Tommy Armour TA1 Irons Review Update

 

Tommy Armour TA1 Irons Review Update

Read the complete and finished Tommy Armour TA1 Irons Review here.

I have been field testing a set of the new Tommy Armour TA1 irons sent by DICKS Sporting Goods and thus far have been impressed. The TA1 Irons are both long and forgiving. That’s a welcome thing, given the unpredictable nature of my early season swing. My worst swings have still made forward progress. My best flew over the green.

Finding the range on the clubs is a work in progress. It likely will be some time before I can dial in the distances properly.

One thing I have noticed about the TA1 Irons is that they have a pronounced right to left tendency. If you are one of golf’s millions of hacker-slicers, the Tommy Armour TA1 irons are worth a look. I am at this point relatively confident that they will mitigate that slice.

At the core of The Tommy Armour TA1 Irons is a cup face construction with a CS450 Maraging Steel Face. Club frames are 431 steel 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.

While these are game improvement irons, from address, the Tommy Armour TA1s do not look like Volkswagens on a stick. They definitely have a thicker topline, and there is some offset, but nothing that offends my eye. Compared to players irons, they are oversized, but not excessively so.

Offset and sole width progress through the set to match the swings required for each club. It’s not something I notice at address, though.

While the irons are satisfactorily long, they don’t depend upon tricked up lofts. The lofts are nearly identical to those of the Ping G, for example. The TA1s are a couple of degrees less strong than the TaylorMade M3. On the other hand, they are a couple of degrees stronger on each iron than the TaylorMade P770 and Callaway Apex.

Older golfers will remember the Tommy Armour brand, which was quite popular with its 845 “Silver Scot” irons. The brand was purchased by the Sports Authority, and when that company went bankrupt, the name was purchased by DICKS Sporting Goods. To revive the brand, DICKS worked with Designworks, a subsidiary of BMW Group.

The best part of the irons is the cost. Because they are a house brand for DICKS and Golf Galaxy (owned by DICKS), the new Tommy Armour brand escapes the price jacking problems associated with multi-channel distribution and marketing budgets. Thus, they are very reasonably priced at $600.

These might make a good Father’s Day gift for that weekend golfing dad who has been playing with ten year old clubs.

I’ll have a full review later.

Loft, lie, length and swing weight specs follow:

 

 

Tech Specs:

Model	Loft	Lie	Length	Swing Weight
4 Iron	21°	60.5°	39.25″	D2
5 Iron	24°	61.5°	38.5″	D2
6 Iron	27°	62°	37.75″	D2
7 Iron	30°	62.5°	37.25″	D2
8 Iron	35°	63°	36.75″	D2
9 Iron	40°	63.5°	36.25″	D2
PW	45°	64°	36″	D3
GW	50°	64°	35.75″	D3