Titleist 718 Irons

 

Just days after Taylormade launched their P790 Forged irons,

Titleist has announced their 718Irons range which consists of AP1,

AP2, AP3, T-MB, CB, and MB, and are here to replace Titleist’s 716

range of Irons.

Titleist has made them for players at all players, keeping everyone on the mind. Titleist which has been undeniably #1 Iron on the PGA Tour since 2005. Proofs of these claims are Justin Thomas’s USPGA Championship win using 718MB Irons and Jordan Spieth’s famous recovery shot on 13th hole at the Royal Birkdale, which helped him win the 146th British Open was with a 718 T-MB 3-Iron.

The range which includes forgiveness promised by the AP1, consistency by AP2 and the newest addition of AP3 which promises to be the longest and fastest Titleist Iron ever.

T-MB range stands for Tungsten loaded which are available in full sets now.

Titleist 718 AP1 Irons

Titleist AP1 is the result of a lot of work and research by the R&D Team and these are the largest one, let me remind you. These are hollow irons consisting 4-and 5-iron, a similar end as per the high-end C-16 concept irons. Throughout the long and middle irons (4-7), high-density tungsten weight is used in the toe sections to provide the highest forgiveness of any of the 718 irons. An average of nearly 58 grams of tungsten is used in each iron, and the thin face insert is just two millimeters thick.

Titleist AP2 Irons

These irons compose of several metals and methods to improve long and middle iron distance and short iron control.

The set then switches to a 1025 carbon steel body and face insert on the 7-iron, while the 8-iron through wedge feature a forged 1025 carbon steel face and body construction.

Key to the design again is the use of two different densities of tungsten in the heel and toe (an average total of 57 grams) to provide stability on the long and middle irons (3-7).

“The new AP2 has the MOI of our AP1 of a couple generations ago,” Ines said. “That’s us focusing on trying to keep the consistency across the face.”

Titleist AP3

Coming to the newest addition to the 718 is our very own AP3, which by looks appeals to everybody and by feel sets to everyone’s hand despite the handicap.

AP3 boasts of three different constructions within the same set, a hollow blade like construction with 3 to 7-iron. An L-shaped face inserts made of high strength 455 steel, supported by a 17-4 steel body. 8 and 9-iron in the set are made of a sheet of 17-4 steel.

For easy understanding, 17-4 steel is a grade of martensitic precipitation hardened stainless steels. It contains 15-17.5% of chromium and 3-5% of nickel and 3-5% of copper, which makes it corrosion resistive.

 

Titleist 718 T-MB

These are the same irons which were used by Jordan Spieth on the infamous 13th hole at the Royal Birkdale from the driving range on the way to winning the British Open.

The higher-speed long irons feature the high-strength SUP 10 steel in an L-Face construction, surrounded by a 17-4 steel body.

“Irons are played off the ground which is why we’re focusing on the performance on that lower part of the face,” Ines said. “With the upper part of the face, if you start thinning out the top line, it changes the feel. And it may give you some benefit but in an area that nobody hits it.”

Once again, high-density tungsten plays a huge role with a mammoth 91.5 grams on average filling the heel and toe. The short irons feature a 17-4 face insert but only use tungsten in the 8- and 9-iron. The hollow construction isn’t just about forgiveness, Ines said.

“The hollow construction is a solution to the feel of a hot face,” he said. “If you’ve hit hot face cavity backs, they have a very distinct sound. For us, we don’t want to sacrifice feel. We use the hollow construction to do that. Because we have the amount of high-density tungsten we do, it allows us to get the performance where we want it.”

 

Titleist 718 CB

Composed of 17-4 steel forged around with a 1025 carbon steel body aimed at weight savings and in turn allowing 71 grams of tungsten to be distributed to the heel and toe to optimize forgiveness and stability.

“In this case, we’ve moved the CG toe-ward, which allows us to move the CG closer toward the center to help us even out the ball speeds across the face,” Ines said. “That makes the performance across the face more consistent.”

 

Titleist 718 MB

Now, these are the ones used by Justin Thomas in his recent triumph at the PGA Championship, nothing else can be a best-suited example to describe these beautiful pieces. The head is forged with a single billet of 1025 carbon steel.

Pricing & Availability

AP1 will be offered from 4-iron through gap wedge at $1000 for a set of eight. AP2 and AP3 are priced at $1300 from 3-iron through gap wedge for a set of eight. The MB and CB variants are available through 3-iron through pitching wedge at $1300 for a set of eight. The T-MB is offered from 2-iron through pitching wedge at $250 per club or $2000 for a set of eight.

718 series are said to be available from September 29th, 2017 at the stores.