YOU have to admire a company like Titleist. No company in golf is more dedicated to elite and aspirational golfers. It has pursued that market segment relentlessly, regardless of what the rest of the golf industry is doing. As a result, they are sometimes a bit slow to adapt new technologies, taking more time to properly evaluate the developments and how to properly integrate them into their product line, keeping sight of the preferences of its core users.
The new 718 irons are a perfect example.
In the last five years, manufacturing techniques have improved sufficiently to allow the use of multiple materials in iron heads to maximize performance and ease of use. The surge in popularity of the hollow-bodied iron has given engineers even more latitude with CG location resulting in increased performance. Using these technologies judiciously in the service of the better golfer is a Titleist hallmark. The changes to the line this year focused on forgiveness and finding additional ball speed with each iron. What is most impressive is the attention to detail and the commitment to get every club exactly as its customers demand.
This year there are six different models in the Titleist 718 line of irons. That might seem like a huge number, but they meet the needs of different golfing demographics. The brief for this redesign was to build increased ball speed across the clubface across the line. Since the huge bulk of their sales will be the AP series, let’s start there.
The AP1 has always been the game improvement club in Titleist’s iron line. It’s designed for maximum distance and ball speed. The 718 AP1 looks a lot sleeker, less like a shovel and more like a real player’s club. There’s still a bit of offset; the most of any of Titleist’s irons this year, and a fairly healthy topline. The long irons are now hollow constructs, while the mid and short irons remain undercut cavity backs. Each iron is unique and features a center of gravity located uniquely in each iron to create the correct trajectories.
The thin, unsupported faces of the long irons create high ball speeds for greater distance. High-density tungsten weighting produces a lower CG for higher launch with shot-stopping control. The high-MOI design—with an average of 58.5 grams of tungsten per head, placed low and in the toe of the long and mid irons—produces higher ball speeds across the face for more consistent distance on off-center hits. The leading edge of the AP1 (and indeed, all the 718 irons) has been pre-worn to aid turf interaction. The AP1 is a distance iron that looks and feels like a player’s club.
Improving the AP2 irons was a delicate exercise. The AP2 has become Titleist’s best-selling iron and has a significant following on the professional tours, as well as the retail market. Its patrons were adamant that the look remain the same but weren’t averse to having a little more performance and forgiveness built into it.
Titleist used a new co-forging process to integrate and precisely position high-density tungsten weights in each AP2 iron to add ease of use without compromising playability. A thinner forged body and face insert constructed of high-strength spring steel increases launch and ball speed for more distance. An improved CG progression, with a lower and more centered CG in the long irons, improves speed performance on off-center hits for precise distance control. The faster, lighter face also freed up more discretionary weight and the 718 AP2 uses more tungsten than ever before, making this the most forgiving AP2 ever. All this without compromising the feel and distance control so coveted by better players everywhere.
The AP3 is the new kid on the block. With the AP3, Titleist wanted to combine the best attributes of its two best-selling irons; the AP1 and AP2. They wanted the distance and ease of use of the AP1 combined with the consistency and feel of the AP2. Even the nomenclature shows this—AP1+AP2=AP3.
The AP3 looks like a slightly bigger AP2. If you weren’t paying attention, it would be easy to mistake one for the other from address, although a closer look reveals the AP3 has a slightly thicker topline and a touch more offset. Call it a player’s distance iron—perfect for the better player that wants or needs more length through the set. An innovative hollow-blade design with high-speed face technology, the AP3 is Titleist’s the longest, fastest Titleist player’s iron ever.
The hollow construction uses a thin, unsupported, high-strength steel face for the fastest ball speeds. High-density tungsten (an average of 84.9 grams per head) strategically located in each clubhead provides the off-center distance performance of a game improvement iron. All with the look and feel of a better player’s club. This could become Titleist’s best-selling iron yet.
Titleist’s technological tour de force is the 718 T-MB. The T-MB started life as a driving iron, but players were so enamored with its performance and forgiveness that Titleist decided to build a full set of them. The 718 T-MB has grown into a full set of uniquely designed irons that deliver effortless distance at every loft in a technical, muscle-back shape. Initially developed as a high launching, player’s long iron, the hollow-body, multi-material design of T-MB produces a powerful combination of high launch and forgiveness with a playable trajectory. It differs from its 716 cousin with the use of even more tungsten (an average of 93.9 grams per clubhead), making it more approachable than ever without the loss of performance.
The MB and CB are two of the core irons in the Titleist line and are held in such high regard by elite golfers that it would have been easy to slap the new badge on them and call it a day. But that isn’t the Titleist way. Both are forged from 1025 carbon steel but that’s where the similarities end. The CB is now as high-tech as a forging can get. Co-forging technology has allowed the use of high-density tungsten to be positioned in each clubhead. This creates higher ball speeds across the clubface on off-center hits without compromising the butter-soft feel at impact and the tour-preferred trajectories with each iron.
Even the MB, the traditional muscleback blade, wasn’t overlooked. The center of gravity of each clubhead was more precisely located high and behind the club’s sweet spot. This guarantees consistent launch trajectories and ball flights from club to club. Each MB iron is forged from a single block of steel for the butter-soft feel that all good players covet.
Titleist’s shaft options are among the best in the industry and this year feature True Temper’s new Ascending Mass Technology (AMT) shafts which feature lighter shafts in the long irons and heavier ones in the short irons and wedges. MRC Tensei Rec AMC (Ascending Mass Concept), Nippon Steel and Project X round out shaft offerings.
The Titleist 718 irons are now available at Empire Golf Shops everywhere. An appointment for a proper fitting will guarantee the best results.