This set of highly attractive irons comes with black, graphite shafts, black Winn grips and a sharp-looking, moderately large cavity. This slightly oversized head is based on the King Cobra II style of design. There is even a mild version of a weight protrusion on the backside of the hosel. While not a completely original design concept, it does have the advantage of being a time-proven one that has satisfied countless golfers for many years. The treatment given by Giant to the overall look and design has made it distinctive enough to enable them to call it their own.
These little- known irons out of California have won some hearts early on. Our testers have all hit them very well. Feeling is very solid and alignment is easy. The strong lofts create shots that are very long. The shaft choice and weight pattern give the trajectories ample height. In head to head testing with the Callaway X-14′s and Nickent Musketeers, the Giants are winning not only the popularity test, but the performance tests as well. The positive responses run the entire gamut of irons. The long irons are as much liked as the short irons. We had assumed that all easy-swinging testers would have favored the other two irons, but that has not been the case.
This head design is moderately forgiving and very effective; it communicates well. It does not, however, provide the inherently soft and smooth feel of the newest breed of cavity-backs such as the Steelheads, Firesoles and Orlimar TriMetals. To offset this touch of harshness Giant has used soft Winn grips and filament wound shafts. The end result is a responsively firm and overall satisfactory feel. The weight pattern gives punch to hits made on the lower half of the face. Those who routinely hit towards the toe will find a slightly harsher feel and less forgiveness as compared to some deeper cavity irons. There is moderate offset throughout the set.
Aside from the attractive looks, what has impressed testers most is the instinctively simple ease of alignment and the ability of the irons to respond to aggressive swings. The regular flex shaft is responsive feeling and lively without showing the tendency of many graphite shafts to produce pulls and hooks when overswung. The shot patterns and temperament of these irons match their look and feel exactly.
There must be a fly in this ointment somewhere, but we have yet to find it. (See below) The price is nearly half that of the Callaways, plus you get two free wedges and a 90-day approval period. We’ll keep testing, but if you are a mid-handicapper who needs a new set of handsome, long-hitting irons what have you got to lose? These are very likeable clubs. Perhaps, consistency from set to set is not all that it should be, but we have heard nothing to indicate that that might be the case.
Giant Golf is a small, California company that specializes in customer service. They market one set of irons and one set of woods, but they will assemble these clubs with any shaft of your choosing from Royal Precision Tour Flighted Rifles to Grafalloy ProLite, if you so desire. They will also make lie and length adjustments. What really impressed us was that Giant will still honor their 90-Day return period even if the set has been customized for an individual golfer. This provides a wonderful option for golfers who live far, far away from retail golf shops. As we said before: What have you got to lose?
- Giant graphite, regular, Winn grips
- 5-iron length 38″, swingweight D1.5, weight 360gr
- LH is available.
We have continued to hit the Giants. Our testers like them even more than they did before. We have found a fly in the ointment, however. The finish on the faces of the irons is not very durable. The satin sheen wears off prematurely with continued impact from hitting and vibration from being carried in a the trunk of a car. This does not affect performance, but does look unsightly on one or two of the faces where the steel of the head is beginning to show through.
Giant Golf has informed us that they were aware of this tendency and has improved the finish giving it more durability. We have hit a new set off and on to test its durability and have not seen any deterioration in the finish. The new set has not been subjected to the same amount of time bouncing around in a car trunk, however.
