Titleist Makes Strong Statement with 714 Series Irons

Written By: Tony Covey

714s Arrive Right on Time

In case you missed it, Titleist (often perceived as one of the last bastions of all that it true, and pure, and right within the golf equipment world) has formerly announced the impending release of their 714 series of irons.

This isn’t exactly a surprise.

For those who even loosely follow the brand, the 714 series comes as anything but a shock. While others have accelerated product releases, Titleist has remained resolute in its commitment to the 2 year release cycle, and well, it’s been 2 years since the release of the 712 series.

And yeah…they did kinda release some pics a couple months back, so that was also a pretty solid clue that something new was coming.

Releasing Clubs the Titleist Way

Sticking to the old ways is good business if you can get away with it. Titleist fans love the predictability, consistency, and almost total lack of hyperbole that is the signature of the Titleist equipment business.

When you have the ProV1 you can be whoever you want to be with your golf clubs.

While others flood the market with equal parts gear and hype, Titleist does their thing – and part of that thing is playing to the identity they’ve built as the no nonsense brand for serious golfers.

In case you haven’t heard; Titleist is for the best golfers in the world, and those who believe in the traditions of the game.

Let’s just put it out there right now; in nearly every respect, as far as big golf companies go, Titleist is generally regarded as the anti-TaylorMade.

Two Models for the Traditionalists

The 2 least significant of the 4 models in the 714 series are the updated versions of the CB and MB irons.

Now please don’t take my suggestion that the MBs and CBs are insignificant as a dig at Titleist. It’s not. It’s a nod to the reality that when it comes to truly traditional designs (by modern standards) – forgings no less – aimed at the better player, there really isn’t a whole lot you can do from a performance perspective.

It’s a wheel that’s next to impossible to reinvent.

To Titleist’s credit, they’re not claiming they’ve done otherwise. In both cases we’re talking about subtle refinements that aren’t going to ruin the good thing they’ve got going with the MB and CB lines.

Highlights for both models include:

• Pre-worn leading edge to promote less digging
• Smooth Sole width progressions for enhanced ground interaction
• CB model features a wider sole with increased front-to-back camber for better playability
• Both designs feature less visible offset, and a slightly straighter leading edge

As you would expect from Titleist, the CB and MB designs which target the better player, remain relatively true to the established tradition; allowing for the fact that almost everybody’s traditional is slowly getting strong and longer. Shaft length and lofts in both sets are identical to the models that came before them.

While I must confess that the traditional CB has never been my thing, at least they look the part. The MBs…oh man…they are every bit what you’d want them to be; simple, elegant, gorgeous.

A Dying Breed

It’s doubtful that true blades, and even true player’s cavityback will ever disappear completely, but they are being produced in dwindling numbers each year. For those who flock to these type of designs, the 714 CB and 714 MB will no doubt be two of very few designs to entice he golfer who fancies himself a premier ball-striker.

For the rest of us there’s the 714 AP Series.

A Different Side of Titleist

While the CBs and MBs remain true to the perceptions of Titleist, it’s conceivable that the release of the 714 AP1 and AP2 could change how some loyalists view the brand.

The AP1 is a particularly curiosity – at least as far as Titleist irons go. Like the CBs and MBs, Titleist has anchored their 5 iron length for both the AP1 and AP2 and 38”, however; while some seemed to overlook Titleist’s participation in the scourge that is loft-jacking last time around, one look at the 44° pitching wedge in the AP1s, and any argument that Titleist doesn’t play the same distance game as TaylorMade, Callaway and others goes out the window.

You want tradition in a game-improvement iron? Don’t expect to get it from Titleist.

In fact, as a tacit admission that 44° for a pitching wedge borders on the extreme, Titleist is offering a 2^nd gap wedge.

Let me spell it out for you.

Because the stock Gap Wedge only gets you to 48°, with the AP1s, Titleist is offering a 2^nd, 52° Gap Wedge.

We’ve long joked about how all this so-called loft-jacking would eventually necessitate a 2^nd gap wedge to fill the gap between your jacked-up gap wedge and your not-so-jacked-up sand wedge. We just never imagined Titleist…traditional Titleist would be among the first to actually offer it.

Much Ado About Nothing

What I’ve found is that the guys who take issue with “jacked-up” lofts generally point to Titleist as the example of a…rather the company that’s doing it (whatever it happens to be) right. While a 44° pitching wedge from anyone else might fan the flames a little bit, this is a much bigger deal because we’re talking about Titleist.

Some Titleist die-hards might view that wedge as a stain on the white coat.

The notion of extreme lofts runs absolutely contrary to how the most devoted Titleist fans view the brand. The game is changing, and Titleist, it would seem, is changing too.

In reality, it’s not a big deal. If you’re getting beat on distance, especially in the GI category where distance is almost everything, you’d be foolish not to make changes in order to compete.

Ask any golfer who is playing better with a distance iron in his bag how he feels about loft jacking, and I can all but promise you his response is going to be “I don’t give a shit”.

Quite frankly, I love that Titleist finally appears serious about creating a true game-improvement, distance iron.

Kudos, boys.

It’s About More than Loft

With the AP2s the Titleist story isn’t dissimilar from that of its competitors. Unfortunately, while it’s a story that’s inconsequential to many (I don’t care as long as it goes far), it’s also one that the anti-distance iron factions have conveniently chosen to ignore.

If you take a 7 iron and put a longer shaft in it, and make the loft strong, you have a 6 iron, right?

Yes. Well no, actually. What you have is a club that produces the distance of a 6-iron, but because of what Titleist calls a progressive CG, provides the same trajectory as a 7 iron.

That’s a hugely important and often overlooked detail of recent distance iron design. As you might suspect, it’s an integral piece of both the AP1 and AP2 designs. It’s the reason why Titleist can offer more distance without sacrificing playability.

Forgiveness and. . .

With the 714 AP1 and AP2 Titleist has emphasized forgiveness. According to the company, both the AP1 and AP2 are the most-forgiving irons in the industry relative to head size. Titleist was able to maintain forgiveness at comparatively compact head sizes through the use of high-density tungsten, which allowed Titleist to move more discretionary weight than would be possible with all steel construction.

In the 3-7 irons of the AP2 irons, for example, the tungsten weight accounts for roughly 20% of the total head weight.

Workability

I’ll save my rant about how workability is the one of the last great myths in the golf industry for another day. For now, let’s just say I don’t believe in it.

If workability means that long irons launch high, while short irons produce a lower, more penetrating ball flight, then ok, I’ll buy that.

But in the more conventional context workability is functionally the opposite of forgiveness, so while it might be possible to create an iron that one perceives as both highly workable and highly forgiving, the reality of physics say otherwise – at least for golfers who hit the ball in the center of the face.

What I think workability means to Titleist is that the head sizes of the AP1 and AP2 are smaller than some others in their class, but as long as you’re hitting the ball in the center of the face, then it doesn’t much matter.

If you’re missing the center of the face (and who does that on purpose?), then yes, because of the impact of the gear effect, smaller heads mean more movement, but are also inherently less forgiving.

Ultimately what Titleist has tried to do is create an iron that (mostly) looks the part of a better players club, but offers the forgiveness and distance of a modern game-improvement iron.

It’s no easy task. I would suggest to you that it’s basically the holy grail of iron design.

It’s too early to say whether or not Titleist has actually succeeded, but they’ve clearly made a solid effort here.

Other Enhancements

Like the MB and CB irons, the AP1 and AP2 feature a pre-worn leading edge, and improved hosel blending to minimize the appearance of offset.

The width of the topline on the AP1 has been reduced slightly and a new support bar has been added to the AP1 long irons to tune vibration and improve feel.

Further cementing the AP1’s place as true game-improvement iron, Titleist has swapped out their stock Dynamic Gold shafts for the 95gram XP model. Lighter shafts have becoming commonplace across nearly every game-improvement offering, so it’s reasonable that Titleist would follow suit.

Dynamic Gold remains the stock offering for the rest of the lineup.

The 714 Series in a Nutshell

As with 90% of what we see these days, the whole of the 714 series is evolutionary, not revolutionary. It doesn’t matter if your Titleist or TaylorMade, eventually you have to put new product on the shelves because, over time, everything gets stale, and nobody is going to pay top dollar for a 3 year old golf club…not with the shiny stuff from last week sitting next to them.

While I’ll reserve final judgment on performance until we can test the 714 series for ourselves, I will admit that I like what I see. I mean…what’s not to like about the MBs from a cosmetic perspective?

The technological designs…the AP1, the AP2, they’re appropriately modernized, and if you ignore that stronger lofts, they’re true to Titleist’s understated, but highly functional design principles.

My guess is that if you despised the 712 series, unless you’re taken in by the promise of improved feel, the 714 series isn’t going to sway you. If you were on the fence, however; subtle improvements, particularly in the AP1 and AP2 models could very well give you all the motivation you need to put a set of 714s in your bag.

Titleist guys…well…you’ve probably already pre-ordered, and honestly, there’s probably nothing wrong with that either.

Pricing and Availability

The 714 Series irons will be available at retail beginning November 9^th.

Retail price for the CB and MB irons is $125 per club (steel) and $150 per club (graphite).

Retail price is $100/$125 for the AP1 and $137.50/$160 for the AP2.