Titleist DCI 962 Irons Review – Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

Titleist DCI 962 Irons Review – Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

“Unlike the Titleist DCI 981 irons, we are told that the Titleist DCI 962’s are made for better players.”

But what does that really mean in a practical sense? Before we tested the Titleist DCI 962 irons, we put them next to the Titleist DCI 981’s to see if we could spot any visual differences. We could see that the Titleist DCI 962’s had a boxier face profile and higher toes throughout the set. Still, they maintain a relatively short blade length.

At a glance, it looked like the Titleist DCI 962’s would still be viable for high handicappers. But what would the testing reveal? Read on to find out!

Titleist DCI 962 Irons Overview

“The design of these irons is pretty basic overall.”

Like the other DCI irons, the Titleist DCI 962’s are cavity back irons. We would say that these are actually medium cavity back irons. They have a medium topline width and the soles are also moderately wide.

They have pretty deep face profiles though. You can see how high the toe area stretches up at address – you almost feel like you can reach out and touch it. This profile is maintained throughout the set. And that would look very promising if you were a high handicapper except for the fact that the blade length is pretty short.

“Amazingly, the Titleist DCI 962 irons have very weak loft profiles with the 9-iron coming in hot at 44°. When compared to modern irons, the Titleist DCI 962’s hold up very well. But how good are they for novice players?”

Are the Titleist DCI 962 Irons Forgiving?

“One of the things we noticed right away was that shots coming out of the bottom of the face were almost not being punished at all in terms of distance.”

We noticed it; but we weren’t too surprised about it. The fact is that there is a good amount of face to work with going up and down. Low-face mis-hits were extremely impressive.

For instance, one low-face strike with the 7-iron produced 154.8 yards – amazing. It was like we hit the ball pure. Even more impressive was the dispersion. On the same kinds of shots, we were nearly landing on the line.

So basically, there is no such thing as a low-face mis-hit with these irons. By that merit alone, we would say the Titleist DCI 962 irons are forgiving.

Now as for toe-side mis-hits, we hit a few of those and saw wider divergence; but it was still remarkably straight. Basically, the Titleist DCI 962 irons want to fly straight and as long as you are moderately accurate, they will. It’s easy to look like a more experienced player than you are with these irons.

Are the Titleist DCI 962 Irons Good for Beginners & High Handicappers?

“Despite the marketing angle when they first came out, we came to the conclusion that the Titleist DCI 962 are good for high and mid handicappers alike.”

One thing we noticed during our testing was that the Titleist DCI 962’s felt a lot like modern game improvement irons. They offer smooth turf interaction, nearly laser-accurate flight and excellent distance.

There are a couple of caveats though. For one thing, high handicappers may have issues keeping the ball out of the wind. The flight can be lofted down if you know how to do so. But if you’re not careful then your ball can easily get lost in the clouds. Another thing is spin rates. Spin was a bit high during our testing which likely won’t be an issue for you if you’re a high handicapper. However, it may present some issues when matching lofts to your current (assuming you’re playing more modern) irons.

Should you Buy the Titleist DCI 962’s Or the Titleist DCI Oversize Irons? 

“As the name implies, the Titleist DCI Oversize irons have a larger footprint than the Titleist DCI 962’s.”

The Titleist DCI Oversize irons are unabashedly for beginners and high handicappers. There is no ambiguity here. Of course, with the oversized head (not oversized by 2023’s standards, just saying), you lose a lot of workability. So if you are seeking pure forgiveness and don’t care about shot shaping, try the Titleist DCI Oversize irons.