Why offset the irons?? | Golf Monthly

Tourstage V3000 are indeed relatively offset, though not a huge amount. They are by no means 'GI' clubs! Relatively old and superceded, but still perfectly fine if suited to the player! Tourstage is the 'Premium' brand of Bridgestone! Some seriously great sets over the years! I have a combo set of US Spec/US Blades that I treasure!

Even blades tend to have some offset, so it's not a huge deal!

Head design is all about the target purchaser and optimizing performance advantages while minimizing consequent performance disadvantages! If target purchaser has great trouble with hitting the middle consistently, then GI clubs will 'perform better' for him/her than more strike critical heads like blades. The 'benefits' of the likes of blades is that - for those who are more consistent strikers - such clubs are perceived as more 'workable'. Offset tends to help get the clubface square at impact - for those that need help, those that don't simply adjust/compensate! And it also helps launch the ball!

There is also an unquantifiable attribute - feel! GI heads tend to have less feel, while the likes of blades provide more. It's up to the player what balance (if they know/care) they want! BTW...Feel is as much based on sound as it is on actual vibration!! If a blade is hit slightly off-centre, then the player will notice the difference in feel. With a GI head, that 'feel' is suppressed.

Selecting the 'best' head is all about getting the balance between all the attributes of the head and the player's requirement right!

And then there's 'snobbery/1 up-man-ship' about head styles too!

Now don't get into Forged vs Cast