Best Hollow Body Iron 2019
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Best Hollow Body Irons 2019: We bring you the best irons of 2019 – tried and tested as part of our biggest ever golf club equipment guide, Top Gear.
In our biggest ever equipment test we reviewed hundreds of golf clubs, and for us there were five stand out Hollow Body performers, TaylorMade P790, PXG 0311 P Gen 2, Ping i500, PXG 0311 XG Gen 2, and the Ping G700.
Don’t know which kind of iron suits your game? Our equipment editor breaks down the types of irons you should choose here
ROBOT TESTED: Which golf ball suits my game?
Best Hollow Body irons 2019
TaylorMade P790 iron review
RRP: £1049 (s) £1299 (g)
Availability: 3 – PW
Stock shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 (s) UST Recoil 760/780 (g)
7-iron loft: 30.5°
TaylorMade P790 iron verdict:
We’ve tested P790 plenty over the last two years (they launched in August 2017 so are likely to be updated in 2019), and they’ve always been great looking and strong performers. TaylorMade says it’s their best-selling forged iron ever (forged face, but cast body) – and we can see why.
The hollow body construction undoubtedly plays a role in making P790 our longest players’ iron of 2019 – 179 yards. Hollow irons are a growing trend, and P790 sits right on the fence between player and game improver. They’re fast and give a strong ball flight which above-average golfers will admire as much now as when they first launched.
Which TaylorMade iron suits me?
PXG 0311 P Gen 2 iron review
RRP: from £400 per club
Availability: 3 – PW, GW
Stock shaft: N/A. PXG insist on only fitting golfers to their best performing option
7-iron loft: 31°
PXG 0311 P Gen 2 iron verdict:
PXG founder Bob Parsons charged his engineers with creating a forged iron that looked like a blade, but played like a cavity back. Four years on he’s built a super-premium brand around the idea.
The Gen 2 P iron, for reasonable club golfers (we see it as a players iron), is an absolute corker. Our test pro was a huge fan and while we can’t say the cost of PXG equates to big gains (P790 carried shots three yards further), there’s no doubt the forged heads look, sound and feel great.
If we didn’t have a hollow body iron category, P would easily have featured among our top 10 player irons. Just beautiful.
How they compare in data
Ping i500 iron review
RRP: £149 (s) £159 (g) per club
Availability: 3 – PW, UW
Stock shaft: Choose from eight premium steel and two graphite options
7-iron loft: 30.5°
Ping i500 iron verdict:
A players’ distance iron, with a hollow compact head and similar levels of hosel offset to Ping’s iBlade.
Our test pro said he could feel and hear how the heads were hollow, whereas the PXGs and TaylorMades are filled with either elastomer or speed foam. Hands down this is an iron that’s been designed for speed.
Strong lofts, combined with the right shafts, deliver a towering ball flight, extra ball speed and plenty of carry. This is a brilliant hollow design, that sits nicely on the fence between player and game improver models. If you’re thinking about a set you should also make it your business to try the P790s and Titleist AP3s.
Why we use a Foresight GC Quad launch monitor
PXG 0311 XF Gen 2 iron review
RRP: From £400
Availability: 3 – PW, GW, SW, LW
Stock shaft: N/A. PXG insist on only fitting golfers to their best performing option
7-iron loft: 30°
PXG 0311 XF Gen 2 iron verdict:
Forged irons used to be the reserve of decent players, as great forged models very rarely filtered down into the game improver category. PXG has changed all that and we applaud them for doing so. Just because you’re not a great player doesn’t mean you don’t want the same feel and sound as the best.
The XF is oversized, but it looks great sat behind the ball, without too much hosel offset or a chunky top line. We’re big fans of how you can’t buy PXG irons off the rack – they insist on fitting you. A brilliant forged game improver iron, which isn’t something we’ve said often before.
Jump to: Best Player iron 2019 / Best Game Improver iron 2019 / Best Super Game Improver iron 2019
Ping G700 iron review
RRP: £149 (s) £159 (g) per club
Availability: 4 – PW, UW, SW
Stock shaft: Choose from 10 premium options
7-iron loft: 29.5°
Ping G700 iron verdict:
Just to prove hollow iron tech is for everyone, the G700 – aimed at super game improvers – makes an appearance here. Whereas most hollow irons try to blur the lines between player and game improver categories, the G700 blurs the line between game improver and SGI models. Or as our pro put it… “it’s a hacker’s blade”.
None of our three testers felt they’d choose the G700s increased head size and wider sole over the very tidy and low offset look of the G410s, but we can’t take anything away from the G700’s performance (second longest iron of 2019). Just make sure you take advantage of Ping’s brilliant fitting to ensure you get your perfect set.
