Tommy Armour 845-MAX Irons: Tested & Reviewed
Tommy Armour 845-MAX Irons
It’s getting easier and easier to find truly high-quality golf clubs at affordable prices, and the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons, along with the rest of the 845-MAX lineup from Tommy Armour, are a huge part of that favorable trend for budget-conscious golfers.
The Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons come in a 5-iron through AW set and as of this publishing, you can take them home for just $249. Adding to the value is the fact that you can choose between lightweight SL85 steel shafts, or opt for graphite shafts at no additional charge.
When golfers see any reasonably-priced golf equipment, the first question they ask is always “is it actually good?”
It’s a fair question, and we wanted to find out for ourselves, so we tested them out under the watchful eye of a Foresight GC Quad. Here’s our unbiased, first-hand, data-based review of the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons.
The Final Verdict: Tommy Armour 845-MAX Irons
Tommy Armour 845-MAX iron
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Price (5-AW): $249
Category: Super Game Improvement
Lofts (7/PW): 31°/45°
Shaft Options: SL85 Steel / UST Mamiya Recoil 660 SC Graphite
Performance-wise, the Tommy Armour 845 irons proved to be long, accurate, forgiving and pretty high launching. For a super-game-improvement iron, the performance is exactly what you’d want. Once you factor in that $249 price tag, they become a serious contender.
Tommy Armour 845-MAX Pros & Cons
We hit a lot of shots, and collected a lot of data, with the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons. On top of that, we have some thoughts on the look and feel of the irons, so let’s lay out the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Steel or graphite shaft options with no up-charge
- Shaft pairing fits the profile well: lightweight, easy to swing
- Pretty large offset - if you’re shopping in this category, that’s what you’re going to get
- Lofts are quite reasonable compared to many SGI sets today, which makes wedge selection easy, yet they still produce dominating distance
- Excellent value at $249
- Great option for beginning golfers who want to improve, budget-conscious high-handicappers, and players with slower swing speeds who prefer lighter, easy-to-swing clubs
Cons:
- Design style with accent colors and logos is busy and becoming outdated
- Not ideal for mid-handicap players or better
Who Are Tommy Armour 845-MAX Irons For?
Tommy Armour 845-MAX iron
As a super game improvement iron, the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons are designed for distance and forgiveness, aiming to launch high while being easy to hit.
With these attributes taking priority over aesthetics, feel, sound and workability, the 845-MAX irons appeal to higher-handicap golfers who want irons that launch high, fly straight and travel far.
Players who prefer a straighter shot shape over working the ball either direction, and players who want maximum distance from their irons should flock to the 845-MAX.
Players who want more workability, or prefer a clean or more traditional aesthetic to their irons but still want to get a great value have plenty of great budget-friendly choices, but are not best suited for the 845-MAX.
Here’s how the TA 845-MAX irons performed in every category.
Performance Review: Distance
Since everybody wants more distance, we’ll lead with that.
The Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons churned out more distance than every game-improvement iron we’ve tested this year. In fact, the TA 845-MAX 7-iron was 12 more longer the longest game improvement iron we tested this year, the TaylorMade Stealth.
Of course, there are a couple noteworthy tidbits about that fact. First, the 845-MAX irons live in the super game improvement category, and therefore have even more emphasis on distance than the game improvement counterparts, which may hedge on distance to improve looks, feel, sound, workability and stopping power.
Second, these tests were not done on the same day, and some days you’re just hitting it better than others.
If you’re wondering about the lofts, the 845-MAX 7-iron is actually three degrees weaker than the Stealth.
The bottom line is, the 845-MAX irons are long.
Stopping Power (Spin & Descent Angle)
Distance from your irons is great, but if they can’t hold a green, they will not help you shoot lower scores. That brings us to our stopping power evaluation, where we considered spin and descent angle.
The ideal descent angle for a 7-iron is between 44-48 degrees, and the 845-MAX checked in at an average of 48.9 degrees in our testing.
Most golfers don’t think about descent angle, and that’s understandable, but this performance should really get golfers who are considering upgrading to the 845-MAX excited. Hitting greens is hard – especially for golfers shopping in the super game improvement category – but doing so is the quickest way to shoot better scores.
The 845-MAX is a slightly lower-spinning iron, which is to be expected from an iron in this category. They provide enough spin to hold greens, especially given the steep descent angle, but low enough spin to maximize distance.
Accuracy & Forgiveness
During testing, the TA 845-MAX proved to be quite accurate. They produced a consistent shot shape, shot after shot, and misses were less offline than with the group of game improvement irons we tested.
Don’t count on shaping the ball at will with these irons, but you can rely on a straighter ball flight and tighter dispersion pattern than you’d get with game improvement or players irons.
Look & Feel
Tommy Armour 845-MAX iron at address
The look and feel of the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons is pretty standard for a super game improvement iron. This is really the lowest priority of any SGI, with all the tech focused on producing a long and forgiving iron.
The 845-MAX’s large cavity, thick topline, healthy amount of offset, with colors, logos and accents on the back of the club, were all pretty standard when they were released in 2021, and most of those elements are non-negotiables in the SGI category.
However, even in the short year-plus since their launch, the game has changed. Many competitors today offer a hollow-bodied, muscle-back shaped game improvement iron, replacing the flashy highlights and logos on the back with a cleaner, more classic look.
Impact with the 845-MAX feels solid. Well-struck shots are rewarded with a satisfying feel, and mis-hits provided enough feedback to know where you missed it.
Tommy Armour 845-MAX Specs
|
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
PW |
AW |
|
|
Loft |
24° |
27° |
31° |
35° |
40° |
45° |
50° |
|
Length |
38.5” |
37.75” |
37.25” |
36.75” |
36.25” |
35.75 |
35.5” |
Tommy Armour & the Growing Value Golf Club Market
One of the biggest roadblocks for Tommy Armour could be that in the last couple years alone, there is so much more competition in the sub-$500 range for really good irons.
The difference, however, is that most of the new competitors offer either a really good-looking club, or a nostalgic brand that golfers are excited to interact with, or both.
For example, direct-to-consumer club-makers like Sub 70 and Takomo are building out their club offerings and proving their worth. Meanwhile, the powerhouses of yesteryear brands like RAM, Snake Eyes, Zebra, MacGregor and Adams have launched comebacks – mostly at affordable price points – within the last year.
The Tommy Armour brand has some nostalgia of its own, but the 845-MAX irons might not stand out from the crowd quite as much now as when the lineup was launched. However, we can tell you from experience that these irons would be a great fit for any budget-conscious player shopping in the super game improvement category.