Tour Edge C722 and E722 Irons – Key Takeaways
Tour Edge launches updated Exotics irons. C for “Compact,” E for “Extreme distance and forgiveness” Launch includes new, compact C722 Ti-Utility irons Pre-sale starts tomorrow. In stores March 5.The new Tour Edge C722 and E722 irons are once again asking you a question you may or may not have the answer to. And it’s a question Tour Edge has been posing for over a year so we have a question of our own:
Are you any closer to figuring out whether you’re an E or a C?
Or maybe you’re not a letter at all.
As far as existential questions go, it’s not up there with “to be, or not to be.” But if you’re trying to figure out which of the new Tour Edge Exotics irons might work best for you, it will be good to know your graphemes from your phonemes.
So let’s dive into the E722 and C722 irons. We’ll dot some i’s and cross some t’s for you so you’ll be able to mind your p’s and q’s and figure out this E or C question ASAP.
OK?
EC Was Here
Even before Young Tom Morris was a gleam in Old Tom Morris’s eye, golf has had its own symbols, acronyms and lexicon. In this case, translating Tour Edge Exotics into plain English is simple. E is for Extreme Distance/Forgiveness, while C is for Compact.
Tour Edge started the concept in 2020 with its Hot Launch E521 and C521 product line. The new Tour Edge E722 and C722 irons follow the same idea but comparing Exotics to Hot Launch is like comparing community theater to Broadway. It’s all relative and they’re intended for a completely different audience.
The Tour Edge E722 and C722 irons share much of the same technology and DNA but separate target golfers. The E722 is a classic game-improvement iron, right down to its loft structure and low center of gravity. The C722 is a player’s distance iron with lofts and technology comparable to others in the category.
And both are priced aggressively enough to, at the very least, make you consider putting them on your demo list this spring.
Tour Edge C722 Irons
When Tour Edge says C is for Compact, it’s not kidding. The C722 is considerably smaller than the E722. In fact, it’s also noticeably smaller than its predecessor, the C721, by a good 15 percent according to Tour Edge. You’ll also notice a thinner topline and shorter blade length. But, other than size, it doesn’t appear much else has changed.
The C722 technology checklist is very similar to last year’s C721 checklist. Both feature Dual VIBRCOR
technology as well as Tour Edge’s signature Diamond Face VFT
.
As with other player’s distance irons, the Tour Edge C722 features hollow-body construction. That allows for maximum face deflection and, ultimately, ball speed. There’s one problem: hollow-body irons often sound and feel like crap. That’s why we have medicated goo such as SpeedFoam, Urethane Microspheres and Dual VIBRCOR
. The idea is to dampen vibration while improving sound and feel.
There’s always a tradeoff, though. Medicated goo certainly improves sound and feel but it can also limit face deflection, which limits ball speed.
And maximum face deflection—and its resulting ball speed—is the whole point behind hollow-body construction.
According to Tour Edge, VIBRCOR
is a performance gel that’s injected into the hollow body. That gel works in conjunction with a thin, light TPU layer to, according to Tour Edge, “dampen sound and shock and to produce faster ball speed at impact.”
Dampen sound and shock? Check. Produce faster ball speed? We’re going to have to see about that. Logic says the best we can hope for is for VIBRCOR
to be ball speed neutral.
Diamonds Are Forever
As mentioned, the new C722 irons feature another signature Tour Edge technology: Full Face Diamond Face VFT
. Diamond Face started with Tour Edge metalwoods but has expanded into irons. Every OEM has some form of Variable Face Thickness (VFT) in its arsenal. The goal is to preserve ball speed on off-center strikes.
To achieve this, Tour Edge uses a series of diamond-shaped patterns of varying thickness across the back of the entire face. In total, the C722 features 92 different diamonds to act as mini-trampolines. The result, says Tour Edge, is an expanded sweet area.
The C722’s hollow-body design also allows for more perimeter weighting and a deeper CG. When combined with the thin Diamond Face and the C722’s overall compact and thin-soled profile, it has the potential to be a fairly forgiving player’s distance iron. Most Wanted Testing, of course, will see if that’s the case.
The Diamond Face itself is forged from what Tour Edge is calling high-strength military-grade maraging steel. It’s another carryover technology from last year’s C721 and is used for landing gear, helicopter undercarriages and rocket motor cases. Why it matters is its high strength-to-weight ratio, which means Tour Edge can make a pretty thin face.
And pretty thin faces flex.
Tour Edge E722 Irons
Tour Edge is feeling pretty cocky about the new E722 irons. In its press release, it says while it has revamped the C722 iron, it has perfected the E722.
Hey, if you’re going to be extreme, be extreme.
The E721 was a top-half performer in last year’s Most Wanted Game Improvement irons testing, finishing sixth overall. It also had some giddy-up, finishing a close second in long-iron distance and in a virtual tie for second in mid-iron distance.
Tour Edge promises similar distance for E722 and is refreshingly frank about how it’s going to get there:
“… through stronger lofts from iron to iron.”
Yep, that’s direct from the press release.
But before Torch and Pitchfork Nation gets its undies in a wad, you do have to give Tour Edge points for candor. Sure, the lofts are strong but they’re also right in line with pretty much everyone else in the game-improvement category. And the lofts, based on a 27.5-degree 7-iron, are identical to last year’s E721 irons.
Tour Edge says the E722 irons are “Power Lofted,” thanks to a lower and deeper CG. That, according to Tour Edge, creates lower spin rates while hitting the same launch window and peak height.
Undercuts and More Diamonds
As mentioned, the E722 and C722 irons share plenty of DNA. You’ll find VIBRCOR
in the E722s, along with Full Face Diamond Face VFT
. Since they’re game-improvement irons, the E722 has much larger heads and, ergo, much larger faces. That means Tour Edge can cram 103 diamond-shaped mini-trampolines into the E722.
As far as we can tell, the E722 face is made from regular old “civilian-grade” maraging steel.
The face and sole feature a 360-degree undercut design. It’s a one-piece body that keeps CG low and deep and allows the face to flex. That pocket is filled with VIBRCOR
(visible through the “V” in the back) and there’s more of it placed right behind the face to help with both sound and feel.
Tour Edge is also adding weight towards the toe to add more mass to the perimeter for MOI and shift the CG more towards the center, right behind the point of impact. The result is added forgiveness and an elongated sweet area.
Tour Edge C722 Ti-Utility Iron
In the world of existential golf, if you are in fact a “C” player who doesn’t particularly like “C” hybrids, fear not. Tour Edge sees you and has a C-lution: the C722 Ti-Utility iron.
The design is boiler-plate utility iron, with a titanium twist. The C722 Ti-Utility features, as the name suggests, a Beta Titanium L-Cup Face. It wraps around the leading edge, as cup faces do, and acts as a hinge to optimize face flex and ball speed. To connect the beta titanium cup face to the 431 stainless steel body, Tour Edge goes back to an old friend: Combo-Brazing.
Tour Edge has used Combo-Brazing (or vacuum brazing, as it’s known in other industries) as far back as 2004 with its Exotics Combo-Brazing fairway wood. In fact, the “CB” in its recent metalwoods stands for Combo-Brazing. It’s a unique flux-less method of joining dissimilar metals using silver-based chemicals and a vacuum heater. It creates a strong bond and is used to make aircraft parts, heat exchangers and pressure vessels, along with industrial drilling and cutting tools.
Tour Edge calls Combo-Brazing a distance-boosting process but you have to connect a few dots to get there.
The benefit is that Combo-Brazing joins dissimilar metals without welding. Welds are heavy. Without welding, that weight gets repositioned for a lower and deeper CG. That means you can get the ball up in the air, even with strong-lofted utility irons. Add to that a fitter-adjustable 10-gram weight in the back and that thin Beta Titanium L-Cup Face and you get—drumroll please—boosted distance.
C and E Final Thoughts
If you compare both 722 irons to their 721 predecessors, there’s really no new technology to shout about. The big news is the C722 has been made 15 percent smaller while maintaining, we presume, the same playability of the C721. As Tour Edge tends to make some of the most playable irons for the money, that’s a good thing.
As far as “perfecting” the E722 goes, the technology checklist provided by Tour Edge ticks off the same boxes as the E721. We won’t be able to provide a definitive analysis until we get them under the Most Wanted microscope.
That said, the E721 was, for the money, a pretty solid game-improvement iron. And even with its metalwoods pricing creeping up, Tour Edge’s claim as being the pound-for-pound industry leader in performance and innovation does hold up under scrutiny. The question is, will Tour Edge show up on your radar when it comes time to demo new irons?
In other words, to demo or not to demo?
That, friends, is the real existential question.
Tour Edge C722 and E722 Irons: Price and Availability
Tour Edge is taking a unique approach to stock shafts, called SpeedTest. The company tests shafts with its robot to pair the best-performing options for different swing speeds and then validates those selections through player testing. None of this means you shouldn’t get a custom fitting but it does whittle down the options.
The E722 stock offering includes the KBS TGI Tour Graphite shaft for 85 mph swing speeds or lower (50-gram L-flex, 60-gram A-flex). The KBS TGI 70 and True Temper XP85 fit 85 to 95 mph swing speeds while 95 and up options include the KBS TGI 80, Fujikura Venus Blue 8 or True Temper Elevate 95.
They’ll be available for both lefties and righties.
The E722 irons are a relative bargain. They’ll retail for $114.99 each in graphite ($799.99 for a seven-piece set) and $99.99 in steel ($699.99 for a seven-piece set).
The C722 stock shafts are the same as the E722. They’ll run $144.99 per stick in graphite ($999.99 for a seven-piece set) and $129.99 each in steel ($899.99). They’ll be available in right-handed only.
The C722 Ti-Utility iron comes in four lofts (17, 19, 22 and 25 degrees). Shaft options include the Fujikura Ventus Blue 6-A flex (85 mph and below); the Mitsubishi Tensei AV RAW Blue and Ventus Blue 7 in R-flex (85-95 mph); the Tensei RAW Blue and RAW White, plus the Ventus Blue 8 in S-flex (95-105), and the Tense RAW Blue and RAW White in X-flex (105 and up).
They’re also right-handed only and will retail for $199.99.
The Lamkin Crossline 360 Gray is the stock grip throughout the 722 lineup.
Presale starts tomorrow. The line will hit retail March 5.
For more information, visit the Tour Edge website.
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