Hey, who doesn’t love a good surprise? 

I’m a lucky guy because it’s my job to hit golf clubs. Every year, we know the big OEMs are going to deliver quality stuff because, well, they’re good at what they do. We’re rarely disappointed.

The surprises usually come from the fringes. I may only be a sample of one, but of all the irons I’ve tried this year, the new forged sticks from Maxfli are the surprise club of 2025.

We first saw these new Maxfli irons back in March. We’ve since had the opportunity to learn how and why DICK’S went about creating them, and to get them on the course for some real world experience. After a few rounds, maybe they shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

Forged goodness from the folks at DICK’S

Maxfli has been a DICK’s Sporting Goods store brand since 2008, but its history goes back at least a century to England and The Dunlop Rubber Company. In the late 19th century, Dunlop was a leading tire manufacturer and, like so many tire manufacturers have over the years, it branched into golf and tennis.

In 1923, Dunlop introduced the Maxfli golf ball, developed by one Albert E. Penfold (who would go on to start his own golf ball company three years later). At that year’s Open Championship, more than 75 percent of the field played a Maxfli, including eventual champion Arthur Havers.

Maxfli earned its name in the U.S. in the late 1940s. A production mishap caused the elastic winding around its cores to be too tight. The USGA deemed those balls non-conforming, as they exceeded maximum velocity standards. Once golfers found out Maxfli balls were “too hot,” they bought them in droves, putting Maxfli on the map in the U.S.

Maxfli remained a premier name in golf until 2003. That’s when TaylorMade bought the brand name and all its associated patents from Dunlop. Before the purchase, TaylorMade’s ball market share was less than one percent. TaylorMade used the patents to build up its golf ball brand, selling off the Maxfli carcass to DICK’S in 2008.

DICK’S resurrection of the Maxfli golf ball brand is now complete. Ben Griffin’s victory at the Zurich Classic put Maxfli in the winner’s circle for the first time since 2003. Now the attention turns to irons, specifically the first forged irons to bear the Maxfli name since the 1997 Australian Blades.

All-in on the Maxfli XC2 and XC3

“The ball is our flagship product,” Quinn Silker, the Golf Equipment Business Development Associate for DICK’S, tells MyGolfSpy. “But what we’re trying to do is make an iron that offers incredible performance at an awesome value. That’s our brand language here.”

Actually, that’s fairly standard boilerplate language from any golf OEM. The new Maxfli XC2 and XC3 irons, however, are virgin territory for DICK’S. These are serious golf irons. Both the players’ distance XC2 and game improvement-ish XC2 are single-piece, six-step forgings designed by the folks at the DICK’S-owned Golfworks.

“We started talking about these just over three years ago,” says Silker. The actual development time was 18 months to two years. We created the design criteria and aesthetics. The Golfworks team did the engineering.”

The skinny on both iron sets is pretty simple. Both are 1025 carbon steel single-piece forgings, albeit with a twist. The first three steps in the five-step forging process turn a blank billet into the rough shape of a golf club. The fourth step then applies 1,200 tons of pressure to refine the shape while leaving small openings in the back.

Maxfli’s manufacturer then inserts light ceramic weights in the middle and heavier tungsten weights on the perimeter.

“We place another piece of 1025 over the opening to cover the inserts,” says Silker. “It’s then heated back up again and forged back into a single piece. That co-forging process lets us dial in the CG and create perimeter weighting.”

The sixth and final forging step applies 2,000 tons of pressure to create a uniform grain structure in the carbon steel.

These sets are made for blending…

In most cases, that’s just what you’ll do.

In a trend I sincerely hope more OEMs will follow, the loft and lie specs of both the XC2 and XC3 are exactly the same. That makes blending the set seamless and minimizes any hinkiness at the transition.

“The XC3 is a little bit bigger and more forgiving,” Silker explains. “The XC2 topline is a little thinner, but we’ve matched lofts and lies to make the transition smooth. If  you hold an XC2 7-iron next to an XC3 6-iron, it feels like a pretty natural progression from one to the other.”

Both sets feature a progressive sole design. The long irons feature slightly wider soles that get narrower as the irons get shorter. Both also feature leading-edge relief to improve turf interaction. Slight chunks won’t fly like a pure strike, obviously, but they did go a good bit farther than I would have expected.

Given its relationship with Golfworks, DICK’S is leaning heavily into the Maltby Playability Factor (MPF). MPF measures vertical and horizontal centers of gravity and gives a number to tell how forgiving an iron is. Even though the Maxlfi XC2 and XC3 are single-piece forgings, both are playing in a different stratosphere for forgiveness.

“We’re calling the XC2 a players’ distance iron and the XC3 a game improvement iron,” says Silker. “The players’ distance category is a little askew since most irons in that category have hollow bodies and hot faces, while we’re a single-piece forging. But in the Maltby Playability Factor, the XC2 falls into the super game improvement category.

“The closest comp I can find for the XC3 is the Stealth HD, which puts it in the ultra-game improvement category.”

That level of forgiveness in that kind of package? Like I said: Surprise.

Are they any good?

Again, I’m a sample of one, but a few early-season rounds and several range sessions with the Maxfli XC2 (I haven’t tried the XC3) say yes. You can play good golf with these.

The lofts are typical for the players’ distance category (30.5o 7-iron), but on the weak side for a game improvement iron. On the launch monitor, I was getting a consistent 170-175 distance with the 7-iron, a distance that did translate to the course. As mentioned, the occasional mishits were way better than I’d have expected. The Maxflis are forgiving.

Feel is, well, outstanding. I know it’s impossible since it’s a single-piece forging, but it almost feels like the face is flexing a bit at impact. It’s an old-school softness that I’d stack up against anybody’s forgings.

And yes, I’m including Mizuno and Srixon, too.

Told you it was a surprise.

The Maxfli XC2 and XC3 irons show DICK’S is getting serious

DICK’S isn’t screwing around here, people. There were high hopes for the Tommy Armour 845s Forged irons a few years back. It was a great-looking iron, but the performance was more meh than anything else. Since then, the Tommy Armour brand has produced some excellent super game improvement irons that tested well for us and, for the price, were incredible values.

These Maxfli irons, however, are serious golf clubs.

“Everyone we’ve given this club to try has said, ‘Damn, this is going in the bag,’” says Silker. “Whether they do put it in the bag is another question. But we know that if they hit a few shots, get that feel, see what they look like and get their numbers, they’ll know it’s legit.”

Pricewise, the Maxfli XC2 and XC3 are $999 for a seven-piece set, or roughly $143 per club. That puts them in the same price range as the new Ben Hogan CB/MB and Legend irons, as well as the Sub 70 699/699 Pro irons. There is, however, one big difference.

You can go into a store and actually demo the new Maxfli irons. If you’re so inclined, you can even go through an in-person fitting.

That puts them in a slightly different category, doesn’t it?

“If an OEM was selling this set to our buying team downstairs, they’d easily be a $1,500 retail iron set,” explains Silker. “We’ve seen the comments that say, ‘Ooh, that’s too much, that’s too much.’

“We’re not screwing around here. These aren’t a value play. They deliver awesome performance.”

It’s all about perspective

You can quibble whether Maxfli is a true Direct-to-consumer brand. However, as reasonable adults, we can agree that there are procedural efficiencies inherent to the DICK’S/Maxfli model. Cost of goods sold is cost of goods sold, whether you own the factory or not.

Therefore, comparing the Maxfli XC2 and XC3 irons to true DTC brands is one thing. Comparing them to mainstream OEMs is another. Maxfli’s $999 price is nearly 30 percent less than the Mizuno JPX Forged, TaylorMade P770/790, Callaway Apex Ai 200 and Ai 300 and Titleist T200. It’s 23 percent less than the PING i530, Srixon ZXi4-ZXi5 and COBRA KING TEC.

The question, then, is simple. If performance is equivalent, is saving $300 to $400 enough to move you? For a set you can’t demo or get fit for, it might not be. For a set you can demo and get fit for, we’re having a different discussion. However, if your first argument against is “resale value,” that’s planning for failure. You’re starting your divorce fund before getting to the “I do.”

“We learned a lot from the golf ball,” admits Silker. “The biggest thing there was getting it in people’s hands. We want to drive people to our store to try these out.”

To that end, Golf Galaxy and DICK’S House of Sport location will be holding “official” Maxfli launch events this weekend. These events are designed to encourage you to at least give the new irons a try and include free club and ball fittings, gifts with purchase and more.

“We have 120-plus Golf Galaxy stores and another 700-plus DICK’S Sporting Goods stores,” says Silker. “There’s at least one person in every location to do a fitting. It’s a benefit we have that DTC companies really don’t.”

Maxfli XC3 specs

Maxfli XC2 and XC3 irons: Specs, price and availability

DICK’S and Golf Galaxy have listed both Maxfli irons on their websites for weeks now, but the company says full availability and shipping will start this week. The stock XC2 seven-piece set is 4-iron through PW, with an option gap wedge. The stock XC3 set is 5-iron through gap wedge, with an optional 4-iron.

True Temper’s versatile Dynamic Gold Mid is the stock steel shaft, while the UST Mamiya Recoil Dart HDC is the stock graphite. Both shafts fit a wide variety of players, which is a good thing because every other shaft in the portfolio comes with an upcharge.

It’s the same with grips. The Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 is standard, while all other grip choices are at an upcharge. Length and lie adjustments are at no charge. Golfworks is handling all assembly.

Stock Maxfli XC2 and XC3 sets will retail for $999.99 and are available online and at all Golf Galaxy and DICK’S location.

Maxfli XC2 specs

You can check them out right now on both the DICK’S and Golf Galaxy websites.

The post Why These Maxfli Forged Irons Are The Surprise Of 2025 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.