Taylormade 320 Irons Review – Still Good And Forgiving for High Handicappers?

Taylormade 320 Irons Review? Still Good And Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The Taylormade 320 irons came out in 2000. They came out after the popular Super Steel irons but before the RAC irons. So they were sandwiched between a couple of iconic iron lines.”

And maybe that’s why they tend to get overlooked.

The Taylormade 320 irons may be old and may have been overshadowed by previous and subsequent models, but I was really surprised at the detail and technology that went into these irons.

When I got them in for testing, I was impressed with the clean looks of them.

When I got them on the course for testing, I was impressed with their performance. But is there enough value here for high handicappers?

Is there a reason the Taylormade 320 irons have been overshadowed by other Taylormade irons? Let’s talk about it.

Are Taylormade 320 Irons Still Good?

“The Taylormade 320 irons feature the feel cartridge which was innovative in 2000 era irons.”

The feel cartridge is a little insert that is wedged into the cavity undercut. It is installed downwards so most of its effects can be felt on low-face shots.

But what it does is mutes harsh vibration on mis-hits and gives the clubs a softer feel. The softer material of the “Feel Cartridge” is also supposed to enhance ball speeds.

I found that all of the above claims were true. In fact, I recently tested the Taylormade 360 irons and my only complaint about them was that they didn’t play very long.

The Taylormade 320 irons seem to remedy that problem. I was getting excellent ball speeds on low-face shots.

And on pure strikes, I was seeing the ball go as long as my gamer irons.

The Taylormade 320 irons feature progressive CG meaning that the CG is lower in the long irons and higher in the short irons.

At address, the Taylormade 320 irons have a slim topline and an overall head profile that is just a touch on the compact side. So at address, they actually look quite nice.

Also helping with distance is the impact pad. Now this, as far as I can tell, is the predecessor of the Cap Back design we see in modern Taylormade clubs.

The Cap Back design uses a soft polymer layer that increases face flexion to boost distance.

The “impact pad” pretty much does the same thing. It’s located just behind the sweet spot to give your pure strikes a little more oomph.

Are the Taylormade 320 Irons Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The best thing that the Taylormade 320 irons do for high handicappers is create easy distance.”

The Taylormade 320 irons also excel at saving thin shots. When I hit the bottom scoring lines, I was still getting really good apex height, ball speed and spin rates.

Speaking of apex height, the Taylormade 320 irons launch very high. The 9-iron checks in at 43° so you can imagine how the rest of the set launches.

This is another good thing for handicappers since it’s this class of player that tends to struggle to get the ball up in the air.

But there are a couple of things that may trip high handicappers up.

Firstly, the Taylormade 320 irons aren’t as forgiving as the Taylormade 360 irons.

The length from heel to toe is shorter and the sweet spot isn’t as big. Secondly, the turf interaction wasn’t the greatest.

The Taylormade 320’s have a sort of blunt edge that is prone to digging.

But as long as you aren’t aiming for the turf, you should be alright.

For the most part, I was getting really tight dispersion from these irons as well – typically landing the ball within 8 yards of the target.