What you need to know: Golf is all about having fun and limiting your misses. Accordingly, PXG went all-in on stability and forgiveness with the Black Ops irons. Typically irons built for maximum distance and forgiveness have lacked the good feel and sound that more player-focused irons have. With its 2024 Black Ops irons, PXG decided that you shouldn’t have to compromise with your irons and pushed its engineers to design an iron that combines it all.

2024 PXG Black Ops Irons: What’s new, key technology

Dual Cavity Design: Going with a Dual Cavity Design gives the Black Ops irons a big increase in MOI to make it easy to hit high and long. PXG uses a lightweight insert in the back of the iron that removes mass from the center of the club and pushes it to the perimeter. This increases MOI on toe and heel misses but also adds forgiveness to the bottom and top of the club for help with misses high or low on the face. PXG has tested a lot of competitor irons in this category and says it is seeing up to a 14.5-percent increase of MOI over those models.

Large but versatile: While PXG won’t try and hide the large size of the Black Ops iron, it isn’t oil tanker large. If you compare the Black Ops to the Gen6 XP irons you will see that the sizes are actually similar. Black Ops will have a little more offset and a slightly thicker topline, but the blade length is the same. The face on the Black Ops iron is 4.3 percent larger than Gen6 XP to give it more of a trampoline effect and better ball speed. A thicker topline and seeing a slight bit more of the face gives higher handicap players more confidence in hitting a more solid shot. A wider sole is also engineered into the Black Ops for moving the center of gravity low and back for higher-launching, lower-spinning shots. Forgiveness with the turf is another advantage of having a wider sole as it will reduce digging and glide over the ground to help shots hit slightly fat.

XCOR2 Polymer: First used in the Gen6 irons, XCOR2 is a polymer that not only supports the thin face but helps with creating higher ball speeds. The need for a lightweight polymer that still performed at a high level took years of development for PXG engineers. Filling the Black Ops irons with XCOR2 allows weight to be moved from the middle of the club to the perimeter where it can help with CG and MOI. The XCOR2 works hand-in-hand with the ultra-thin face on the new Black Ops irons. Like the Gen7 irons, Black Ops uses high-strength HT1770 stainless steel to create maximum ball speed in a massive sweet spot. PXG’s Power Channel is milled into the back for additional flex and a higher launch. This polymer is also what gives the Black Ops irons such a soft feel and muted sound at impact.

What PXG says

“PXG Black Ops Drivers and Metal Woods are complimented by a brand-new game-improvement offering, PXG Black Ops Irons. Black Ops Irons perform exceptionally well for a wide variety of players. High strength maraging steel technology allows the face geometry to be extremely thin. Combined with PXG’s proprietary core, the combo generates a feel that is better than forged, provides superior forgiveness, and explosive ball speed.”

Pricing, shaft specs, and availability

• Price: $150 ($1,200 8-piece set)
• At retail: Now