PING s55 Iron - Review Thread

[i-Guy]

Some of you may remember the following quote from a page or so earlier in this thread...

DANG "The Hackers Paradise" testers and PING for the S55 irons...

Well check out my SIG as I am now the proud owner of a set of S55 irons (CFS, stiff). The following is a short review based on 4 short range sessions and playing around 9 holes at my home course (Apollo Beach GC) over the Thanksgiving Holiday's which I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!

First a little about me and my game...I am 54 years old and have been playing the game on a regular basis for about 6 to 7 years now trying to see how good I could be. I have had my handicap down as low as 6.3 but two shoulder surgeries (not golf related) in 2010 and 2013 and a couple of job changes along the way have caused my game to decline over the last three years. Anyway now that I am on the road to recovery I have reunited with my Pro and have to decided to get back on track to improving...practice, practice, practice...LOL My strengths have always been my short game and if my ball striking shows up I can shoot mid to low 70's (been a while though)...I would say for comparison the distance that I like to play my 7 iron to is an average of 150-155 and I dont hit a driver but when swinging well can average around 245 off the tee with a strong 3 wood...so enough about me and on to my short review:

Great feeling and forgiving iron for a players profile...period! How is that for a review!!! :clapp:

But seriously as I try to find my game and work on improving my ball striking I made a conscious decision to pick a iron (head) that I want to aspire to play. I wanted somehting that appealed to my eye and sense of feel...the S55 iron serves both purposes for me.

Strengths:

1) Set Up - Great set up at address...very classic looking but it just sets up well to the ball...best I can explain

2) Feel - very very very soft for a cast iron (CFS shaft could be helping this with the soft tip???)

3) Turf interaction - very desirable for my swing...creating a nice shallow divot.

4) Ball flight - high but not balloning...again CFS could be helping this???

5) Bag Appeal - Great looking in the bag!!!

6) Distance - I had never owned the S56 iron due to many reviews I read that said this iron is not a distance iron of any sort and I think Golf Digest even wrote once "Players seeking distance will have to bring their own" but the distance I get with the S55 irons is very comparable (again loft, shaft length, etc...) to many GI irons I have owned AND I have not seen any hot spots what so ever in my 4 range sessions...so IMO that makes these excellent for distance control

7) Forgiveness - I find that my misses with the S55 irons are really not much worse than any of my misses with any other iron I have owned (comparable specs, loft, length of shaft, etc...) and the added titanium in the toe defintely helps misses (distance control) on the toe. This is my miss and I have been pleasently surprised by the distance the ball still goes for a Players iron profile like the S55 iron. And trust me I have hit a few way out there on the toe...OUCH!

Weakness:

1) Player's iron - Jman has referred to this a few times in his review in that you will need to focus on every swing to put your best swing on it (small head) but I like this as it makes me do just that "Focus on every swing"...so with this said I would think one would need to consider what they want out of their game...BUT dont get me wrong...I think anyone can play this iron as one may be a high handicapper because of their short game but are a solid ball striker???

2) Misses - Can sting your hands if you miss it (toe or hosel)...but this is something I want in an iron so that the next swing I need to step up and focus more (see #1 above)...again remember my goals for my game and you will have to make that decision for yourself...but if you hit it far enough out on the toe on any golf club IMO you will feel it...

In conclusion, I think PING has engineered as much forgiveness as you can into a "Players" iron...and they defintely have focused on the feel which is important to me and my game. I would seriously recommend the S55 irons for anyone between 0 - 15 handicap but again if ball striking is the strength of your game than I would not put it past any handicap playing this iron...it is that good...thanks again to "The Hackers Paradise" testers for exposing all of us to this great iron and thank you to PING for the S55 irons!!!

 

[Jman]

Dude, nice little write up there! Thank you for that!

I finally got the S55's back in the bag after concluding another review and I won't lie it was a very comfortable transition back into them. Should be getting out again today and have some more detailed thoughts very very soon.

 

[sposey013168]

I second that. Anyone that is scared of the long irons, I still say a combo set of I20 and s55 would be sweet

Why?

Hit them bet you'll be surprised what your capable of actually hitting.

 

[sposey013168]

When are we going to meet up and play a round with our s55's?
Peoria Ridge in Miami, OK is a sweet course.
How far are you from Miami?

Dude, nice little write up there! Thank you for that!

I finally got the S55's back in the bag after concluding another review and I won't lie it was a very comfortable transition back into them. Should be getting out again today and have some more detailed thoughts very very soon.

 

[i-Guy]

Dude, nice little write up there! Thank you for that!

No thank you for the great reviews that THP provides...I feel like you guys do a great job of honetly telling us about the club.

Also noticed you have the i20 UW in the bag...I am thinking about that as well as u can see I have the i20 LW (bent to 56)...for some reason neither the Gorge or the Anser wedges appeal to me (set up, address, looks, etc...) and I like the way the i20 irons feel...I actually had the i20 irons way back before my last shoulder surgery with C-Tapers and had the 3-SW with a WRX back grind on the SW and bent it to 56 degree...it worked and looked great and because the grind made it a shiny silver. I might need to call my club guy...LOL

 

[SkiBumGolfer]

Hit the 6i for these last Sunday. Wow - they feel every bit as good as my CMB's, but I would definitely say they are more forgiving. And they look even better in hand. These would be a very serious consideration for me if I was in the market.

 

[grizbear]

I just read everyone of these reviews. Wow! good job guys. You have already answered every question I could have come up with. I've only hit a S55 7 iron on the range and it was a very good experience. I also had the 712 Ap2, Ap1 and MP 59 with me at the same time and a large bucket of range balls. For me I just did not feel any love for the AP1. I feel I could game any of these other irons and I'm any thing but a low handicapper ( shoot a lot of rounds 84 -90) I hit my irons well but am a "non putting SOB". I just could not put the s55 down for very long. Loved the sound and feel, The demo iron was a 7 and it looked like I was hitting it as far (175) as the 6 iron AP2 and MP59. Loved it! Right now this is at the top of my list but I want to hit the Apex irons before final decision is made. Thank all of you guys for the reviews and comments - all very helpful.

 

[i-Guy]

I just read everyone of these reviews. Wow! good job guys. You have already answered every question I could have come up with. I've only hit a S55 7 iron on the range and it was a very good experience. I also had the 712 Ap2, Ap1 and MP 59 with me at the same time and a large bucket of range balls. For me I just did not feel any love for the AP1. I feel I could game any of these other irons and I'm any thing but a low handicapper ( shoot a lot of rounds 84 -90) I hit my irons well but am a "non putting SOB". I just could not put the s55 down for very long. Loved the sound and feel, The demo iron was a 7 and it looked like I was hitting it as far (175) as the 6 iron AP2 and MP59. Loved it! Right now this is at the top of my list but I want to hit the Apex irons before final decision is made. Thank all of you guys for the reviews and comments - all very helpful.

Sounds like you found your next iron...and you did not mention which shaft was in the S55 7 iron you demoed but I am gaming the S55 iron with the CFS, stiff shaft and this combo seems to work really well...I think it enhances the feel of the S55 iron and gives you a good high ball flight for a Players type iron...good luck with what ever you decide.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Great read just went through the whole thing. I have been playing the S series since they first came out I gamed the 59's until the 56's came out and have been playing those since then. Last fall I thought about buying a set of i20's to try something different but the feel was to hard compared to the 56 I think it may be a result of the insert used. So I decided to wait and see if the i25 were given the soft inserts the s series have. But then the 55 came out and looked so sexy I tried to sell my 56 to buy a set of the 55 and still planned on trying and maybe buying the i25..... But I did not recieve what I considered a fair price for my 56 except from a mate down under but the shipping cost killed that deal. So after going back and forth and back again I am keeping my 56 as I don't see significate differences in them and the 55 and hoping the i25 have a softer feeling and will buy a set of them to give a shot of ending my 10 plus year run with the s series.

Again thanks to all that have posted in this thread.

 

[War Eagle]

Forum Testing for the Ping s55 irons is now complete. Thank you to the testers who provided their feedback and results during the past few months on these irons.

 

[dhartmann34]

Really enjoyed the experience. Hope folks got a little bit out of my rants.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[ddec]

I actually just booked a sim time to get out and hit these again in the next few days. The holidays and snow slowed the process down for me a bit which was disappointing. But I'm still going to update the thread on them. Also have my indoor league starting 1st week in January. Thanks for the opportunity THP and PING.

 

[sposey013168]

It was a great experience I still love these irons more and more everyday.

Really enjoyed the experience. Hope folks got a little bit out of my rants.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[etotheo]

Ya good job fellas.

 

[Wicked Cool Bearded Man]

I actually just booked a sim time to get out and hit these again in the next few days. The holidays and snow slowed the process down for me a bit which was disappointing. But I'm still going to update the thread on them. Also have my indoor league starting 1st week in January. Thanks for the opportunity THP and PING.

Good luck indoors dude! Hope the s55's continue to treat you well !

 

[P.J.]

Okay THPers, I'm really happy to say I got out today and had a chance to really mess with these irons. So here's my write up:

Some info to explain my game: I've got a 10ish index. I've played i3 o-size irons since 2003. Decided it was time to refresh. I got fit and decided on the S55 irons for their feel and looks and the fact that I didn't lose distance from the i3 irons. I only got the 8-PW for two reasons, 1. budget and 2. really not sure if I had the skill to play the longer irons in this set. Before I moved up to Northern Kentucky I practiced and played all the time and got to where I could hit about 12 GIR. Stopped playing all together in 2011 and this August I picked the game back up.

The clubs: I played Black dot standard length i3s with JZ cushin stiff shafts (They fit me when I was 14). This time around it was Green Dot, +1/2" length, DG X100 shafts soft stepped once. The sole is just a bit narrower than the i3 irons. Lofts are a tad stronger as well.

My experience: I hadn't hit full shots for about 2 weeks so after so extensive loosening up I got into a groove. Considering I was hitting some cold range balls, the shots felt relatively soft. Using my new V3 range finder I was hitting the 8 iron about 154 when I caught it on the sweet spot. Toe shots consistently landed on line and about 8 yards short for me. Considering these are the short irons, I didn't have much movement left or right. With the 8 iron I could work the ball either way 5 to 10 yards under control. My misses didn't move any more than my intentional shot shaping. I was worried that I wouldn't be able control the ball flight well, but it's easier with these clubs than I thought it would be.

Final thoughts: The range session gave me confidence that I can get the mid irons and play well with them. If you're looking for a new set, definitely consider the S55 irons. They're much more forgiving than you think. They're decently long, but the lofts are not as strong as some other GI irons where distance is the goal. The stiffer shafts with a soft step gave me a slightly lower flight than the i3s which is what I was after. A bit more piercing I believe. They look incredible and feel incredible. I hit several forged irons during my fitting and the S55s are just barely behind the MP-54s in the feel category.

Thanks everyone who added their experience on here before me. Hope you guys keep enjoying these awesome sticks. Time to get the rest of this set...

 

[golfinFF]

Glad to hear you found a set that is working for you.

Look forward to more thoughts when warmer weather hits.

 

[ddec]

Okay THPers, I'm really happy to say I got out today and had a chance to really mess with these irons. So here's my write up:

Some info to explain my game: I've got a 10ish index. I've played i3 o-size irons since 2003. Decided it was time to refresh. I got fit and decided on the S55 irons for their feel and looks and the fact that I didn't lose distance from the i3 irons. I only got the 8-PW for two reasons, 1. budget and 2. really not sure if I had the skill to play the longer irons in this set. Before I moved up to Northern Kentucky I practiced and played all the time and got to where I could hit about 12 GIR. Stopped playing all together in 2011 and this August I picked the game back up.

The clubs: I played Black dot standard length i3s with JZ cushin stiff shafts (They fit me when I was 14). This time around it was Green Dot, +1/2" length, DG X100 shafts soft stepped once. The sole is just a bit narrower than the i3 irons. Lofts are a tad stronger as well.

My experience: I hadn't hit full shots for about 2 weeks so after so extensive loosening up I got into a groove. Considering I was hitting some cold range balls, the shots felt relatively soft. Using my new V3 range finder I was hitting the 8 iron about 154 when I caught it on the sweet spot. Toe shots consistently landed on line and about 8 yards short for me. Considering these are the short irons, I didn't have much movement left or right. With the 8 iron I could work the ball either way 5 to 10 yards under control. My misses didn't move any more than my intentional shot shaping. I was worried that I wouldn't be able control the ball flight well, but it's easier with these clubs than I thought it would be.

Final thoughts: The range session gave me confidence that I can get the mid irons and play well with them. If you're looking for a new set, definitely consider the S55 irons. They're much more forgiving than you think. They're decently long, but the lofts are not as strong as some other GI irons where distance is the goal. The stiffer shafts with a soft step gave me a slightly lower flight than the i3s which is what I was after. A bit more piercing I believe. They look incredible and feel incredible. I hit several forged irons during my fitting and the S55s are just barely behind the MP-54s in the feel category.

Thanks everyone who added their experience on here before me. Hope you guys keep enjoying these awesome sticks. Time to get the rest of this set...

nice write up man. Do you think the lower flight that you were seeing from the 8 iron would work for you if you eventually added the 6 and 7 iron? Ball flight height was something that I struggled with a bit with these irons.

 

[P.J.]

nice write up man. Do you think the lower flight that you were seeing from the 8 iron would work for you if you eventually added the 6 and 7 iron? Ball flight height was something that I struggled with a bit with these irons.

I think the ball flight will be spot on for me having this club and shaft combo. I had a chance to demo some other irons here and there and have always had a high ball flight. To the point that if the shaft was to light or flexible or if I used a 'spinny' ball I would get balloon shots and lose yardage. So these clubs bringing the flight down a touch I think got me closer to ideal launch conditions. Getting the 6 and 7 is pretty much gonna happen this week if my wife doesn't object. I'm really considering waiting to see the i25 irons and maybe putting a combo set together. On the other hand there have been many THPers say the long irons aren't too difficult either.

When you say struggled, was the flight low or high? Seeing your posts on here, I know you know every way under the sun to mess with the flight in either direction for the clubs. Just want to gauge what may happen when I get to the longer clubs. And take this with a grain of salt but hitting the 8 iron onto a range green with range balls, I was able to get the ball to stop before it rolled off the back. Surprised the crap out of me.

 

[ddec]

Caught a somewhat decent weather day today so that gave me a chance to get out to the range. After seeing how I hit the ball in my Tuesday night simulator league I really wanted to see what my ball was doing.

During testing I talked about how I felt my flight was lower than I wanted. Today I didn't really see that much art all. Granted today was off of mats as opposed to on course testing. Hit about 80 balls today with the last 15 being a combo of PW and gap wedge long pitch target shots.

Yesterday we got a bunch of rain so the range was real soft and muddy. I mention this because it certainly helped to see where the ball was landing. There was practically no bounce so seeing the carry yards was fun. These conditions helped show off one thing that stood out with these irons, and that was consistency. Going through the bag from the 5 to 9 on full swings it was fun to see the groupings of shots that were out there.

I also was reminded of how graphite shafts help dampen those unwanted vibrations. One of my first swings with the 5 iron was no good. I certainly felt it in my hands but I know that if I was with my previous set I would have felt it a lot more than I did.

With the indoor league ramping up I look forward to seeing more results with these.

 

[Fugly]

Great info here, looking forward to getting a fitting in and see if the S55's or the i25's go in the bag.... Maybe my old Ping isi's are still the best for me.... Either way I'm definitely a Pingster!

 

[sposey013168]

I still love my s55, The long irons can be a little intimidating. I still say a combo set of pings would be a home run

Great info here, looking forward to getting a fitting in and see if the S55's or the i25's go in the bag.... Maybe my old Ping isi's are still the best for me.... Either way I'm definitely a Pingster!

 

[ProZoneGolf]

I had to spine and FLO my CFS stiffs to get them working better...the 9i was great so I still have it in play. I did put S1 to target 3-5i to firm them up.

Now I have KBS Tour V's 120gram X flex soft stepped 1x , I wish I went straight in, these are smoother than DG S300's!...high flight with drop n stop...not quite balooning and still penetrating. remind me of a smoother fCM6.5 and way less spin

A few other club builders I know say the new KBS TOUR V 125gm S+ will be tighter dispersion, than the Tour V 120x

The most control I had was S400 Ti / Adams MB2's, just got tired of 134grams

What are you guys gaming in shafts?, the mechanic has X100 SL's...may look at them as they are cheaper

Dont get me wrong the KBS Tour V 120 X SSx1 are good, they feel smooth, but the kick point in mid shaft...I prefer slightly higher for control
Due to the tungsten toe weight, higher MOI, I suggest to game 1 flex stronger in the S55's, as the head is torque-ing the shaft more.

I am also looking hard at Nippon Modus 3 120x, or Super Peening Blues X (maybe SS1x), C-taper S+. At 47years I think 120grams is a good weight without going too light. I did try Steelfibre i110cw stiffs...the butts were too soft and I had to swing easy...even tipping them 1/2' did not work
I feel PX could work however the quality shaft to shaft flex and weight is poor, and cant be bothered getting 5 out of 8 shafts that are good

I think these irons with std to weak lofts with lighter high bend shaft are the way to set up, if your on a budget X100's will work

I prefer a firmer Butt Section as I load solid, 105mph driver, 165yrd 7i with KBS Tour V 120x ss 1x currently....what are your thoughts on a good shaft combo with the S55's?????

How are the CFS stock x flex???

My next step is to re-set the KBS Tour V 120x shafts I have, with the spine at 9 or 3 to firm them up from the shaft load/action...I will advise soon

**Please chime in on your shaft, flex, shaft length, swingweight, how its working...like launch spin, dispersion and distance. Please also mention your SS and load style...lets get the reviews coming! :comp:

 

[dhartmann34]

I had to spine and FLO my CFS stiffs to get them working better...

I've got the stiff CFS shafts in mine. I'm not much into club building or anything like that so unfortunately most of what u said I don't really understand and went in one ear and out the other. I'm more of a 'just get up there and hit it with whatever you've got' type of player..... But I do plan on a full bag fitting this off season when Club Champion has a deal going on..... Love these irons.

From The HTC One Blue!

 

[JB]

I've got the stiff CFS shafts in mine. I'm not much into club building or anything like that so unfortunately most of what u said I don't really understand and went in one ear and out the other. I'm more of a 'just get up there and hit it with whatever you've got' type of player..... But I do plan on a full bag fitting this off season when Club Champion has a deal going on..... Love these irons.

From The HTC One Blue!

Your doing fine brother. There are many that would say a lot of that is irrelevant based on the technical advancements that shift companies have made.