William Marsh, the president of MacGregor, offers the view that this year "marks the beginning of a renaissance" at the company and adds that customers will "find neither gimmicks nor superfluous bells and whistles, but bona fide improvements."

Among those who use MacGregor irons on the professional circuit are Darren Clarke, Jose Maria Olazabal and Robert Allenby and the clubs we've asked our testers to review are the DX Titanium, the VIP Century Oversize and the MC 501 irons.

The DX feature high compression, 100-per-cent titanium inserts which, the manufacturers claim, enhance "perimeter weighting and forgiveness". The clubs also feature dual cavities to minimise twisting and are offset with rounded leading edges. The shafts are "Gratallic", a fusion of metal and graphite. The VIP were launched last year to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary and are oversize, offset irons with a cavity back design, while the MC 501 irons are a new design with a lower centre of gravity, perimeter weighting and have a cobalt finish.

Retail price: DX Titanium £649; VIP Century Oversize £449; MC 501 £349.