PING i25 Irons - Review Thread

[Golferbest]

So last night as I got home I couldnt resist taking these outside for a couple swings. As I wont be able to put them to real golf balls till Sunday I can only go off waffle balls.
I wont go into extensive detail yet as ill have a more descriptive write up monday. What I can say so far:
1) was not a huge fan of the looks at first. The finish is amazing. The shape is what through me off a little. The higher toe is something I havnt had in an iron in awhile. The stock grip is money to me. It felt really good in my hands and even without a glove light grip pressure was all thay was needed. Ofcurse new grips are always tacky so we will see how it hold up.
As far as swings go, I took about 20-25. When comparing individually the progressive set is noticable but not when actually settjng up to the ball.
I only swung the 4,7, and u wedge. Turf interaction was good. Didnt stick or dig for me which is a plus.
Again hitting waffle balls isnt quite a real outing, but thus far im excited about getting these on the course.
The loft difference has me pitting the 4i back in the bag.
The distance gaps should be slightly different then my gamers
The set wedges have my attention.
Working the ball.
My first impression on course and those 4 categories will be in my initial on course review.

 

[GolferGal]

So last night as I got home I couldnt resist taking these outside for a couple swings. As I wont be able to put them to real golf balls till Sunday I can only go off waffle balls.
I wont go into extensive detail yet as ill have a more descriptive write up monday. What I can say so far:
1) was not a huge fan of the looks at first. The finish is amazing. The shape is what through me off a little. The higher toe is something I havnt had in an iron in awhile. The stock grip is money to me. It felt really good in my hands and even without a glove light grip pressure was all thay was needed. Ofcurse new grips are always tacky so we will see how it hold up.
As far as swings go, I took about 20-25. When comparing individually the progressive set is noticable but not when actually settjng up to the ball.
I only swung the 4,7, and u wedge. Turf interaction was good. Didnt stick or dig for me which is a plus.
Again hitting waffle balls isnt quite a real outing, but thus far im excited about getting these on the course.
The loft difference has me pitting the 4i back in the bag.
The distance gaps should be slightly different then my gamers
The set wedges have my attention.
Working the ball.
My first impression on course and those 4 categories will be in my initial on course review.

Thanks for the early update! May I ask a favor, can you please put spaces between your sentences? It makes it hard to read when there are no spaces.

 

[Jman]

Looking forward to comparing thoughts as you guys get out and about more with your sets. I'm getting another round in today to finish out some thoughts for the frontpage review and to put in here to continue the long term testing.

But some general discussion of you guys:

What has surprised you the most so far?

For me, its been the long irons (as if you couldn't tell from my review posts), they actually do launch better than the i20's did for me which is shocking.

 

[tequila4kapp]

I'm playing with c0ncept this weekend. I am excited to put a few swings on these bad boys.

 

[Canadan]

So last night as I got home I couldnt resist taking these outside for a couple swings. As I wont be able to put them to real golf balls till Sunday I can only go off waffle balls.
I wont go into extensive detail yet as ill have a more descriptive write up monday. What I can say so far:
1) was not a huge fan of the looks at first. The finish is amazing. The shape is what through me off a little. The higher toe is something I havnt had in an iron in awhile. The stock grip is money to me. It felt really good in my hands and even without a glove light grip pressure was all thay was needed. Ofcurse new grips are always tacky so we will see how it hold up.
As far as swings go, I took about 20-25. When comparing individually the progressive set is noticable but not when actually settjng up to the ball.
I only swung the 4,7, and u wedge. Turf interaction was good. Didnt stick or dig for me which is a plus.
Again hitting waffle balls isnt quite a real outing, but thus far im excited about getting these on the course.
The loft difference has me pitting the 4i back in the bag.
The distance gaps should be slightly different then my gamers
The set wedges have my attention.
Working the ball.
My first impression on course and those 4 categories will be in my initial on course review.

Lots of things addressed in this post but I'd love to hear you expand on them.

What do you mean by "working the ball" and turf interaction "sticking"? What did you experience instead?

 

[Golferbest]

Lots of things addressed in this post but I'd love to hear you expand on them.

What do you mean by "working the ball" and turf interaction "sticking"? What did you experience instead?

Without going to far into my swing, I tend to lose some acceleration after impact with irons. When this happens the sole of clubs plays a role. Depending on the design some clubs will slightly dig and catch in the turf. Some irons flow through the ground smoothly. Fear of too much pressure on the knee causes this for MY swing but its something I have to adapt to. Once I get to hitting real balls I can give you a little more feedback.

As far as working the ball. Ive become a pretty good scrambler after getting back into the game. I find myself using shots where I may need to go over/under something. Controlling trajectory is something I work on alot. I also have a nature fade. I like to see how far I can fade the ball with control. IMO different head shaped and technology have different effects on my control. So its important for me to be able to control the ball. Hope this helped a little.

 

[Canadan]

Without going to far into my swing, I tend to lose some acceleration after impact with irons. When this happens the sole of clubs plays a role. Depending on the design some clubs will slightly dig and catch in the turf. Some irons flow through the ground smoothly. Fear of too much pressure on the knee causes this for MY swing but its something I have to adapt to. Once I get to hitting real balls I can give you a little more feedback.

As far as working the ball. Ive become a pretty good scrambler after getting back into the game. I find myself using shots where I may need to go over/under something. Controlling trajectory is something I work on alot. I also have a nature fade. I like to see how far I can fade the ball with control. IMO different head shaped and technology have different effects on my control. So its important for me to be able to control the ball. Hope this helped a little.

So are you planning to keep an eye on how the i25's react to that, or did you find something about the ability to work the ball with them already?

Having hit both the i25's and your gamer R11's personally, I couldn't imagine that being an issue at all in the switch.

 

[Golferbest]

So are you planning to keep an eye on how the i25's react to that, or did you find something about the ability to work the ball with them already?

Having hit both the i25's and your gamer R11's personally, I couldn't imagine that being an issue at all in the switch.

I don't imagine the transition will be hard with them either. However just hitting waffle ball isnt enough to make a final judgment imo.
Sunday I will be able to get them on the course and work out my initial full review.

 

[#troy]

Looking forward to comparing thoughts as you guys get out and about more with your sets. I'm getting another round in today to finish out some thoughts for the frontpage review and to put in here to continue the long term testing.

But some general discussion of you guys:

What has surprised you the most so far?

For me, its been the long irons (as if you couldn't tell from my review posts), they actually do launch better than the i20's did for me which is shocking.

High Launch so far. Really noticed the ball flight being higher than other recent irons I have.

Also, the lightweight shafts are nice!

 

[c0ncept]

Looking forward to comparing thoughts as you guys get out and about more with your sets. I'm getting another round in today to finish out some thoughts for the frontpage review and to put in here to continue the long term testing.

But some general discussion of you guys:

What has surprised you the most so far?

For me, its been the long irons (as if you couldn't tell from my review posts), they actually do launch better than the i20's did for me which is shocking.

How high I hit the short irons/wedges and how soft the clubs feel at impact. I have never been a high ball hitter but when I want to get these in the air they are in the air. I only hit 4 iron a few times but it felt great even on the not so great shot I had. Usually long irons feel terrible to me but this already has me looking at getting a 3 iron.

 

[Jman]

High Launch so far. Really noticed the ball flight being higher than other recent irons I have.

Also, the lightweight shafts are nice!

Jealous of the graphite, PING's graphite options are usually solid.

How high I hit the short irons/wedges and how soft the clubs feel at impact. I have never been a high ball hitter but when I want to get these in the air they are in the air. I only hit 4 iron a few times but it felt great even on the not so great shot I had. Usually long irons feel terrible to me but this already has me looking at getting a 3 iron.

The feel of the i20's baffled a lot of the hardcore forged boasters, I'm pretty certain the i25's will do that even moreso. Just not what you would expect at all IMO.

 

[c0ncept]

Jealous of the graphite, PING's graphite options are usually solid.



The feel of the i20's baffled a lot of the hardcore forged boasters, I'm pretty certain the i25's will do that even moreso. Just not what you would expect at all IMO.

It feels very close to the Razr X Forged irons the more I hit...that shouldn't be possible lol. I feel very stupid at this point for never giving Ping a chance and it has only been a few days with these. The shafts are surprising too glad I stuck with graphite.

 

[Canadan]

Jealous of the graphite, PING's graphite options are usually solid.

The feel of the i20's baffled a lot of the hardcore forged boasters, I'm pretty certain the i25's will do that even moreso. Just not what you would expect at all IMO.

I'll support this. While I am not hardcore, there is a certain sound/feedback I look for, and the i25's do a very easy job of meeting my criteria.

 

[Brianbigoats]

Great reivews so far keep it up guys

The Trajectory is very intresting when i have hit other ping irons that was always a problem for me they seemed to launch low espicaly in the long iron

 

[JonD]

Looking forward to comparing thoughts as you guys get out and about more with your sets. I'm getting another round in today to finish out some thoughts for the frontpage review and to put in here to continue the long term testing.

But some general discussion of you guys:

What has surprised you the most so far?

For me, its been the long irons (as if you couldn't tell from my review posts), they actually do launch better than the i20's did for me which is shocking.

This is the biggest thing I've taken out of this review so far. I love my i20s. Keep that feel and add easier to hit long irons... I'm now hawkpondering.

 

[AMart]

The feel of the i20's baffled a lot of the hardcore forged boasters, I'm pretty certain the i25's will do that even moreso. Just not what you would expect at all IMO.

For me, the feel of a forged head is far superior to my JPX 825 irons. The i25 however have a much more appealing feel compared to other cast heads. Center contact is firm and smooth much like forged. I don't quite get that "I hardly felt the ball" I get with a forged head but it's darn close. Must be a secret Ping method!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[Jman]

For me, the feel of a forged head is far superior to my JPX 825 irons. The i25 however have a much more appealing feel compared to other cast heads. Center contact is firm and smooth much like forged. I don't quite get that "I hardly felt the ball" I get with a forged head but it's darn close. Must be a secret Ping method!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Its called, understanding sound and its impact on the perception of feel. Fact.

 

[Vix02]

Great thread.....coming from S55's, I really think i25's call my name. I was hitting them at GolfTown this afternoon after hitting my S55's all morning at an outdoor range....they don't feel as good as a 'pured' S55 but definitely not harsh. The long irons are great with the i25 ( as mentioned in earlier posts ) while the s55's demand a good swing ( and confidence ).

How does the CFS hold up? I'm not sure if I'll go CFS X or X100's SS+1

 

[c0ncept]

Previous Entries:
First Post: Initial Thoughts - Click Here
Second Post: U Wedge Thoughts - Click Here
Third Post: First 9 holes - Click Here

Location Details:
3/13/2014
Bellevue Public Golf Course
47* and calm
Range Balls...Srixon but I think limited distance

General Thoughts:

Long/Mid irons: Jman was not exaggerating when he said the 4 iron has a nice ball flight. I took a video so you can see it but I was hitting this thing constantly off the deck and it was going higher than the 7 iron I play does (R7 CGB). I can't say anything about the distance because even great contract off a tee was only getting so far on the range and I hit that same club 220 yesterday. So the 4 iron was high...5 iron was high...6 iron was high. I don't think I have ever played a set of clubs where I wouldn't be too afraid of trying to land a 4 iron and hold a green but this set was dropping balls that were sitting pretty quick. The 7 iron is just money and I was able to do anything I wanted with it using the 9 squares (High draw, High, High fade, Mid draw, Mid, Mid fade, Low draw, Low, Low fade)

Short Irons/Full Wedges: I started out with the LW just pounding balls right at the distance marker and I would say 20 balls were all within a 10 foot circle. On full swings the set wedges just seem to take off like rockets and I love the high flight. I saw the same with the UW which is usually the club I use on short par 4s and when I layup on par 5s so that really is important. I hit the LW about 90 yards which is on par to what I hit the 60* in AZ (I lose distance in WA due to weather but I was playing range balls so I think they could be longer). The 9 iron and 8 iron were very alike to playing a wedge. Very straight and still a high ball flight that really really should allow for pin seeking regardless of location (Bring it on sucker pins).

Feel- Again I can't get over how soft these are. Ping has found a way to take an iron that people would love and give it the features that people need.

Distance- Can't really comment as the range balls are at least 10% shorter than what I play. These clubs seem very "hot" distance wise though from what I feel at impact and how the balls just jump off the face when hit square.

Forgiveness- I got to work a little on hitting balls on the toe and while the distance was shorter (I think it was about 10 yards with the 6 iron) the balls still kept the flight I was trying to hit just a little lower. They still were going left and right and stayed on target.

Workability- I worked a lot on shaping shots today being on the range. The fade has been a shot I have been trying to get back but with the other irons I struggled. I have had no issues shaping the ball and actually really liked how much control I had over the side to side dispersion. Punch shots were a lot of fun today as I was able to hit a basket 80 yards out with 8 iron down to the 4 and every shot was on the target line.

Extra Findings-

1. I worked on opening the LW today and hitting flops both long and short (shown in the video below) I saw good results with the chipping and again just think I need to get used to the different shaft. I started hitting low shots to a pin 15 feet away and then flopping to it followed by flopping to a pin 30 feet away. Every shot was actually very close pace wise although I think one of the flops on the close target was short. The long flops were only rolling out about 5 feet. I apologize for the tilt it was the only way the video would stay steady.




2. Jman was right about the long irons so I had to test it as a low ball hitter. Here is the video (Gotta love the shank before I realized I should tuck in my headphones lol) Just ignore the first and watch the last 3 shots. 4 iron off the deck. I apologize for the tilt it was the only way the video would stay steady.

 

[syndicate559]

Well, I did it, guys. Placed my order today for 6-U, blue dot, kbs tour stiff. Now the waiting. ..

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[Fugly]

Great write up c0ncept... Very consistent pitching, great tempo with the long irons... What are you listening to?

Thanks looks like these are going I'm my bag this season!

 

[c0ncept]

Great write up c0ncept... Very consistent pitching, great tempo with the long irons... What are you listening to?

Thanks looks like these are going I'm my bag this season!

Thanks Nothing during those swings but usually AWOLNATION. Good to hear these irons are eye openers for me.

 

[dkwhite64]

After reading the reviews by the testers, I am now debating my decision for wedges. I have my i25's 3-PW now with Project X 5.5 shafts and just love them. My intention was to try the Hopkins wedges, but now I am wondering if I should just order the Ping i25 UW, SW and LW.

Oh, what to do? What to do? :blowkiss::confused2:

 

[adamw238]

Great write ups by everyone so far. I'm not in the market for new irons, but it's good to stay informed on what's out there and what different golfers think.

Rap-a-tap Tappin' on my SG4

 

[ChristopherKee]

After reading the reviews by the testers, I am now debating my decision for wedges. I have my i25's 3-PW now with Project X 5.5 shafts and just love them. My intention was to try the Hopkins wedges, but now I am wondering if I should just order the Ping i25 UW, SW and LW.

Oh, what to do? What to do? :blowkiss::confused2:

my set only came with the UW but so far it's performing better than my TM 50*. I will know for sure Saturday when I take the i25's out for a real round.