50 Words or Less
The Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are a forged iron with a bigger dose of forgiveness. Wider soles and stronger lofts make these longer and a bit easier to play for some golfers.
Introduction
As golfers move up or down the performance ladder, they’re asked to make a fairly big leap from game improvement or distance irons into players irons. The former offers tons of tech and forgiveness, the latter all the looks and feel that golfers crave. Attempting to bridge that gap are the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons. Can this set offer the best of both worlds? I tested them to find out.
Looks
The Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are a visual departure from the 349-CB and 249-MB, signifying their role as the most forgiving iron in the Tanso family. While all three have the same branding, the 449-CB has a centered weight protrusion along the bottom edge that’s echoed in the cavity. That cavity is also a bit busier, featuring three levels. The middle level displays milled lines, separating it from the other two and offering more visual definition to the shaping. With all that said, this is still a fairly traditional iron – it’s going to look great in the bag for years to come.
At address, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons look the part of a forgiving players iron. The top line is thin but not razor thin. It is longer from heel to toe, which will be more comfortable, confidence-inspiring look for some players. Finally, there’s a substantial amount of offset for a players iron.
Above, you can see all three iron models in the Tanso Golf family: the 249-MB, 349-CB, and 449-CB. With the 249-MB and 349-CB being twins at address, the 449-CB does stand out. It has a slightly thicker top line and a longer blade. There’s also noticeably more offset in the 449-CB: .177″ in the 4I compared to .102″. While it’s far from impossible to combo the 449-CB with other Tanso Golf irons, there would be a small visual leap where you switch models. [See Price / Buy] Use code PIG10 to save 10%
Sound & Feel
While the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are a slight departure from their brothers in the looks department, they have all the wonderful feel of the other Tanso irons. “3X forged and CNC milled from 1020 carbon steel,” the 449-CB feels soft on almost every strike. There’s extra reward on perfect shots, but almost no part of the face feels firm or stinging.
The impact sound of the 449-CB irons is a little louder than the others, but it’s something you’d only notice when hitting them side by side. Overall, the volume is still below average, and the character is dull, which makes it seem even quieter. If you prefer a more responsive “click,” you can find that by playing a firmer ball.
As I have come to expect, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons have excellent feedback. Even though mishits don’t sting or sound ugly, I had no problem knowing where the ball met the face. Perfect strikes feel so good that getting anything less caused me to take notice and check in with the exact impact location to try to fix it.
Performance
Within this lineup, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are called “players distance plus,” designed to offer the most forgiveness and the most distance. Compared to the 249-MB and the 349-CB, the 449-CB irons deliver on both counts.
Starting with distance, the 449-CB irons have lofts that are two degrees stronger through almost the entire set (the 4I is just one degree stronger). Compared to the 249-MB and 349-CB, this gives the 449-CB has a little extra ball speed and slightly less spin. That adds up to about half a club more distance in the short and mid irons.
That said, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons still produce plenty of spin. Overall, I’d rate their spin average or slightly above average. The lower CG keeps the launch angles close to those of the 249-MB and 349-CB, though I will note that I found the 449-CB 4I to be the most difficult to properly gap from the 5I. As I said with the other Tanso Golf irons: if you don’t have significantly above average swing speed, quality ball striking, and at least average trajectory, the 4I is probably not worth bagging.
Turning to forgiveness, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are measurably, perhaps even noticeably, easier to hit than their brothers. The 449-CB holds on to ball speed and distance more tightly on mishits, and the trajectory is a bit more consistent up and down the face. To Tanso Golf’s credit, this added forgiveness does not come at the cost of top end consistency. As with the 349-CB, I had several swings where I was sure I nuked the ball beyond the full distance only to find that it carried exactly as far as expected.
The cost of this added forgiveness is some amount of shot control. The Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are larger with more offset and a wider sole. In comparison to the 249-MB and 349-CB, they don’t feel as agile during the swing. For me, the wider sole negatively affected my strike quality as I had to really focus to get into the turf. All that said, these are still players irons that are more than capable of hitting different trajectories and shot shapes, they just require a little more cajoling than the other Tanso Golf irons.
Most of this section has focused on comparing the 449-CB to the other Tanso Golf irons, so I’m going to close by putting them into a larger context. These are the longest, most forgiving Tanso Golf irons, but they are not particularly long or forgiving when viewed among all irons. I would put the focus heavily on the “players” portion of Tanso Golf’s “players distance plus.”
If you want the longest 7I, this isn’t it; get the TaylorMade P790 [review HERE] or something similar. If you want to hit GIRs from all over the club face, get the PING G440 [review HERE] or PXG 0311 GEN8 XP [review HERE]. None of that is to disparage the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons, but these are game enhancers more than game improvers. [See Price / Buy] Use code PIG10 to save 10%
Conclusion
If you want good looks and outstanding feel without fully sacrificing distance and forgiveness, the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons are worth a look. These bridge the gap between a traditional forged players cavity back and modern, high tech players distance or game improvement clubs.
You won’t find the Tanso Golf 449-CB irons at your local big box, but the company does offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee (if you order them in stock specs) and a “demo” program where you can order a custom 7I at half price before buying the rest of the set. [See Price / Buy] Use code PIG10 to save 10%
Tour-shaped distance for the modern swing. The 449-CB pairs stronger lofts, a wider sole, and lower CG with the buttery feel of forged 1020 carbon steel — built for golfers who want forgiveness without the game-improvement look.
Tanso Golf 449-CB Irons Price & Specs
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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