Just thinking out loud…
Stronger iron lofts have been around for roughly 25 years. Why do players still lament over the stronger lofts. I see an increase in distance as well as a higher trajectory in most irons I play today. Do any manufacturers still make the older more traditional lofts i.e. macgregor tourney PW at 50* or 7I at 37*.
Really no difference in gaping as you can get a AW/GW/SW/LW in varying degrees to fill the void. On the longer ends there’s a variety of hybrids that are available that are being played on tour as well as on public courses.
I’m 70 years old and appreciate the increase in distance as well as forgiveness in the “new” modern irons.
Since it’s been around for 25 years, I don’t think you can call it a trend anymore.
It’s here to stay and we’re going to have to accept it.
Maybe it’s just best to put the Loft angle on the clubs and forget about the numbers :-)
I dont like this trend. What most people overlook is the longer irons loft gaps have to be compressed to compensate for stronger short irons. On some cases it just makes sense to remove the 2nd longest iron to correct the gaps.( with small loft adjustments of course.
The 2nd thing is having too many wedges, most golfers now have 6 wedges. Carefully note the different shape of 8 and 9 iron, they are in fact “pitching clubs”
Not to mention the naming convention is borderline insanity. Soon there will be so many wedges in an iron set they will resort to giving them numbers, W1,W2 etc ( Taylor made already did). Following that, sets will come with Hybrids and wedges only.