PING i Irons: THP Review Thread

Nice thoughts. I like the looks of these and was a fan of the CFS in the i20s. The mid-high flight with mid irons is something I like. I didn't get along with the 4i well in the i20s but then again until recently I don't get along with 4i in general.

compared to other 3/4i that you have hit how easy are these? For me the z545 has been an easy 4i to hit
 
Nice thoughts. I like the looks of these and was a fan of the CFS in the i20s. The mid-high flight with mid irons is something I like. I didn't get along with the 4i well in the i20s but then again until recently I don't get along with 4i in general.

compared to other 3/4i that you have hit how easy are these? For me the z545 has been an easy 4i to hit

Eh, its hard to say, long irons are long irons and in the end its all the swing. I do think for me these do a much better job at being more easily playable than the 545's were for me there thanks to the progressive size/offset off them giving them more help where most will need it...launch.
 
Eh, its hard to say, long irons are long irons and in the end its all the swing. I do think for me these do a much better job at being more easily playable than the 545's were for me there thanks to the progressive size/offset off them giving them more help where most will need it...launch.
That's an interesting thought about them being more playable than the 545. I enjoyed that set a ton when I had mpetersons in the bag for 5 weeks or so.

I can't wait till these it store shelves so I can swing a 5 or 6 iron with them, as well as a 9 iron. I need more than just a 7. But that 7, yeah I liked that.
 
That's an interesting thought about them being more playable than the 545. I enjoyed that set a ton when I had mpetersons in the bag for 5 weeks or so.

I can't wait till these it store shelves so I can swing a 5 or 6 iron with them, as well as a 9 iron. I need more than just a 7. But that 7, yeah I liked that.
Where did you hit the 7? Northway 8?
 
That's an interesting thought about them being more playable than the 545. I enjoyed that set a ton when I had mpetersons in the bag for 5 weeks or so.

I can't wait till these it store shelves so I can swing a 5 or 6 iron with them, as well as a 9 iron. I need more than just a 7. But that 7, yeah I liked that.

Longer blade length, lower profile, more offset to aid launch, all the things most of us need to be more consistent and successful with the long irons. The i-Series (in its last couple iterations) have definitely gotten it right here where the long irons playability are concerned.

I think the 545 do well for people though in the longer clubs thanks to those big ole soles.

Both solid iron sets. I just think these have more helping tech built into the long irons for am's.
 
I have never played, hit or ever wanted any ping irons. Not really sure. I am really digging this set. The finish is amazing and Jman 's review has been solid. I will definitely check these out. These and the mizzy mp-25 have me looking forward to Christmas!!
 
That's an interesting thought about them being more playable than the 545. I enjoyed that set a ton when I had mpetersons in the bag for 5 weeks or so.

I can't wait till these it store shelves so I can swing a 5 or 6 iron with them, as well as a 9 iron. I need more than just a 7. But that 7, yeah I liked that.

Longer blade length, lower profile, more offset to aid launch, all the things most of us need to be more consistent and successful with the long irons. The i-Series (in its last couple iterations) have definitely gotten it right here where the long irons playability are concerned.

I think the 545 do well for people though in the longer clubs thanks to those big ole soles.

Both solid iron sets. I just think these have more helping tech built into the long irons for am's.

It's not a HUGE difference - the V sole gives you a lot more out of the 5i than you'd think giving the profile (I don't have the 4i in the 545s), but I'd probably take the i series long irons over the 545s were I to choose. Definitely get a bit more out of the 5i in terms of launch with the i25s - the E1s seem to be a little less progressive from the picture, but I'll defer to James on those, since he's got them. As anecdotal evidence, I feel reasonably comfortable hitting the i25 4i, and would not think of ordering the 545 4i at all.

I think the i series is the best execution of a combo/progressive set that I've seen. Really covers a wide range of golfers.
 
Eh, its hard to say, long irons are long irons and in the end its all the swing. I do think for me these do a much better job at being more easily playable than the 545's were for me there thanks to the progressive size/offset off them giving them more help where most will need it...launch.

I get ya there. Hybrids were brought around for a reason. I don't have the game to play a 3i but like the ability to,play 4i over hybrid due to tendency to yank the hybo. Appreciate the response and the info in the reviews....ypu updates make it easy in the decision making process.
 
The feedback here has taken these irons from 'meh' to 'must-hit' for me.
I'm looking at the pictures and reading the feedback and they just don't seem to jive...in a good way. Those top lines are sexy slim and I like the blade length.
 
I'm in the market for new irons (7-GW). I've never been fit as I live in a rural area without ready access. However, our new GM at my course managed to get NIKE, cobra, and Ping to come for demo days. Got fit by Ping yesterday and they had the iE1s. Warmed up with my stuff and while waiting, I got to hit the entire lineup. Liked the new ones, but quickly became apparent they weren't for me. Just seemed inconsistent for me. I was hitting everything off the heel, and even once we moved into the fitting and tried with shorter shafts, it didn't help. A lot off the heel, and even well struck shots were too low for me. While I'm sure it must have been me and my swing, I'm a very low spin player and need a higher flight, so even on their best shots they weren't for me.

(hit about a hundred 7 irons, and ended up fit into stiff blue dot i25s -1/2 inch with an extra wrap. Now to convince my wife I NEED new irons lol.)
 
Heres a surprise JMan is killing an I series review. Love all the thoughts and it has me wondering if I would have gone with these over the S55's. The Sole and notch cut out on Ping irons always throw me off on the initial looks but when you address the ball you don't see those things.
 
Heres a surprise JMan is killing an I series review. Love all the thoughts and it has me wondering if I would have gone with these over the S55's. The Sole and notch cut out on Ping irons always throw me off on the initial looks but when you address the ball you don't see those things.

I like the sole and notch, personally. The sole on the i series makes me feel like if I do hit just a tad behind the ball the club is gonna keep from digging just enough to still make it to the ball with decent speed. And the notch on the hosel makes it much easier to bend clubs around. I also feel like it gives just that little bit less resistance when cutting through heavy rough. I don't know if that's what actually happens , but it definitely builds the confidence!


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I like the sole and notch, personally. The sole on the i series makes me feel like if I do hit just a tad behind the ball the club is gonna keep from digging just enough to still make it to the ball with decent speed. And the notch on the hosel makes it much easier to bend clubs around. I also feel like it gives just that little bit less resistance when cutting through heavy rough. I don't know if that's what actually happens , but it definitely builds the confidence!


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No question on the performance and function, just looks odd to me. Hitting Ping irons is always a nice surprise love the performance from all their lines.
 
PING iE1 Irons: THP Preview Thread

PING iE1 Irons: THP Preview Thread

No question on the performance and function, just looks odd to me. Hitting Ping irons is always a nice surprise love the performance from all their lines.

I really wanted to like the G line, starting with the G-20's. I never did like them though. Just a super high and super lazy ball flight that wanted to do nothing else. They're forgiving, but past that they bore me. The i line is closer to the G in forgiveness and closer to the S in all the other performance categories. It's like a best of both worlds, and that's why I LOVE the line!


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James, I probably missed it but how is the finish? Still the terrible Ping satin that wears after 1 round?
 
James, I probably missed it but how is the finish? Still the terrible Ping satin that wears after 1 round?

I'm not James, but he's stated a couple times that they've gone back to a more "tumbled" finish like older Ping irons. No more poor durability with the finish...as of yet.


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So, as I mentioned yesterday I had a hell of a range session with these and then went out and hit various shots from 5 of the different holes on my course just to see the clubs on course with non-range balls.

Thoughts? Always.

  • The rumors were that with this release PING wanted to take a little of the i20/i25 profile and blend it with a little of the S55 profile to make a smaller footprinted i-Series iron that leans toward that popular "tweener" classification that will offer GI traits but still appeal to low caps too. They did it. The profile is notably smaller to me having gamed the i20's for a LOOOOONG time and then the i25's and S55's at one point as well. Now, because of the progressive nature/design, as you get to the long irons you still get the larger offset and blade length there, which may turn some off, but its still IMO the best progressive iron setup out there.
  • Aesthetically, the finish is solid looking IMO. Zero issues with it holding up so far and no lightening of the face has been seen.
  • The cavity is going to be a love hate thing I know. I like it more now that I've had them in hand/bag than the initial pics we saw, but I still would prefer i20 like badging in this design, TOTALLY personal preference there. Either way, its going to continue to be a point of discussion for people, some will love, some won't, thats golf equipment.
  • Launch - seeing mid-high all day, the long irons are more mid, the scoring irons more high, progressive through the set. Still working on ball position w/ the 3/4 so we will keep an eye on that and see if it changes or not.
  • Distance - longer than the previous versions, based on my notes, the 8i is about 4.8 yards longer. Not XRP range, but closer than I anticipated coming in and lead to some on course issues for me as I went out and played them off of my old i-Series distances. Some will point to the loft, but, they're crazy to put it mildly. Same launch as previous versions, with less loft, means still holding greens but gaining some distance. Honestly, this is the #1 surprise area for me right now, and its why I can't wait to get back to the range Monday and make sure I save the data this time, ball speed tracking will tell the story much better, but I think the removal of the stabilizing bars and the material change are playing a definite role here.
  • Sound/Feel - There is, IMO, no better company out there at understanding the role of sound/vibrations in irons as it pertains how it impacts feel than PING. Their CTP and the impact it plays in the feel of the cast heads has been causing brain cramps in the forged die hards for years now. The i20 and S55 were the pinnacle of this for me, but the material change here to 431 SS and more importantly the location placement of the CTP in terms of width and depth in the cavity has lead to an improved feel. Its a really nice dense sensation tot he hand and the ears while still allowing you to know when and where you miss, basically, its all the things the forged iron fans praise their irons for being and what they criticize cast irons for not being able to do. It been nice to see that PING didn't take a step back here, unlike what we are seeing/hearing with the GMAX in Hawks testing,
  • Shafts - The CFS distance are 1/4" longer in length than the 20's/25's which is good for a guy like me who plays 1/4" long, but will lead to some trepidation for some I think. Same solid shafts as always, and though its cool to see the no upcharge options (even with the absence of KBS) the CFS are just as solid at doing what they do as they ever have been. Nice intermediate weight, solid mid-high flight, good feel, good consistency, good accuracy.
  • Forgiveness/Ball-Speed-Retention - more on this in coming days when I remember to save my data...but based on what I am seeing alone and no numbers, its what we have come to expect of the i-Series irons. Really good off the toe for this toe-miss guy, worst off the heel, so so up high, and IMO improved low because of the cavity undercut now. No glaring issues right now, but, we will see if that holds up with time.

Anywho, some initial thoughts from this past week. Really looking forward to putting more time in with these, if you have ANY q's, please don't hesitate to post them up, I'm here for you all
Bump for the Sunday morning crowd.
 
James, I probably missed it but how is the finish? Still the terrible Ping satin that wears after 1 round?
Tons better Fupy. Definitely a bit of a throwback tumbled/starshot looking finish. I've hit about 150 balls with the 8i already, I'll grab some pics here in a second brochacha.
 
Thanks for all the hard work bringing us the kind of iron reviews we've all been spoiled with around here.

I'll definitely swing these the next time I'm int he store and see how they feel/perform.
 
Thanks for all the hard work bringing us the kind of iron reviews we've all been spoiled with around here.

I'll definitely swing these the next time I'm int he store and see how they feel/perform.

Hahahahaha, you know me dude, years go by of being lucky enough to do this job for THP and I'm still just as much a kid in a candy store as ever.

I won't lie though, there is some nostalgia with any i-Series review since the i20 review is what got me the chance to do what I get to do day in day out for THP.
 
For Fupy, 8i wear w/ 150+ shots on it...exponentially better than the 20/25 finish at this point. Took a couple different light/angle shots to try and show as much as I could.

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Outstanding review and thoughts Jman! Yesterday i stopped by the local golf store to try these out. I hit the blue dot with CFS regular shaft. I really like the overall looks of these and was excited to see how they performed. My thoughts from one session in a LM...

As Jman and other have said the CFS is a great shaft and it works for me. I have had it in several sets of PINGs and never been disappointed. No change in that with these irons. They performed on the LM flawlessly. I was getting 150 carry consistently with the 7 iron and put 18 of 20 shots within 8 feet of flag. I like hitting a high shot with little roll and was getting just that.

Im not a big swinger or long ball hitter but aunch angle was 22* ish and desent angle was 47 ish with spin of 5800 and ball speed was in the 104 ballpark. Cant wait to see what these do outside.

Needless to say I was impressed but plan on testing my G30 7 iron against it in a few days to see the difference. Right now I am srongly considering ordering scoring irons to pair with with my G30s.

I like the new finish and past issues caused me to get rid of previois I series sets. This finish looks great and from wha I've read that issue is resolved and these can be re-tumbled.

This new I series is another exceptional offering from PING.

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Outstanding review and thoughts Jman! Yesterday i stopped by the local golf store to try these out. I hit the blue dot with CFS regular shaft. I really like the overall looks of these and was excited to see how they performed. My thoughts from one session in a LM...

As Jman and other have said the CFS is a great shaft and it works for me. I have had it in several sets of PINGs and never been disappointed. No change in that with these irons. They performed on the LM flawlessly. I was getting 150 carry consistently with the 7 iron and put 18 of 20 shots within 8 feet of flag. I like hitting a high shot with little roll and was getting just that.

Im not a big swinger or long ball hitter but aunch angle was 22* ish and desent angle was 47 ish with spin of 5800 and ball speed was in the 104 ballpark. Cant wait to see what these do outside.

Needless to say I was impressed but plan on testing my G30 7 iron against it in a few days to see the difference. Right now I am srongly considering ordering scoring irons to pair with with my G30s.

I like the new finish and past issues caused me to get rid of previois I series sets. This finish looks great and from wha I've read that issue is resolved and these can be re-tumbled.

This new I series is another exceptional offering from PING.

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The ability to have a set re-tumbled is huge for sure IMO.
 
James your killing this one and I'm dreaming of this set being in my bag. I've never cared for the look of the past i-series but these are flat out there best looking irons from them and they flat perform.


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