Designers say the thin faces on TaylorMade’s new irons allow weight (more than 20 grams) to be redistributed low, deep and to the perimeter to improve launch conditions

There’s a reason more and more pitching wedges have the loft of what used to be an 8-iron. It’s because, thanks to television, we all want to hit our irons as far as tour players, and manufacturers are happy to oblige. But optimizing iron performance isn’t just about changing the number on the bottom of an iron. “Anyone can just jack up the lofts,” says Bret Wahl, TaylorMade’s director of product development.

“The challenge is to manage those launch conditions so you can hit higher shots with lower-lofted clubs.”

Many companies are attempting this feat. Adams Golf’s a2 OS set has a 44-degree pitching wedge, and the Callaway Big Bertha and Cobra 3400 I X/H are a degree higher. TaylorMade has unveiled two 44-degree pitching wedges. The r7 CGB Max and the r7 XD irons feature multiple metals and multiple-piece construction, such as plasma face weld in the CGB Max, to achieve higher ball speeds off the face. By mixing lower lofts with weight redistributed low and deep (the CGB Max uses tungsten weights), shots could be launched higher. That means longer irons that hold greens.

TaylorMade’s designers attempted to maximize the area of unsupported face on its new irons to increase a springlike effect at impact ($1,200 for r7 CGB Max steel; $800 for r7 XD steel, taylormadegolf.com). For the CGB Max, the ultra-thin steel face (thinner than the XD titanium face) is plasma welded to the rest of the body (making it the biggest iron in TaylorMade’s line), and on the XD the titanium face is mechanically pressed into the club’s steel frame. Both clubfaces have the company’s inverted-cone technology milled into the back in an effort to mitigate loss of ball speed on off-center hits. Wahl says the r7 CGB Max achieves the maximum springlike effect allowed under USGA rules. USGA Technical Director Dick Rugge would not confirm that assertion, although he did indicate there were “a small number” of irons that exhibit some springlike effect.