I had never struck a Tour Edge golf club before the Hot Launch C524 Irons arrived on my doorstep, so I was keen to see if they could perform as well as some of the best irons on the market for a fraction of the price.
Retailing for just $79.99/£65.00 per iron, the price tag certainly caught my eye as many irons in this category sell for far more than double that price. On first inspection out of the box, there were no signs of why that may be from an aesthetic point of view. Each iron was beautifully finished and looked great when I put them down in the playing position. A generous blade length and ample offset let me know that these were irons designed with playability in mind, but overall the dimensions and proportions were excellent and framed the ball nicely.
From a shelf appeal point of view, it is a case of nearly but not quite for me. I am generally someone who appreciates a minimalist approach to looks when it comes to golf equipment and the C524 irons are just a touch fussy for my tastes from the back. I don’t mind a subtle accent color but the bright blue badge just wasn’t for me, although that is just personal preference and some players may love it. I just feel that leaving that black or grey would have given the iron a slightly more premium look and feel.
In terms of the tech, there is quite a lot going on. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that these were a hollow-body construction iron as there is no visual cavity, however, this is somewhat of an optical illusion. The cavity has simply been filled with Tour Edge’s VIBRCOR, which is a high-grade TPU designed to improve sound and feel.
Additional toe weighting has been added to the set with the intention of stabilizing impact and providing additional ball speed on off-center strikes.
I tested the Tour Edge Hot Launch C524 irons at Saunton Golf Club, using my FullSwing KIT launch monitor and TaylorMade TP5 golf balls, both on the practice ground and out on the course.
Before I get into the launch monitor data, I wanted to give a special mention to the feel attributes of these irons. Impact provided a pleasant lively sensation but there was also a real depth to the strike that isn’t always present in the game-improvement iron category. For me, the Mizuno JPX 923 Hot Metal is still the gold standard in terms of feel in this genre, but quite honestly, when coupled with some excellent turf interaction, the C524 iron is not a million miles behind.
Launch monitor data was pretty strong across the board, with ball speed and distance competitive with just about anything else. With the 7-iron coming in at 29˚ it sits within the higher end of its peers loft-wise but still managed to produce a ball speed of 129.3mph for me with a mid-low launch and spin of 15.5˚ and 5412rpm respectively, which culminated in a healthy carry number of 188 yards.
I did notice a slight right tendency in flight compared to some other game improvement irons which tend to feature more of a draw bias if anything, and I wonder whether that has anything to do with the additional toe weighting. It wasn't too severe, however, just something to note.
The Hot Launch C524 irons come with a stock steel option of the True Temper Elevate MPH95 shaft in R or S flex, and there are more weight and flex options with the Aldila Ascent PL stock graphite option. There are also three sizes of Lamkin grips to choose from.
Overall, I was very pleased with the performance and feel of the Tour Edge Hot Launch C524 irons, and when you factor in the price tag, I think there is some exceptional value for money to be had. In terms of raw performance data, I would feel comfortable putting them up against anything else in the game improvement category and be very confident they would hold their own.
