Any 8+ handicaps that play Ping i230 irons?

[HikingMike]

On 9/7/2023 at 8:30 AM, RickyBobby_PR said:

The i20 were great irons for high,mid, low handicaps and tour pros. Many Ping staffers on tour held onto the i20 for awhile despite new releases like ie1. 
 

The i210 were the best update at the time to the i20s. They also fit well for all handicaps and Ping staffers switched to these and held onto them until the i230 release, which most have finally switched to last time I looked at their tour website. The i230 surprisingly a great update to the i210. The i230 continue to be a good fit for all handicaps.

Ping irons have a high avcog(sweet spot). The i230 is .898. The center of a golfball is .840 so the acvog is above the center of the ball. This will make it hard to get the good crisp shot for golfers who are sweepers with their irons. So for the sweeper the sweet spot is going to be above the ball. 
 

So one would need to test to see how that location of the sweet spot works r doesn’t with their swing. If no monitor and hitting outside look at ball flight for thinks like peak height, what happens when the ball reaches its apex.

This is a great thread, interesting info. 

I play i200s. They were handed down, so I didn't fit myself in them originally. However, I did a fitting once I received them for purposes of checking/adjusting the lie angle, shaft length, shaft type, etc. The shaft was fine for me once shortened to normal length, and I sent them to Ping to adjust the lie angle. 

I believe the i210 are the update to the i200 from what I read at the time. I didn't know anything about i20. From what I read, people regarded the i200 highly, and said the i210 were a slight improvement. 

I love the way they hit. I don't know if I'm a sweeper or a digger, lol. I make a smallish divot. But I can hit down on it when I need to to ensure good contact. I like hitting my long irons which a lot of people find interesting. I did with my previous set, and I do with these also. They all feel good. I do hit a thin miss sometimes.

Golfshot app says I am a 16. I've been using it only since August (3 x 18 holes, 6 x 9 holes). I haven't played as well as I did in the first half of the season so I hope that goes down a little

[Owengeorge13]

I’m glad I got this thread going again.  Informative!  Looking for a thread on single length irons as well, I might have to start one.

I may look into finding a set of i20 irons used after hearing all of these rave reviews.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Owengeorge13

[RickyBobby_PR]

38 minutes ago, HikingMike said:

I believe the i210 are the update to the i200 from what I read at the time. I didn't know anything about i20. From what I read, people regarded the i200 highly, and said the i210 were a slight improvement. 

The i20 are icons. One of the best irons Ping made outside of the eye2.

I don’t know anyone who like the i200 and most pros stayed with i20s until the i210s came out. I have a buddy who plays predominantly Ping and has kept the i20s until last year when he decided after a fitting to go with p790s. He tried i210,i500, i230 and nothing really impressed him enough to change them out.

i210 to many were a big improvement over the i200 and like I mentioned are in that iconic level iron

[HikingMike]

6 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The i20 are icons. One of the best irons Ping made outside of the eye2.

I don’t know anyone who like the i200 and most pros stayed with i20s until the i210s came out. I have a buddy who plays predominantly Ping and has kept the i20s until last year when he decided after a fitting to go with p790s. He tried i210,i500, i230 and nothing really impressed him enough to change them out.

i210 to many were a big improvement over the i200 and like I mentioned are in that iconic level iron

Great to know. Maybe I need to do a proper full iron fitting in a couple years. I do like the look of the i210s better. 

[Dweed]

7 hours ago, Freebee said:

I play i230 since november 2022. 5 hcp. And they are forgiving. And for me, no problems feeling where I strike the ball on the club face.

 

@Freebee, thanks for your input and welcome bunches to the forums. Great to hear your experiences. Hope you get as much out of it that I have over the years. Welcome.

[HikingMike]

16 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The i20 are icons. One of the best irons Ping made outside of the eye2.

I don’t know anyone who like the i200 and most pros stayed with i20s until the i210s came out. I have a buddy who plays predominantly Ping and has kept the i20s until last year when he decided after a fitting to go with p790s. He tried i210,i500, i230 and nothing really impressed him enough to change them out.

i210 to many were a big improvement over the i200 and like I mentioned are in that iconic level iron

I found this forum thread from another site from 2019 with a lot of people saying what they noticed in differences, so that's pretty cool. It varied which people liked better. But interestingly one person said "The most significant difference between them is that the i210’s have a higher CG, which gives them more of a player’s trajectory and distance. For long irons, the i200’s lower CG and half degree weaker loft are likely pure advantages."

I have no problem getting mine in the air, that's for sure. However, I checked specs and i200 and i210 lofts are the same for every club. Actually, comparing the two, it looks like the i210 actually has more meat on the bottom of the club than the i200, but that is hard to tell without having them in front of me and with the inserts on both.

[Rearviewmirror]

Figured I'd share my experiences as a 16 handicap with the i230s:

Here's the graph of my scores since getting hte i230s (new irons first round was September 1). The below turned into a bit of an essay!

So it's worth noting I was coming back from a LONG layoff from golf at the beginning of this graph (the 110 was my first time ever playing a championship course and it was a bit of an OB party at times...). This week I shot my lowest ever round of 79 and didn't feel like I even played that well on the day - but i did score very well.

I'll try to summarize a few thoughts:

Things I love:

• Trajectory and spin - I was going from literally 20yr old irons in regular shaft flex, and so upgrading to stiff KBS tour shafts and modern technology was literally like flipping on a light switch. These rocket up into the sky, and land extremely softly. With anything shorter than 7i it is not uncommon for them to stop within 1-2ft of the pitch mark. 5i and 6i are usually anywhere from 5-15ft depending on the green conditions and my quality of strike.
• True to distance - Unless I goof on wind or elevation change, these things fly true to their distance within 5-7 yards every single time. Thin shots will lose directional control a bit, but I'm almost always pin high and either just off the green or on the fringe. Fat shots still manage to get up there, and I'm often putting or chipping from just short of the green.
• Contact out of the wet/rough - They feel like absolute scalpels out of bad lies and the rough. Even if the rough and ball are soaking wet, I am yet to catch anything resembling a flyer, and the only times I go long are if I think the grass will grab the hosel more than it does, and I end up getting a clean strike and have overclubbed. It does feel like these shed water very similar to the Glide wedges.
• Face feedback - Coming from cavity backs, these clubs tell me everything I need to know on strike location without feeling painful in ~30º weather.

 

Things that took/still take work:

• Caveat that much of this is perhaps a "me thing" or coming from old irons, vs these clubs and just things I am generally working on.
• Bedding in period - as a couple of others in this thread can attest (through my complaining), I definitely had an initial period where I was really worried the investment wasn't paying off. I felt all over the map on direction (questioned the lie angle choice by my fitter), and distance would be 20-30yd ranges. For me the key was trusting the process and playing lots of rounds to understand turf interaction. I think at the beginning I was trying to slam them like a distance competition, vs letting the club do the work. I do feel I get better results when I put an assertive, aggressive swing on them.
• Chipping - My old 7i was my standard chip and run club and it had been for a very long time. It took a good amount of time to figure out the equivalent i230 club, and I think some of that is down to them being a bit more sensitive to lie on touch shots. I tend to find my 8i is now my go to for shots that run out, but depending on the lie I'll also take 9i or PW to get the same effect. This could be a product of better golfing IQ, but I say this more as a "mess around and find out" if you're having a hard time chipping.
• Wedge touch - I do find the UW to be a full shot only club for me. I have tried 3/4 shots but feel right now I'm way too inconsistent on quality of contact. That may be the stiffer shaft, bounce - I don't know - but when things get "touch-y" I always reach for the Cleveland RTXs.
• Long irons - I went 4-UW and for me the 4i is just too penal on mis-strikes. I have gotten very solid with the 5i and it's rare I can't get it 175-185yds with a nice trajectory, but a couple of months ago I went to a G425 4-hybrid and it has become my stock 200yd club, with the 4i chilling in my closet.
• Ball flight/distance loss - For me there was an early period where I felt like I went from crispy shots to high floaty ones and lost maybe 10-15yds off of what I was getting initially with the irons. I think a lot of this was not trusting my distance selection, and either backing off shots or just not committing through the strike. But I would say for me the miss is short if I don't commit.
• Low point/turf interaction - I have seen massive gains in even just my last 2-3 rounds with working consistently on low-point control with the DivotBoard. Oddly enough I have found I don't really take divots with the i230s and as a result will often sweep the turf on my practice swing, but then chunk my real swing. The sole feels wide to me (again, 2001 technology vs 2022), and so before I was concretely focusing on trapping the ball, I would get a bit of variability on turf/ball interaction. Now with the divot board I'm getting way more consistency in making sure low point is right after the ball, which has tightened up both left/right and front/back dispersion even more.

I can't say the i230s were responsible for breaking 80, but they definitely played a significant part. I have zero regrets and couldn't be happier!

[Lacesr4suckers]

Most of my golfing life I’ve been a 16-20 hdcp. Last year I was a 17. Decided to put some more time and effort into golf so I got fitted for irons this spring. Went there expecting to get fitted into g425s or jpx hot metal or something game improvementish but was surprised when the i230s ended up being the winner. I had been gaming rocketbladez from 10 years ago so anything would be an upgrade but the i230s have been great for me. I’ve played a ton of golf this summer and a lot of work on the range but I still occasionally use the entire face of the club and I definitely notice my poor strikes don’t end up as terrible a result as I probably deserve. I’m fairly steep with my irons and these don’t dig unless I completely chunk one. I’m confident in the i230s hitting my number when I make a decent swing and rarely hit a flier or fall short. I’m still not as strong in my approach game as my driving and chipping but that’s a me thing not a club issue. Played at a 10-11 hdcp since early summer and will definitely be keeping the i230s in the bag next year 

[rosshopper]

I hit the 230’s. 7.7 HC index. I love the long irons. The distance is consistent. I wasn’t looking for distance, I had hit Mizuno 921 HM pro and my 7 iron would vary 15y at times. Love the Pings. 

[Jeremy26]

On 9/6/2023 at 2:22 PM, RickyBobby_PR said:

Agree but the information received is almost useless. It’s like asking what shaft or shaft flex someone should play. There are too many variables that go into what works that it’s pure speculation and no guarantee. If 10 people post and say 10 different things or even 4 it still leaves the requestor with just a bunch of guesses and only personal experience. Some may think it gives them a start point but in reality it probably adds to the time it would take to find what works, whereas for the vast majority of golfers a quick trip to a golf shop, pro shop or during demo season to hit the club and get immediate feedback on if it works for them or not.

 

Maybe it's useless for you. It's clearly not useless for the OP, or others that have commented. Being the gatekeeper of what another person finds useful or not, is a pretty strange stance to take.

[Jeremy26]

33 minutes ago, rosshopper said:

I hit the 230’s. 7.7 HC index. I love the long irons. The distance is consistent. I wasn’t looking for distance, I had hit Mizuno 921 HM pro and my 7 iron would vary 15y at times. Love the Pings. 

I have 923 Forged which are similarly lofted as 921 HMP, and have wanted to give i230 a try. I'm concerned I'll lose too much distance. Did you notice a big drop off? A club and a half?

[rosshopper]

I might have lost 1/2 club distance but that is all. 

[neva_adoubt]

This may or may not help but I'm an 11 and play the Mizuno pro 223's. I feel they are too demanding for my iron play level and really want to go back to Ping. I was looking at the I525 but then heard a new model is coming out for next year and wasn't confident the !230's would be any different than what I have now.

I was just at Ping headquarters last week for a tour ( the Ping vault is AMAZING) I was talking to a fitter and I asked "why would I even want to consider playing something like the I230 when that's a model tour pros use? 

His reply was " tour pros are looking for exact numbers with their ball flight, we just want to be in the general area of the right numbers. The pros play what gives them those exact numbers. So it doesn't mean you can't play them. "

That did give me a little more confidence that I could game those, but I think I'll wait for a year or two and see what happens. I will be a better ball striker by then and I 'll get fit for something better for me.

 

[neva_adoubt]

48 minutes ago, Jeremy26 said:

I have 923 Forged which are similarly lofted as 921 HMP, and have wanted to give i230 a try. I'm concerned I'll lose too much distance. Did you notice a big drop off? A club and a half?

Ping offers a Power spec in these irons. Should help prevent a distance loss.

[HikingMike]

22 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Figured I'd share my experiences as a 16 handicap with the i230s:

Here's the graph of my scores since getting hte i230s (new irons first round was September 1). The below turned into a bit of an essay!

[...]

I can't say the i230s were responsible for breaking 80, but they definitely played a significant part. I have zero regrets and couldn't be happier!

Hell of a round with the 79! That's cool you have an i230 iron as your icon, hehe. They definitely look good.

1 hour ago, neva_adoubt said:

This may or may not help but I'm an 11 and play the Mizuno pro 223's. I feel they are too demanding for my iron play level and really want to go back to Ping. I was looking at the I525 but then heard a new model is coming out for next year and wasn't confident the !230's would be any different than what I have now.

I was just at Ping headquarters last week for a tour ( the Ping vault is AMAZING) I was talking to a fitter and I asked "why would I even want to consider playing something like the I230 when that's a model tour pros use? 

His reply was " tour pros are looking for exact numbers with their ball flight, we just want to be in the general area of the right numbers. The pros play what gives them those exact numbers. So it doesn't mean you can't play them. "

That did give me a little more confidence that I could game those, but I think I'll wait for a year or two and see what happens. I will be a better ball striker by then and I 'll get fit for something better for me.

Awesome, I love that. Thanks for going to Ping headquarters and reporting back, lol. 

I like that he said that. It really seems that the equipment line between pros and regular joes is blurring. So I guess what he said would best match up with accuracy and precision, repeatable distance and dispersion. MyGolfSpy's "best players irons 2023" article had the i230s win 4th spot overall, though the accuracy rating was middle of the road. It says they are using strokes gained for that - easy way to go on calculations. The forgiveness was the best ranking for them at 4th place.

[HikingMike]

The hollow body irons seem all over the place now (I mean lots of models, not bad dispersion, lol). The new Mizuno Pro 225 irons, McGregor irons, and Ram irons are also hollow. I haven't seen anyone playing any yet personally so I'm not as familiar and I feel like asking about the whole class of irons. It just feels odd they have a screw closing it up on the toe and some cream filling, lol. We're getting closer to having a complete continuity between irons and woods with something all along the spectrum.

Is there a common trait to hollow body irons that distinguishes them from other irons? It might be just another kind of cavity back I guess... perhaps with an even more forgiving sweet spot depending on the design. Thinner face? Or the thin part of the face just covers a lot more of it? How do they behave hitting compared to other irons? I'm new to this and haven't ever really been much a golf gear head until this year.