Two sets of MIM iron. With an engineering team drawn from the golf industry, McLaren says it’s not trying to be “those guys”. And $375 for iron.
When we wrote about McLaren’s plans to enter the golf equipment space, we had far more questions than answers. Today, most of those answers are in.
The McLaren Golf is officially launching with a pair of iron kits: the Series 1 and Series 3. Both are fully MIM’d (more on that in a minute). Both are positioned near the premium end of the price spectrum. And both, according to McLaren, are the product of legitimate golf industry expertise wrapped around the company’s broader engineering and materials knowledge, rather than the target practice that has historically achieved golf car brands.
Before we get to the bars themselves, a few things are worth knowing.
Why golf?
McLaren’s reading is that there is significant crossover between golf fans and racing fans. In other words, many golfers are racing fans. I’m not a racing guy, so I can’t tell you if that’s actually true. What I can tell you is that over the years there have been countless examples of club designers who are very much F1 fans (and racing fans more broadly) with the influence of motorsport showing in their work. So, at a minimum, there is precedent for the Venn diagram.
A slow burn
Entering the golf category was not a quick decision. McLaren is always looking for ways to expand the brand, and a golf product was under discussion internally for several years before the jump was made.
“I don’t try to be those guys”
Where McLaren fits into the industry’s larger puzzle is still TBD, but the company has been pretty clear about what it’s not trying to be. “Those guys,” as McLaren puts it, are mostly TaylorMade, COBRA, Titleist and Callaway brands. Which is interesting, because many of the McLaren golf team came from those very countries.
The team behind the badge
This is the part that matters the most.
McLaren Golf is not a bunch of car guys trying to make golf clubs. The operation is led by Ryan Badgero, former Head of Product Development at COBRA. JP Harrington, McLaren’s Head of Design and Development for Irons and Wedges, is well known for his time at Titleist and for his brand of wedges. Jacob Sandborn, known to some as the Wedge Wizard, joins as Senior Product Design Engineer for Irons and Wedges after stints at Wilson and Callaway.
As McLaren expands into other categories, expect more of the same industry experience.
Not a collaboration
The most important framing point: this isn’t a collaboration, a licensing deal, nor a limited-edition cosmetic exercise like Red Bull x TaylorMade has played out in recent years.
McLaren Golf is 100 percent McLaren—using the company’s engineering expertise and materials, combined with the golf industry knowledge of the team it has built, to produce premium golf products under its own banner.
That’s the field, anyway.
products
At the moment, McLaren’s Golf lineup is two sets of iron: Series 1 and Series 3. A key (though not unique) feature of both is that they are fully MIM’d. If you’ve been in the golf equipment space long enough, you may recognize MIM from past offerings from COBRA and Callaway.
A quick refresher on MIM
Metal injection molding is pretty much what it sounds like. Fine metal powder is mixed with a polymer binder to create what is called a feedstock. The raw material is injected into a mold, the binder is removed (chemically, thermally, or some combination of the two), and the resulting part is melted in a furnace at temperatures approaching the melting point of the metal. What emerges on the other side is a dense, almost finished shape that closely mirrors the geometry of the mold.
This part “near the net” is the point. Traditional casting and forging processes leave parts that need significant grinding, smoothing and finishing work to reach specifications with each step introducing variability and another opportunity for a part to miss its target. MIM geometry comes out almost complete: less post-machining, tighter tolerances, more end-to-end consistency within a given set. You still finish the face and fix the makeup, but the heavy shaping is done before anyone picks up a grinder.
McLaren’s differentiator is what it describes as a proprietary steel blend designed to deliver not only the performance profile the design team was looking for, but also sound and feel properties. As the “proprietary” suggests, McLaren isn’t saying exactly what’s in it. It’s just that it’s unique.
Initial impressions
As I mentioned, I’m not a racing guy. I’m off the intersection of the Venn diagram of golf and auto racing. What I know about McLaren comes mostly from passing the Ramsey, NJ dealership on my way to visit my father-in-law.
Quick aside: If I ever find myself in a midlife crisis, a McLaren would be a welcome addition to the timeline. But then again, that’s about the extent of my knowledge, so forgive my ignorance, but I was expecting the designs to be a bit flashier.
Instead, what you’ll find are relatively understated irons. This speaks to what I have learned is a core principle of McLaren design. Paraphrasing a bit: Every element of a design should have a purpose and should do exactly what you say it does.
It’s fair to say that there are often outliers on golf equipment. Shiny objects whose real-world functions don’t always match the claims they’re built on. The suggestion is that you won’t get any of this from McLaren, which, I think, is an intriguing proposition.
With that out of the way, let’s look at McLaren’s first Golf offerings.
Series 1
Series 1 is a traditional muscle back design. Injection molded metal, obviously.
The first thing you’re likely to notice is a structural mesh design in the back cavity. It gives the iron a distinctive look that could end up being an early feature of McLaren models. True to the purpose-built philosophy, the mesh saves weight while providing additional strength. And because McLaren is a golf company now, that saved weight is reallocated elsewhere to deliver performance benefits.
The Series 1 features a progressive center of gravity design driven by internally positioned tungsten rods. The bars are unique in shape and weight (16 to 24 grams depending on the head) which allows McLaren to fine-tune the characteristics of each iron in the set.
There’s also a piece of injection-molded silicone that dampens vibrations while serving as part of the precision weighing story.
The design alone will get more attention in a minute, but the quick version is that the Series 1 runs flatter (less curved) than the Series 3.
In one sense, the Series 1 is a typical modern blade. But there are subtleties. Most notable is a fairly aggressive progressive compensation design. In addition to using weight placement and CG to shape the flight, the added offset in the long irons (coupled with some heel bias) helps flatten the face at impact. CG is also lower in long irons, to produce easier launches and higher flight. As you go from long irons to mid irons to short irons, the offset decreases gradually but significantly, creating the clean lines that top players expect in their scoring clubs. Flight decreases as spin rates increase and the trajectory profile behaves as a player would expect.
The shapes were developed with input from tour players, including those who joined McLaren as ambassadors.
The loft pretty much matches what we would expect from a modern player’s iron. A 46-degree pitching wedge means a 50- or 52-degree gap still makes sense, while a 34-degree 7-iron suggests a focus on making clean distance shots.
Series 3
Yes. We just went straight through Series 2. Nothing to see here (yet).
There is a case to be made that the Series 3 iron can fit comfortably in either the game improvement category or the player’s distance category. The non-specific claim here is a balance of performance and forgiveness. It shares a lot of technology with the Series 1, but the implementation is different, and as you’d expect going from a blade to something more forgiving, the Series 3 is generally bigger, the offset a bit more generous and the topline noticeably thicker.
Like the Series 1, the Series 3 features a mesh cavity structural design. You’re still getting the progressive CG approach, too. Each iron uses a centrally located tungsten weight (10 to 17 grams depending on the loft). Accurate weight placement is aided by a carbon fiber cover that also helps dampen vibration. And to be clear: we’re talking carbon fiber here, not some other carbon-printed material.
Series 3 also features tungsten finger weights. It’s not an unfamiliar approach in this category and, as always, it’s about the number at the CG location and the performance of the individual irons in the set.
Perhaps the most notable feature of the 3 Series is its unique design. It’s a dual cam sole which simply means it has curvature from toe to heel as well as front to back. Sole design and its role in terrain interaction has long been a focus of JP Harrington’s work, so it’s no surprise to find it highlighted here.
The objective is to promote single center contact with the ground. Think of it as an extra measure of protection against fat shock that also helps ensure longer-lasting results.
The loft package is compatible with similar iron designs. At 44 degrees, the PW is strong, but not overwhelming. A 7-31 degree iron is quite reasonable.
The Road Not Traveled (yet)
McLaren’s golf lineup is, for today, limited to these two sets of irons. As you’ve probably gathered from the naming convention, there’s clearly room for a Series 2 iron. Look for it in early 2027.
Arrival dates for the rest of the lineup have not been shared, but make no mistake about the target. McLaren has every intention of establishing itself as a complete company. Irons today, the rest tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. It’s a metaphor. The thing is, additional product lines are being developed in parallel, and what you see today is really just the beginning.
conclusion
The McLaren Series 1 and Series 3 are positioned as timeless premium models. If you want to think of them as craftsman clubs, I’m sure McLaren would be fine with that. The subtleties of the design hide the underlying technology and while this is perhaps not what we expected, it seems that McLaren is content to let the performance do the talking.
Along the same lines, the company isn’t making bold claims about performance. I encourage you, the golfer, to do your own testing and decide.
Of course, as you’d expect, this design comes at a cost. Retail price for the Series 1 and Series 3 irons is $375 per iron, just over $2,600 for a basic build. Add shaft and handle upgrades and it’s easy to climb north of $3,000.
Price and availability
McLaren Series 1 and Series 3 irons are available through custom locations including Club Champion, True Spec and others. There are no current plans to distribute through major retailers such as Golf Galaxy or PGA TOUR Superstore.
For more information, visit McLarenGolf.com.
