Forged vs Cast Irons – Which Is Better And Why?

In modern golf club construction, there are basically two methods employed by clubmakers when creating clubheads: forged and cast. These processes are not special to golf clubs, but are general metalworking techniques used in many industries. In order to answer the question of “Forged or cast irons: Which is better for you?” we have to take a look at what the preferences of the consumer are, as well as the differences between the two methods. We will do that in this article, and show how and why both manufacturing techniques have a strong place in the marketplace.

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What Is The Difference Between Forged And Cast Irons?

The difference between forged and cast irons is in how the metal is formed into the shape of the clubhead. Also, because of the differences in the processes, slightly different steel alloys are preferred or suited to each method, which also affects the final product. Both techniques have been used for THOUSANDS of years!

Very simply, the forging process involves heating metal and hammering it into a desired shape while the casting process involves melting metal and pouring it into a mold. Let’s take a look at how those processes apply specifically to golf clubs!

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How Are Forged Irons Made?

Forged irons are made through the process of heating a “blank” piece of steel and hammering it into the desired shape, basically. Think: blacksmith holding iron over a fire and banging it with a hammer to form tools. Except obviously nowadays this is done with high-precision processes that are automated by machinery. 

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Here is a cool video that shows how forged golf irons are made.

How Are Cast Irons Made?

Cast irons are made by heating steel to the point that it becomes molten metal, or liquid, and then pouring that liquid metal into a preformed mold and letting it cool and harden into the desired shape (the clubhead). It’s like making Jello, but with metal!

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Cast vs Forged Irons Distance

You will often see that many irons advertised as “distance” irons are going to be golf clubs made through the casting process. This doesn’t have much to do with the process, per se, but more what the process lets the clubmaker achieve. While in theory there could be some extremely minute differences in how “springy” the metal is, the difference in “distance” that is noticeable to the player is due to a couple of other factors.

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First and foremost, the casting process allows the clubmaker to achieve more intricate designs of the clubhead - i.e. removing more of a cavity from the back, making hollow bodies or hollow soles, and adding more perimeter weighting with complicated clubhead designs. This is going to give the clubhead more of a “trampoline” effect with a thinner face and also give it more distance on mis-hits, but well-struck balls from forged clubs aren’t going to fly shorter or farther than their cast counterparts, if the lofts and other parameters are comparable - at least not solely because of the way the metal was formed.

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Which brings us to our second factor: that clubs designed this way generally also are appealing to the “game improvement” category of golfer and will tend to also feature lofts that are lower than a comparable set of forged “players” irons.

So if a cast 7-iron is going farther than a forged 7-iron it is going to be almost entirely due to the fact that the forging process cannot cut as intricate of a cavity (which can create a thinner and potentially slightly “hotter” face) and because the lofts on the club may be different, rather than anything to do with the actual process used to shape the club.

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Cast vs Forged Irons Durability

In many metalworking industries, forged materials are considered to be more durable than cast counterparts. In golf, the specific types of strain involved make it so that the general consensus is the other way around, but it depends on exactly what kind of durability you are looking for.

To understand why this is, understand that forged golf clubs are typically made from a “softer” steel alloy and the heat and pressure used in the process achieve something called “grain flow.” The result is that you’re going to have a “bend but not break” finished product, which is ideal for somebody who wants to adjust their clubs with a loft and lie machine. The tradeoff is that with EXTREMELY high use we can start to see the grooves on a forged golf club deforming and smoothing out sooner due to repeated impacts of the “soft” metal, making them in need of replacement.

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Cast iron golf clubs use metal alloys and a process that cools the metal into a harder, more brittle final product. The grooves on these clubs are considered more durable and harder to deform or smooth out over time, although they will still wear out eventually. The downside is that these clubs can snap or crack open if they are subjected to too much strain. This is very unlikely to happen during proper use, but is very much a risk if trying to loft-or-lie-adjust one of these clubs in a golf club bending machine.

Regardless of what the rest of their set is comprised of, many golfers opt to play cast iron clubs in their wedges (even though their wedges are simpler, more blade-like designs that could be easily forged) because these clubs are practiced with the most and the grooves wear out the fastest and are the most important to keep sharp.

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Cast and Forged Irons Spin

Whether a club is forged or whether it is cast makes no difference at all (all else being equal) in how much it will spin. The grooves on any clubs made from the early 1990s onwards are all cut to conform to the same rules and come from the factory pretty much to this specification. The types of metals involved, etc., make no difference in spin.

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However there are a few things that can play a factor. First of all, because forged designs must by nature be simpler, one-piece designs, you are going to see all forged clubs come only in blade, muscleback, and very small cavity back designs. Meanwhile, the casting process is going to be necessary for clubs that are game improvement and super game improvement designs that feature large cavities and a lot of perimeter weighting. Also as we mentioned before these iron sets will tend to feature lower-lofted clubs. All of these factors can cause players to favor shots that spin less on off-center hits, and wide soles on these clubs allow players to get away with “fatter” shots which will hit higher on the face than would be optimal for a blade-iron player. All of these factors will produce shots that spin less, but not because of the construction process, just because of the engineering elements that the construction process allows.

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Conversely, the grooves on forged irons can wear out faster. Typically this is not an issue for many seasons, and/or for players who are hitting thousands of shots a month. Most non-professional players will grow tired of their clubs or decide they need an “upgrade” before the grooves wear out, but older forged clubs can start to spin less if they are heavily worn whereas their cast-iron counterparts can retain a little more longevity. Because of this many players opt for and equipment companies prefer to offer more cast designs in their wedges, as these clubs receive more use and wear than the rest of the set. The most popular wedges on any professional tour - Titleist Vokey wedges - are made from casting.

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Pros And Cons Of Forged and Cast Irons

Forged Irons

Pros

-Softer, more “buttery” or “thick” impact feel

-Easily adjusted for loft and lie fitting

-Arguably more aesthetically pleasing sound

-Classic “players iron” look is easily achievable

Cons

-Slightly more expensive to produce

-Cannot take advantage of super-game-improvement engineering

-Clubs can change loft and lie over time and need re-adjusting

-Clubs can get groove wear and “bag chatter” over time

Cast Irons

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Pros

-Slightly lower production cost in some cases

-Can be engineered into aggressively forgiving designs

-Clubs retain their loft/lie measurements and groove sharpness longer

Cons

-Difficult to adjust loft/lie more than a small amount without breaking

-Clubs can have “memory” and return to factory-issued loft/lie

-The impact sound and feel of these clubs can be less aesthetically pleasing

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Final Thoughts

Forged vs. cast irons and which is better isn’t really a “debate” so much as understanding the technology involved. That is, understanding the limitations of each process as well as the advantages. 

For forged clubs, you can use a much softer metal but are limited to more solid, one-piece designs that favor more compact “players” irons with maximum feel, feedback, and loft/lie fine-tuning.

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For cast clubs, you get the ability to really aggressively cut cavities into the club and even design hollow bodies, as well as cut production costs some times. This allows clubmakers to introduce unparalleled forgiveness and ball speed into the clubs. 

The latest irons have been using multi-material construction to combine forged clubfaces with cast hollow bodies, as well as polymer, tungsten, and foam insert components to slightly change the feel and sound of a whole new era of clubs, attempting to get the “best of both worlds” incorporated more each season. 

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All in all there is no right or wrong answer, but understanding what each type of construction allows can let you easily compare and contrast the offerings on the market, understand why clubmakers prefer each option for different applications, and make an informed choice the next time you pick up a new set of irons!

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