The first word uttered when we hit the Callaway X Hot Pro irons was 'wow'. Callaway have built the X Hot irons for distance and for a clubhead of this size the wow factor was the powerful feel from these irons at impact. You could really feel the ball jump off the face and in that respect the X Hot Pro irons really deliver

The heads are a little smaller than the standard X Hot irons, so the distances are unlikely to be as long as them for that reason and due to a different face construction.

There is no speed frame but a 'J frame' which basically means that there is no undercut cavity at the top of the iron. Instead the top line is a single piece of steel with an undercut cavirty in the sole like a letter J. This stiffens the top of the face and allows the bottom to flex more, thus providing the extra ball speed for more distance.

The heads are a little more compact than we would like but this does not seem to affect the forgiveness which was very impressive. The sound from the 3 and 4 irons was not as pleasing as from the 5 iron downwards, which were all excellent and a joy to hit. Most golfers will probably switch out the 3 and possibly the 4 for hybrids anyway.

The face features 21 closely spaced grooves for a shear effect for spin that Callaway say should increase spin by 300-400 rpm from the rough. Certainly the extra grooves are noticeable on the face if you like that sort of thing.

The switch from the uniflex steel shaft to the stiff and regular flex Project X flighted rifle shaft will really benefit this iron and the market it is aimed at. The Universal grip should also be mentioned as it is a little larger than standard and has a good grip pattern on it.

It was hard to think of Callaway bettering the Razr X Tour irons, but with the X Hot Pro irons we think they have raised the bar still further.