PING s55 Iron - Review Thread

[Jman]

THP and PING have sent out 4 PING s55 iron sets to the forum testers that were selected after signup and they will be providing feedback in this thread. Feel free to join in the conversation with your own reviews as well as ask questions to those that are doing the hard work of testing these out.

You can also check out our home page review here.

http://bit.ly/17xRwal

Testers:
Jman
ddec
shanep
dhartman


THP Frontpage Review on the S55 irons can be read here: http://bit.ly/17xRwal

 

[Jman]

I've been lucky enough to unbox a lot of really cool, really shiny, really exciting equipment and its something I don't ever get tired of. With this particular one though, it hits really close to home as I was fortunate enough to be part of the PING i20 testing here on THP, and that review is very near and dear to me from a pride and sense of accomplishment standpoint. Not only did those irons change my personal game, they changed a lot of things for me.

SO, when I found out I would get to be part of the s55 forum testing, excited is an understatement. This line has a great deal of hype behind it from PING and there is a lot of buzz about it with many of their tour players already making the switch. They are possibly the best looking iron PING has released to date and tour buzz is great, but here at THP we want to know how they are in the hands of amateurs and well, there's only one way to find out.

LINKS TO PREVIOUS UPDATES:

As is standard practice for me in a forum review, I will place links to prior posts/reviews within this thread on these irons here, once the list becomes too long it will be placed into spoiler tags.

• Initial Unboxing/Info: CLICK HERE

FROM PING ABOUT THE s55's:

A compact, multi-material players' model, the s55 iron provides added distance with control while simultaneously improving workability and forgiveness. Available in 3-PW, the 17-4 stainless steel heads feature a tungsten toe weight to increase forgiveness, and a vertical stabilizing bar for precise distance control and a solid sound and feel at impact.


The long irons have a CG that is lower and farther back to launch the ball higher with greater ball speed for added distance. In the short irons, the CG is more forward to flight the ball lower with optimal spin. The larger custom tuning port (CTP) sits lower and deeper in the sole to optimize launch. And to ensure exceptional sound and feel at impact, the CTP is made from a thermoplastic elastomer. A machined face, grooves and back cavity, plus thin top lines, a compact head, and a brushed, satin-chrome finish create a confidence-inspiring design. PING’s CFS steel shaft (control, feel, stability) comes standard, offering a mid-high launch.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Standard spec's for the set are listed in the image below:

Spec's for my set are listed below:

Lie: Black (Standard)

Loft: Standard as listed in the image above.

Length: Standard PING length.

Swing-Weight: D1 3-9i, D3 PW

Grips: PING 360 id8 - Standard White

INITIAL THOUGHTS:

I'll admit, to this day the i20's are essentially the irons that have fit my eye better than 95% of what is out there, they just do, they have a lot of what I would refer to as "classic PING" in their looks but are meshed with modern twists. The s-Series from PING on the other hand has always been their standalone aesthetically, they don't specifically speaking fit that same profile that many of us associate with PING, not a bad thing or a good thing, just a fact. The thing is though, the s55's are even more their own entities, in fact not only have I heard a LOT of players who have not been the biggest fans of the looks of PING irons say that these are incredible in the looks department. Having gotten them in hand finally, I agree, in fact, I'll go ahead and say that for my eye they are the best looking iron in ANY series PING has released to date.

The heads scream clean, classy, but technological all at the same time, which is a pretty impressive trait/feat to accomplish. There is no doubt once you hold these in hand that they ARE more players irons than the i-Series, which is exactly what they are supposed to be, so its a very good thing. There is progressive offset throughout the set but its minimal even in the long irons which definitely lends to that "players" look. In addition, the toplines are nice and thin, not old school butter-knife thin mind you, BUT with PING's traditional beveling/rounding of the topline they look incredibly clean and crisp at address, especially when you look down on the 3i/4i.

For the purpose of this review PING sent out the 3i-PW setup for me and I'm honestly ecstatic AND nervous about it. Wait, ecstatic AND nervous? Why? Well, its simple for me, I love love love long irons, I do, its something that I've always been proud of being able to play and use around the course in a variety of situations, and though I'm crazy excited to give the 3i a go, when you hold it at address you can tell that it means business. Off swings won't be let off easily with this one judging by JUST the eye test, but I sure cant wait to see for sure.

The s55 series is designed with feedback from their Tour players who have gamed/been-gaming the s56's and s57's, they put the task to PING's Mike Nicolette to create a smaller iron with a little more workability without giving up forgiveness. In the end the s55's are actually a shade smaller than the s56's were (Nicolette compares it to a coat of paint) but with additional weight movement in the head to increase the launch and the forgiveness by way of PING's Custom Tuning Port (CTP), a variable stabilizing bar (narrower in the long irons for more launch/ballspeed and wider in the scoring irons for lower launch and optimal spin), and of course tungsten weighting in the toe (increase accuracy and forgiveness with stabilization).

All in all, its a heck of a pretty little package with a TON of tech jammed into it to and I would expect nothing less form PING if I'm being honest. Throw in the traditional brushed finish like only PING can do and the eye test is passed with flying colors.

I know you all want pic's so I took a TON, they are in spoilers though for ease of surfing.

3i:

Spoiler

4i:

Spoiler

5i:

Spoiler

6i:

Spoiler

7i:

Spoiler

8i:

Spoiler

9i:

Spoiler

PW:

Spoiler

Additional In-Hand Pic's:

I really cannot wait to ge tthese out and abotu and for the other 3 testers to get theirs in hand, its going to be a wild ride!

AS ALWAYS if you have ANY questions etc, PLEASE post them up in here and we will all do our best to get you some answers/insight!

 

[Hawk]

Solid start. They really do look nice. Excellent camera work James.

 

[Wongstongs]

Very industrial looking, they look like they are just meant to hit balls and not be flashy. Pretty cool if you ask me!

It will be interesting to see what kind of distance you get out of that 3 iron compared to the 4i SpeedBlade.

 

[mikedean441]

First off, some great pics...#drooling.

The perimeter weighting being stabilized intrigues me, cause when Im not missing thin, Im out on the toe.

VERY much looking forward to all of the upcoming reviews.

 

[PhillyV]

Wow. Great initial write up Jman. Such a great look at address with these irons. My dad has the g15s and has always been a ping iron guy. But the raised toe just kills it for me every time. But not with these bad boys. Such a great looking iron. Can't wait to see more unboxing pics and hear on course/range reviews

 

[h0ss66]

These things look like butter sliding across a warm piece of toast....dayum.

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Great pics James...these do look very interesting to me...they are probably more iron than I can handle, but they do look really sexy! I will be following along closely

 

[Jeff Spicoli]

Great initial write-up and pics. I agree--best looking Ping irons I've ever seen. If they've taken some of the forgiveness from the i20s and put it in a more workable, sleeker package then I think these will be a huge success.

 

[Mmaynard11]

Jman, I just spent the better half of 10 mins drooling while reading this initial review. As shiny as those babies are I could mistake them for a mirror to look at myself with.

 

[RPBGator]

Great job on the initial write up Jman. These look great. Cannot wait to see what you have to say about these!

 

[Puttin4Bird]

These are freakin gorgeous! I cannot wait to hear how they work for you guys!!

 

[v.man]

Nice kick-off James. Those beauties just scream HIT ME!

 

[Centre]

Great start jman. Interested to hear everyone's thoughts on these. It's going to be hard to top the love that the i20s got.

 

[blugold]

That 3iron just made my hands sting.

Those are some very player-y irons. But they sure do look nice new.

Jman - How different is the iron finish than the i20s?

 

[Jersey Nate]

Yeah, let me clean the drool up off of the floor. Wow, gorgeous pics, James. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on these versus the i20s that's for sure.

 

[dhartmann34]

Wow. That's a great initial Jman. Can't wait to get my hands on them and give some feedback to all.It'll certainly be something different from the I3+ I've been playing for 10 years.

 

[Tadashi70]

James you and Ping have a thing, it comes out in your writing. You killed it in the 20 thread and you'll do so in this one.

 

[ATLGolfer]

Really well done, James. Those are some of the nicest Ping irons that I have seen in a while. Lots of modern technology, but a much more classic look for Ping irons.

 

[TheHeez]

Wow! They sure are pretty. Can't wait to hear your and all the rest of the testers reviews!

 

[Paladin]

Those are some pretty looking clubs. Great execution of design. Really interesting to see how much forgiveness they're seeking to work into player's irons. I wonder, as someone who would like to one day game some wicked sexy clubs like these, how big the gap between "players irons" and gave-improvement irons really is.

 

[A3r0]

Those pictures at address look great. Love looking down on the club and seeing that thin topline in a players club. Looking forward to hearing more as I'll be in the market for clubs at the end of the year.

 

[d_in_la]

I am so humbled by that first post, I want to cry.

 

[Nebgolfer]

Those irons scare me just looking at them. Such a thin sole, and a tiny top line. Can't wait to hear how they work for you. Biggest question for me is how forgiving, and whether you would recommend them for mid-cappers or if they are too player-y as Blu suggested?

 

[Greg Kulbick]

Great pics, Jman. Curious to see these compared with DPCs and the new Apexes. I'll be paying close attention to this thread.