Developing an iron that maintains the coveted "Titleist feel" yet is forgiving enough for us double-digit handicap golfers is a tall order. That Titleist claims to have done so is nothing short of remarkable. The dual cavity and multi-material design are a radical departure from anything Titleist has made in the past and have been designed with one key bit of player feedback at the forefront: feel.
The Advanced Performance (AP)1 irons are cast from 431 stainless steel and feature a tungsten nickel box that is laser welded to the body and is located in the back and sole of the iron. It covers the lower cavity and is designed to keep weight lower while giving players both good feel and added forgiveness. This lower center of gravity gives players a higher launch angle with more ball speed and what Titleist calls "consistent spin performance across the hitting area." The upper cavity sits above the elastomer cushion and is adorned with a metallic cavity plate. Weight is pushed to the perimeter to give you increased forgiveness.
Esthetics
Confessional time. The first time I saw pictures of the AP1 irons, I thought the folks at Titleist had gone crazy. They looked… well… ugly. I equated Titleist with making beautiful looking clubs and these were shockingly different. "Big" and "clunky" were two adjectives that came to mind.
After unboxing my set of AP1, I was reminded never to judge a club's true appearance based on pictures found on the Internet. In person, the AP1 look quite nice. They are still a bit "busy" for me graphically and might end up being an acquired taste for some, but you don't see the graphics or cavity-back elastomer insert at address, so for the most part, I've forgotten about the "business." In real life, the AP1 don't look big or clunky at all.
Specifications
The AP1 come standard with True Temper Dynamic Gold High Launch steel shafts or Titleist VS Proto-T 75 graphite shafts as well as Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips are available for righties and lefties in a 4-PW set which you can find for a retail price of $699. Also available is a 50° "W" wedge and a 3-iron, for those of you who can still hit one.
Don't worry though if the stock options aren't up your alley (or your swing and tastes fit into something better) as with the Titleist FittingWorks you have a myriad of options.
We're going to focus on the AP1 irons for this review, which Titleist says is for the "skilled and aspiring" golfer. What is an "aspiring golfer"? While I would say all golfers are aspiring to some degree, I think the AP1 are designed for those of us who are in the double-digit handicap range. We show flashes of our golfing potential, but still have an evolving golf swing that could use a little forgiveness while still providing feedback to help us improve. Thus, perhaps we "aspire" a wee bit more than the guy who plays once a month.
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