How The Ram Axial Forged Surprised Us All

The Ram Axial Forged irons finished third overall in MyGolfSpy’s Player’s Iron testing this year. It came as more of a surprise than it probably should have.

Sure, Ram and its recently resurrected stablemates MacGregor, Teardrop and Ben Hogan have some interesting things going on. That Ram came up with an excellent performing forged iron is to its credit. But it’s also important to note that the player’s Iron category is one where smaller brands can compete evenly with the so-called Big Five of Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade, PING and COBRA.

Smaller brands have traditionally performed very well in the player’s Iron category. In 2023, the Takomo TG 301 CB finished third overall. The year before, the New Level 623 CB finished first. Ever since direct-to-consumer became a thing, entries from brands such as Ben Hogan, Sub 70, New Level and Scott Golf have performed surprisingly well.

We are talking about single-piece forgings here. The overall technology level isn’t high so there is, to a degree, a more level playing field. But still, the Ram Axial Forged did surprise us.

Therefore, it seems worthwhile to dive deeper and see just how the Axial came to be.

Ram Axial Forged: A golden Ram return

We’ve covered the Ram Golf story in great detail before, but it’s worth a quick recap.

Ram Golf got its start post-World War II in Chicago. Brothers Lyle, Al and Jim Hansberger built Ram into a solid niche company making recreational and pro-level equipment. Ram is also credited with developing and selling golf’s first Surlyn-covered golf ball, the Ram 3-D.

The Hansberger brothers sold Ram to Colgate-Palmolive in 1974 but bought it back six years later at a bargain price. The ‘80s were Ram’s heyday with Tom Watson on staff and the Zebra putter dominating on Tour and at retail. By the end of the ‘90s, however, the industry was changing and the small family business was struggling. The Hansbergers cashed out at the right time, selling the brand to eager entrepreneur Rudy Slucker. A series of bankruptcies and ownership changes later, Ram was a cheap house brand at Sports Authority.

When Sports Authority went under in 2016, DICK’S scooped up all its assets. Four years later, Simon Millington and Sports Brands, Inc., bought the Ram brand from DICK’S, along with Zebra, MacGregor and Teardrop. Over the last three years, Millington has resurrected each brand back as a direct-to-consumer offering.

To start, Ram was an introductory brand with low-cost, open-mold clubs and accessories. Millington’s plan all along, however, has been to transition away from open mold clubs and provide customers with original designs at DTC pricing.

Now that we’re up to date, let’s look at the Ram Axial Forged.

An under-$500 surprise

“I like the fact we surprised people with it,” Millington tells MyGolfSpy. “I mean, it’s not a blind test. Your testers knew when they were hitting a Titleist, a Callaway or us.”

When many of our testers heard the name Ram, they thought it was a weird collaboration with Dodge pickups. After the test, however, many left with a change of heart while acknowledging its performance.

“I never thought Ram would make this good of an iron,” one tester told us.

“I liked it a lot and I wasn’t expecting to,” said another. “It has an appealing design and is consistent.”

“We’re a golf family and we test everything ourselves,” says Millington. “We knew it was a great club so we weren’t surprised it did well. We’d have been disappointed if we didn’t win best value. That would’ve meant we were doing something wrong.”

This is the part where it’s important to stress the Ram Axial Forged is, in fact, an original design by Millington. It is not an open mold nor is it an open model slightly modified and stamped with the Ram logo.

“I’ve been in the golf industry for 40 years and I had a good idea of what I wanted,” explains Millington. “Unfortunately, I draw like I’m a three-year-old child.”

To make the Axial a reality, Millington turned to two seasoned professionals: former Callaway/Odyssey designer Larry Tang and his full-time club designer Gavin Wallin, formerly of Adams.

The Ram Axial journey

You may not know the name Larry Tang. However, if you’ve ever rolled an Odyssey 2-Ball putter, you’re familiar with his work. Tang is an industrial designer with a specialty in golf equipment. He’s listed on more than 150 design patents for products including Big Bertha irons and drivers, Epic metalwoods and Apex irons and hybrids.

“I came up with the idea but Larry came in and did all the clever stuff,” says Millington. “He tidied up the weighting and all the tech specs.”

It took about eight months to go from Millington’s original sketch to the final product, a single piece 1020 carbon steel forging.

“The tech is somewhat limited in that type of forging,” explains Millington. “How it appeals to the eye is as important as how it plays. You can do a little bit with weighting and things like that but it’s designed for good players.

“A good player wants to put the club down and say, ‘Ohh, I rather like that.’”

Specs ‘n’ such

If you check the data, the fact the Ram Axial Forged finished second overall in distance should be a surprise. The Axial Forged 7-iron was the longest in the test with 166.2 yards of carry and 169.9 yards total. It’s also the strongest lofted 7-iron in the test at 31 degrees. By comparison, the second longest 7-iron, the COBRA KING Tour, checked in at 32 degrees. The shortest 7-iron in the test was the Mizuno JPX923 Tour (the JPX925 irons hadn’t been released at the time of the test) with a loft of 34 degrees.

So, yes, loft and distance are joined at the hip. Additionally, 31 degrees is more in line with what one would expect in the player’s distance category. That’s probably the best way to look at the Ram Axial Forged. From a launch, spin and descent angle perspective, it’s a player’s distance iron dressed up as a single-piece forging.

Take a good look at the iron and you’ll see an emphasis on getting the CG as low as possible. Club Design 101 tells us that strong lofts without a low CG equals unplayable low bullets. Strong lofts with a low CG equal playable distance. While its launch and descent angle were among the lowest in the test, a 45.9-degree descent angle with a 7-iron is eminently playable.

Additionally, the Ram Axials used in our test feature the KBS Tour-V shaft which, while on the lighter side, do tend to be lower-launching and lower-spinning. The KBS Tour 90 is a slightly lighter, higher-launching and higher-spinning option that Ram offers at no upcharge. The KBS Tour Lite and Nippon N.S. Pro 950GH are upcharge options that can also increase launch and spin compared to the Tour-V.

The fitting question

As always, MyGolfSpy recommends being fitted for irons. Unfortunately, custom fitting can be impossible with DTC brands. An over-the-phone consultation with someone who knows what they’re talking about can be effective. No one, however, would suggest it’s an equal substitute.

Most fitters will concede that a fitting is transferable, provided it’s in the same category. That means if you were fitted for a Callaway Apex Pro, your length, lie and shaft specs can be applied to a different iron head in the same category.

 “We’re assembling here in Nevada,” says Millington. “We’re adding more shaft and grip options and offering length, lie and loft adjustments. We also have master club builders doing the work rather than people just putting glue on and sticking things together.”

Common criticisms one hears about DTC brands are “It looks just like …,” or “looks like they just copied …”

You know, those are probably spot-on. After all, a lot of single-piece forged golf clubs look like a lot of other single-piece forged golf clubs. They all have a hosel, a face, score lines, a sole and some sort of milling to create a finished product. Similarities are inevitable but we’ve said it here many times before: Similar to is not same as nor is it copy of.

“Everything we do now is pretty much our own design,” says Millington. “With Gavin and Larry, we’re putting in a lot more work than you’d expect from a company our size.

“It’s expensive, too. The tool on each iron set is at least $40,000. We have four new iron sets coming out and we’re going to do them all in left-handed as well. And we have Hogan and MacGregor as well as Ram. That can run into half a million dollars easily.”

Are the Ram Axial Forged irons for you?

 If you insist on an in-person custom fitting for those specific irons, that one’s an easy “no.” While Millington’s Ben Hogan brand offers a demo program, neither Ram nor MacGregor has one at this point. You can, however, just purchase iron heads and build your own if you’re so inclined.

As mentioned, the custom-fitting question dogs all DTC brands. Custom fitting is essential if you want to play your best golf. But if you’re balling on a budget, you’re going to have to make decisions. The attraction is big OEM-level performance at a fraction of the price. The Ram Axial Forged irons will run you $450 for a 5-PW set with no-upcharge shafts and grips.

That’s hard to resist.

If you have been custom fitted, that fitting will more often than not translate seamlessly to another club that’s in the same category. If you’ve been custom fitted into a COBRA KING Tour player’s iron with a KBS Tour Lite shaft at COBRA’s standard length and lie. You can easily transition into a Ram Axial Forged, MacGregor MT Milled or MT-Pro, Sub 70 659 CB or TC or a Maltby TE+ built to the same specs and be reasonably confident.

“They all work,” says Millington. “You might not hit one as far as the other or you might not hit one as straight as the other but they all work.”

This article was written in partnership with RAM.

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