We Take Titleist’s New AP3 Irons for a Swing
No matter how much we shop online these days, a trip to the mall this winter—whether by choice or simply by being dragged along by someone else—is an inevitability. So why not make the best of it and stop in at your favorite golf retailer to try out some new clubs? Or perhaps you would rather pick up some demos this winter at your local range—preferably one that’s heated—while you work on that 180-yard cut into a tucked pin? Either way, the point is that you need to find an excuse to get out and hit the newest irons in Titleist’s 718 series; I’d recommend the AP3.
The Titleist AP3 iron feels good in the hands and the sound at impact is a solid as oak. The ball flight is lower than other irons in its category, but that doesn’t mean it’s travelling a shorter distance. On a windy day at the range, my balls kept their lines.
“The AP3 is the player’s distance iron. An innovative hollow-blade design with high-speed face technology, AP3 merges everything R&D has learned from creating and advancing AP1 and AP2 irons to produce the longest, fastest Titleist player’s iron ever,” says Titleist. This translates into an iron that provides greater forgiveness in a smaller shape. That smaller shape is key to helping better players work the ball and maintain control but still giving them a few extra yards when hit off center.
Like most new clubs hitting the market (the Mizuno MP-18, for instance), tungsten insets placed low and in the toe of the line’s long and mid-irons helps to increase MOI across the face for greater ball speed. The AP3s also utilize what the company calls ascending mass shafts, which increase in mass from long iron to short, matching the perfect weight necessary for the specialized job of each iron.
The Titleist 718 AP3s are available at $185 per club or in 3 to PW sets that retail for $1,299. Clubs equipped with graphite shafts rather than steel are also available and priced from $210 per club.
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