Compare Prices | |
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TaylorMade M6 | |
Budget Option Cleveland Launcher HB | |
Best for Low Handicap Seniors Titleist T400 | |
Best for High Handicap Seniors Wilson Launch Pad | |
Runner-up Callaway Big Bertha |
As your body changes and you become a Senior golfer, your golf equipment should to. When you start to get older, your swing speed slows down. With the right clubs, you won’t miss a beat.
This comes down to things like launch angle, forgiveness and flex. Lucky for you, we’ve done the heavy lifting.
If you’re looking for a bigger selection, also check out our breakdown of the best golf irons overall.
Top Pick | TaylorMade M6
From the M2 to the M6, this line of TaylorMade golf irons is designed to fly. With technology catering to the average Senior’s swing, the TaylorMade M6 irons are our top choice for Senior golfers. You’ll find elements of game improvement irons as well as features that add a little bit of control as well, a welcome sight for any golfer.
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As you’ve gotten a bit older, the appeal of taking a nice deep divot and spinning the ball back has lost its allure. To help you avoid unnecessary wear and tear on your body, TaylorMade has shifted the center of gravity down and enlarged the sweet spot. This change makes it so you get better contact while striking lower on the clubface.
The lower center of gravity also helps you to increase launch angle and ball speed. Improved ball flight and landing angles give you a better chance to clear hazards and stick the green.
While lesser clubs rely on gaining distance by increasing roll, the TaylorMade M6’s let you do more with less thanks to better ball flight.
More distance, more forgiveness is easy for golf manufacturers to say, but harder to achieve. TaylorMade gets it done through a few different structural features. A majority of the club is flexible, making it easy to increase ball speed without swinging harder. The M6’s, however, are stiff around the head to reduce energy loss at impact.
Most noticeable is the Speed Bridge that stretches across the back of the club face. This is yet another feature that increases club and ball speed giving you more distance. Inverted Cone Technology and a thin face helps spread the area for good contact and increases forgiveness.
Budget Option | Cleveland Launcher HB
Cleveland only makes a few different models of irons, and for good reason. With fewer active models, they can focus their resources making sure each set and design are perfect.
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Not only are the Cleveland Launcher HB irons affordable, but they offer the legitimate prospect of longevity. Once you’ve made the jump to Senior irons, you aren’t looking back. Rather than buying a set of clubs that you will have to replace in a couple years, the Launcher HB’s will last.
Due to the hybrid-like construction of each club, it is a perfect go-between. This means it caters to golfers who can still play, but don’t need the help of an entire set of hybrids. The hollow construction spreads weight evenly, increasing forgiveness while still providing the feel of irons.
Their design is especially forgiving when compared to the construction of typical cavity back irons.
One of the first things you notice when looking at HB Launcher irons is the HiBore Crown on the back of the club head. Rather than use a fully rounded head, the crowned design keeps weight low. In keeping weight and center of gravity low, your ball flight will be higher and longer.
To ease any suspicions you might have of a hybrid-like design, Cleveland Launcher HB irons have a progressive design. This means that while your 5-iron looks and feels like a hybrid, your pitching wedge will feel more like an iron.
Best for Low Handicap Seniors | Titleist T400
When you think of brands that design clubs for Seniors, or really any segment of golfers that aren’t single-digit handicaps, Titleist hardly ever comes to mind. They’re trying to change this, and the T400 irons are a huge step in the right direction.
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For senior golfers who may have lost some swing speed, but have continued to keep their scores low, you’re right to have some hesitancy to buy senior-specific clubs. The Titleist T400 irons are tailored for golfers with moderate swing speeds, but are accurate and consistent.
To reduce vibrations from hitting the ground, T400’s have a split sole. With two tiers on the bottom flange, the front of the club face makes contact with the grass, while the back slides across just above it.
T400’s help you gain distance based on their lofts as well. To give you an idea of how strong-lofted these are, the 7-iron is 26 degrees and the pitching wedge is 38 degrees. In most iron sets, these lofts are more typical of 5-6 and 8-9 irons.
This might be a bit intimidating as some Senior golfers have trouble with long irons, but T400 design makes every club feel like you’re hitting a 7-iron.
To get more specific on this, Titleist provides extra assistance in irons 5 through 7 by adding 100 grams of tungsten into the toe and heel. Added weight on the perimeter of the club face lowers the center of gravity, allowing for longer and higher launched shots.
Best for High Handicap Seniors | Wilson Launch Pad
One of the biggest disadvantages that comes with reduced swing speed is that your distance also suffers. What comes to mind is your long irons and reaching longer par 4’s in 2. To help combat this issue, Wilson Launch Pad irons are made for Senior golfers to hit every club in their bag with consistency.
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At maximum size with the 4-iron, Wilson Launch Pad irons feature wide bottom soles. As you go down the chain, soles progressively decrease in size and by your 8 and 9-iron, you hardly notice the oversized head.
The purpose of the wider soles is primarily to prevent you from chunking the ball. Increased distance comes as collateral damage from the better contact.
Yet another issue for Senior golfers alleviated by Wilson Launch Pad iron design is swing and ball speed. Wilson reduces the weight in the best way possible. They pull it directly from the shaft, while leaving club heads a bit heavier. Courtesy of superior weight distribution, swinging these irons is effortless.
To get ball speed up, Wilson relies on hollow club head construction. Because of this, a thin club face helps reduce MOI, generating additional ball speed and distance.
As an added benefit, smooth soles slide across the top of the grass losing minimal momentum. This feature also doubles as a forgiveness benefit since the club head will not dig too deep into the ground, ensuring contact with the center of the face.
Runner-up | Callaway Big Bertha
Many golfers out there are Callaway loyalists. A good faction of them are Big Bertha loyalists as well. Even if you don’t fall into either of these categories, if you’ve been around the game for any period of time, you know the reputation of Big Bertha—and you know it’s good.
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In the past decade, Callaway has transformed this product line into the ideal option for senior golfers and those with slower swing speeds. Having a 360 face cup means that the edges of the club face are flexible so that ball speed increases at impact. Rather than relying on swing speed to generate distance, the club does the work for you.
If you didn’t know what we were talking about when we said “suspended energy core” you’d be more likely to think of the Avengers than golf clubs. In reality, this refers to injected, suspended tungsten at the center of the club face. By getting the sweet spot exactly where contact is made, Big Bertha irons end up with consistent high launch angles and superior distance.
If you’re attracted to the looks of Big Bertha irons, we can’t blame you. The smoked PVD finish makes the irons look beautiful at purchase, but the looks do not last forever.
As you continue to use them, the finish will begin to wear off—and provide some contact feedback, good and bad. Think the image of Tiger Wood’s putter that went viral showing the worn-out center of his iron, only with evidence you make contact all over, rather than just the sweet spot.
The Value of Clubs Designed for Seniors
Every golfer should have clubs that fit their swing and physical abilities. Seniors are no exception.
What does it mean for an iron to be a “Senior Club”?
Senior golf clubs are composed of senior flex shafts and game improvement club heads. By putting both of these components together, the finished product is a club that does not need to be swung hard to achieve consistency and accuracy.
Once you’re a Senior golfer, you aren’t playing blades or even smaller cavity back irons anymore. You need a little assistance, plain and simple. Since golf is a game you can play until you’re 100, manufacturers produce clubs that are designed specifically for older players. Take advantage of this.
Value of correct flex shaft
Golf is a game of timing. The more perfect your timing is, the better golfer you are. If you’re able to perfectly line up things like your shoulders, hips and arms to be square at impact, you’re on the right path. To complete the process, you need to synchronize your body movement with your club.
Once your clubs are purchased and in your bag, it’s a lot easier to make minor tweaks to your swing. Two things that are nearly impossible however, are changing the flexibility of your club or significantly increasing or decreasing swing speed. To set yourself up as best you can, you need the correct shaft.
How to identify you need to a different flex
If you do not have the correct flex shaft, your ball flight and direction will be unpredictable and inconsistent. If your shaft is too flexible, you’ll notice your ball going too high. Kind of ironic considering we preach high launch angle, but at a certain height you lose distance.
If you’re shaft is too stiff, which is common for Senior golfers, you will have a harder time maintaining direction. This won’t just be slight pushes and pulls, but larger slices and hooks.
Your actual swing, such as when you turn, make wrist movements and overall tempo also go into finding a great shaft fit. In other words, it’s not a perfect science, but to ignore it would be a disservice.
What to Look for When Choosing Senior Irons
What shaft fits me?
When companies list out their shaft options using letters, the most common are A, L, S, R and X. Since Stiff and Senior share the same first letter, A has been designated as Senior. In some instances A is replaced with M or A/M.
Most Senior golfers should use Senior flex shafts. After all, they’re made specifically for the category of golfers you fall into. For golfers with swing speeds between 60-80 mph, a senior shaft is the best fit. If you don’t have access to tools that measure this, this roughly equates to hitting a 5 iron 150 yards.
For reference, L is for Ladies, R is for Regular and X is for Extra Stiff. For Senior golfers with low swing speeds, ladies’ shafts are more flexible and a viable option. If your swing speed is below 60, regardless of your gender, a ladies flex shaft is the best fit. This swing speed comes out to hitting a 4 or 5 hybrid 150 yards.
Why is high launch important?
First off, launch angle is used to describe how the ball comes off your club at contact. When you launch the ball at a higher angle, it reduces spin. With this combination, you are able to increase distance without having to raise swing speed.
With a high launch angle, you also have considerably more control. When you hit the ball higher, it lands at a steeper angle. Instead of running the ball up to greens, you can come in on a nice arc. On some holes, your method of arrival might not matter, but on others it will. If the green is protected by sand traps or you’re coming in from the side, high launch angles will let you land, and keep your shot on the green.
What does forgiveness mean?
In golf, forgiveness refers to the club’s ability to counteract poor contact. In earlier days of golf, not hitting the ball on the sweet spot spelled trouble. Thanks to advances in golf club technology, you no longer have to hit the club completely square to see positive results.
The more “forgiveness” a club has, the bigger its area on the clubface you can hit for a good shot. Even if you hit the ball off-center, or with a slightly open or closed face, a forgiving golf club means you will still hit the green from the fairway. Despite some longer putts, you won’t be chipping or hitting from the sand as frequently.