Beyond a trusted fairway wood, irons are the one club tour players hold onto the longest because their primary performance factor is accuracy and distance control, and on top of that most pros hate having to reconfigure their golf bags for distance gapping.
This is why many pros use iron models years after their initial release and why the Titleist 620CBs continue to be a hit on the PGA Tour, with the most recent win coming this past week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic where Cam Davis shot a final round two-under-par to win the event for the second time in his career.
When asked about his use of the Titleist 620CB irons in a video with Golf.com, 2023 U.S. Open winer Wyndham Clark said “I like these (irons) because they fit the number. I was hitting the MB and I was taking too big of a divot and not spinning the ball (in the correct window), and then I hit the T100 and it was going too high and I didn’t like that amount of offset. Once I got into the CBs my numbers were great and I love these irons.”
The other notable player who had a big 2023 with the Titleist 620CB irons was Brian Harman, who used the irons to win the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and has used them since 2021.
Titleist 620CB history
The Titleist 620CB irons, which were initially made available to the public in August 2019, mark a unique departure from Titleist’s tried and true release formula for irons, which has always been on a two-year cycle for each model. Although since 2019, Titleist has updated the T-Series twice since the first offering, the 620CB and MB irons remain the same.
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That’s not to say Titleist hasn’t worked with its PGA Tour staff to develop upgrades and custom options for its players when it comes to irons. Titleist has worked with players including Webb Simpson, Cam Young, and Justin Thomas to build irons exactly to their liking by adjusting the offset, bounce angles, blade length, and center of gravity locations to dial in ball flight, feel, and ground interaction to produce the most consistent results.
Although this type of customization is currently not an option for recreational golfers, it goes to show that behind the seems Titleist continues to gather data on iron performance with the hopes of potentially one day offering multiple options like it does with Vokey wedges.
“It’s pointing us in directions of what design can be,” said Josh Talge, Titleist’s vice president of marketing. “Once we do enough of these over time, we might get to a point with the irons where we’re at with Vokey where we have a certain number of [iron] grinds. Now imagine if you could pick a sole, topline and blade length you want for each one of your irons. It helps showcase we have a lot of really good players that play our stuff at every level of golf — and that’s where we want to go.”
Can’t forget Tiger’s irons
The only other iron option that has remained the same over a similar time period from a major manufacturer is the P7TW irons developed for Tiger Woods. Although Tiger might not be playing a full schedule now the irons still get plenty of use in the bags of TaylorMade staffers Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood.
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It goes to show that unless your golf swing undergoes a big change in dynamics or speed, there might now be a big reason to change the irons in your golf bag. But, on the other hand, if you have noticed a change in ball flight or distance loss that could mean that it’s time to find out how a fitter can help you get the most from your irons again.
Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
