As women become better golfers, they often times find that they have outgrown their complete set of clubs. As a result, they tend to branch out and buy higher quality individual drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, and putters. For some reason, there are not many articles online about the best women’s irons sets on the market. I thought that I would fix that. If you are like me, there is a limit to how much you are willing to spend on golf clubs, so I will give you the best options for your budget.

Before we talk about the best women’s irons for 2018, let’s talk about what you need to make sure you buy, as mistakes are very common when lady golfers buy clubs online.

• Make sure you buy a set with graphite shafts. Most ladies, unless you are very strong and can swing the club with fast speeds, are going to want graphite shafts in their irons. Steel shafts are too heavy for most women, and won’t allow you to reach the same club head speeds that graphite shafts will allow.
• Make sure you buy a set with ladies flex shafts (unless you were told otherwise). After you make sure that you get graphtie shafts, you need to make sure that you are getting  shafts with “Ladies flex”. Ladies flex shafts flex more during the downswing, allowing women to create even more club head speed than if they were to use a stiffer flex.
• Make sure you are buying the right number of irons vs hybrids. If you already have some hybrids that you really like, make sure you are not overlapping with lofts. For example, if you have a 23 degree hybrid, I would make sure that you aren’t getting a 23 degree iron as well, as they will likely travel roughly the same distance (not always though). I typically recommend women have at least two hybrid clubs, as hybrids allow you to hit the ball higher and are more forgiving than long irons. Having a 3H and 4H asn then 5-PW irons is a very common route, or you could also get a 5 hybrid as well.
• Determine if you want a combo set or just irons. Combo sets are sets that are a a combo (whoa) of irons and hybrids of the same model. I highly recommend you get a combo set, as it is oftentimes cheaper and easier to buy the hybrids and irons together as opposed to buying them separately. Here are the best combo sets for women.

So now you know what you should keep in mind when buying a women’s set of irons. Let’s get into the best sets that you can buy in 2018 depending on your budget.

Please be aware that all links & pictures will take you to the respective listings on eBay!

A Cheaper Option: Used Set of Callaway Women’s Steelhead XR

If you don’t want to shell out around $1,000 for a set of irons, check out this used set of Callaway Women’s Steelhead XR irons. With the combination of being used + being released a few years ago, this set is super underpriced. It will perform nearly just as well as the expensive new releases like the Rogue, but at a steeeeeeeep discount.

When it comes to distance and forgiveness, the Steelhead XR falls just a tad short of the newer releases, but not by much at all. The lofts aren’t as strong, so the clubs won’t travel quite as far, but that won’t affect performance much. The main innovation is the Hollow Bore-Thru hosel design. Basically, they took weight from the hosel and strategically moved it to the club head, resulting in more forgiveness and higher launch angles.

For the price, you really can’t beat this set. If I were a women looking to buy new irons, I would probably buy this set or another used set from the same website.

Quick review:

• used + older model = incredible deal
• moved the hosel to behind the club face for more forgiveness
• super thin, fast club face
• available in women’s flex, graphite shafts

The Best Value Women’s Irons: Titleist AP1 716

If you are looking for the best value women’s irons, check out Titliest 716 AP1 irons. These are the most forgiving irons that Titleist has ever made. If you want ever more value, consider getting the AP1 irons from an earlier model (such as 710, 712, or 714.). They are slightly improved with each release, but there are not significant differences between the sets overall.

These irons are the best mix of price and performance. They are as forgiving as they come, but they aren’t necessarily the longest. So if you are looking for the longest set on the market, check out the Callaway Rogue irons (next section).

The AP1 irons are made with a very progressive design, meaning that the longer irons are more forgiving while the shorter irons are focused more on distance control. The longer irons are a tad larger, with more perimeter weighting and larger toplines/soles to make them as easy to hit as possible. The shorter irons are more compact, encouraging you to be more aggressive and go at the flags.

Why you might be interested:

• most forgiving irons from Titleist
• you can buy older models to save money without sacrificing results
• progressive design
• best mix of price and performance for women’s irons
• available in women’s flex, graphite shafts

The Overall Best Performing Iron Set: Callaway Women’s Rogue

If you can afford the best of the best, I don’t see a reason why you wouldn’t want the Callaway Women’s Rogue irons. They are the longest irons on that the market. The lofts are strong, the club faces are fast, and the design encourages the ball to fly as high as possible. That combo has resulted in the best distance irons ever! The Women’s Rogue irons incorporate two technologies (Variable Face Thickness and 360 Cup Face) to ensure that golf balls shoot of the club face as the fastest speeds that the USGA will allow.

The first two irons that I mentioned are the same as the men’s sets, but with women’s graphite shafts. This set, however, is made specifically for women. The club heads are lighter than the men’s version to allow you to create as much club head speed as possible. They are also made with wider soles, larger cavities, and lower COGs (centers of gravity) to lead to higher, longer ball flights.

Why the Rogue Women’s irons are the best:

• made specifically for women (lighter club heads, wider soles/cavities)
• the longest irons of all time
• super fast ball speeds and great forgiveness across the entire club face
• available in women’s flex, graphite shafts