Tour Edge Hot Launch E525, X525 irons for mid- and high-handicap golfers
Gear: Tour Edge Hot Launch E525, X525 irons
Price: $79.99 each (E525) with True Temper Elevate MPH 95 steel shafts or UST Mamiya Helium graphite shafts and Lamkin 360 grips
Specs: Cast 431 stainless steel head and face with thermoplastic polyurethane piece (E525); hollow-body, stainless steel heads (X525).
Available: March 1
Who it’s for: Golfers with a handicap between 12 and 20 who want a game-improvement iron that delivers more distance and forgiveness (E525); Players who shoot in the 100s and need an iron that is easy to hit and encourages higher- and straighter-flying shots.
What you should know: The Hot Launch E525 is a classic game-improvement iron designed to provide more ball speed and forgiveness in a traditional-looking club, while the Hot Launch X525 is a max game-improvement set comprised of mini hybrids to help golfers get hit higher, straighter shots.
The deep dive: While their names are similar and they share some technologies, the Tour Edge Hot Launch E525 and X 525 are very different clubs and made for very different players.
The E525 has a moderate-thick topline, wide sole and some offset, giving it a reassuring look in the address position to golfers who typically shoot in the high 80s and 90s. The wide sole helps to lower the center of gravity (CG) location, which encourages a higher launch angle, and it allows the E525 to avoid digging in the turf.
A large undercut cavity in the back of the head is filled with a high-grade thermoplastic polyurethane Tour Edge calls Vibrcor. It soaks up excessive vibrations created when the face strikes the ball but does not impede the face from flexing, so shots won’t lose ball speed or distance. The reduced vibrations will, however, enhance sound and feel.
To enlarge the sweet spot and pull the ideal hitting area into the middle of the face, Tour Edge has added extra weight low in the toe section.
Finally, as it has in the past, Tour Edge has given the E525 irons extremely-strong lofts, with the 5-iron at 21.5 degrees, the 9-iron at 37 degrees and the pitching wedge at 42 degrees. A 46-degree attack wedge is also available.
The Hot Launch X525 irons are a completely different beast: Having been designed like hybrids, Tour Edge refers to their construction as iron-woods.
Each club, 4-iron through attack wedge, is hollow to allow the face to flex as much as possible and generate the most ball speed. The face heights are short, and along with the extra space inside the hollow heads, that allowed Tour Edge designers to pull the CG location dramatically back and down. Combined with the wide Houdini sole that has a V-shape in the back, the X525 irons should help high-handicap players maintain speed through the hitting zone and avoid digging.
As it did in the X525 drivers, fairway woods and hybrids, Tour Edge designed the Hot Launch X525 irons with significant offset, which should help players who tend to slice the ball square the face at impact more easily and hit less-curved shots.
The lofts of the Hot Launch X525 irons are weaker than the lofts of the E525 irons – the 5-iron is 25 degrees, the 9-iron is 38 degrees and the pitching wedge is 43 degrees – to encourage higher-flying shots.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tour Edge Hot Launch E525, X525 irons: Prices, specs and more
