It’s vital to iron-out club choices

WITH winds off the Pacific Ocean, enough kikuyu-grass rough to hide an elephant and narrow landing areas, one of the keys to success at Torrey Pines will be successful shot-making.

Hard to access greens, such as on the par-three third hole or the par-four fourth’s slender putting surface, require expert control with approach shots and that means putting one’s faith in one’s irons.

But which ones to choose. The pros playing the US Open this week will favour the traditional blade while mere mortals have plenty of game-improving options designed to forgive off-centre hits and get the ball higher into the air.

The advent of hybrids further confuses the issue with even some of the guys out on tour beginning to mix up their bags, throwing out their longer irons in favour of those new clubs that promise greater accuracy, consistency and confidence.

It’s difficult to know where to turn as a look around the displays in any club shop or a walk down the aisles of any warehouse golf store will confirm the often confusing array of options, which now include mixed sets of hybrids and irons.

Even sticking with irons from 2-9, the menu options are growing with each passing year but the Irish Examiner has some food for thought. Here we pick out the right irons for all levels of golfer from blades for single-digit handicappers to the user-friendly, super-improvement irons.

In short, the players’ blades, with their thin soles and classy looks, are the closest thing today to the irons your father would recognise.

The majority of irons on the market today, while retaining the thin sole and the sleek top line, have, however, been forged with forgiveness in mind. They maintain the traditional shape but the designers have moved the weight within them to the perimeters in order to increase the sweet spot and make them a little easier to hit.

While with their wide soles and boxy shapes, the tech-heavy super-improvement irons on the market are easier still to hit, just don’t show them to your dad. He will wonder where they’ve been all his life.

Mizuno was long seen as one of the master manufacturers of blades alongside Titleist but it is significant that both companies are spreading their wings to reach a new audience with more user-friendly tools.

“Many of us grew up aspiring to Mizuno’s TP and MP tour blades,” Mizuno’s Rob Jackson says. “But we’ve managed to get the message across that we have the skills to make irons that perform for a wider range of abilities.

“The development of the MX line has pushed our engineers out of their comfort zone, incorporating more technical game improvement. And we’ve always tried to accomplish that whilst keeping the appreciation of what a useable golf club should look like.”