Written by Michael VanDerLaan
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Titleist has long been one of the most respected brands in golf. Mainly known for their superior golf ball, their clubs have caught up in the last decade or so. We completed in depth testing of the Titleist T300 irons to bring you the good, the bad, and the ugly of these Titleist irons meant to bring more fun to your weekend match.
Here is what we found:
Why Listen To Us?
John VanDerLaan (the player) is a Korn Ferry Tour professional who has also competed in 4 PGA Tour events, making 3 cuts. He has amassed a huge profile of accolades including NCAA Division 2 National Champion and NCAA Player of the Year.
Michael VanDerLaan is a professional golfer who is currently following in his older brother's footsteps. Currently playing Monday Qualifiers and trying to earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour, Michael is also a Division 2 National Champion and a Carson Newman tournament record holder at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
John VanDerLaan (our founder and the boys' dad) is the source of all the information and knowledge the boys have and use to have success on the golf course. He has spent countless hours researching equipment, coaches, course strategy, and many other aspects of golf.
When you put that all together, we have one of the most comprehensive understandings of the game of golf that you are likely to ever find. And we love spreading our knowledge to others in order to help them to enjoy the game that we love.
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So, without further ado, let's talk about the Titleist T300's.
Titleist T300 Irons Features
There are 2 different types of golf irons:
- Game improvement irons - designed to reduce the difference between a mishit and a well-struck shot. These irons are for players who don't strike the ball on the center of the face every time (AKA most of us!).
- Players irons - Irons intended for use by extremely consistent players. Usually used by high level amateurs and professional golfers.
We would consider the Titleist T300 to be the ultimate game improvement iron available today, making the long and mid irons much easier to hit.
Innovative Design
Similar to other high level game improvement irons on the market today, the T300 is chock full of technology intended to maximize performance.
- Max Impact Technology: A polymer core is built into the interior of the club head. This increases energy transfer into the golf ball. Simply put, more ball speed on every shot.
- More, denser tungsten: The lightweight metal that is becoming more popular in golf clubs is designed to increase both club head speed and energy transfer. Using more, higher quality tungsten ensures a balance of forgiveness, feel, and DISTANCE.
- Variable thickness face: A club face that is thinner in the heel means even the mishits go where they're supposed to.
Premium Cast Feel
By casting the club heads, Titleist creates an iron with a thinner face and thicker edges, creating a well balances, forgiving iron.
Cast irons are also known to last longer than their forged counterparts, however they sacrifice fine control over ball flight and carry distance.
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Player Performance Characteristics
- All of the technology geared towards forgiveness and speed built into the T300's mean more distance, more often.
- A good looking iron with a sleek build and less bulk gives the T300 the appearance of a players iron without the demand for perfect contact.
- A common thread among game improvement irons is difficulty shaping shots, as well as losing some control over precise carry distances. This holds true with the Titleist T300's. More on that later.
Note: Keeping your clubs clean will help with overall performance, regardless of the quality of the club.
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Head Shape
As golfers who play Titleist's players irons, we were impressed with the shape of the T300's.
They have to have a bit more bulk to them in order to provide the forgiveness that they are designed for. However, Titleist has built them in such a way that you will still feel like you are playing an iron, rather than a hybrid club.
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Complete Set Makeup
Titleist T300 irons are available in sets of 4 iron through gap wedge.
One thing we need to clarify is that the T300's can be a little deceiving in terms of the loft on each club. Each iron is bent strong, meaning the 4 iron has the loft of a normal 3 iron, the 5 is more like a 4, and so on.
This works because of the forgiveness and high tech design of the irons, and is one of the ways Titleist is able to create an iron that goes further than its competitors.
Workability
The Titleist T300's are limited in how workable they are.
Workability refers to the ability of a player to hit different shots with a club. Think along the lines of low fades, high draws, punch shots, and others.
Creating a club with more forgiveness sacrifices workability since the club is designed to produce the same shot, in spite of different contact and swing characteristics. While this is great for mishit shots, it makes working the ball extremely difficult.
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Forgiveness
As we have mentioned, Titleist T300 irons are very forgiving. As is the case with most cast irons, Titleist is able to distribute the density of the club face to create a larger sweet spot, while also adding extra material to the perimeter of the club to increase ball speed on the misses.
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This technology is great for golfers who are looking to find an iron they can rely on without significant improvement. Players looking for an iron they can use as they lower their handicap may want to look into an iron with less forgiveness. That's one of the best ways to become a better ball striker!
Handicap Range
Handicap refers to a player's scoring potential, relative to a golf course slope and rating.
We believe Titleist T300 irons are best suited for golfers with a handicap between 10 and 30.
Players who carry a handicap lower than 10 are likely to benefit more from a less forgiving iron that allows for more workability and carry distance control.
Those who are above a 30 handicap likely need a little more help getting the ball into the air consistently, and would benefit more from having a hybrid set of some kind.
Understanding how to choose golf irons is a great starting point to determining whether the T300's are right for you.
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Our Experience Using The Titleist T300 Irons
We took an in depth approach to our testing of the Titleist T300 irons, and took them on the golf course to find out for ourselves exactly what playing a round with them is like.
For starters, they look great. While we use clubs with a thinner top line and smaller overall profile, we were impressed with how sleek the T300's looked.
Solid shots are like making contact with a cloud. The thin face absorbs shock extremely well and sends the ball with a satisfying sound and impressive ball speed. We could definitely feel the difference on the misses, between lots of vibration and some twisting of the club face there was a noticeable difference.
We could see the faster ball speed given the distance these irons traveled, and they did it with a very high launch resulting in a steeper descent angle, which is ideal for stopping the golf ball on the green.
As we said before, working the ball is very hard with the T300's. Even John, our resident tour pro, had a hard time hitting different flights - and we've seen him work the ball enough with his tour irons to know he wasn't the issue.
The same was true for distance control. Where both John and Michael are normally within a couple yards of pin high with their approaches, some of their shots simply went too far. They both said the contact and swing felt the same as the others they had made, but the ball went as many as 10 yards further on some shots.
Overall, our testing showed that the Titleist T300 irons are a mixed bag of forgiveness paired with lack of control. They are a great iron for players in the mid- to high-handicap range who need a little help with their misses. More experienced and skilled players will actually be at a detriment with the T300's as they will lose the distance control and workability that add nuance to their game.
Pros and Cons of the Titleist T300 Irons
As with all equipment, there are both pros and cons to the Titleist T300's. We have condensed the most important aspects of our Titleist T300 irons review.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
What We Like
What We Don't Like
Final Thoughts
In the process of conduction our Titleist T300 irons review, we certainly uncovered a few notable things.
Maximum forgiveness, an impressive look, and high level feel on the solid strikes make the T300's a good iron. There are lots of golfers who will love them, and who will see improvements in their game by using them.
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Minimal workability and inconsistent carry distances on the well struck shots make this iron less favorable to high level golfers. That comes as no surprise, as high level golfers are not the target audience for this installation in Titleist's line of irons.
So what is the final verdict? If you are able to determine what type of iron fits your game, and you are looking for a game improvement iron, we think you should give the Titleist T300s serious consideration.
