If you ask most amateur golfers why they don’t put a utility iron or driving iron in their bag, they will tell you it’s the lack of forgiveness. We may have the solution. If you are thinking of putting a utility iron in the bag but need consistency and a little help from the club, these are the models you will want to consider.
Callaway Apex UT
Who Is It For?
✅ Players who need more forgiveness. The best overall utility iron for forgiveness in 2024.
✅ Golfers who want accuracy: The Callaway Apex UT ranks fifth overall for accuracy, giving it a balanced performance.
Who Is It Not For?
❌ Anyone who needs distance: The Callaway Apex UT ranks below average for distance. It’s shorter than others on the test.
Why Buy
When we measure forgiveness in a driving iron, we look at how consistent it is in producing similar shot outcomes. Specifically, we look at things like ball speed, carry distance, backspin and dispersion. For a utility iron to be the “most forgiving”, it has to be consistent.
The Callaway Apex UT is the best overall for forgiveness.
Testers picked up on this forgiveness factor almost immediately. One tester said, “Love it. I’d play it in a heartbeat.” The Callaway Apex UT is a traditional-looking utility that finished third overall in our 2024 test. The only negative feature of the Apex UT is its distance capability.
Score: 9.2
Caley Golf 01X Utility
Who Is It For?
✅ Someone looking for consistency off the tee: Very consistent ball speed and distance from the Caley Golf 01X Utility.
✅ The golfer who values accuracy. A combination of forgiveness and accuracy is crucial in a driving iron. If you need to tighten your dispersion, this club is a smart choice.
Who Is It Not For?
❌ Players worried about distance: One of the shortest driving irons on the market in 2024.
❌ Golfers afraid of a lesser-known brand: The Caley Golf Utility is offered at a fair price but it’s not as well known as others on this list.
Why Buy
It’s fun to see a lesser-known brand outperform some of the big names in the game. The Caley Golf 01X is the second-best utility iron for forgiveness. In addition, it performed well for accuracy.
Similar to what we saw with the Callaway Apex UT, it is not a long utility iron. Some testers also did not prefer the iron’s subjective appeal. Still, it’s a forgiving utility iron available for just $171. If you are willing to try something that isn’t necessarily a household name, the Caley Golf 01X is a good choice.
Score: 9.1
PING iCrossover
Who Is It For?
✅ Someone looking for off-the-rack performance. The best overall driving iron of 2024 is the PING iCrossover.
✅ The golfer who cares about subjective appeal. Although we don’t use it to calculate the overall score, our testing pool rates the PING iCrossover as the best for feel.
Who Is It Not For?
❌ Players who don’t need a driving iron: The PING crossover is all-around great. The only reason not to put this one in the bag is if you don’t need a driving iron.
Why Buy
The PING iCrossover is the best overall utility iron of 2024. It ranks third for forgiveness, second for distance and first for accuracy. That’s hard to compete with. Some of our testers and staff mentioned the iCrossover as being in a league of its own as far as driving iron performance is concerned.
In addition to dominating almost every category of testing, the PING iCrossover is also adjustable. The performance from the PING iCrossover wasn’t necessarily surprising as we saw it dominate the test in 2023 as well.
For golfers new to utility irons or those concerned with overall ease of use, the PING iCrossover should be on your list of driving irons to try.
Score: 9
More forgiving utility irons to consider
Don’t see the product you are looking for? Want to see how it stacked up against the competition? Find the full results of the Best Driving Irons of 2024 here: MyGolfSpy Best Driving Irons.
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