In The Mail: Tommy Armour TA1 Irons

In The Mail: Tommy Armour TA1 Irons

In the mail this week for testing was a set of TA1 Irons from DICK’S Sporting Goods.

The Tommy Armour TA1 Irons feature a cup face construction with a CS450 Maraging Steel Face. The progressive set has an undercut cavity in the short irons (8-GW), and hollow body construction in the mid- and long-irons (4-7). The hollow body is designed to provide a lower, deeper CG location for high launch, while the cavity on the short irons is optimized for control. In both, Tungsten toe weights move the CG away from the heel for more forgiveness on off-center hits. There is also an interesting notch on the hosels, presumably in the name of shifting weight. The clubs also feature a vibration dampening insert.

The Tommy Armour club brand was first launched in the 1970s. The company’s most successful product probably were the 845 “Silver Scot” irons.  The “Silver Scot” was the nickname of Tommy Armour, who was the winner of the 1927 US Open, the 1930 PGA Championship and the 1931 Open Championship. Remarkably, he played without sight in his left eye, and metal plates in his head and left arm from injuries sustained during the First World War.

The Tommy Armour brand was previously owned by the Sports Authority, but with that firm’s bankruptcy, it ended up in the hands of DICK’S.  The new releases were created by Designworks, a subsidiary of BMW Group. Their goal is to produce clubs for mid-to-high handicap golfers at a lower retail price than competitors.

I’ll be field testing these clubs over the next several rounds and will have a full review shortly — hopefully in time for people to decide whether these would be a good Father’s Day Gift for the golfer in your life.