Are the Titleist 804 OS Irons Still Good? Are They Forgiving For High Handicappers?

Are the Titleist 804 OS Irons Still Good? Are They Forgiving For High Handicappers?

“There was a time when Titleist was making a concerted effort to overtake the game improvement market.”

The Titleist 804 OS irons are relics of that era. Along with some of the forged CB irons, the Titleist 804 OS irons were developed with high handicap players in mind – you can tell just by looking at them.

Since that time, Titleist has shifted back towards clubs that are geared towards better players. Does that mean that their past game improvement efforts are altogether forgettable?

Could some of their older GI irons be of value to today’s high handicap player? Let’s find out by taking a close look at the Titleist 804 OS irons.

Are Titleist 804 OS Irons Still Good?

“Any time you see the letters OS in the name of a gold club, you should know the club is going to be big.”

It should come as no surprise to any golfer that “OS” stands for oversized. And it’s almost laughable that Titleist used the OS moniker for these irons.

Yes, they are bigger than your average Titleist irons; but Titleist seems inherently averse to making objectively beefy irons.

When you compare the Titleist 804 OS irons to Taylormade or Callaway game improvement irons of the same era, the Titleist 804 OS’s still look like butter knives.

All jokes aside though, I liked the fact that the offset was noticeable in the long irons of this set. The offset in the short irons shrinks up to provide more control.

The Titleist 804 OS irons are forged from stainless steel. Stainless steel forging doesn’t produce as soft a feel as carbon steel forging; but it is more durable.

So if you invest in the Titleist 804 OS irons, you will probably be able to pass them down to your kids one day.

The Titleist 804 OS irons have a cavity back design but again, this is a cavity back done by Titleist. So don’t expect a cavity that you can eat your cereal out of.

There is just enough of a cavity to push weight out to the perimeter of the head; but not enough to produce a huge cavity undercut.

But for me, that was a plus. Despite the relatively long blade length, the Titleist 804 OS irons look very clean at address – as is expected from Titleist.

In general though, I think the Titleist 804 OS irons are lost in a no man’s land between game improvement and player’s performance.

They are decent clubs if you are a mid handicapper and want a set that will last a long time. But it’s sort of hard to justify getting these over other game improvement or player’s performance irons.

Are the Titleist 804 OS Irons Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The best thing about the Titleist 804 OS irons for high handicappers is that they are long from heel to toe.”

Naturally, the Titleist 804 OS irons have a lot of side-to-side forgiveness. The forged stainless steel also allows for crisp, clear feedback.

Clear feedback is always good for high handicappers because, should they mis-hit, they will know exactly how they mis-hit and will be able to correct the problem on subsequent shots.

But at address, you will be looking at a fairly thin top line and soles that border on narrow.

Again, for an experienced player like me, this is preferable. But I can imagine that the looks of the Titleist 804 OS irons would scare some high handicap players off.

The offset is generous which is another plus for high handicappers. I was able to get straight flight out of the long irons in this set, swing after swing.

The consistency across the face is also remarkable – another trademark of Titelist. But while you can expect the same distance and dispersion across the face of these irons, they aren’t the most inherently forgiving.

There’s still a relatively small amount of real estate to work with compared to other GI irons.

Overall, I would say the Titleist 804 OS irons are decent for high handicappers; but not unanimously beneficial.

Titleist 804 OS Vs Titleist 775 CB Irons

“The 775 CB irons have a cavity back design and forged construction much like the Titleist 804 OS’s.”

But the 775 CB irons have more offset and larger heads than the Titleist 804 OS’s.

The 775 CB irons certainly aren’t as pretty as the Titleist 804 OS’s. They have a weird, red aluminum bar that runs the length of the cavity in the long irons.

But they are clearly more on the game improvement side and are therefore more forgiving than the Titleist 804 OS irons.