Ping i500 Irons...discontinued?

[Fore Fiji]

Got fitted for a new set of irons and found the i500 worked best for me.   When the fitter tried to place the order, he was told Ping is coming out with a replacement in August and not accepting new orders now.  Seems a bit odd so curious to know what everyone is hearing.   

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

I know when I was talking with one of my golf partners about his next set tgw no longer has a customize option for the i500 so it would seem that they have stopped taking any orders for anything than is not 100% stock. 

[Kansas King]

I'm going to be honest, the i500 is probably the only iron I've hit in the last five years that I legitimately thought had no chances of being successful. This can probably be attributed to the clubs excessively high center of gravity. It was either poor design or poor manufacturing causing this. If you are steep going into the ball, the iron may be good for you but for most others it will not produce a solid feeling shot. It seems the i500 is maybe one of the least discussed irons from the big OEMs likely because very few were fit for it. It's a strange product against the other hollow-head offerings from Ping and i200/210s which also have some meat behind them and the extra cost probably made most people look elsewhere. It seems the i500 was Ping's answer to the fake muscle back hollow-head trend and the market just didn't take to it. The other reason for it's discontinuation is likely the introduction of the long rumored i59 or whatever Ping decides to call it.

Something to potentially be aware of when testing irons is getting fit for high COG irons on soft artificial mats. Fat shots feel incredibly solid on mats because they allow you to hit the ball higher on the clubface with no consequences. I know this is a very picky piece of advice but if you play on a firmer or tightly cut course, you may find that irons with a high COG are harder to feel solid on real ground vs. the mats.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Well that certainly has my interest peaked! I did really like the i500's and would make sense that the new series would be coming out about now. The i500's and i210's released nearly 2 seasons ago. I had something similar when I ordered my wedges from Ping and they said there were far fewer options available then the specifics I wanted. Only made X or Y were available if I wanted them. The rep didn't say anything more only they weren't available and about 3 weeks later the Glide 3.0 came out. 

[Fore Fiji]

On 4/13/2021 at 11:42 AM, Kansas King said:

I'm going to be honest, the i500 is probably the only iron I've hit in the last five years that I legitimately thought had no chances of being successful. This can probably be attributed to the clubs excessively high center of gravity. It was either poor design or poor manufacturing causing this. If you are steep going into the ball, the iron may be good for you but for most others it will not produce a solid feeling shot. It seems the i500 is maybe one of the least discussed irons from the big OEMs likely because very few were fit for it. It's a strange product against the other hollow-head offerings from Ping and i200/210s which also have some meat behind them and the extra cost probably made most people look elsewhere. It seems the i500 was Ping's answer to the fake muscle back hollow-head trend and the market just didn't take to it. The other reason for it's discontinuation is likely the introduction of the long rumored i59 or whatever Ping decides to call it.

Something to potentially be aware of when testing irons is getting fit for high COG irons on soft artificial mats. Fat shots feel incredibly solid on mats because they allow you to hit the ball higher on the clubface with no consequences. I know this is a very picky piece of advice but if you play on a firmer or tightly cut course, you may find that irons with a high COG are harder to feel solid on real ground vs. the mats.

Very good advice.  I tend to hit down so makes sense.   Your explanation does make a lot sense.  If Ping didn't sell many then no point in keeping them around.  And I did hit off of mats.   Granted tried G425 and other irons (Callaway and Taylormade) and the i500 was higher than all but this was with a 7 iron.  Even fitter was hesitant to sell me a 4 iron so I am betting G425 was a better choice.

[BNewton51]

Both the I210 and the I500 are being replaced by Ping this year.  I believe last I heard is you can expect the replacement irons to be coming out around August.  But that seems to be a bit of a questionable time frame, as PING hasn't released an exact date yet.  I'd suspect their problems with Manufacturing and delivery of products early this year due to everything going on may delay them.  

That all said, I'd definitely wait on the new options to come out frankly.  They're both going to be no doubt better as Ping is pretty much known for not putting new product out unless it's markedly better than the previous iteration.  I believe its the I59 model and the I510 model respectively.  Could be wrong on the final names, but that's the last I heard. 

[jlindsay8191]

Yeah I wanted to try out the i500 and the other day, they were still selling them at the PGA superstore but I havent seen anything on the i59 or the i510. They Ping website still has the i500 but nothing on the two more models. Does anyone know where there are any information on them?

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 minutes ago, jlindsay8191 said:

Yeah I wanted to try out the i500 and the other day, they were still selling them at the PGA superstore but I havent seen anything on the i59 or the i510. They Ping website still has the i500 but nothing on the two more models. Does anyone know where there are any information on them?

I59 release details in a couple weeks and some places are taking preorders. $250/club

There is no i510 will probably be i525 potentially i530. They won’t be out til spring 

[EDN]

I completely disagree with Kansas King. I love my i500’s

I did a lot of research before choosing the i500. Multiple testers rate them very well

Hcp of 5. I love them. Great looking iron. Very long and forgiving.