50 Words or Less
The Ben Hogan Legend irons perform like premium clubs but at a direct-to-consumer price. Clean look, as you’d expect from Ben Hogan. Very long. V-Sole makes the thicker sole play thin.
Introduction
From another brand, an iron named “Legend” would be pretentious, probably worthy of ridicule. From Ben Hogan, it feels appropriate. The company named for one of the game’s greatest ball strikers continues to provide golfers with excellent options throughout the bag at direct-to-consumer prices. The Ben Hogan Legend irons are the company’s first hollow body, foam-filled irons, and I was eager to see how they stacked up against similar designs from golf’s biggest OEMs.
Looks
In the bag, the Ben Hogan Legend irons are very convincing faux blades. Having only glanced at the pictures on the internet, I was actually surprised when I unboxed them and found out they weren’t blades. The back of the club is very clean with the Ben Hogan signature across the top and the BH sun logo on the lower toe. “Legend” is engraved in very small text without any paint fill. The only things that give away this club’s true purpose are the sole width and the screw in the toe.
At address, there’s noticeably more offset than I’ve seen in comparable clubs. As always, this isn’t inherently good or bad, just a preference, though it does likely push this set more toward the game improvement player. The offset is the only spec that doesn’t hew to the players distance formula as the blade length and top line are both about average.
Sound & Feel
A full decade later, I still remember the glorious feel of the Ft Worth 15 irons [review HERE]. While the hollow body Legend irons are an entirely different animal, they still provide a satisfying impact experience. The sound they create is a quiet, low pitched “click”. Pure strikes are rewarded with a soft feel in the hands. The longer irons have a more bouncy feel on center and are slightly louder.
The Ben Hogan Legend irons also provide solid feedback on strike quality. Mishits sound a little clunky. It’s not an ugly “clack”, but the sound lacks the tight crispness of a good strike. Similarly, misses feel firmer – not stinging but different enough to let you know that you didn’t achieve your goal.
Performance
From a performance perspective, the Ben Hogan Legend irons aspire to be the TaylorMade P790 [review HERE]. This makes sense: the P790 is the most successful iron of the last decade. Both irons are hollow with foam filling, and they have nearly identical specs. I got to test the two side-by-side to see if the $400+ price difference is merited.
In the players distance category, nothing matters more than ball speed, so we’ll start there. The Legend irons are capable of producing peak ball speed as high as anything I’ve tested. If you want an iron that’s long, these will make you very happy.
Turning to launch and spin, the Legend irons produce a high ball flight and gentle landing angles through most of the set. The mid irons, despite their prolific carry distances, typically had landing angles in the high 40s, sometimes even the low 50s. This reflects high launch angles and spin that’s a little higher than average. However, the strong lofts will catch up to most golfers in the long irons. The 20 degree 4I will only launch at an optimal angle when struck well.
That brings us to forgiveness which is the one area where the Ben Hogan Legend irons do give up a small amount of performance compared to their more expensive peers. This is a forgiving set, however, testing it head-to-head with the P790 on a launch monitor, I could see that the Legend loses a little more ball speed and distance on mishits. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s certainly measurable and probably noticeable on the course. All that said, these irons are more than happy to turn a small mishit into a green in regulation.
Something that separates the Ben Hogan Legend irons from its competitors is the V-Sole. This design pairs a high bounce leading edge with a low bounce trailing edge. You can see in the photo above that’s there’s a ridge in the sole where the high bounce region meets the low. The benefit of this design is that you get the virtues of a wide sole (lower CG) and the anti-digging traits of the high bounce leading edge without feeling like you’re swinging a shovel. I won’t say that this sole feels like a blade in the turf, but it’s much more nimble than comparably sized clubs, making it more versatile and playable for a wider range of golfers.
Finally, one of the best things about the Ben Hogan Legend irons – or any Ben Hogan irons – is the customization. There are up to eight no up-charge shaft options (depending on flex) and three grip options. Even more options open up if you’re ok with an up-charge. This comes in addition to customizing the length, loft, and lie of the clubs. Adding all of this to a set that’s already a strong value makes these irons a slam dunk for those that want to get more for their dollar.
Conclusion
It would be easy to say that the Ben Hogan Legend irons are the poor man’s P790, but that would be selling them short. A more accurate statement might be that they’re the wise man’s P790. At roughly 2/3 the price, the Legend irons offer almost everything the P790 does, plus the V-Sole and great customization options.
Visit Ben Hogan Golf HERE
Ben Hogan Legend Irons Price & Specs
Editor In Chief at Plugged In Golf
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.