Could your game use more forgiving long irons? TaylorMade P-UDI & P-DHY (2024) utility iron Review

The TaylorMade P-UDI and P-DHY promise golfers long iron options and additional forgiveness. My review finds out if they deliver.

Models within the TaylorMade P-Series family have been some of the best irons available since the franchise was first introduced in 2017. The success of the original P790 has been so huge it’s spurned at least two generations of P770, P7MB, and P7MC irons which has led to the family becoming seriously influential when decent club and elite players decide which clubs to play. With the P-Series stock flying high the brand reckons now is the perfect time to introduce new TaylorMade P-UDI (Ultimate Driving Iron) and TaylorMade P-DHY (Driving Hybrid Iron) utility irons to offer golfers additional long-game solutions.     

Since the introduction of the original P790 TaylorMade have learned huge amounts about what golfers look for in the best players irons and best players distance irons so they’re repositioning the UDI and DHY to sit firmly within the P-Series line-up. Their thinking is both models better target players who use P-Series irons and, thanks to being more forgiving than their traditional long iron alternatives extra performance comes into play too. Here’s how…      

Everything you need to know about the TaylorMade P-UDI and P-DHY utility irons

It’s all about the fitting

Modern-day golfers have more options to fill the gap between a 3-wood and their longest iron than at any point in history. Predominantly the go-to choice remains hybrids like the TaylorMade Qi10, as they offer players a more forgiving mid-flight than their long iron counterparts. They also throw some additional distance and a sprinkling of forgiveness performance into the mix as well.

Over the last couple of seasons, there has been a trend towards higher lofted fairway woods (like the TaylorMade Qi10) as they offer a higher ball flight, more spin, and a steeper landing angle, all of which make it easier to nestle long approaches down on firm greens. Before making decisions on whether your game would benefit most from high-lofted fairways, hybrids, or utility irons it’s important to understand your game, your ball flight, and which types of golf courses you play.        

The new TaylorMade P-UDI and P-DHY have been designed to offer a slightly more penetrating ball flight than fairways or hybrids, but also be more forgiving than traditional long irons. See them as delivering a more penetrating iron-like ball flight with slightly different playing characteristics between the two and you’ll be thinking exactly along the right lines.

Forged and hollow

Thanks to the P770 and P790 TaylorMade have excellent pedigree and form in the hollow body iron market, so it’s no surprise the new UDI and HDY benefit from similar technology.  

Like their siblings expect a forged 4140 face, with Speedfoam Air inside and up to 26g of tungsten positioned towards the toe to nudge up forgiveness, a stabilization bar behind the face, and Speed Pocket in the sole ensure good impact sound and feel, plus excellent ball speed retention if shots impact low on the face.

The DHY is TaylorMade’s most forgiving long-iron

TaylorMade make some seriously forgiving irons like the Qi and Qi HL yet they insist the new P-DHY is their most forgiving long iron option. The company is going after players who don’t want to play hybrids or take a step into high-lofted fairway woods, but are after a more forgiving option than traditional long irons.

Where the P-DHY is the company’s most forgiving long iron the P-UDI (Ultimate Driving Iron) is also more forgiving than the P7MB and P7MC long irons.   

Are you a utility iron player?

It’s easy to think utility irons are just for decent players, but TaylorMade’s research shows that’s not quite true. In fact there are a lot of reasonable-speed mid-handicap golfers who play utility irons as alternatives to driving clubs for reliability and consistency.

TaylorMade told me more golfers between 11 and 20 handicaps use utility irons in greater numbers than those with a handicap between 0-10, so mid-handicap golfers do really use utility irons too. Just remember those who do more likely than not play the brand’s P-Series irons over their game improver models. 

How to choose between the TaylorMade P-UDI and P-DHY

The two new P utility irons target slightly different players. The DHY has a wider sole, and a 5mm longer blade length, plus the topline and front-to-back width are wider. These features alone give an idea of how forgiving and playable the model is and contribute to this model unbelievably being TaylorMade’s most forgiving long iron option.

The UDI has a very traditional iron shape with a taller toe height than the shallower profile DHY. Expect a narrower top line, less hosel offset, and a tiny glimpse of the back bar at address.

Thanks to a mid-center of gravity construction the UDI will launch through a mid-to-low window, where the DHY will flight shots slightly higher on a mid-to-high flight. Even though the UDI has a compact appearance, TaylorMade says thanks to the tungsten weight inside and a slightly wider sole (than the P790), the model generates enough spin to be workable and stoppable while also being more forgiving than the P790 long irons. 

P-UDI	PERFORMANCE	P-DHY
Mid	Center of Gravity	Low
Mid – Low	Launch	Mid – High
Mid	Backspin	Mid
Fast	Ball Speed	Fast
High	Forgiveness	Higher

Details: TaylorMade P-UDI & P-DHY

TaylorMade P-UDI

RRP: £229

Lofts: 2 -17° / 3 – 20° / 4 – 22°

Shaft: UST Recoil Dart (105X, 90S)

Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

TaylorMade P-DHY

RRP: £229

Lofts: 2 – 18° / 3 – 20° / 4 – 22°

Shaft: UST Recoil Dart (105X, 90S, 75R)

Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Matt Bovee, Director of Product Creation, Iron and Wedge at TaylorMade on the P-UDI and P-DHY.

“As we look to the future, beyond the tech and the design language, we are excited about repositioning our utility irons into the P·Series family. P·UDI is an easy pair for players that currently play P·Series product and P·DHY is an extremely forgiving option for players of all skill levels. It is a natural fit to give these players the performance in this category that they are looking for.”

About the author

Simon Daddow – Today’s Golfer Equipment Editor

Having tested and played more than 10,000 clubs in his life, what Simon doesn’t know about golf clubs isn’t worth knowing.

He’s a specialist in all things metal having spent a large part of his career as a golf club maker and product development manager, and has worked in the golf industry for more than 30 years.

He joined EMAP Active (now Bauer Media) as Equipment Editor in 2006 and has made todays-golfer.com the most reliable source for golf club testing.

You can contact Simon via email and follow him on Twitter for loads more golf equipment insight.

TaylorMade 2024 P-UDI

RRP: £229

Lofts: 2 -17° / 3 – 20° / 4 - 22°

Shaft: UST Recoil Dart (105X, 90S)

Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

TaylorMade 2024 P-DHY

RRP: £229

Lofts: 2 – 18° / 3 – 20° / 4 - 22°

Shaft: UST Recoil Dart (105X, 90S, 75R)

Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip

Visit the TaylorMade website here