It was sometime around late December or early January, which I will remind everyone is often dark and a dreadfully cold time of year in the northern half of Illinois. I should also point out that this in smack-dab in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic. Like most nights, there wasn’t much to do and I was just sitting in my house keeping warm and playing with my kids. Then out of nowhere, my phone rings and I see the name “Jason Hiland” pop up. Naturally, I drop everything and go in the other room to take the call. “Doctor, I have a question about the TAIII irons for you” he says. I wonder to myself, “wait a minute, these irons are already in production for release in the near future…and he designed the clubs. What does he have to ask me about the Sub 70 TAIII irons?”

Not Just Any Sub 70 TAIII Irons

Turns out it was actually about Tommy Armour III’s personal sets of the new TAIII irons. In short, Jason explained to me that while TA3 was heavily involved in the design of the TAIIIs we all know, he had certain specifics he wanted to see and feel with his own gamer irons. Of course, this is not uncommon with professionals and their gamer equipment. Elite golfers are very particular about their clubs and often request significant modifications that greatly differ from standard retail models. (In the old days, many players did all of the dirty work by themselves!)

So anyway, TA hit up Jason and told him he’d like a few particular characteristics in his own sets so they’d setup to his eye perfectly. Two of the big ones were a more squared toe and a straighter leading edge similar to some of the great irons of the mid 1900s. Jason then called to ask me, “as my resident vintage irons collector, do you have any clubs in the archives that might have this look? I could use some pictures to work with.” I told him “absolutely” and that I’d send some over after I put the kids to bed.

Long story short, I sent Jason a lineup of clubs which he sent to TA3 and settled on “the one”. There were a handful of small tweaks from the stock retail design that would require some crafty tricks to achieve the overall outcome TA3 was looking for. While that’s not my story to tell, ultimately, Jason and Co figured out how to put it all together so Mr. Tommy Armour III got exactly what we he wanted in his gamer irons.

My TAIII Irons In the Bag

After Jason reached out to me, we had many discussions comparing different vintage irons to the production version of Sub 70’s new TAIII irons. What could be altered in the production model but not impact the feel and performance? With some final feedback from TA, it felt like Jason was getting close to that final look. Then he said to me on one of our many evening brainstorm sessions, “I’m going to bring in an extra set of TA’s heads in this next batch so I can send you something to work off of. That way you can see it hand and get a better perspective.” Sure enough, some time later, a Sub 70 box showed up at my door. It was the “special grind” TAIII heads, and interestingly enough ended up being the “final version”.

You can read my TAIII irons review here, but these specific clubs mean a lot more to me than some really nice irons. Getting to play the very smallest role in the project was a lot of fun and now I can actually hit them myself. Fortunately, they are indeed REALLY good irons and I happen to hit them really well. Trust me, if I didn’t hit them well, they wouldn’t go in my bag and would just be a cool piece in my collection. That said, you better believe I only had to hit them halfway decent for them to make my bag. They’re just too cool. But regardless, I love them and have had some of the best iron control I’ve had in awhile.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. The Sub 70 TAIII irons have won the bag spot for the 2021 golf season. Of course, like everything in the bag, the iron slot is subject to change at any moment. No spot is ever safe when you’re a gear-hungry golf nerd like myself. But I feel pretty damn good about these irons right now. While these are still very much TAIII irons, they are meticulously refined and unique to be just where TA wants them, and I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to participate. I want to be clear, there’s a good chance I would have gamed the regular TAIII irons this year as well. As mentioned in my review, I tried a prototype last season and was totally blown away. The Sub TAIII irons are flat out fantastic, that’s all you need to know.

I can’t thank Jason enough for the opportunity to be a part of this. Seriously. It was so much much fun to hear him talk about them and the work he went through with the legend that is Tommy Armour III. And let’s be honest, I’ll take any chance I can to deep dive into the world of vintage clubs. Little did I know, a few great golf “nerd out” sessions would turn into one of the greatest sets of irons I’ve ever hit…

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