My irons are forged, right? It says it right on the club!

Well yes, it says it right on the hosel, but not "truly". "True" forgings are billet forged, meaning, the iron is struck from a solid piece of carbon steel. "Grain Flow Forging" and "Form Forging", as used by Mizuno and others, is not a true billet forging. What happens here is an iron is investment cast via the lost wax process, then struck with a hydraulic hammer to compress the iron material and round out the shape. There's a big difference, and here's where it gets a little technical, but I'll do my best to explain.

True forging are pure forgings, meaning, it's one piece of steel hammered to hell by massive 50 ton hammer equipment. The end result is less discrepancies, if you will, in the end product with respect to how the iron head materializes. True forgings have tighter compression, and the less carbon overall in the billet, the tighter still. So, for example, a 1020 carbon iron head is a head with very little carbon (.2%) and hence, is less brittle than a 1030 head (.3% carbon), which means it's a head that's highly compressed and dense. Translation: better feel and balance in the head weighting, and more accurate COG location. 1030 heads in this case are also forged but have that .3% carbon which makes them slightly more brittle that 1020 and 1025, as defined by metallurgists. Then there's 8620 steel, such as that used by Titleist in their Vokey wedges, for example. This is also carbon steel with .2% carbon in the mix, but it's cast and not forged, as indicated by the U.S. coding of "86" and not "10" (side note: Japan 1020 forgings will read "S20C"). Iron heads that say "flow forged" or "form forged" are actually 8620 that is likely hammered after being cast. Good heads I'm sure, especially from the major companies with heavy R&D and quality control, but not true forgings, so don't be misled.

Ultimately, if you can feel the difference on a struck shot, good for you. Tough to do really, but it is valuable to know how your irons were manufactured when you think about two things: tolerances in adjusting lie and loft, and durability of grooves. True forgings are more malleable and easier to adjust for loft and lie, and to a wider degree. But, if you're a range rat hitting off mats all year, a true forging will require frequent lie and loft checks as impact on range mats will certainly shift lie more upright over time. Note too that forged grooves wear down quicker than 8620 cast grooves, which is why, for me, I don't buy forged wedges as I like to get another year or so out of my wedges before having to replace them, so I go with 8620. Still great feel with added durability.

Lastly, a word on non-carbon iron and wedge options, such as 17-4 stainless. Here too, the most astute might be able to put a finger on the feel difference between forged carbon and stainless, but more importantly, if you're playing 17-4 irons and your swing changes due to lessons, only the best of the best golf pros will be able to adjust 17-4 for lie angle. Much easier to do so with carbon steel. The flip side, tough to rough up 17-4 over the long haul. Something to consider.

Forge ahead my friends (you know I had to say it).