---
title: "56% of new 7-irons are 30° or stronger, up from 15%"
description: "The median 7-iron lost 2° of loft, from 32° in 2013 to 2017 to 30° in 2022 to 2026. Most model lines kept their loft; new, stronger sets moved the market."
summary: "GolfAPI.dev median 7-iron loft by release year, 2013 to 2026. The loft is irons[].loft_deg on the entry whose designation is \"7\", in degrees, a Core field of the irons resource. Request: GET https://api.golfapi.dev/irons?release_year_after=2013&fields=id,name,manufacturer,release_year,irons&limit=100, following page.next with the same filters. Compare irons by loft_deg, not by designation. Auth: Bearer API key. An absent loft_deg is Not published. Figures as of 12 November 2026."
url: "https://golfapi.dev/blog/7-iron-lofts-2013-2026/"
published: "2026-11-05"
updated: "2026-11-12"
tags: ["Data"]
---

# 56% of new 7-irons are 30° or stronger, up from 15%

A golfer replacing a decade-old set will probably get a stronger 7-iron, whatever the sole says. The change came early and has slowed since.

**+32 points** rise in the share of 7-irons at 30° or stronger between sets released 2013 to 2017 and 2018 to 2021, the largest step.

**Most of the shift came by 2018–2021.** Share of iron sets with a 7-iron loft of 30° or stronger: 15% in 2013 to 2017 (13 of 89), 47% in 2018 to 2021 (54 of 115) and 56% in 2022 to 2026 (104 of 186).

| Release years | 30° or stronger |
| --- | --- |
| 2013–2017 | 15% |
| 2018–2021 | 47% |
| 2022–2026 | 56% |

Data as of 12 Nov 2026.

```sh
curl 'https://api.golfapi.dev/irons?release_year_after=2013&fields=id,name,manufacturer,release_year,irons&limit=100' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOLFDEV_API_KEY"
# Repeat with &cursor=<page.next> until page.has_more is false.
```

From 2018 to 2021 to 2022 to 2026 the share rose a further 9 points. Two 7-irons from the same year can still be 7° apart, so a gapping app should sort irons by loft_deg and treat the number on the sole as a label.

With the [MCP server](https://golfapi.dev/mcp) connected, an assistant on a Hobby key answers "List the 7-iron loft of every iron set released in 2026"; the free sample has no irons.

> **Method:** We counted each iron set once, using the loft it lists for its 7-iron. 415 of the 428 sets list one. Shares count sets released, not irons golfers bought, and are rounded to whole numbers. Numbers as of 12 November 2026.

Next up: the full spread of 2026 7-irons, from 27° to 34°.