I do know it’s subjective but when appears alone sells golf golf equipment, the Ben Hogan Golf Firm higher fill up on its new Legend participant’s distance irons.
“We’ve certainly tried to maintain Mr. Hogan’s view that golf clubs should be like a fine piece of jewelry,” says Simon Millington, the person who introduced Hogan again from the useless (once more) in late 2023. “We hope we’ve kept that spirit in these clubs.”
As a journalist, I do know it’s my obligation to be dispassionate, goal and cynical. After spending a while alone with the Ben Hogan Legend irons, I can dispassionately, objectively and cynically state the next:
Candy Savannah Jane, these are some fine-looking sticks.
Do they carry out pretty much as good as they appear? We’ll get to that a bit additional down the web page. First, we have to learn the way these infants got here to be.
Ben Hogan Legend: The backstory
The Ben Hogan Legend irons, together with the brand new Fort Value MB and CB irons, are the primary originals to be launched by this newly resurrected Ben Hogan Firm. Millington is an skilled at resurrecting previous golf corporations via his Golf Manufacturers, Inc. Millington has introduced again classics similar to MacGregor, Ram, Teardrop and Zebra up to now three years. He owns these manufacturers and labored with Hogan model proprietor Perry Ellis to license the Hogan title.
“Once we began the Ben Hogan venture, we had been very conscious of Mr. Hogan’s legacy for exact element,” Millington tells MyGolfSpy. “We put some of the most talented club designers with some of the leading golf factories in the world and then, most importantly, we took our time to make sure they were perfect.”
The brand new Hogan Legend provides one thing the latest iterations of Hogan haven’t: a real, hollow-body, gel-filled participant’s distance iron. When discussing something from a direct-to-consumer firm, the pure suspicion is to say it’s a knock-off, copy of or, even worse, an open mould with a emblem slapped on it.
That’s not the case with the Hogan Legend. It’s the work of Millington’s on-staff membership designer, Gavin Wallin. Wallin made his bones in golf as a senior membership designer with Adams Golf within the pre-TaylorMade days.
“The body of the Legend is a single piece, 1025 carbon steel forging,” he tells MyGolfSpy. “The face is also 1025 forged and is welded onto the face. The score lines are then CNC milled.”
Legend-ary hollowness
The brand new Hogan Legend is typical of the participant’s distance style. Its hole physique permits the face to flex which creates extra ball pace than a single-piece forging would possibly. The actual fact the face can also be solid from 1025 carbon metal is attention-grabbing. Face development is the place OEMs are likely to get inventive with supplies. They’ll forge the physique however then go along with an unique materials for the face. That materials is touted as lighter and stronger, permitting OEMs to make the face even thinner and extra versatile.
In concept, that creates extra potential ball pace. The issue is that the a part of the membership that truly hits the ball isn’t technically solid. What you achieve in potential ball pace, you could lose in really feel.
Nevertheless, forging each items is problematic as nicely. Designers discovered early on that hollow-body irons with out gel, foam, microspheres (or no matter) run the chance of feeling harsh and clanky. The injected materials softens the sounds, dampens unhealthy vibrations and picks up good vibrations. The trick is injecting the proper materials so it does its job with out impeding face flex.
The Legend’s loft matrix is typical of the participant’s distance class, based mostly off a 30.5-degree seven iron. Wallin and Millington tried to keep up a four-degree separation between lofts, one thing Hogan himself insisted on again in 1953. Millington fretted over the loft construction however lastly conceded to the calls for of contemporary design.
“We have strengthened the lofts a little bit. We tried to keep Mr. Hogan’s four degrees of separation but you also have to be mindful of where the industry is now.”
Blade-like with a V-Sole
Participant’s distance irons bridge the hole between game-improvement forgiveness and a participant’s cavity-back compact workability. The loft construction offers these of us who’ve misplaced a number of yards within the autumn of our lives a renewed feeling of springtime. The bigger footprint isn’t shovel-like however gives sufficient forgiveness to make our ball-striking sins extra venial and fewer mortal.
‘Whenever you put it down, it appears like a ravishing golf membership,” says Millington. “It’s not too offset so it fits in that low- to mid-handicap range. I’m a three-handicap and my miss is a bit slappy off the toe. I get away with it with these and even get to do an occasional club twirl.”
The look is traditional Hogan, albeit with a participant’s distance twist. The topline isn’t butterknife skinny (it may’t be to help the low CG) however the higher portion offers the phantasm of a blade. The low CG is clear on the midpoint transition however the transition offers off a muscle-back vibe.
At first look, the Legend irons look to have a considerable offset. Throughout our demo, nonetheless, we didn’t discover them to be hook machines.
Since returning to the scene in 2015, Hogan irons have featured the helpful V-Sole®. Srixon will get numerous credit score, and rightfully so, for its Tour VT Sole however the V-Sole® is former Hogan CEO Terry Koehler’s present to golf. The design dates again to Koehler’s time with the Reid Lockhart firm and he has used a model of it in his personal corporations together with Eidelon, SCOR and Edison.
The V-Sole® includes a high-bounce forefront with a low-bounce trailing edge. The objective is to enhance turf interplay and make slight chunks much less penal. I’ve used the Cleveland and Hogan variations and each carry out as marketed.
Do the Ben Hogan Legend irons carry out?
It’s February right here in New Hampshire so I couldn’t get the Hogan Legends on the course. As an alternative, they went head-to-head with my PING i530 avid gamers at Golftec in Danvers, Mass.
I had the Hogan Legend 7-iron bent robust to match the i530 loft. The next averages are actually intruiging:
185 yards complete 166 yards carry 4760 RPM spin115 mph ball speed41-degree descent angle
Averages with the PING had been comparable:
185 yards complete 164 yards carry4536 RPM spin113 mph ball speed41-degree descent angle
Participant’s distance irons all match an analogous profile: low CG with robust lofts ship ball pace with comparatively low spin. It’s a recipe for distance, so long as descent angle is at the least 40 levels with a 7-iron. That tends to be sufficient to carry a inexperienced.
Given the small pattern dimension, plus the actual fact the very best pictures with each irons had been just about equivalent, we’re very comparable efficiency. One may play good golf with both set. The principle distinction is the value. My six-piece PING i530 irons retail for $1,116. A equally spec’d set of Hogan Legends will run $849.99.
That form of efficiency for $266 much less is tempting. Some might complain about potential resale or trade-in worth. It’s a sound level. Nevertheless, basing an iron buy on resale worth is like beginning a divorce fund in your marriage ceremony day. If that’s your plan, we suggest conserving what you might have, skipping the brand new sticks and dealing in your dedication points.
A single-piece sidekick
If a multi-piece, gel-filled, 1025 solid participant’s distance iron isn’t your cup of tea, Hogan is supplying you with a bit wrinkle for 2025. The brand new Hogan M50-01 irons do fall into the participant’s distance class, at the least from a loft and CG standpoint. The wrinkle is that they’re a single-piece, 1020 forging.
The lofts on the M50-01 irons are barely weaker than the Legends however they do function Hogan’s signature V-Sole. As a single-piece forging, it gained’t have the identical mass properties as a two-piece mannequin, nor will it have the identical face flexibility. However what you surrender in ball pace, you achieve in really feel and, presumably, workability (if in case you have that in your software package).
The Hogan M50-01 irons can be found in right- and left-handed fashions and run $799.99 for a six-piece set and $899.99 for a seven-piece set.
Ben Hogan Legend: Last ideas
As we’ve reported earlier than, direct-to-consumer is altering. We now have “tiered” DTC corporations. Sub 70 and Ben Hogan occupy the highest tier and might be thought-about legit OEMs that do their very own membership designs. Because of this, each corporations might be thought-about “premium” DTC and can carry increased costs in comparison with decrease tiers.
Sub 70 works with well-known designers similar to Bob Renegar whereas Hogan has Wallin on employees. Golf Manufacturers, Inc. additionally works with unbiased designers similar to Larry Tang, a former Callaway/Odyssey membership designer whose portfolio consists of the traditional Odyssey Two-Ball putter and Large Bertha irons.
Millington’s different membership manufacturers, MacGregor and Ram, are tweeners, providing a mixture of self-designed or self-refined merchandise. Each supply pretty deep customization choices and are normally at cheaper price factors than Hogan or Sub 70. Different DTC manufacturers, similar to Takomo and Caley, supply largely open-mold or self-refined merchandise with minimal customization choices. They arrive in on the lowest value factors.
The query of {custom} becoming all the time comes up when contemplating DTC manufacturers. It’s not a straightforward query to reply. You possibly can’t, for example, do an in-person becoming for Hogan (though the corporate is seeking to develop a fitter community). You possibly can, for $50, demo a pattern 7-iron for 2 weeks or you should buy a custom-built 7-iron for $150.
Nevertheless, any good fitter will let you know that specs are transferable from one model to a different, supplied the iron class is similar. For instance, for those who’ve been fitted for the brand new TaylorMade P-790 irons (which retail for $1,399.99, by the way in which), the shaft, grip and size, loft and lie specs ought to apply to the Hogan Legend or every other DTC participant’s distance iron.
Ben Hogan Legend irons: Specs, value and availability
The becoming query apart, you may have any Ben Hogan iron made to no matter specs you would like with quite a lot of in-stock shafts accessible. Customary, no-upcharge choices embody ordinary suspects such because the True Mood Dynamic Golf and KBS Tour. The Dynamic Golf 105 and KBS Tour V, Tour Lite and Tour 90 are additionally no-upcharge as is the graphite UST Recoil with Smacwrap.
Upcharge choices embody the KBS C-Taper, C-Taper Lite, $-Taper, $-Taper Lite, Nippon N.S. PRO Modus3 Tour 120 and 105, N.S. PRO 950GH and Zelus, all at $20 to $30 per stick. The Undertaking X Catalyst comes with a $40 per membership upcharge.
Hogan Branded Lamkin Z5 grips are normal. The Lamkin Crossline, Crossline Genesis full twine, Golf Pleasure Tour Velvet 360, CP2 wrap, Z-Grip twine, MCC Plus 4 and Winn Dri-Tac can be found at up-charges starting from $5 to $12.99 per grip.
If you need a shaft or grip from off the menu, Hogan will get it for you. Size changes are at no cost. Loft and lie changes are $25 per membership for the set. All {custom} choices can be found by clicking the Customise hyperlink on the Legend web page on the Hogan web site.
The brand new Ben Hogan Legend irons with normal parts promote for $849.99 for a six-piece set (5-PW) and $949.99 for a seven-piece set (4-PW). Hogan additionally provides a heads-only choice.
They’re accessible now at benhogangolf.com.
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