I just got back from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2011 at Makuhari Messe, a long 12 hour day of photo taking. I’ve got over 900 photos to sort through so I thought I’d do that over the weekend and instead do a quick review of the new ONOFF Forged Iron for 2011. While ONOFF refreshes their woods once a year, typically iron models are updated every 2 years with the Red model updated during even number years and the Plus model during odd number years. I was lucky enough (as always) to get the new ONOFF Forged Iron for 2011 back in late November for testing. I spent two weeks with the iron and will give some feedback in this post on what I thought.

RED or PLUS – Both forgiving…

ONOFF is a very popular average golfer brand in Japan. Their clubs always look good, feel good and perform, especially for ease of use. There has always been two lines, the ONOFF RED for average golfers and the ONOFF PLUS for the better golfer and athlete player. Even their PLUS line has always been know to be very forgiving. Starting with last years 2010 RED iron, ONOFF took forgiveness up another notch. They seem to have done another shift on the scale more towards forgiveness as the RED model went from a very good average golfer model and even mid capper model to a larger, more offset high handicapper model or dare I say it beginner iron.  This allowed ONOFF to release the PLUS version with a similar shift towards more forgiveness.

No PLUS – Just Forged

The 2009 ONOFF Plus Forged was a great iron and one of my personal favorites. It always got great comments for a simple look, thin top line and sole and while not compact still smallish and possessing awesome feel plus forgiveness. So how does the 2011 model stack up?  Interestingly as I talked about the shift towards forgiveness, I should also note that ONOFF for this new Forged model has dropped the PLUS moniker.

Less tungten in sole…

There are several design changes in the new model compared to the 2009, with conforming grooves being the most obvious. The 2011 model does possess a tungsten sole as did the 2009 model however the weighting is not as heavy, about 20g less. And while this would suggest that the CG has moved up higher in the head, the sole and cavity of the iron are in fact bigger/deeper (as you can see in the first picture above right) thanks to a tapered cavity keeping weight towards the bottom of the club. Overall the head appears larger than the 2009 model as well as what looks like a bit more offset.  ONOFF stresses that the key points of the new 2011 model are ease of use and soft feel.

Not really a small cavity back…

As I noted I am a very huge fan of the 2009 model so I had very high expectations for this iron. When I first received it, admittedly I was a bit turned off by its look and size. But this is a personal thing and probably because I got so used to the 2009 model.  Visually the face profile of the new 2011 model is pretty good, it has a sharp toe and a nice straight top blade. While there is more offset and the head appears larger, its not huge by any means however I’d say it leans more towards mid sized than compact sized, but still somewhere in between. The sole features a blunt leading edge and as you can see from the picture below, the tungsten is actually the back part of the sole.

Soft and easy…

So how does all this translate into performance? The 2011 ONOFF Forged is very soft at impact. There are many in Japan who thought that 2009 ONOFF Plus Forged was one of the softest irons of the last two years and the new 2011 model is just as soft. This is thanks to that triangle/pyramid like design you see in the cavity which increases the thickness of the sweet area. The tester I had came with 850GH Regular steel shafts (which are the standard steel R Flex shafts, stiff is 950GH). As a player who is still improving and a self professed average golfer, I had no problems hitting this iron. It is not difficult to play. ONOFF’s boasted ease of use and forgiveness is certainly there as the forgiving sole and tungsten weight easily help pick the ball up and provide a mid to higher trajectory. It does not launch as high as the undercut RED irons but its easy to get the ball in the air. Besides feel and ease of use, the iron is relatively workable as I could hit a draw or fade.  Lofts are on the stronger side with a 25* 5 iron so for those better players used to playing more traditional lofts, this iron does provide good distance.

A forged option for the improving golfer…

So the bottom line is a nice iron, with good ease of use and great feel. Looks are subjective but I have to say, that low handicappers and better players may balk at the size and offset. However low handicappers and better players looking for forgiveness and distance should not rule this iron out.  On the other hand, mid cappers and fast improving golfers who are ready to move to a forged iron or simply want a softer feel without losing distance have another great choice along with the VG3, Machspeed Forged, XXIO Forged, GR Forged etc to choose from. Plus there is a graphite option for those who want something more lightweight and easy to swing.

ONOFF continues to produce clubs that are easy to use and that appeal to the largest segment of golfers in Japan. Look for the new irons in the TSG Pro Shop this weekend and as always here are a few more pictures I took.

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