TaylorMade Stealth HD irons

Gear: TaylorMade Stealth HD irons
Price: $999 with KBS Max 85 steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline Black grips. $1,099 with Fujikura NX Red graphite shafts
Specs: Cast stainless steel with polymer insert
Available: Feb. 17

Who It’s For: New and high-handicap golfers who need to maximize height, distance and forgiveness.

The Skinny: The Stealth HD irons were designed to get the ball up quickly for slow-swinging players who want a club that has an inspiring shape. 

The Deep Dive: When TaylorMade wants to create a new, better-player’s club, it talks with staff players such as Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. They discover what elite golfers prefer and look for, then create something that provides those attributes.

TaylorMade does not, however, have a staff of golfers who shoot in the 90s and 100s, so to make a new max-game-improvement club, the company did extensive testing with new and slower-swinging players. After hitting shots, reps asked if the player liked that shot, then asked why. TaylorMade learned that players who struggle with the game love seeing the ball go high into the air, prefer to see shots that fly to the left or go straight and want to see a club that inspires confidence.

Keeping the game-improvement Stealth irons in the stable, the brand now offers the Stealth HD, a max-game-improvement iron. 

The rounded leading edge encourages golfers to make contact higher in the face, which leads to higher-flying shots. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Everything about the shape of the Stealth HD iron relates to who this club is for and what it is designed to do. It has a very low profile from bottom to top, with a wide sole, significant offset and a curved leading edge. The Stealth HD should inspire confidence in golfers who struggle to make solid contact, while the sole’s width helps it work through the turf while maintaining speed, even on steep swings.

By curving the leading edge more, TaylorMade discovered that slower-swinging players tend to make contact higher in the hitting area, resulting in a higher launch. Additionally, the hitting area is asymmetrical with a draw bias.

However, cosmetically, it looks similar to last season’s standard Stealth iron.

The TaylorMade Stealth HD irons have a flighted center of gravity. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Two design traits can help slow-swinging golfers hit higher shots: the center of gravity location and loft. Within the Stealth HD iron set,…