Equipment

Golf irons through the years


Adam Curtis

06 November 2023

a-wilson-golf-iron-and-a-silhouette-with-a-question-mark-on-it

Golf is a very old game, and over recent years, the technology found in golf clubs has changed dramatically.

Centuries ago, golf clubs were carved out of wood, and by the mid-18th century, golfers of the time had access to the first iron clubs. Wooden hickory clubs became the norm for the sport right up until the early 20th century, when steel shafts revolutionized the game.

Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to play with crudely carved hickory clubs? How thrilling it must have felt to pull off just the right shot with one?

What about the world’s best golfers of the time? Do you think playing golf to such a level with comparably worse equipment than we have today would make them more talented than our modern players?

We’ve had an awful lot of technological advances in the past 50 years. Modern research and development as well as the convenience of established supply chains means we have a mass production of new and improved golf clubs with each year that passes.

Wilson makes fantastic golf irons, and today we’re going to take a trip down memory lane. We’ll be looking at some staple now decades old Wilson irons and comparing them to this year’s release.

 

Millennial Aesthetics

wilson-deep-red-iron-head

You may or may not have been playing golf back in the early 00s, and if you were, this wonderful golf iron from Wilson might be bringing back some memories.

As the name implies, the Deep Red iron features a deep cavity back with lots of surrounding perimeter weighting. The club’s name is stenciled on the back of the head, and when you’re looking down on the club at address you’ll be able to see the black and red coloured stripes that run on either side of the red urethane insert.

This club was a real marvel when it was released in 2002. The rounder, more pear-shaped clubhead is an example of how the golf iron as a piece of equipment has transitioned away from the square iron heads that were a staple of the early-to-mid 20th century.

The golf irons we have today don’t only perform better than those of decades-gone, they look better, and help us feel more confident when we’re lining up our approach shots.

 

Recent Tech

wilson-d200-iron-head

Let’s go back to a few years ago, the D200 that was released in 2015 is the perfect marriage of performance and aesthetics. The golf iron looks like a race car thanks to the matte black vents and silver badge housing the Wilson Staff logo on the stunning cavity back.

Wilson gave this club plenty of oomph, and if you were playing with it a decade ago, you would have been no doubt taking advantage of the club’s performance-enhancing technologies.

This iron had a wide sole for excellent turf contact, and a low center of gravity that helped pop the ball up in the air to give you plenty of height when you’re hitting into the green. These forgiving clubs were an excellent example of the kind of tech and shape it takes to make a superb distance iron.

 

Modern Tech

wilson-dynapower-iron-head

The golf irons of 2023 are pushing the known limits of how far you can hit a golf ball with this type of club. Not only do they give you tremendous distance, they’re also designed to give you lots of forgiveness and are a lot of fun to play with.

Wilson’s latest iron release, the Dynapower, is the cutting edge of golf iron technology. The iron will give your shots exceptional distance thanks to Wilson’s variable face thickness design.

The club also has a high MOI, which essentially means the clubhead is very resistant to twisting when making impact with the golf ball, making your strikes super accurate. The clubhead is rounder and smoother than ever too. The topline is pleasing and eye-catching, and there’s an optimal amount of offset to give you straighter ball flights.

Throughout the set of Dynapower irons, the degree of loft clearly closes the lower the iron number. If we look at the chart above, we can see that over the past few decades, the loft degree of the average 7 iron has also closed.

The materials used in making golf irons over time has improved, allowing us to hit strong-lofted irons higher than ever before. Center-of-gravity placement has also become more refined to give us more overall height on our strikes.

In the pro shop, we’ll be able to tell you all the ins-and-outs of modern golf clubs in detail so you’ll know exactly how your clubs work. If your current set is looking a little weathered, why not consider getting yourself an upgrade? When you come in for a club fitting we’ll take a look at how you play and give you a recommendation of what kind of golf iron would be most appropriate for you.

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