Titleist 716 AP2 Irons Review

The Golf Monthly test team's Titliest 716 AP2 irons review, a traditional-looking iron offering forgiveness and distance control in a slimline package.

Titleist AP2
Golf Monthly Verdict

The Titleist 716 AP2 irons not only look great in the bag and behind the ball, but offer performance a whole host of abilities will benefit from, starting with the Tour player right the way up to the mid-handicap golfer. To get such high levels of forgiveness in such a compact head is an impressive feat and the AMT shafts widen what is already a strong appeal.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Consistent flight and distance, a soft feel and a flawless look at address

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    A small number of better players may prefer a more compact size

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The Golf Monthly test team's Titliest 716 AP2 irons review, a traditional-looking iron offering forgiveness and distance control in a slimline package.

Titleist 716 AP2 Irons Review

Titleist’s new 716 AP2 iron broadens what already was a wide appeal to golfers of different abilities. The fact that Titleist have managed to make the iron more forgiving but by still retaining a compact, playable package that maintains its traction on Tour is testament to the performance on offer.

The look of AP2 behind the ball at address is traditional and hasn’t changed much down the years. Better players will enjoy the minimal offset while game improvers will take confidence from the mid-sized top line and larger overall size than most better player irons.

ap2 group

While the AP2 irons won’t offer as much distance as the new Titleist 716 AP1 irons, where the AP2 does excel is its distance consistency. Even on different strike points across the clubface, there was very minimal changes in ball speed and carry distance, meaning your bad swings maintain a surprising level of distance and accuracy.

NEW TITLEIST 716 IRONS

One noticeable gain over the former 714 AP2 irons can be found in the performance of the long irons. Titleist have used over 50g of tungsten in the long irons which not only improves the feel and forgiveness, but also assists the launch slightly and as a result, they really were surprisingly easy to hit.

 

ap2 illo

This was helped by the new stock Dynamic Gold AMT (Ascending Mass Technology) shafts, which get lighter by 3g as the irons move down through the set. Having a lighter shaft in the long irons helped maintain distance gapping through the set by accounting for the more frequent mishits via a minor increase in clubhead speed but without losing out on clubface control.

In summary, if you’re looking for an iron that looks and feels like a true better player iron but offers forgiveness levels similar to that of a game improver iron, the Titleist 716 AP2 iron should right at the top of your test list.

If you would like to buy a Titleist iron, take a look at our handpicked Titleist discount codes. 

Joel Tadman
Technical Editor

Joel has worked in the golf industry for over 12 years covering both instruction and more recently equipment. He now oversees all product content here at Golf Monthly, managing a team of talented and passionate writers and presenters in delivering the most thorough and accurate reviews, buying advice, comparisons and deals to help the reader find exactly what they are looking for. So whether it's the latest driver, irons, putter or laser rangefinder, Joel has his finger on the pulse keeping up to date with the latest releases in golf. He is also responsible for all content on irons and golf tech, including distance measuring devices and launch monitors.


One of his career highlights came when covering the 2012 Masters he got to play the sacred Augusta National course on the Monday after the tournament concluded, shooting a respectable 86 with just one par and four birdies. To date, his best ever round of golf is a 5-under 67 back in 2011. He currently plays his golf at Burghley Park Golf Club in Stamford, Lincs, with a handicap index of 3.2.


Joel's current What's In The Bag? 

Driver: Titleist TSR3, 9° 

Fairway wood: Titleist TSR3, 15° 

Hybrid: Titleist TSi2, 18° 

Irons: Ping i230 4-UW

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8, 54°. Titleist Vokey SM9 60° lob wedge, K Grind

Putter: Evnroll ER2V 

Ball: 2023 Titleist Pro V1x