New Ping irons?

[fixyurdivot]

8 minutes ago, BNewton51 said:

I've read up as much as anyone else on these things from what's out there on the inner webs, but I have to say.... those i59's have my eye... They WILL be tried and possibly find their way into my bag if they feel as amazing as they look.  Just saying.

It has started...

[BNewton51]

7 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

It has started...

yea yea....

Those clubs are sexy as hell!  It would take something special to take me away from my Mizuno's but  and their ability to put out quality top notch gear always garners my respect.  IF, and that's a HUGE IF, they feel half as soft and are as playable as my 919's I can VERY easily see them going in the ole bag.  Besides, this is the club ho in me speaking!

[Kansas King]

I'll be curious to see how the i59s measure up when they release. I could be wrong but the i500s didn't really seem like a huge success. If there is anything I've noticed it's that Pings have had their COGs going up the last couple years and that has caused some issues for the crowd of golfers that don't swing down on the ball. I've talked to a few people that like the look of the i210s or i500s but they didn't feel solid when they hit them relative to an iron like the Titleist T200s. Ping and Wilson are really the two big outliers in the world of irons with high COGs. I'll be curious to see if Ping tries to pull down their COGs on their new models or not. 

[PMookie]

I had the i210s and wasn’t impressed, then the i500 and the same thing... I’d love to see another Ping iron I mesh well with!!!! Ping Zing 2 still own my heart!

[fixyurdivot]

PING Zing 2's were definitely not among sexiest iron head design brought to market, but they had their following.  If memory serves these were designed to be easier to hit than the PE2's - especially forgiving for toe-side hits. I never played them but recall seeing them bagged back in the mid 90's.  PING has definitely given aesthetics a wee bit more importance since that era.

[BNewton51]

3 hours ago, PMookie said:

I had the i210s and wasn’t impressed, then the i500 and the same thing... I’d love to see another Ping iron I mesh well with!!!! Ping Zing 2 still own my heart!

The i210's are some of the most raved about clubs I see, but I just couldn't game them.  They just never suited my eye when I looked down on them for some reason.  But as you pointed out, correctly, those Ping Zing 2 irons were straight !  I still think they were some of the most consistent irons I've hit.  Shame they didn't just keep making those better and reintroducing them. 

[BNewton51]

7 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

PING Zing 2's were definitely not among sexiest iron head design brought to market, but they had their following.  If memory serves these were designed to be easier to hit than the PE2's - especially forgiving for toe-side hits. I never played them but recall seeing them bagged back in the mid 90's.  PING has definitely given aesthetics a wee bit more importance since that era.

No matter how they've made them look over the years, I have to admit PING definitely knows how to get performance out of their irons.  They definitely keep doing it too...  (The non-club ho speaking here!   )  Just waiting on something forged and slightly more forgiving than the BluePrints to come out and I'll no doubt be one of the first in line to try them out. 

[PMookie]

31 minutes ago, BNewton51 said:

The i210's are some of the most raved about clubs I see, but I just couldn't game them.  They just never suited my eye when I looked down on them for some reason.  But as you pointed out, correctly, those Ping Zing 2 irons were straight !  I still think they were some of the most consistent irons I've hit.  Shame they didn't just keep making those better and reintroducing them. 

If they were available, and I could do a fitting for them, I’d buy them tomorrow! I’ve never played anything straighter.

[BNewton51]

6 minutes ago, PMookie said:

If they were available, and I could do a fitting for them, I’d buy them tomorrow! I’ve never played anything straighter.

probably could pick a set up on the bay for like $200-300... but that doesn't account for all the rehab money you'd no doubt have to drop into them for shafts and refinish/paint. 

[PMookie]

8 minutes ago, BNewton51 said:

probably could pick a set up on the bay for like $200-300... but that doesn't account for all the rehab money you'd no doubt have to drop into them for shafts and refinish/paint. 

Yeah, and I was “white dot” back in 1994, which was absurdly upright compared to where I am now. No idea what I’d need today, and as you say, proper shafts, and even shaft length would cost me... It would only work in a fitting situation.

[BNewton51]

3 minutes ago, PMookie said:

Yeah, and I was “white dot” back in 1994, which was absurdly upright compared to where I am now. No idea what I’d need today, and as you say, proper shafts, and even shaft length would cost me... It would only work in a fitting situation.

LOL yea, try and find a white set now and you're probably NEVER going too... The other confounding thing would be that ping slightly changed their fitting charts a couple years ago too I think.  Right around that time when they starting saying "Blue" is the new standard for most folks rather than Black.  I started with blacks but went to red fairly quickly after I started figuring out how to swing properly. 

Definitely would be doing a fit if I went for say the i59 if and when they come to market.  But this post definitely had me thinking back to those old ping days.... I went through Ping Eye 2's, Ping Zings, Ping Zing 2, I3's and like a month trial of i200's.  They definitely always get my attention when they bring new stuff to market. 

 

[Mr. 82]

I still have these in the bag, from 1979.  I played these in high school, and I hit them better than anything they've come up with since.  And with a 12-14 week wait for any new clubs out of PING, it might be another 40 years before you get any of these newer clubs.

 

 

[BNewton51]

5 minutes ago, Mr. 82 said:

I still have these in the bag, from 1979.  I played these in high school, and I hit them better than anything they've come up with since.  And with a 12-14 week wait for any new clubs out of PING, it might be another 40 years before you get any of these newer clubs.

 

 

You can tell those beauts have seen a LOT of grass in their day!  They're shined up like you had taken some sandpaper to them!  Classic square grove models right?

[Mr. 82]

3 minutes ago, BNewton51 said:

You can tell those beauts have seen a LOT of grass in their day!  They're shined up like you had taken some sandpaper to them!  Classic square grove models right?

the original PIng Eyes.  Whether they are square grooves or not, I can't say.

I will tell you that the lofts on these two clubs are 45 and 50.5 respectively, so they are essentially the equivalent of today's PW and GW.  But when you make solid contact with these babies you just know it.  The original perimeter weighting irons.

[fixyurdivot]

One of my long time friends... sitting with his buddies, inside a PING box, in a Montana garage .  Original owner since 1987, matching serial #'s 2-PW.  My gamers until 2019 when, after having joined MGS and getting spooled up on the latest technology and candid input from many of you, they finally got the retirement they so deserved.

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Just now, fixyurdivot said:

One of my long time friends... sitting with his buddies, inside a PING box, in a Montana garage .  Original owner since 1987, matching serial #'s 2-PW.  My gamers until 2019 when, after having joined MGS and getting spooled up on the latest technology and candid input from many of you, they finally got the retirement they so deserved.

 

I have a clone of those my dad played. Held on to them so far for sentimental reasons. Too bad the grooves are illegal now. 

[fixyurdivot]

Just now, rbsiedsc said:

I have a clone of those my dad played. Held on to them so far for sentimental reasons. Too bad the grooves are illegal now. 

Actually the PE2's were deemed legal; not sure about the original PE's?

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

2 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Actually the PE2's were deemed legal; not sure about the original PE's?

Mine might be original clones then. They have square grooves which I though were illegal 

[fixyurdivot]

4 minutes ago, rbsiedsc said:

Mine might be original clones then. They have square grooves which I though were illegal 

Dunno?  Not really wanting to send the thread off into another orbit, but this is one of the better summary's I have found regarding the "groove scandal" .

The Square Groove Controversy (tutelman.com)

[MadMex]

3 hours ago, BNewton51 said:

You can tell those beauts have seen a LOT of grass in their day!  They're shined up like you had taken some sandpaper to them!  Classic square grove models right?

Those were my first set of irons in 1982, they are “V” grooves, the PING Eye 2’s were the one that started the square groove debate.

[fixyurdivot]

Just stumbled on this video... things are heating up on these and the G425 drivers as they are now available.  I thought her perspective was pretty interesting - particularly that she thinks it's the G version of the i3.  Also that, based on her data, they are not as "hot" as many in the GI group. 

I really like the look of them and they do appear shorter in head length than the G410's. I'll get a chance to test them in the next few weeks at Truespec and compare data. I will take some comparative pics to my G410's.

[NRJyzr]

On 12/30/2020 at 5:00 PM, Mr. 82 said:

the original PIng Eyes.  Whether they are square grooves or not, I can't say.

I will tell you that the lofts on these two clubs are 45 and 50.5 respectively, so they are essentially the equivalent of today's PW and GW.  But when you make solid contact with these babies you just know it.  The original perimeter weighting irons.

 

On 12/30/2020 at 8:29 PM, MadMex said:

Those were my first set of irons in 1982, they are “V” grooves, the PING Eye 2’s were the one that started the square groove debate.

 

MadMex nailed it, square grooves didn't show up until the Eye2, the Eye are v grooves.

Adding to that....  The first year or two the Eye2 were on the market, they had v grooves.  These sets are identifiable by the stamping at the topline being upside down as compared to the later square groove sets.

Great moments in golf club history. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by NRJyzr
because I'm an old guy on a tablet

[fixyurdivot]

Thought some might find this interesting.  Contacted TGW and another like supplier today about getting G410 irons made with custom specs.  They are quoting June delivery .  But, a custom set of G425's are 3-4 weeks.  The components for both are available but with the backlog of G410's and anticipated interest in G425 demand, this is how it rocks their production facility.

[PMookie]

On 12/30/2020 at 6:45 PM, rbsiedsc said:

I have a clone of those my dad played. Held on to them so far for sentimental reasons. Too bad the grooves are illegal now. 

Only illegal in a sanctioned tournament! And that wouldn’t even stop me....

[fixyurdivot]

Just sharing some eye candy.  I was the first one to hit the G425 in the PING fitting cart - they pulled the plastic off before attaching it to the shaft .  The revised badging is much more refined and less flashy as compared to the G410.  The more subdued silver/grey color scheme is very nice.  At first glance, they look more like the i210's.  They are, as near as I can tell, virtually identical in size.  Per PING, they have increased MOI 3% which I presume comes via slight changes to the rear pocket/cavity.  The sound is the same and performance was "throw a hat over them" for me... with the exception of the much lighter feeling weight with the Recoils.  From address... yup, the same (though my pics don't show that too well). 

I spent an entire large bucket hitting it and the Recoil SMACWrap ES780/F3 shaft against my G410/AWT 2.0.  5-7 shots with one, then switch to the other.

The numbers were very similar which was expected of the iron head.  The bonus was that the Recoils were producing as well and actually yielded slightly faster swing/ball speeds and longer carry.  I really liked the ball flight and dispersion was great (best I could tell).

Recoils putting up slightly better numbers.

I gave their "Core-eye" areas as good a workout as I could .

More irons and shafts to test at my Truespec fitting, but this combo is looking pretty solid.

[FunkyTee]

On 12/30/2020 at 3:25 PM, BNewton51 said:

ping slightly changed their fitting charts a couple years ago too I think

Here’s an older chart with yellow and purple added in.  I don’t have the years it applied handy  

 

[fixyurdivot]

2 hours ago, FunkyTee said:

Here’s an older chart with yellow and purple added in.  I don’t have the years it applied handy  

 

PING is certainly unique in this approach to lie angles... don't believe any other mfg. offers something like it?  According to this chart, I fall exactly between purple and green (my color for the last 35 years); 6'2", 35-7/8".  I always thought the green dot were 2 degree up?

[FunkyTee]

1 hour ago, fixyurdivot said:

PING is certainly unique in this approach to lie angles... don't believe any other mfg. offers something like it?  According to this chart, I fall exactly between purple and green (my color for the last 35 years); 6'2", 35-7/8".  I always thought the green dot were 2 degree up?

Current chart is back to 1 deg - it’s all a part of the fitting process.  Other factors certainly come into it.

[NRJyzr]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

PING is certainly unique in this approach to lie angles... don't believe any other mfg. offers something like it?  According to this chart, I fall exactly between purple and green (my color for the last 35 years); 6'2", 35-7/8".  I always thought the green dot were 2 degree up?

Do you mean between blue and green?  

Green dot was 2* up.  Several years ago, Ping changed to using 3/4* between dots and added purple on the flat side, and yellow on the upright side, and Green became 2.25* up.

Now they've changed back, and green is again 2* up going forward.

The other change Ping has done with their version 3 chart is eliminating the compensations in the lie angles for overlength or shorter length clubs.  In the past, for every half inch shorter or longer, Ping would change the actual lie angles for their color codes.  It's why the color codes are companioned with length in the older Ping fittings.  In the v3 color codes, the colors represent absolute lie angle changes, regardless of length adjustments.

A little wrinkle.  Not all that complicated, but there are mulitple moving parts to track, figuratively speaking.
 

Edited January 17, 2021 by NRJyzr

[fixyurdivot]

10 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

Do you mean between blue and green?  

Green dot was 2* up.  Several years ago, Ping changed to using 3/4* between dots and added purple on the flat side, and yellow on the upright side, and Green became 2.25* up.

Now they've changed back, and green is again 2* up going forward.

The other change Ping has done with their version 3 chart is eliminating the compensations in the lie angles for overlength or shorter length clubs.  In the past, for every half inch shorter or longer, Ping would change the actual lie angles for their color codes.  It's why the color codes are companioned with length in the older Ping fittings.  In the v3 color codes, the colors represent absolute lie angle changes, regardless of length adjustments.

A little wrinkle.  Not all that complicated, but there are mulitple moving parts to track, figuratively speaking.
 

The latest chart above puts me comfortably in the green dot which is where I have been fit to several times.  My current irons are +1" which was a last minutes change the fitter and I opted to make (from +1/2")... never thought much how that affects lie angle... hopefully he did .