TaylorMade Stealth HD Iron Review

TaylorMade Stealth HD Iron Review

Last year TaylorMade consolidated its game improvement offerings into one iron, the TaylorMade Stealth, which blew us away with its distance and accuracy. But its low spin and strong lofts meant it wasn’t overly suited to slower-swinging golfers, which is the gap in its range that the new Stealth HD iron is meant to fill.

WATCH: Joel Tadman tests the TaylorMade Stealth HD iron versus last year's Stealth 

In achieving its goal of a high, draw-biased flight TaylorMade has gone to fairly drastic measures, creating a very low profile head with a shallow face height and a wide sole. It it nearly as wide as it is tall, which especially takes some getting used to looking down on the longer irons, and has many hallmarks of a chipper-style club usually employed around the greens. There’s a sizeable amount of offset and the noticeably curved leading edge is not something I enjoyed looking down on. The short irons look a little more traditional, with a taller face that helps to keep the trajectory windows fairly similar through the set.

Visually, the Stealth HD iron will divide opinion with its unconventional approach but you can’t argue with the performance, becoming one of the most forgiving irons on the market. The 7-iron has a loft of 30°, which is two degrees weaker than the original Stealth iron, and my exhaustive testing showed it had no problem getting the ball up in the air and turning over from right to left. It was around 10 yards shorter than the Stealth but flew nearly four yards higher and had a shot pattern strongly biased to the left of my target line. 

As I saw with the Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal HL (High Launch), as swing speed comes down I imagine the Stealth iron would carry the ball progressively shorter whereas it would be maintained more with the Stealth HD. As a 3-index player, I am under no illusion that this iron is not designed for me, and seeing the ball frequently miss my target to the left was frustrating. But for golfers that struggle to flight the ball or suffer with a slice, this iron will certainly help overcome these tendencies.

A word must go to the sole of this club, which features a step down design that means it plays much narrower than it looks. So while it has the forgiveness through the turf that helps when you contact the ground early, it doesn’t feel too clunky through the hit.

The Stealth HD iron might be function over form but force-limited golfers that are frustrated with the seemingly non-stop loft jacking in many game improvement irons will welcome the more traditional make up. It helps launch the ball high to increase carry distance and the draw bias produces a stronger flight. For £129 a club, it’s a relatively cost-effective option for a beginner or high handicapper, becoming the one of the best TaylorMade irons to gain both yardage and accuracy.

If you choose to buy the Stealth HD iron, check out our helpful TaylorMade promo codes.