Golf Club Irons
In the ancient days of golf, golf clubs were made from woods. Woods of trees like hickory, apple, beech, holy, pear, hazel, ash and persimmon were used as the material for various parts of golf clubs. With the advancement of technology and development of the sport, golf clubs have also changed a lot.
Irons are a type of clubs, included in the club set used by the golfers. These clubs are used for making shorter shots than the woods. The club heads of this type of clubs are made from metal. The iron heads are solid with a flat club-face. A particular characteristic of the irons are that a single iron can be used for making different shots. Irons are usually numbered from one to nine. The loft of these clubs varies from 16 to 48 degrees. The shaft length of irons lies between 36 and 40 inches.
There are two types of irons—cavity back irons and muscle back irons. The muscle back irons are smooth at the back, while cavity back ones are hollow. Iron heads are made in mainly two methods—casting and forging. The first cavity back iron was manufactured by Ping.
Callaway, Adams, Cobra, Ping, Titleist, Nike and Taylor Made are the companies in the leading position in manufacturing irons. Irons can be divided into three groups—long irons, mid-irons and short irons. The irons numbering from one to four are called the long irons. The Nos. 5, 6 and 7 irons are the mid irons and the others are classified as the short irons. The irons are also given nicknames according to their uses. The nicknames of the irons are—
- No.1 Iron—Driving Iron
- No.2 Iron—Mid-Iron
- No.3 Iron—Mid-Mashie
- No.4 Iron—Mashie-Iron
- No.5 Iron—Mashie
- No.6 Iron—Spade Mashie
- No.7 Iron—Mashie-Niblick
- No.9 Iron—Niblick
- No.10 Iron or the Pitching Wedge—Jigger
