Tommy Armour (TA) clubs are actually good, but they are not the right fit for all players. After testing the popular models, the A1 and 845 irons, I realized that these clubs are forgiving and will best benefit higher handicappers and beginners. And you can find them at affordable price points today. So it’s a budget-friendly alternative to the big names.

I grew up playing knockoff Armour 845s, and I loved the clean, thin topline and lack of offset with the head (I speak for many golfers when I say big, bulky irons are overrated).

About seven years ago, I looked for a new iron set and tried many different options until I considered the Taylormade 2005 Rac TP’s, but the $1000 price was too steep for my budget.

Fortunately, I found a Tommy Armour Silverback 845m set in a golf warehouse. As always, these golf clubs have appealing looks and a convincing price tag (roughly around $399 in my case).

But similar to many golfers’ perceptions of Tommy Armour clubs today, I was concerned that I wasn’t good enough to play a blade. To my surprise, as soon as I started hitting them in the store, I fell in love with this set—it includes a driver, 3 and 5 woods, 4 and 5 hybrids, and 6-AW.

I decided to write an extensive review of how these golf clubs work and the kinds of players they will benefit. If you’ve been considering the Tommy Armour Golf Club, this review will walk you through the important things you need to know to help you make a better decision.

Tommy Armour Golf Club – 845-MAX Iron

$63/Iron

• High distance potential: The Tommy Armour TA 845-MAX 7-iron falls into the super game improvement category, offering impressive distance compared to other game-improvement irons.
• Forgiving appearance: The club’s design, including a large cavity, thick topline, and decent offset, instills confidence and suggests forgiveness.
• Lower-spin design: These irons have a lower spin profile, which can help achieve the desired distance while still generating enough spin for control.

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Tommy Armour 845-MAX Specifications

The Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons come in a 5-iron through AW set, and you can use graphite shafts or lightweight SL85 steel shafts.

Tommy Armour Golf Club: My Review

1. Game-improvement iron for distance: The TA 845-MAX 7-iron is categorized under the super game improvement category, so it was not surprising that I experienced more space than the game-improvement counterparts. Perhaps this attribute comes at the expense of workability and stopping power.

2. Loft performance: When I compared the TA’s performance with the Taylormade 2005 rac TP’s I planned to cop, I did notice that the 845-MAX 7-iron was three degrees weaker than its counterpart.

3. Spin and decent angle: The ugly side of these irons, as far as stopping power goes, is that they don’t help to shoot lower scores because the TA 7-iron has a stop angle of between 44 and 48 degrees. I recorded 48.7 degrees in my testing. This may not be a big deal for golfers who don’t pay attention to decent angles. But let’s face it, hitting greens is hard, especially if you are in the super game improvement category.

From my experience with this set of irons, I’ll call them lower-spin. The steep descent angle gave me enough spin. At the same time, it has a low enough spin to reach the desired distance.

4. Accuracy: Again, Tommy Armour golf clubs are pretty old. So, I can develop several clubs in a similar category—modern ones—that will outperform the TA 845-Max accuracy-wise. Still, these irons produced a consistent shot shape, shot after shot, and misses were less frequent offline. They didn’t do a satisfactory job of shaping the ball at will, but I’m pleased with the straighter ball flight and tighter dispersion pattern I got.

5. Appearance: I like the standard and stylish appearance of the Tommy Armour golf clubs. From a glance, the physical features reveal that it’s a forgiving iron. From the large cavity to the thick topline, the decent offset volume and colors are all on point.

6: Feel: Many owners have confessed how impressed they are with the solid impact that the 845-MAX offers. When you give it a well-struck shot, it rewards your effort with a good feeling. Most importantly, I like how my mishits had the right feedback for me to know about them.

Tommy Armour pros and cons

Over the years, I have hit a lot of irons, and it didn’t take long for me to pinpoint the highs and lows of my experience hitting the Tommy Armour 845-MAX irons.

Here are the benefits and disadvantages to keep in mind or expect when using this set of irons:

What I like about the Tommy Armour golf clubs

• Ideal for beginning golfers who want to improve their game
• Works well for budget-conscious high-handicappers
• It can help improve your game, as slower swing speeds prefer lighter clubs.
• Wedge selection got easier with a reasonable loft without sacrificing distance.
• Affordable old-timey golf clubs
• You can choose between steel or graphite shaft options.
• Decent amount of offset

What I don’t like about Tommy Armour golf clubs

• The design of the club head makes the appearance too busy. A little simplicity would be better. But this can still be considered nitpicking.
• Mid-handicappers or expert golfers won’t find value in these old sets of irons.

Final Remark

The deal with Tommy Armour golf clubs is that they don’t have maximum feel and performance. There are modern clubs that will serve such values better. But if you’re a higher handicapper or beginner and use outdated clubs and lack forgiveness, you will find this Tommy Armour to be a blessing to your game.

Most of the options of Tommy Armour clubs listed for sale on platforms like eBay are between the driver and putter lines, and you can find irons for men and women golfers.

If you’re looking for the highest-performing set of clubs on the market, Tommy Armour isn’t the best place to look, especially when compared to the real big names like Callaway, Taylor Made, Ping, Titleist, etc.

But I haven’t heard anybody complain about them to me. While the Tommy Armour brand falls into the lower tier, they make quality sets.

Ultimately, as they say, it’s not always about the arrow; sometimes, it’s the archer. In other words, you can have the best modern golf club, but if you can’t square the clubface at impact, no matter the brand, that ball isn’t giving you a perfect flight.

So, try any Tommy Armour golf club you have and compare its performance to your current clubs to see if it’s worth replacing.