Tour Edge Exotics C721 Irons

These irons recently popped up all over the place after golf-legend John Daly put a full set of the new Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons in his bag the week of the 2021 Insperity Invitational on the Champions Tour. Then he almost won the tournament. (He finished T-2 after an unfortunate water ball.) The innovative C721 (“C” stands for “competitive”) irons are a first of its kind from Tour Edge and designed to be a player’s distance iron with more traditional looks and great feel. By introducing Diamond Face 2.0 and the new VIBRCOR technology to their irons, Tour Edge has truly taken another big leap in their modern club designs.

The Looks

“Player’s distance irons” is always a bit of a weird category for me. In theory, the irons are supposed to have a lot of game improvement (GI) features, but with the look and feel of a player’s iron. In my opinion, it’s hard to really accomplish both of those things and recreate a “blade” look by any means. That said, I want a more compact head length from heel to toe, a nice shape, minimal offset, and nothing more than a medium topline. That’s exactly how I’d describe Tour Edge’s C721 irons. You’re not going to mistake them for the EXS Pro blades, but the head length and offset is moderate. Right between the player’s and GI categories in my opinion. I’d put the topline on the medium side, but it has a nice roll to it so it doesn’t come off as bulky.

If you’re a tenured player’s distance iron golfer, you know this what you should expect. From that perspective, the C721 irons are a really good looking “PDI” iron. Rather than make the “shiny parts” polished chrome, they have a more matte finish to reduce glare and wear better over time. While a very contemporary look, the aesthetic is tasteful and dare I say it…somewhat elegant. The branding is very smooth and clean.

How Does it Feel?

Like I said before, the Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons really are a first for the brand. While companies have had success utilizing “materials injected into hollow irons” for a bit now, the C721 is Tour Edge’s first. Tour Edge placed their “VIBRCOR” TPU material into two different places of the hollow head so the feel is cleaner and more “pure”. Without this material the head would feel extremely metallic and empty due to the hollow body.

Also contributing to the C721 irons’ feel is another first – Diamond Face 2.0 technology. To date, Tour Edge has only utilized this technology in metalwoods (to great success, I might add), but this the first we’ve seen it in irons. There are 92 diamond shapes of three different thicknesses behind the face to make it more forgiving with a bigger sweet spot and higher ball speeds. Put the Diamond Face together with the VIBRCOR and you get an extremely lively, powerful, and clean feeling iron with plenty of face response.

I’m telling you, this face has great feedback for this style of iron and is generous over much more of the hitting surface. While I won’t sit here and tell you it feels like a forged muscle back, it feels like a solid head that will give you what you need to hit everything from a high draw to a soft butter cut from some hard pan under an old tree. Not that I’d know anything about that…

How Does it Sound?

VIBRCOR also plays a huge role in the sound of the Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons. Without a foam/resin material to dampen these hollow heads, the clubs would sound super empty and more like a metalwood than an iron. And it’s not as simple as injecting just any foam or resin into the head. You have to make sure the blend is just right to optimize feel and sound, and durable enough to withstand the wear and tear of hitting golf balls. So if I think about it, the material has to be somewhat soft and flexible to handle impact, but firm enough to feel like a somewhat solid iron with a good sound.

Ok, I’ll get to the point. Based on utilizing the VIBRCOR injection, the C721 irons naturally have a sound that’s a muted, yet firm and tight, “thwap/whap”. Ease up a bit and it becomes a muted “tick”. It’s a good clean sound. Because of the Diamond Face 2.0 design, the sound is pretty consistent across the face. The extreme misses will sound a little dead, but that’s to be expected with any iron. That said, the dead zone is pleasantly minimal with the C721s (wait until we talk about the E721 irons…). Overall it’s a good solid sound that gives you the feedback you’re looking for.

On-Course Performance

The Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons are every bit of a player’s distance irons, no question. They’re LONG and powerful. My flight was super easy to control with the wind to the point that it was almost a non-factor unless the gusts were massive. My stock shot was a piercing flight with a mild rise for greater distances. Tour Edge also got creative with what they call the “L-Cup Face” for more distance. First, the L-Cup essentially acts as a hinge to help with the face flex at impact. It’s made out of a military-grade steel that allowed Tour Edge to make the face thinner which also increases flex. With the trampoline effect from the Diamond Face and the flex from the L-Cup, there is a lot of jump off of the face.

It’s worth noting that yes, the C721s do have stronger lofts, but it’s relative. Each club is lofted about a club stronger, meaning the 4 iron is more like a 3 iron, etc. Tour Edge offers the set in 3 thru A wedge so if you want to play more traditional gaps in lofts for your irons, you’re covered. This is also common for the player’s distance iron category in general, so just be smart about how you put your bag together.

Final Thoughts – Tour Edge Exotics C721 Irons

Look, buy a set of Tour Edge Exotics C721 irons and you’ll start hitting the ball like John Daly too! Ok, that’s obviously not guaranteed, but you never know.

In my experience, player’s distance irons always seem to struggle finding the right combination of bigger distances and a shotmaker’s level of control. Finding both of those in one club can be tricky. In my opinion, the C721 irons got it right. The beauty of the design wasn’t as much the “added” distance, but rather the distance is easier to achieve while still being able to control the ball and get creative with different shots you’d want from a player’s iron. That’s a pretty great combination and I think others will find the C721 to be one of the better overall player’s distance irons they’ll hit.

Stock Tour Edge Exotics C721 Irons Specs

Tour Edge used their T.E.D. swing robot to determine the best shaft option in their diverse lineup for every swing flex and speed. The below list has Tour Edge’s “SpeedTested” stock shaft offerings with suggestions based on different swing speed ranges.

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