Vice Golf’s journey into the golf club business has been fascinating to watch.
The German company that can lay a legitimate claim to revolutionizing the direct-to-consumer golf ball business jumped into the fray two years ago. It started with wedges, putters and two iron sets, all created by its own design team. Last year, Vice added metalwoods.
For 2026, Vice is bringing another iron into the fold, one might be the most interesting of the bunch. The Vice VG103 is a single-piece forged blade the company says might just be playable for an eight- to 10-handicapper.
I don’t care who you are; that’s an attention-getter.
Vice Golf and its long day’s journey into golf clubs
Vice got its start in late 2012. Founders Ingo Duellmann and Rainer Stoekl opened their doors with a website, a tiny Bavarian warehouse and 60,000 golf balls to sell. Since then, it invented the DTC golf ball business, survived a patent lawsuit from Titleist, merged with the Munich-based fitting specialist HIO and, in 2024, launched its first iron sets.
Those irons, the VGI01 and VGI102, were designed based on years of HIO club fitting data. The intent, according to Vice, was to make clubs specifically for the typischer golfbegeisterter (that’s German for “typical golf enthusiast,” meine freunde) rather than a Tour pro. They were built to be easier to launch, lighter to swing and more forgiving overall.
Vice succeeded. Kind of.
In MyGolfSpy’s 2025 testing, the VGI02 game-improvement iron showed impressive distance. However, it posted relatively low scores in accuracy and forgiveness. Of 17 iron sets tested, the Vice VGI02 technically finished next to last. However, its overall score was only 5/10th of a point south of the winner, the Callaway Elyte HL. Taking ties into account, you could say it finished tied for fifth overall.
There were no real dogs in that fight.
We tested the VGI01 in the player’s iron category but it probably should have been in the player’s distance category. It rated tops for distance but was average in accuracy and forgiveness. Overall, it finished seventh in a test where the Srixon ZXi7 lapped the field.
For perspective, the VGI01 finished only 1/10th of a point behind two industry stalwarts, the Mizuno Pro S3 and the Titleist T-100.
That, my dear Leiblingsmenschen, is the world into which the new blade, forged, VGI03, is born.
What do we know about the Vice Golf VGI03?
According to Vice, the VGI03 is a single-piece forging made from soft 1020 carbon steel. If you weren’t a fan of the looks of the VGI01 or 02 or of the Vice metalwoods, I don’t think you’re going to have a problem with these. Vice went Euro-minimalist with the VGI103. The pure, simple vibe is about as clean a look as you can get.
While using all of the appropriate blade buzzwords like workability, soft feel and exceptional feedback, Vice is throwing a curveball at us, as well, with something called face-stretching design.
I’ll ‘fess up. I had no idea what that meant.
In fact, the name is incredibly descriptive. It is what is says it is: a design that features a stretched face and a uniform heel-to-toe cross-section. That provides you with a wider hitting area than you’d reasonably expect in a blade. That, in turn, allows for more perimeter weighting than you’d reasonably expect in a blade.
That results in more stability and more forgiveness than you’d reasonably expect in a blade.
The goal, says Vice, is to provide maximum workability (for those who can actually work the ball on command) while offering modern playability.
“Traditionally, one-piece forged irons are less forgiving due to their smaller face size,” says Vice Golf CEO Marco Burger. “But our innovative face-stretching design overcomes this challenge. It increases the effective hitting area without compromising workability.”
Can a blade really be “forgiving?”
That, friends, is all relative. If you’re an iffy or inconsistent ball striker, you don’t need workability. You need forgive-ability. The strategic perimeter weighting courtesy of face-stretching should, in theory, provide enough stability and forgiveness without compromising feel, feedback and, for those capable, workability.
However, Vice does appear confident that an ambitious or improving eight- to 10-handicapper who’s a decent ball striker could have success with the VG103 irons. I’m guessing a less-than-decent ball striker with a handy short game in the same handicap range might experience a little less joy.
The whole idea of a “playable blade” is a sort of mini-trend in the industry. There are subtle ways of making a single-piece forged blade more forgiving. Face stretching and its accompanying perimeter weighting certainly help. The Vice Golf VGI03 won’t be as forgiving as, say, a player’s distance iron. It will, however, be more forgiving than the butter-knife blades of yore and there is a growing number of better players who do want that baller-look.
That Vice can pull this off while keeping the clubhead relatively compact and clean is definitely worthy of a tipped cap.
Vice Golf VGI03 irons: Specs, price and availability
Vice says the VGI103 irons are completely customizable for shaft and grip so there’s no real “stock” setup. While Vice’s proprietary shafts are designed for the lighter and more forgiving VGI101 and 102, the company will likely offer an array of shafts aimed at better players. Some, no doubt, will be at an upcharge.
The loft structure provided by Vice doesn’t exactly scream “traditional” so there is some pop built in.
The Vice Golf VGI03 irons will start at $999 for a 4-PW seven-piece set. In-person fitting in the U.S. is available through Club Champion.
For more information, visit the Vice Golf website.
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