Gear: Titleist Utility Iron U*505 Price: $269 with Project X Black 4G shafts and Titleist Universal 360 grip
Specifications: Body and face are forged from stainless steel SUP-10 with tungsten internal weights. Available in 1-, 2- and 3-irons (20 degrees), or 4-irons (22 degrees).
For Whom: Golfers looking for more distance from their irons.
Skinny: This utility iron is designed with a wide-sole and a low center of gravity. It provides more control, shot shaping and distance than a typical hybrid.
The Deep Dive – There is a certain macho appeal to driving irons, and there’s a myth about using them off the tee in windy conditions to keep the golf ball down or to split the fairway at a hole with trees. Driving irons may not be for everyone, but utility irons could be.
Titleist U*505’s updated version is too thick in the address position for it to be mistaken as a driving iron. This is true even though only a 1, 2-, 3-, or 4-iron is available. It will still provide plenty of distance and versatility off the tee.
The U*505 is similar to the other T Series irons Titleist released. It has a forged SUP-10 body with a stainless steel face forged in an L-shape. The faceplate wraps around the leading edge of the iron and extends into the sole. This helps pull the sweetspot lower and gives players better results when they strike thin shots.
The U*505 iron is hollow as you would expect from a club of this size. This allows the face to flex better at impact, resulting in a faster ball. Titleist calls the system a Max Impact generator to complement the thin face. The system includes an internal steel bar that extends from the topline to connect with the bottom of head at the back of sole. Titleist placed a thin piece of polymer in the middle, which acts as a spring, compressing when the ball strikes the face, and flexing it back. The polymer trampolines and snaps the face back faster than would be possible otherwise, increasing ball speed and distance. The Max Impact Generator posts stiffen the body when it hits, and this, combined with the redesigned rear panel, which has a sound-absorbing pattern on the inside-facing side of the panel, improves the sound that shots produce.
The updated U*505 is shorter than the previous version, but it still contains two large tungsten pieces inside, one at the heel, and the other at the toe. These pieces increase the moment of stability and boost the moment inertia, so that shots outside the center of the face will fly straighter, and the head will twist less. The tungsten helps lower the center-of-gravity location. This results in shots with a greater initial launch angle.
Titleist designers softer the leading edge of the U*505 to make it easier for the U*505 to work through the grass and give the wide sole a curvature.
The improved turf interaction and moderate offset, as well as the wider sole should translate into a utility iron for accomplished golfers to use to replace their hybrids, and intermediate players to have a long-iron that is easier to strike high and provide extra distance.
