Hello, I am new to this forum and have a question for you . I am trying to find a new set of irons for a friend. He has been playing golf for a year now , although not very consistantly and has the worst set of irons in the world. I am trying to find something that is not super expensive and is very forgiving . Any advice. Someone told me the XL2000 irons were great. Any thoughts would be great.

Adams Idea; easy to hit, extremely forgiving and a good price. Always hit balls before buying and not into a net.

Checkout Thomas AT-505 Irons at www.ThomasGolf.com. They are basically patterned after Big Bertha irons, which are well known for their forgiveness, but at a fraction of the cost of Callaways. Thomas has also developed a unique, patented alignment system that helps mid to high handicappers take dead aim at the target. They have received rave reviews on this site (golf-gear-review.com) as well as golf club review (http://www.golfclubreview.com/oemirons.htm). Usually, you can equip with a full set of irons for around $300, which is inexpensive compared to other OEM manufacturers.

I always recommend buying a quality used set for a first time player. You can buy a Ping Eye II set off ebay for around $300. Then after a few years of playing and know more about the game you can trade-in your 1st set to get exactly what you want without losing any value. A starter set that you pay $250 new will have a trade-in value of $0. If you quite the game you have a worthless set of clubs to sell. Always buy quality, it will cost you less in the long run.

Wow you are going to get lots of Opinions here. I purchased a set of Wilso Deep Red Irons with Fat shaft technology, Best Irons I ever bought- great control and distance I'm 15 to 20 yards further now per club( that took a little bit to figure out at first)You can grab these at a great price used on ebay and if looking new I think there are some reasonable deals out there. I have not hit the new deep red 2 distance Irons but they sure are pretty. These are clubs that are as good as any out there on the market - they just don't get the hype like callaways, clevelands, or taylor mades. I have hit all of those and still think mine are every bit as good- These may be high for the budget but will last your friend for years.

Golfsmith is blowing out their Lynx Predator II irons. They can be bought on Golfsmith's ebay store for between $85 to $100. I've been using these clubs for 9 months now and I love them. They are top quality and very forgiving clubs. For a starter set they would be hard to beat.

Try a set of Cleveland TA5's. I just bought a set for $399 and they threw in a new bag as well. Easiest irons I have ever hit all the way through the 3 iron. Great feel too....

I went to a golf demo day and tried the new Adams Idea. Got to agree with Zengolf. The hybird clubs are here to stay, use this technology to your best advantage. Very easy to hit and forgiving.

This is certainly a question with a lot of answers. Someone else mentioned it, but I think it is definitely better to find a used set of quality irons that will hold their value. After 1 year of playing, I bought a set of Cleveland TA-7's (similar to the TA-5's someone else mentioned) and I loved them. I just recently gave them up for a set of Titleist 762's and I love them also. It may be a good idea to have a pro do some swing analysis before buying a new set. I see so many people with irons that don't fit them and it has a serious negative impact on their playing and their enjoyment of the game. Someone once told me also that it is better to get a set of irons that may be just a little advanced for where your game is so you can work into them rather than buying a super-forgiving set that give you no control whatsoever. They may be easy to hit today, but you'll grow out of them in no time and have to start over again. Good advice, Maybe. I don't know. Anyway, hope all this helps.
John