WHAT IT DOES: Sub 70 is a direct-to-consumer golf-club brand based in Sycamore, Ill., but its specialty is irons—in particular, irons for those who have some game. This one neatly straddles the design line between a players iron and a players-distance iron by providing a sleek hollow-body design with a thin topline and reduced offset—all of which makes these irons workable for those preferring to shape or flight their shots. The body is filled with a thermoplastic urethane that serves as a sound damper. That’s needed in this iron because the 455 carpenter-steel face is just 1.7 millimeters thick. This is great for producing high ball speeds but can also emit unwanted noise and vibrations. 

WHY WE LIKE IT: You might not have heard of Sub 70, but it is a brand known by better players. Although this club is made for the high single-digit handicapper, it looks and feels as if it were designed for a scratch player. The ultra-thin face helps produce an iron with real power, and the sole delivers the kind of playability a user of this kind of iron demands. What’s the stock shaft, you say? The choice is yours with more than 60 options to select.