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Titleist 716 AP1 Irons Review

Titleist 716 AP1 Irons Review
Titleist 716 AP1 Irons Review

The Titleist 716 AP1 irons sit at the top of the leading brand’s range of irons. They also rank among the very best from any manufacturer.

Let’s be honest, you’re buying a premium product if you’re purchasing the AP1s. What you are getting are game-changing clubs, albeit for a fairly hefty outlay. The Titleist irons should help improve your ball striking, consistency and scoring and ultimately bring your handicap down if that is your target (which, of course, it should be).

Titleist promote the 716 AP1s as “game improvement irons” and “the longest, most forgiving Titleist iron ever” and that is exactly what they are. Ball speed, launch angle and distance control should all be much better when using them. The 2017 tweaks to the irons make them the best yet.

The AP1 irons—available from 3-iron through to a two different degrees of wedges—are as close as you can get to a blade without them actually being one, and produce incredibly consistent results. That’s down to the changes made to the sole and the 360-degree undercut cavity back, which help create the longest results the AP1s have ever produced.

The set-up of the AP1s is nice and clean and you’ll feel a lot of confidence over the ball. The clubs give the ball a real smack—more so than you’d expect from a blade, but that is down to clever weighting in the head and an excellent sweet spot. As a result, you also get forgiveness in abundance on mis-hit or thinned shots not out of the meat of the club head.

The redesign of the cavity has also helped lower the centre of gravity. The AP1s now produce a higher launch angle and a steeper angle to help stop the ball quicker. The stainless steel head is now lighter as a result—although it does contain a high-density tungsten weight, helping to give more ball speed on impact and more accuracy in its results.

The club is also fast through the turf, so if taking big dives has held you back in the past, the AP1s will undoubtedly help on that front.

One thing to note with the Titleist 716 AP1 irons is the loft of the wedges, with the two standard products coming in at 47 and 52 degrees. You will likely need alternative wedges in the bag to fill the gaps through to 60 degrees.

The Titleist 716 AP1 irons strike a fine balance between providing extra distance, distance control and the ability to stop the ball on the greens. If you are a low to mid-handicap golfer, then they will undoubtedly help improve your game and—more importantly—the consistency of your ball striking.

But don’t be put off if you are a higher handicapper striving to come down in numbers. The forgiveness the AP1s provide will be a help to your game and can help you develop a little more consistency—particularly given the fact that you can be custom fit for the irons.

See also: Srixon Z-Star Golf Ball Review