Toski Golf has a long-held reputation for creating distinctive and original head designs. The Tough Shots are no exception. Stern, sophisticated good looks grace these gray and silver, game-improvement heads. The long irons are moderately low-profiled while the shorter irons are taller in the face. These Tough Shots are not designed for low-handicappers. Game improvement for mid to high handicappers is their role to play.
After a very shaky early season start the Toski Tough Shot irons starting catching on with the advent of thick spring grasses. The ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ verdict on these irons will depend heavily on the playing conditions a golfer regularly encounters on the courses he plays. For some they may be ideal.
The bottom sole is heavy and wide with dual brass weights located in the toe The numbers on every head are preceded by the word “Strong”, meaning that less loft has been engineered into the designs. This is in part because the heavy sole has already added extra loft to the trajectories and partly because Toski knows that men buy anything that says “strong” on it. In this case, the word is particularly appropriate. The shots launch hot, low and long. Perhaps, too much so. An 8-iron should hit like an 8-iron, not a 6 or 7.
The impression most testers got of the Toski’s early in the season was of hard-feeling, rocket launchers that produced flight patterns inappropriate to the job at hand. Those who have a tendency to hit thin found the feel of the Tough Shots to be rigid and hard. Toski has used a wide, double-layer sole that feels particularly rigid. We wished that our Dynamic Gold shafts had Sensicore inserts in them. The thing about using heavy bottom-weighting to compensate for lack of face loft – the weight has to be under the ball at impact to make the ball fly right. A delofted face with a heavy sole will hit a low screamer when struck on the bottom third of the face.
That was our opinion of the Toski’s from bare fairways and turf mats in early spring. After hitting from lush grasses our opinions changed. From the thick rough and the heavy, grass of May the Tough Shots have proven to be a much sweeter and smoother feeling iron. The trajectories are not quite so low and the distances are very good. These are easier to hit then we had imagined. Accuracy has been more than adequate and consistency has been very good. The long, wide cavity provides excellent corrective properties.
One 50+, veteran golfer found the Tough Shots particularly appealing from the heavier turf. They produced some of the best and longest mid-irons patterns he has ever recorded – “It’s like throwing darts without ever missing the board – except the board is 160 yards away.” The Toski’s were ten to fifteen yards longer than his normal mid and long iron shots.
We make it a rule to discourage the popular design trend of strengthening lofts and turning 7-irons into 6-irons. Things have already gotten to the point where few can hit a 3-iron with any consistency and gap wedges are needed by most since their pitching wedges have become 9-irons or even 8 1/2-irons in some cases. But that said, those who like the concept of keeping up with their playing partners, distance-wise, should like the Tough Shots very much.
We suspect that golfers who play in windy areas that have thick turf and rough might find these to be an ideal, moderately priced iron as should those who play bump and run golf courses. Many golfers, especially seniors should find these Toski’s very appealing.
