The Dark Side Is Calling

[Jayhawk93]

I've been contemplating making up for my lack of practice time with some Ping irons.  I had the chance to hit some shots with some I10's on the course yesterday and they were stupid-easy, good trajectory and distance.  I have a couple questions, can someone compare the I-10 to th I-15 (being a lefty I have to make some comparisons 2nd hand).  Second, how do KBS tours or DG shaft perform in Pings?  The AWT feels a little light to me.  Thanks.

[trebledes]

I've done that a couple of times with eye2 and then g5 irons.

Got rid of both, found them short and hit the ball way too high, you might have better luck with the i series tho.

[geoangus]

Talk to Swingerz, a fellow lefty and ambitious club ho.  I think he has tried both series as well.

[jsteinmann1]

in my opinion ping irons don't change much from year to year.  other than a few experimental zingish years, they''ve more of less reproduced soaped-up versions of the eye 2s for 20 years.  i10 vs i15... good luck finding a difference, and if you do, not enough to really sway you one way or the other than price.

if you want a players look with a lot more forgiveness, check out the s57s.  they are more forgiving than the i10s, yet the head is smaller with a thinner top line.  i know... makes no sense... but it's true.  it's been tested and the MOI is higher on them because of a heavy slug in the toe area.  I would say check them out.  almost all the ping pros use them.  As for shafts, most irons these days come with light flexible shafts with the average hack in mind.  The irons will perform well with the upgraded shafts, per how the pros play ping irons mind you.  kbs would be great, ttdg, or px.

remember, the best players in the world play these clubs... so i really wouldn't look at it like you're giving in, or giving up, or anything similar.  the arguments that you can't work the ball like you do with blades is silly... you can work the ball with pings.  the idea that the ball goes too high is also silly... the higher the better.  There aren't a lot of low ball hitters dominating the professional ranks, and if anyone has a problem with ball flight, it's not the iron head as much as it is the shaft (provided you're using a club in your category of player).  if you really look into the bags of pros these days, very few play true traditional muscle back blades.  they play hybrid blade wannabes that have a lot of forgiveness.

anyway.... check out the s57s...

and unless you're hung up on ping, try the taylormade tour preferred irons... cant say enough good things about them.

[Jayhawk93]

Thanks for the replies.  There is a demo day coming up here in a few weeks so I can hopefully try a few Ping models and some AP2's side by side.  Two of the three best players I know play Pings so I know they are plenty of club for anyone.  I don't hit the ball as high as I once did but I'm not at the club every day either so some help there is great.  Iron play is my biggest weakness right now so something a little easier to hit consistently will certainly help my scores (and a little more practice this year won't hurt either).  I'm not quite as big a club ho as most of the people on here. (drivers excluded)  lol   I've played basically the same iron for 15+ years (DCI, 962, 690.cb/mb & MP60).   So you see why the pings cause me some hesitation.  But I'm pretty sure I'll like them.  Right now I just want to get out and play.  Went out in 35° wet weather today for nine holes, my GF thinks I'm insane.

[Jayhawk93]

Jsteinmann  -  Demo'd the Pings today.  The S57 was amazing.  I really wanted to like the i15 which were ok (the only LH had AWT S shafts) I hit'm real high.  Then the guy handed me S300 shafted S57'S and I was hooked after one swing.  No matter were I hit it on the face it felt as good as my MP 60's, ball flight was nearly as high as the i15's and higher on average than the MP60's.  Probably going that route.  Hopefully get to hit R9 TP's and AP2's over the next couple weeks before I open the wallet.   I did like the i15 long irons a lot.  Stupid easy.  If I go with the pings I might add a 4 / 5 iron in the i15 pending a few rounds.

[jsteinmann1]

they are nice clubs.  glad you liked them.  i think if you had the option to hit the i15 with the s300 shaft, you would have liked them a lot.  the awt shaft is terrible for anyone with good clubhead speed or can hit the ball high, so i'm not surprised at your results with that.  i had a set of i10s with awt shafts, and sold them within 2 months.  just couldn't stand that shaft.  if you like the i15s in the long irons, then see if you can demo them with a better shaft.  either way, great clubs.

[Play36]

I have a set of i15's coming with KBS shafts.  I'm very excited to hit these as I've hit two other sets with that shaft and really liked the way the shaft performed.  I'll report back.

[Jayhawk93]

Play36,  
Keep me updated.  Played today, drove it well, short game's coming around and my irons killed me until 17 & 18.   I know new sticks aren't a miracle but couldn't hurt at this point.

[Jayhawk93]

Another day of crappy, inconsistent iron play.  Blows my mind that I can drive it well, tight short game, make putts and not be able to hit a decent iron shot all day.   Greens are starting to look really small.  Ordered the i15 4-P with DG S300's.  I really wanted to try the KBS Tour shaft but ultimately decided to just change to clubhead for now.  Might mess with the shafts later pending my results.

[Play36]

I received the i15's and so far I like them a lot.  I've had three great range sessions with them and have played nine holes.  My big concern with the KBS shafts was getting the ball in the air but no problem with the i15 heads.  They are very smooth.

I'll follow up with some additional information once I've been able to play a few 18 hole rounds.

[Play36]

After a few 18 hole rounds I'm liking these clubs better and better.  The shafts are very consistent and give me a nice penetrating ball flite - not too high and not too low.  Although they don't claim to have any vibration dampening properties I have found the KBS shafts to be very easy on my wrists and elbows - an unexpected bonus.

[Jim Clark]

in my opinion ping irons don't change much from year to year.  other than a few experimental zingish years, they''ve more of less reproduced soaped-up versions of the eye 2s for 20 years.  i10 vs i15... good luck finding a difference, and if you do, not enough to really sway you one way or the other than price.

if you want a players look with a lot more forgiveness, check out the s57s.  they are more forgiving than the i10s, yet the head is smaller with a thinner top line.  i know... makes no sense... but it's true.  it's been tested and the MOI is higher on them because of a heavy slug in the toe area.  I would say check them out.  almost all the ping pros use them.  As for shafts, most irons these days come with light flexible shafts with the average hack in mind.  The irons will perform well with the upgraded shafts, per how the pros play ping irons mind you.  kbs would be great, ttdg, or px.

remember, the best players in the world play these clubs... so i really wouldn't look at it like you're giving in, or giving up, or anything similar.  the arguments that you can't work the ball like you do with blades is silly... you can work the ball with pings.  the idea that the ball goes too high is also silly... the higher the better.  There aren't a lot of low ball hitters dominating the professional ranks, and if anyone has a problem with ball flight, it's not the iron head as much as it is the shaft (provided you're using a club in your category of player).  if you really look into the bags of pros these days, very few play true traditional muscle back blades.  they play hybrid blade wannabes that have a lot of forgiveness.

anyway.... check out the s57s...

and unless you're hung up on ping, try the taylormade tour preferred irons... cant say enough good things about them.

I agree with steinny that the ALL the later generation Pings are just attempts to improve on the greatest game improvement iron ever made, the Eye 2 and Eye 2+.

I found a NEW set of Eye 2 +no+'s on Ebay last year. I'm trying to decide what shafts I want to put in them. They'll replace the G2's that are currently in the bag. Shaft suggestions welcome.

[Play36]

Can't disagree with you Jim or with Steinny.  The reason I went with the i15's is because I had to put a set of irons in the bag that have conforming grooves.  I'm playing in a USGA Senior Open sectional qualifier in late June and the Conditions of Competition rules are in effect - so the January 1, 2010 groove rules apply.  I was using a set if i5's that I really liked but the grooves were non-conforming so I had to switch.

I must say that I really like the i15's.  They are easy to look at and the performance so far has been great.

Jim - are you going to go with steel or graphite in the Eye2's?  I'm thinking the folks at PING would have a great suggestion or two for those very light heads.

[Jim Clark]

Can't disagree with you Jim or with Steinny.  The reason I went with the i15's is because I had to put a set of irons in the bag that have conforming grooves.  I'm playing in a USGA Senior Open sectional qualifier in late June and the Conditions of Competition rules are in effect - so the January 1, 2010 groove rules apply.  I was using a set if i5's that I really liked but the grooves were non-conforming so I had to switch.

I must say that I really like the i15's.  They are easy to look at and the performance so far has been great.

Jim - are you going to go with steel or graphite in the Eye2's?  I'm thinking the folks at PING would have a great suggestion or two for those very light heads.

I prefer steel but would consider graphite, they have made strides in graphite iron shafts in recent years.

I talked to Ping and they can get any shaft I want but they weren't much help with suggestions. I think they would need to do a "proper" fitting to recommend something specific. They did say I could send a single iron to them for a re-shaft with whatever I wanted so I could try it and see if it worked for me.

I want to go with a lighter shaft and a weaker flex (getting older and out of shape) but I don't want something with a soft tip, I already hit the ball high. I also have a "slasher" type swing, not very smooth. I can add lead tape if I have to.

Current leading candidates are Flighted Rifles, Project X, KBS, and Nippon.

There's a local outfit that are considered to be excellent fitters. I think I'll try them. I just want to be at least "somewhat" sure before I pay to re-shaft the whole set. Hate to make an expensive misteak.

I've been playing Flighted Rifles for a number of years at a 5.5 flex.