Design and Manufacture
Historically all irons were forged from a flat piece of metal, which produced a thin clubhead that resembled a blade. Modern investment casting processes enabled manufacturers to easily mass produce clubs with consistent properties. This manufacturing process was first used by PING, and also made it possible to take weight out of the back of the clubhead and distribute it around the perimeter. These perimeter weighted, or cavity back, irons made it much easier to achieve consistent results even when striking the ball outside the "sweet spot", when compared with traditional bladed, or muscle back, irons.
Although most irons are now produced by investment casting, many high end, particularly muscle back, irons are still produced by forging, as it is believed that the resulting club has an improved "feel". Manufacturers sometimes try to combine the characteristics of both muscle and cavity backed irons, which has resulted in terminology such as cut-muscle, or split-cavity.
There are also many hybrid clubs, so-called because they combine some of the characteristics of irons and woods, that closely resemble standard irons. Indeed, many sets of clubs, especially those marketed for beginners, now include hybrids to replace the more traditional 3 and 4 irons.
Read more about this topic: Iron (golf)
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