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The TaylorMade Stealth HD irons produce towering shots.  Tremendous forgiveness and strong draw bias in the long irons.  A great choice for players who want more help with their approach shots.

Introduction

Many of this winter’s iron releases have been geared toward the better player.  While TaylorMade has certainly covered that group with their P7MC and P7MB irons [review HERE], they haven’t forgotten the players in need of more forgiveness.  The new Stealth HD irons don’t replace last year’s Stealth irons, they’re an additional option for players seeking higher launch and more help hitting a draw.

Looks

The TaylorMade Stealth HD irons are unapologetically large irons.  They have thick top lines and a ton of offset.  Additionally, they’re long from heel to toe, something which is enabled by the shorter blade height.

As you can see above, the longer irons have some “extra” sticking out beyond the top line.  There’s also a progressive shaping to the leading edge.  In the longer irons, it’s straighter.  The leading edge becomes substantially rounded in the short irons and wedges.

In the bag, the Stealth HD irons connect to the Stealth woods with a swath of carbon fiber across the back.  The low contrast between the silver, black, and white keeps the branding toned down.

Sound & Feel

While the look and performance of the TaylorMade Stealth HD irons are far from traditional, they achieve a very conventional sound and feel.  This is accomplished with TaylorMade’s ECHO Damping System which absorbs the extra vibrations on off-center strikes.

On center, these irons produce a solid “thunk” at impact.  In the longer irons, the volume ticks up to create a strong “snap.”  Mishits are easily identified by the noisy “clack.”  It’s some of the clearest audio feedback I’ve heard recently.

Similarly, the feedback through the hands is amazingly precise for an SGI iron.  Good strikes feel very solid without much pop or explosion.  Mishits feel duller, and it’s easy to know where the ball met the face.

Performance

When I first heard about the Stealth HD irons, my assumption was that they’d be a bigger, stronger lofted version of the Stealth irons [review HERE].  However, I learned that TaylorMade was serious about the “High” part of “High Draw.”  Despite being larger and lower profile, the lofts of the Stealth HD irons are 1.5 to 2.5 degrees weaker in the 5-9 irons.  This combination of slightly weaker lofts and ultra-low CG helps these irons to produce shots that redefine towering.

The Stealth HD irons are extremely forgiving, so all your shots will fly high.  Even thin strikes achieve playable trajectories, and these irons absolutely shrug off misses on the toe and heel.  The ball speed is strong on center and remains high unless you strike the very edge of the face.

TaylorMade rates the distance of the Stealth HD irons as “Swing Speed Dependent” compared to “Long” for the Stealth irons.  This is a nod to the higher launch and higher spin.  No one will regard these irons as short – they have too much ball speed – but they aren’t quite as long as stronger lofted, lower spinning sets.  It’s up to each player to decide if they want more consistency and height or if they’d rather squeeze every last yard out of each iron.

Finally, let’s get to the second half of “High Draw.”  I started my testing with the short irons and was surprised at how straight the ball flew.  Then, as I got into the middle and long irons, the draw bias showed up in a big way.  For me, the stock shot with the 5I started a little left of center and had a medium draw.  I think this design makes a lot of sense.  Most golfers don’t need a big draw bias in the 9I; it’s the longer clubs that they slice.  To counter this, TaylorMade put more draw bias in the longer clubs.  Overall, if you’d like to see your mid and long approaches draw – or just not slice – this set can help.

Conclusion

The TaylorMade Stealth HD irons are the perfect set for players who favor draw biased woods like TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 HD models.  They live up to both parts of their name, producing shots that fly very high with an easy draw.  Get fit for the right shaft and specs, and you can expect more consistent, higher-flying approach shots.

Visit TaylorMade HERE

TaylorMade Stealth HD Irons Price & Specs

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Matt Saternus

Founder, Editor In Chief at PluggedInGolf.com

Matt is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Plugged In Golf. He's worked in nearly every job in the golf industry from club fitting to instruction to writing and speaking. Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.

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