MacGregor MT Milled Iron Review: Forgiveness in a Forged Iron
We put the MacGregor MT Milled Iron under the microscope and learned feel can come with forgiveness
Finally. A beautiful set of fully-forged irons that are playable for everyone from low single-digit handicap players all the way to the upper-tier of the mid-handicappers. Oh by the way, they’re also ridiculously affordable. Meet the new MacGregor MT Milled irons.
These irons come off as a better players iron, a forged cavity back with a muscly bottom end and a small, attractive profile. And make no mistake, the are a great choice for strong ballstrikers. But that beefy sole actually provides more than enough forgiveness – wait until you see the mis-hit data I collected – to make these irons suitable for higher-handicap, less elite ball-strikers as well.
I’ve spent the last month putting the new MacGregor MT Milled irons under the microscope to give you this complete, honest review. Let’s check them out.
How We Tested the MacGregor MT Milled Irons
I’ve extensively tested the MacGregor MT Milled irons in several conditions over four weeks. Using the Rapsodo MLM2Pro launch monitor, I tested them indoors and out to gather launch, spin, carry distance, total distance, and accuracy data.
That information paints a strong picture of what the irons are capable of, but without testing them on the course, it’s impossible to give you an honest opinion of how I think they’ll play, so I logged several rounds with them, tracking on-course data with Shot Scope.
MacGregor MT Milled Irons Pros, Cons & Top Takeaways
MacGregor MT Milled IronsShop Heads Only
Price: $549 (5-PW)
Heads Only: $449
Construction: Fully forged 1020
My biggest takeaway from testing the MacGregor MT Milled Irons is that MacGregor is actually underselling the forgiveness that’s packed into these irons. Sure, MacGregor touts “cavity back like forgiveness” in the description, but I measured some mis-hits off the outer edges of the club face that proved there are minimal ball speed and distance dropoffs across the face, much less than you’d expect from a forged players iron.
When you miss the center, you can absolutely feel the difference compared to a center-strike, which is a huge reason you play forged irons in the first place, but you can get away with it with these MT Milled irons more than you’d think if you believe everything you read about forged players irons on the internet.
The feedback you get from the MT Milled irons is excellent, and when you do find the center, a double shot of dopamine shoots from the forged head, through the shaft, into your hands, then overtakes your body. It’s stimulating.
In case you’re wondering why we keep specifying “fully fogred” that’s because it’s become common in recent years for manufactures to put a forged face on a cast iron and tag it “forged.” These are fully forged, not “fauxrged” as some creative Reddit users have coined the alternative.
If you want to save somewhere near $1,000 on a new set of forged irons, this is the first set you should check out.
Pros:
- Fully forged head
- Players profile with smaller footprint
- Surprisingly exceptional forgiveness across the face
- Plenty of shaft and grip options, plus length, lie and loft adjustment to fit any spec
- One of, if not the best value players iron of 2024
Cons:
- Tradtitional in-person fitting not available
- Return policy is not favorable if you try them and decide they aren’t for you
MacGregor MT Milled Iron Performance Review
After all my on-course, driving range, and simulator testing, here’s how the MacGregor MT Milled irons performed.
Distance & Ball Flight
The lofts of the MT Milled irons are fairly neutral, the 7-iron has 31 degrees of loft. They’re not as strong as the lofts you’ll find on game-improvement irons, but they’re also stronger than the lofts of purely better player irons. In my testing, the MacGregor irons churned out predictable distances given their lofts and the distances I typically expect to hit my irons.
If you switch from irons with a larger loft discrepancy (a much stronger 7-iron, for example), you may need to adjust distances slightly.
With all that said, the MacGregor MT Milled irons produced stout distances. Coming from more of a distance-centric iron, I wasn’t sure how the MT Milled would stack up, but the best description I can give you is the distances are quite comparable to distance irons.
While the distances were comparable, my testing showed the MT Milled irons excelled in the air. I consistently produced better apex and descent angles – meaning better green-holding-power – with the MT Milled irons in my hands.
According to Shot Scope, the MacGregor MT Milled irons helped me hit more greens, and produced a noticeable improvement in proximity.
From 100-175 yards, I saw a 12.5% improvement in Greens in Regulation, and a 15-foot improvement in proximity to the hole with the MacGregor irons. Considering Greens in Regulation is the statistic that most directly relates to scoring, that’s a meaningful improvement.
Forgiveness
If this is the kind of performance you can live with from a mis-hit 7-iron, these irons could be a good for you
I teased just how forgiving these MT Milled irons are earlier, and now I’ll give you the full scoop. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so check out this image of a 7-iron shot that was visibly way off the heel – ever so close to the dreaded shank zone – captured by the Rapsodo MLM2Pro impact camera. That’s a scary place on the club face to miss, but check out the result.
That mis-hit still produced serviceable ball speed and distance, and only missed the target line by eight yards.
In other words, on the course that near-shank would have produced a shot that ended up on or near the front-left of the green. No harm done there.
While missing across the face horizontally produces serviceable results that probably won’t do too much damage to your scorecard, I can’t say the same for missing high or low on the face. You’re not going to get away with fatting and thinning it around the course with any clubs, and I’m not here to try to convince you that these are any different.
If you’re a higher-handicap player, anywhere up to the high-teens is about the top end of who I’d recommend these irons for, the forgiveness factor comes down to one question. Do you want a forgiving iron that feels solid no matter where you hit it on the face, or do you want one that only delivers a rewarding feeling when struck on the sweet spot, giving you blunt feedback from every strike?
Some players prefer a great feel from every strike, and you can certainly get that from today’s hollow-body irons that are injected with good-feeling stuff behind the face. However, if you want instant feedback on where every shot is struck, without much performance dropoff on those off-center strikes, that’s exactly what you’ll get with these MT Milled irons.
Rapsodo Launch Monitor Review: Is the MLM2Pro Worth $699?
Look & Feel
I’ve already talked a lot about the look and feel of these irons, and I’ve included plenty of pictures for you to make up your own mind on the appearance, but I’ll sum up my thoughts in a few short sentences anyways.
I’m a huge fan of the minimalist looks of the irons. At address, the iron has a compact footprint but is not intimidating.
The feel is exactly what you’d want from a forged iron. You get excellent feedback, be it good or bad, on every shot.
This is also an appropriate place to mention that these heads are available in a black finish. It’s certainly a clean look, but in my opinion, part of the appeal of these irons is the classic, minimalist, vintage MacGregor look. The black heads don’t necessarily excite my nostalgic juices, but it still looks nice and I can see why people gravitate to that style.
MacGregor MT Milled Price and Value
I can’t wait any longer to tell you that you can put these in the bag for only $549 for a 5-iron through PW set, and you can also add a 4-iron and/or gap wedge for a little bit more.
What’s even better, if you already have shafts that work for you, or you’re up to try some club-building yourself, a set of heads only will only set you back $459. If you opt for the black version, be it the heads only or the full club, those cost a little more.
Despite that attractive price, you get all premium components with this set. The list of stock, no-upcharge shafts you can choose from includes:
- KBS Tour V Steel
- KBS Tour Steel
- UST Recoil 760 ES Smacwrap (graphite)
- Dynamic Gold R300, S300, X100
- KBS Tour 90
- KBS Tour (110g)
You can also choose a couple other KBS shaft options, including the $-Taper and C-Taper 95, for a small ($20-25 upcharge per club). On the other end, they’re equipped with Lamkin grips.
Compare that to the new PING Bluepring S irons, which were also released in 2024 and share a similar (though not identical) profile, and the MacGregor irons are $725 less than those PING irons, which run $1,275 for a 5-PW set.
The bottom line is, the MacGregor MT Milled irons are easily less than half the cost of most big-name competitors.
Who Should Play MacGregor MT Milled Irons?
All of this comes down to the five-hundred-and-fifty-dollar question: should I play the MacGregor MT Milled Irons?
My biggest takeaway from this test is that they’re a great option for a huge range of players. The traditional narrative around forged irons is that they’re reserved for elite, or at least very good, ball strikers. I think I’ve disproven that theory with these irons. You won’t be penalized much for missing the sweet spot thanks to that bulk behind the face that tapers into the heel and toe. You’ll feel it, but your scorecard probably won’t.
If you’ve been dreaming about moving into a set of forged irons, but you’re afraid your ball-striking isn’t consistent enough, these irons will show you there’s nothing to be afraid of.
On the other end of the spectrum, these have the footprint, feel, and workability to satisfy much better players as well.
Beyond that, these would be a great option for players who want a great-looking, great-feeling fully forged iron at the best possible price.
My biggest gripe with the MacGregor MT Milled irons is that you really have no opportunity to test them before you buy. Given MacGregor’s direct-to-consumer model – the model that makes the attractive price tag possible – you won’t find them at your local fitter for the opportunity to test or compare them before adding them to your bag.
Many direct-to-consumer club-makers overcome that hurdle by offering consumer-friendly demo programs or no-questions-asked return windows, which give you the chance to test them yourself with the opportunity to return or exchange them if they’re not what you had hoped for. Once you hit your new MacGregor clubs, on the other hand, you cannot return them.
MacGregor MT Milled Iron Specs
|
Iron |
Loft |
Offset |
|
4 |
21 |
3.5 |
|
5 |
24 |
3.5 |
|
6 |
27 |
3.5 |
|
7 |
31 |
3 |
|
8 |
35 |
3 |
|
9 |
39 |
3 |
|
PW |
44 |
3 |
|
GW |
48 |
1.5 |