MacGregor 2024: New Irons from an Iconic Brand

The new MacGregor 2024 irons lineup illustrates one of the benefits of being a direct-to-consumer brand: You can release new products when you’re good and ready.

MacGregor made its long-awaited (at least by some) comeback to the premium golf equipment game last year. Its new MT86 Pro and MT86 OS irons certainly looked like classic MacGregors, and our testing showed them to be solid performers.

So what do you do for an encore?

Well, rather than join the cacophony of new product launches in January, owner Simon Millington took his time. Over the past few weeks, he’s rather quietly launched three new iron lines on his website.

Are they worthy of your attention?

It depends on how you feel about a set of forged 1020 carbon steel almost-sorta-nearly blades starting at less than $500. Or maybe a set of forged 1020 carbon steel milled cavity backs at less than $600? Or maybe a set of multi-material, hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance irons at less than $450?

Does that sound attention-worthy?

MacGregor 2024: Just Who Is MacGregor?

 We’ve told the MacGregor Returns story before but here’s the quick version.

MacGregor was once one of the biggest names in golf and, along with Spalding, was one of the first U.S.-based club manufacturers. The company remained a premier brand into the ‘80s through several ownership changes (at one time it was owned by Jack Nicklaus) but fell on hard times in the early 2000s. By 2010, it was a shell of its former self and was sold to Golfsmith, basically for parts.

It remained a low-level house brand until Golfsmith filed for bankruptcy in 2016. DICK’S bought up all of Golfsmith’s assets, including the MacGregor name, in early 2017. The brand remained mothballed until Millington purchased it in 2020. The company started by offering boxed sets and entry-level irons, wedges and drivers. The MT86, however, was MacGregor’s re-entry salvo into the premium equipment category.

Millington also owns the Ram brand along with the TearDrop and Zebra putter lines. As of last fall, he’s the new licensee for the Ben Hogan brand. While there may be some retail presence, Millington’s business model is direct-to-consumer.

Hogan and Sub 70 started the new direct-to-consumer wave in 2017, spawning several new DTC players. There are some differences between those companies and the new MacGregor (and Hogan/Sub 70), which we’ll discuss later.

First, let’s look at the MacGregor 2024 sticks.

MacGregor MACSPD Irons

(Before diving into the MacGregor MACSPD, we must ask: When did OEMs become so vowel-phobic? If anyone knows, pls drp us a nte.)

Be that as it may, the new MacGregor MACSPD is your typical hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance iron with lofts consistent with the typical players in the category.

“There are similarities to the MT86 irons,” Millington tells MyGolfSpy, “but this one has a slightly wider sole and is slightly more forgiving. And it’s more competitively priced than MT86, which is something we’re trying to do with the new stuff.”

Remember those new DTC players we talked about? They bear names like Takomo, Calley, Haywood and others. Heck, even Kirkland fits in that category, more or less. Each one has an iron that’s very similar in appearance to the MACSPD. In many cases, those irons are all offshoots of the same design. But with the MACSPD, “similar to” is not “same as.”

It is, in fact, a Millington design, with help from long-time Callaway/Odyssey designer Larry Tang.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a game-changing design,” says Millington. “Larry had input so we took my original idea and he worked it up. So I’m giving myself more credit.”

Hey, you can do that when you’re the boss.

Here’s the thing, folks. It looks like a hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance iron. Most of the irons in the category, no matter who makes them, look like hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance irons. If you can find a hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance iron that doesn’t look similar to any other hollow-body, foam-filled player’s distance iron, it would be a foam-filled surprise. “Looks like” isn’t “a copy of” or a “rip-off.”

A golf club has to look like a golf club, you know?

MACSPD: Price, Specs, Availability

MacGregor doesn’t overload you with technical jargon but here’s the skinny. The MACSPD features tungsten weighting low in the clubhead to lower CG. That boosts forgiveness as well as launch angle, which is important for a strong-ish lofted player’s distance iron. The strong lofts make it go far, the low CG gets the ball up in the air, making the strong lofts playable.

The toe screw helps with weighting but its primary purpose is to serve as a port for the foam filling. The large period right after “MACSPD” is actually an air hole. When you fill a head with foam, you need a hole for the air to get out. All foam-filled clubs have it. You just have to know where to look.

All MacGregor irons are custom-built in Nevada so there’s no such thing as a stock set. A basic MACSPD package starts at $429.99 for a 5-PW set with a KBS Max 85 shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip. A seven-piece set (4-PW or 5-GW) starts at $499.9 and a full eight-piece set goes for $549.99. They’re available in both a Satin Chrome and a Black DBM, or Diamonized Black Metal, finish.

Dynamic Gold, UST Recoil, KBS Tour, C-Taper, C-Taper Lite and $-Taper Lite shafts are all available at upcharges ranging from $10 to $55 per club. A variety of Lamkin grips are also available at an upcharge.

MacGregor sells the MACSPD heads only starting at $339.99 for a 5-PW set.  

MacGregor MT Milled and MT-Pro Irons

While Millington and designer Austie Rollinson were able to capture the classic MacGregor look with last year’s MT86 irons, the new MacGregor 2024 MT Milled and MT-Pro irons are a purely modern take.

“We wanted them to look so clean,” says Millington. “We want brand elevation and we’re trying to make stuff better and better.”

Both iron sets are single-piece 1020 carbon steel forgings. The MT Milled is a player’s cavity-back, with the cavity 100 percent CNC milled. The MT-Pro is blade-ish. I wouldn’t call it a classic butter-knife muscle-back. But if you want an iron with a topline so thin that it only has one side, this one’s for you.

The MT-Pro features a distinctive horizontal back channel combined with extra mass low on the backside that can only be described as “junk in the trunk.” Both design features get the CG low which aids in relative forgiveness (it is, after all, a blade) and makes it easy to get the ball up in the air.

And the feel? Catch one clean and you’ll need a moment alone.

The MacGregor MT Milled cavity-back is the more forgiving of the two. The milled cavity lowers the CG and provides ample perimeter weighting. There’s also added mass right behind the sweet spot to give it a touch of pop.

While the MT Milled is branded on the hosel, you’ll notice there’s no obvious branding on the head itself other than a discrete script “M” on the high toe.

“The back looks so clean with the milling,” says Millington. “If you put the full logo on it, it would take something away, so we figured let’s just put the M on there.”

It’s minor but we’ll reserve judgment on that one for now.

MacGregor MT-Pro and MT Milled: Specs, Pricing, Availability

The loft structure for the MT-Pro and MT Milled is what we’ve come to expect for modern players’ irons but a purist might consider them a touch on the strong side. But ,as mentioned, MacGregor has pushed the CG as low as possible for both to make sure the loft structure remains playable.

Both sets (along with the MACSPD) are in the house for MyGolfSpy’s Most Wanted testing.

Value is the name of the game for MacGregor 2024. The MT-Pro starts at $499.99 for a standard six-piece (5-PW) set. A seven-piece set (4-PW or 5-GW) is $549.99 and an eight-piece set (4-GW) is $599.99. It’s available in Satin Chrome only.

The MT Milled is also available in six-, seven- or eight-piece sets, and is available in chrome satin or black finishes. Chrome satin pricing ranges from $549.99 to $649.99 for a standard set while the Black DBM finish runs $649.99 to $649.99.

With either set, you can choose from the True Temper Dynamic Gold, KBS Tour, KBS Tour 90 and KBS Tour V at no upcharge. The graphite UST Recoil is also no upcharge. The KBS $-Taper is a $20 per club upcharge while the C-Taper 95 is $25 per club. The Lamkin Crossline is standard with several Lamkin options ranging from $5 to $10 per club.

Length adjustments are no cost. Lie adjustments will run you $25 for the set.

MacGregor is also offering heads only for both sets if you want to do the build yourself.

MacGregor 2024: Final Thoughts

Millington’s retro-brand collective has seemingly found its niche. While he freely says early versions of lower-end MacGregor and RAM irons and woods were so-called “open models,” going forward all of his brands will feature original designs.

“We’re trying to do better than just accepting what you get from any factory. Part of original design is what you see but the bigger part is what’s underneath the hood.”

After working with Rollinson (now Senior Director of Putter R&D at Titleist) and Tang, Millington has hired former Adams designer Gavin Wallin full-time. Wallin previously worked the Ben Hogan line as well.

“Are we tech-driven? Absolutely,” says Millington. “Artificial intelligence is good in its own way but you still need a human being who really understands the results on the other end of that machine.”

You can expect to see a new line of milled putters from MacGregor as well as new metalwoods. There’s a new Ram player’s distance set out now and new milled Zebra putter models are coming. You’ll also a new line of TearDrop putters in the next month or so.

As much as we golfers love complaining about $600 drivers and $1,200 iron sets, we do willfully ignore brands such as Sub 70, Maltby and Millington’s lineup when doing so. Sure, you can’t walk into a store and give them a whack or two but that’s why most DTC companies have demo programs that will let you try one on a real golf course. Millington says MacGregor’s demo program will be finalized soon.

“We’re trying to be a proper golf company and do things that will outperform our price,” says Millington. “You wouldn’t expect to see exactly what you get with us at the price you get from us.”

For more information, visit the MacGregor website.

This post was written in partnership with MacGregor

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