feedback on well-struck shots we experienced.
Mizuno’s reputation for build quality is up there with the best in the game and that comes across in the feel of the club. Looking down at the JPX behind the ball, everything from the curve of the head into the hosel, to the thin top line feels excellent.
There are premium looks to go with the performance, too. The satin finish will appeal to a lot of players, and they’re some of the nicest looking we tested. Mizuno have a reputation for making exceptional irons, and the JPX range feels like the embodiment of that quality. They’re very impressive clubs aimed to help the better player thrive.
Buy now £949.00, American Golf
Callaway Paradym
To say the Paradym irons are interesting to look at is an understatement: they’re some of the most distinctive looking clubs we’ve seen. While fans of a more blade-style iron might want to look elsewhere, we’re big fans of the blue and yellow textured finish that remind us of vintage radio speakers. We can’t explain why, but that’s a positive in our eyes.
The Paradym driver, with ads spearheaded by John Rahm, stole the limelight when it came to Callaway’s new offerings in 2023, but the accompanying iron set is the kind of club that will appeal to all sorts of players. Mid to high handicappers looking for confidence boosting distance and forgiveness will find a lot to like here. They’re super powerful and offer some of the most confidence boosting distance you’re likely to find.
There are two models to choose from: the Paradym and the Paradym X. The latter comes with a thicker top line as well as stronger lofts. Like any premium irons set, the biggest thing that’s likely to put players off is the price tag. They’re not for everyone, but if you’re a mid-handicapper looking for reliable power and distance, you could do far worse than booking themselves in for a fitting and trying these out.
Buy now £999.00, American Golf
Takomo 101T
The golf market is changing, and there are more direct to consumer brands challenging the bigger boys than ever before. One of those doing excellent work is Takomo, which has emerged as a real player since launching a few years back.
Coming out of Finland, the brand makes elegant irons that provide the kinds of performance that would normally come at a much higher price point. They’re gaining real traction in the social media world too with golf content creators like Erik Anders Lang of Random Golf Club using them, so expect to see more and more people play with these.
The 101s were the first irons the brand produced, and now there’s the 101Ts. The 101Ts are slightly more compact in size than the 101s, with a thin profile that will appeal to better players. The shorter blade length and the minimal offset will also reward purer ball strikers and also delivers an impressive profile behind the ball at address.
More skilled strikers of the ball will enjoy the workability of the 101Ts, as well as the buttery feedback on well-hit shots, while even the longer irons produced impressive spin to hold greens. Perhaps its biggest selling point is the fact they’re stunning to look at, with incredibly clean looks, as well as a hollow body design with the look of a blade. The only real downside is that players can’t get fitted for the set before they buy, but these are very good clubs from a brand with real hipster appeal who are going places in 2023.
Buy now £489.00, Takomo
