Ping i20 irons vs Mizuno JPX-800 Pro

[Mr.Polsky]

I need help.

 

I went up to PGA VIllage in Port St.Loucie, Fl......got fitted for Irons. I'm down to the i20's and JPX-800Pro.........Cant make up my mind. I'm an 18 handicap.

 

Let me know what you guys think.

[Matt Saternus]

Not a bad choice either way.

 

Personally, since I'm playing the Ping Ansers and the i20 is shaped very similarly, I'd go with the i20.

[JMiller]

This is the 2nd thread like this comparing the ping i20 to a GI / SGI type of iron... Trust me when I say that the Ping i20 player more like a Player CB in terms of playability then Titleist AP1 & Mizuno JPX series.

 

In that thread I got into a huge debate about the offsets and lofts of the Titleist AP1 and that iron being a GI basically for the Titleist brand not a Player CB. JPX is the GI line for Mizuno I don't really think I have much debate on that.

 

Majority of people play 4-P anymore and a lot more are starting to play 5-P and put in a 21 / 24 hybrid instead they are just easier to hit and get in the air. The Ping i20 offsets in the 5-P line up with a ton of Players CB and in some cases has less offset in the low irons then a lot of Players CB clubs.

--> Strong lofts normally leave a gap in the bottom of your bag 100 yards in in is more important to me then 200+

--> If you miss is a cut to slice on iron because a swing flaw then large offset will help hit the ball straighter but is a short term solution, nothing is better then lessons and practice.

--> If you miss with a pull or hook then less offset will help you keep the ball more online, the pull is generally a cast with a square face. Shoulder open at impact, club outside to inside the line, square club face

 

In short my suggest between the two you listed is obviously the Ping i20, but highly recommend looking into Mizuno MP-53 as a closer comparison to Ping i20.

 

Ping i20 Specs

3 	38.75" 	21.0° 	59.25° 	.24" 	4° 	D0 	 
4 	38.25" 	24.0° 	60.00° 	.20" 	5° 	D0
5 	37.75" 	27.0° 	60.75° 	.17" 	6° 	D0
6 	37.25" 	30.0° 	61.50° 	.13" 	7° 	D0
7 	36.75" 	33.0° 	62.25° 	.10" 	8° 	D0
8 	36.25" 	37.0° 	63.00° 	.08" 	9° 	D0
9 	35.75" 	41.0° 	63.75° 	.06" 	10° 	D0
PW 	35.50" 	46.0° 	64.00° 	.05" 	12° 	D2

 

Mizuno JPX-800 Pro Specs

3	N/A	20	59.5	0.171	1	38.75
4	N/A	23	60	0.161	2	38.25
5	N/A	26	60.5	0.154	2	37.75
6	N/A	29	61	0.146	2	37.25
7	N/A	33	61.5	0.134	3	36.75
8	N/A	37	62	0.122	4	36.25
9	N/A	41	62.5	0.11	5	35.75
PW	N/A	45	63	0.102	6	35.5

 

Mizuno MP-53 Specs

	LH	Loft °	Lie °	Offset "	Bounce °	Length "
3	Yes	21	59.5	0.142	1	38.75
4	Yes	24	60	0.134	1	38.25
5	Yes	27	60.5	0.134	2	37.75
6	Yes	30	61	0.13	2	37.25
7	Yes	34	61.5	0.126	3	36.75
8	Yes	38	62	0.126	3	36.25
9	Yes	42	62.5	0.114	4	35.75
PW	Yes	46	63	0.102	5	35.5

[Phana24JG]

I need help.

 

I went up to PGA VIllage in Port St.Loucie, Fl......got fitted for Irons. I'm down to the i20's and JPX-800Pro.........Cant make up my mind. I'm an 18 handicap.

 

Let me know what you guys think.

 

Since I prefer shovels, I would opt for the Pings. The other advantage is that Pings tend to hold their value better than Mizunos.

[JMiller]

Since I prefer shovels, I would opt for the Pings. The other advantage is that Pings tend to hold their value better than Mizunos.

 

No one company holds their value more then another honestly the Mizuno MP series might have a larger market of Ping i20 as they are forged not cast, can be easily adjust for anyone that buys them. You can bend the pings but maybe only 1* or 2* before snapping the hosel clean off the head they are cast, so you might have an issue with them spinning back into the cast position over time.

 

Lets assume that you fit in Green when you first get fitted, then after a year you fix the cast and start swinging more around the body and you now need Black. I personally wouldn't feel real good trying to bend a 2.25* flat on a cast club. You would be better off to get the lie angle you need and hope it doesn't change again for a couple years which is very unlikely to happen for golfers of any skill level.

 

Ping i20 probably has a bigger market then the JPX series does and the Ping i20 will probably show less wear on the faces over time with normal use / play. So in terms of longevity in grooves and bag chatter then Ping will be a little stronger, in terms of feel and adjustable as your game changes Mizuno MP series stronger.

[Addicted2Golf]

No one company holds their value more then another honestly the Mizuno MP series might have a larger market of Ping i20 as they are forged not cast, can be easily adjust for anyone that buys them. You can bend the pings but maybe only 1* or 2* before snapping the hosel clean off the head they are cast, so you might have an issue with them spinning back into the cast position over time.

 

Wrong on both points.

 

Ping clubs do hold their value longer. Ping has an extremely loyal fan base and a very active gray market. Anybody who has bought and sold clubs for any length of time knows this. There are 20+ year old sets of Ping Eye 2's selling for hundreds of dollars and that's something you just don't see with the other manufacturers. I recently saw a pristine, never hit set on eBay with an asking price of $2K. I've personally purchased sets, used them for a couple of years, and then sold them for more than what I originally paid.

 

Also, Ping heads can certainly be bent more than 1* or 2*. There is a chart on their website that indicates how much they will bend each model and I believe some can be bent as much as 5*.

[Mr.Polsky]

Thank you for the feed back. I went to the range and found the i20s to be overall better for my game. The Mizunos, unless struck perfectly on the button, just didnt feel as good as te pings.

 

Ordered the i20s in Greendot +.5inch.

Plano, the company said they can only make them 2 degrees strong at most. I got 5-8 iron -2 degrees.

 

 

Thank you guys again

[JMiller]

Wrong on both points.

 

Ping clubs do hold their value longer. Ping has an extremely loyal fan base and a very active gray market. Anybody who has bought and sold clubs for any length of time knows this. There are 20+ year old sets of Ping Eye 2's selling for hundreds of dollars and that's something you just don't see with the other manufacturers. I recently saw a pristine, never hit set on eBay with an asking price of $2K. I've personally purchased sets, used them for a couple of years, and then sold them for more than what I originally paid.

 

Also, Ping heads can certainly be bent more than 1* or 2*. There is a chart on their website that indicates how much they will bend each model and I believe some can be bent as much as 5*.

 

I did find the evidence that you were talking about in terms of adjustments. However, it is not in * it is in their color codes. Meaning that if you have a black dot then you can go +/- 3.75* If you have a green dot then you can not go flatter then 5 color code steps. Majority of the Pings are looking like 2* to 4* roughly in terms of converting color codes to lie angle degrees.

--> http://www.ping.com/about/clubrepair.aspx

 

Given that Ping has irons heads that are CAST 17-4 STAINLESS STEEL, with the exception of the Ping Answer Irons that are 8620 Carbon Steel.

Here is documentation on Page 12 to 14 on the loft / lie machine and what can be bent and buy how much. It says that bending the metal of 17-4 is 'hard to very hard' and is not recommended to be bent more then 2* unless you have a lot of experience in it. This is the standard that local golf shops will stick to, if you want them to even attempt at bending a cast iron a lot of places will make you sign a waiver stating they are not liable to replace your club if it breaks even on forged carbon steel clubs that are like butter when it comes to bending. They don't want to be the ones responsible if something goes wrong and the club snaps.

--> http://www.golfsmith.com/pdf/pp_copy/250639_information.pdf

 

In short no they can not be bent 5*, sorry bout your luck on telling me I am wrong then quoting a number. They can be bent up to about 4* by a very experienced builder. Most people will not touch them or only tell you 1 to 2* max. So I was probably closer to being correct on that point then you are and provided evidence of such thinking.

 

Okay USED irons deprecate value and deprecate at the same rate. You might get a slight edge on Ping from them being cast irons and will wear slightly slower then the Mizuno Carbon Steel. If you look at the used Ping Eye 2s they are running 60 - $350, Look up Mizuno TP-9 and TP-11 irons they are running $250 - $350 for the small listing that they do have. There comes a point in time that an iron is just not going to sell easy because it is too old, 1990 i would have to say qualifies unless it is for historical collections.

 

I went to eBay and found two sets of Ping Eye 2 irons that were running $1500 never hit, brand new, in factory packaging. Ping Eye 2 was involved in a law suit over these irons with the R&A and USGA, they are more a historical piece of golf history then irons you buy to use and play. The first scratch on one of the heads drops the price to $600 at best they are no longer a collectors item you won't get your money back from them period, you wasted it honestly only way it retains it's value is if you put them in a display case still in the packaging they came in.

[Addicted2Golf]

I've had a set of Ping irons in my bag (with the exception of last year) since 1991. Guys who play Pings know you don't have anyone other than Ping bend them. Once anybody adjusts them other than Ping, the warranty is voided. And the re-sale value will be impacted. So, limits on what a local shop can do or can't do is really immaterial.

 

I agree with you on the $1,500 sets. You can still custom order a set of new Ping Eye 2 Plus irons from the factory so I don't see the point in investing that much in an old pristine never hit set unless you're going to put them in a collection.

 

You obviously prefer forged over cast and that's fine. Leave the Ping questions to guys who have played them rather than spouting what you've read via a Google search.