PING i Irons: THP Review Thread

Digging the comparison in those last two pics. Thanks James.

Thanks Pete, I thought people might get a kick out of those, particularly the blade length.

PING said they were slimming the i-Series iron a bit, they definitely did. I really can't get over the topline honestly.
 
Took some swings with the 7 iron tonight. Hit 3 shafts, DG s300, modus 105, and cfs distance. I know it's not the sexy choice but I think I liked the Cfs the best with the few swings I had.

Nice feeling club. Feels slightly different than the Pings I remember. Size is very similar to my old i10 irons. Ball felt like it jumped off the fave fine. 7 iron carry distance avg was 163. Was seeing some pretty consistent results across the board.
 
Took some swings with the 7 iron tonight. Hit 3 shafts, DG s300, modus 105, and cfs distance. I know it's not the sexy choice but I think I liked the Cfs the best with the few swings I had.

Nice feeling club. Feels slightly different than the Pings I remember. Size is very similar to my old i10 irons. Ball felt like it jumped off the fave fine. 7 iron carry distance avg was 163. Was seeing some pretty consistent results across the board.

CFS has a crazy smooth transition. I totally get that choice.
 
Took some swings with the 7 iron tonight. Hit 3 shafts, DG s300, modus 105, and cfs distance. I know it's not the sexy choice but I think I liked the Cfs the best with the few swings I had.

Nice feeling club. Feels slightly different than the Pings I remember. Size is very similar to my old i10 irons. Ball felt like it jumped off the fave fine. 7 iron carry distance avg was 163. Was seeing some pretty consistent results across the board.

I'm digging the feel. Definitely more dense and lower pitched, I think many will call them "softer feeling" from the 20's and 25's. The material change and adjusted/modified CTP is definitely an interesting combo/setup/design.
 
Took some swings with the 7 iron tonight. Hit 3 shafts, DG s300, modus 105, and cfs distance. I know it's not the sexy choice but I think I liked the Cfs the best with the few swings I had.

Nice feeling club. Feels slightly different than the Pings I remember. Size is very similar to my old i10 irons. Ball felt like it jumped off the fave fine. 7 iron carry distance avg was 163. Was seeing some pretty consistent results across the board.
You know my desire for KBS shafts in something. However, I LOVED the CFS shafts in my i20s. I know they are the "CFS Distance" in these, but are they similar?
 
PING iE1 Irons: THP Preview Thread

PING iE1 Irons: THP Preview Thread

You know my desire for KBS shafts in something. However, I LOVED the CFS shafts in my i20s. I know they are the "CFS Distance" in these, but are they similar?

My understanding is that the CFS distance are exactly the same as the CFS. They're just longer.
Edit: Not sure of the specifics on that. I'm sure Jman will expand on it.


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You know my desire for KBS shafts in something. However, I LOVED the CFS shafts in my i20s. I know they are the "CFS Distance" in these, but are they similar?

My understanding is that the CFS distance are exactly the same as the CFS. They're just longer.
Edit: Not sure of the specifics on that. I'm sure Jman will expand on it.


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Yep, 1/4 inch longer. Slight counterweight effect too I believe.
 
My understanding is that the CFS distance are exactly the same as the CFS. They're just longer.
Edit: Not sure of the specifics on that. I'm sure Jman will expand on it.


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Makes sense.

Yep, 1/4 inch longer.
........I'm treading on "Wardy like" adjustments if I want to keep playing at my current club length.........
 
Makes sense.


........I'm treading on "Wardy like" adjustments if I want to keep playing at my current club length.........
Nah, thats what custom orders are for.
 
I will likely seek these out to demo, but I am going to be hard pressed to replace my XR Pros.
 
Is the ctp different than what they have in the S 55's?

The talk about the numbers being like Mizuno and seeing your pics of the club they seem to be about the same size as the 850 forged?
 
Is the ctp different than what they have in the S 55's?

The talk about the numbers being like Mizuno and seeing your pics of the club they seem to be about the same size as the 850 forged?

Same CTP design, modified in size and location according to the head and cavity design.

Mizuno? I don't recall comparing them to mizuno in here, longer than the 850f, and smaller imo.
 
Ah, I went back and looked, we were talking about the actual numbers on the sole of the club, not performance wise. I misread, sorry!
 
Same CTP design, modified in size and location according to the head and cavity design.

Mizuno? I don't recall comparing them to mizuno in here, longer than the 850f, and smaller imo.

Thanks, With what I'm reading here these are going to impress a lot of people. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

The Mizuno thing was someone made comment about the script of the numbers being similar and then I thought of the 850f and was thinking it could be a similar size.

Great pic's by the way.
 
Keep it coming Jman. Killing it with the feedback and information thus far.
 
I've mentioned it in here in my initial thoughts a few posts back, I reviewed the 20s and the 25s so the the feedback will be plentiful. These only just came in yesterday so it'll take time to draw hard comparisons to them. What in particular are you wanting to know?

Looks like the iE1s are 1 degree stronger... so I'm assuming they may be a tad longer and maybe a lower trajectory than the i25s?

looking for ball flight comparisons between the two...

thanks again for the great review. great info.
 
Looks like the iE1s are 1 degree stronger... so I'm assuming they may be a tad longer and maybe a lower trajectory than the i25s?

looking for ball flight comparisons between the two...

thanks again for the great review. great info.

They also moved the CTP a bit lower in the cavity, so the height could end up being about the same. The i25 are absolutely perfect in terms of launch for me in the long irons and from James's early thoughts it seems like the new i series continues with that.
 
Looks like the iE1s are 1 degree stronger... so I'm assuming they may be a tad longer and maybe a lower trajectory than the i25s?

looking for ball flight comparisons between the two...

thanks again for the great review. great info.

Decreasing the loft doesn't mean lower trajectory, in fact form having these on a monitor yesterday I'm seeing an increase from what I got with the i25's, not a ton, but its there. Its the benefits to moving the CG, removing the stabilizing bars to let the face flex more unlike the goals of the 20's/25's, and moving to the 431 SS. Length wise, looking back at my info on the 25's these are about 4.8 yards longer per club on average for me. We will see if that holds up my next range and data session though.

The flight is really really nice with the CFS, but, I've always been a fan of what the CFS brings to the table for the masses. For me, mid-high flight all day so far. More mid in the 3/4i, but thats expected for me and my long iron relationship.

Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it.
 
While I digest my thoughts though, I shall leave you with these...

Ignore the dirt. Dirt is good.

DSC_0044-XL.jpg


VPC/iE1
DSC_0046-XL.jpg


DSC_0050-XL.jpg


W/S V4/iE1
DSC_0047-XL.jpg


DSC_0051-XL.jpg


Hogan/iE1

DSC_0048-XL.jpg


DSC_0049-XL.jpg


XRP/iE1
DSC_0045-XL.jpg


DSC_0053-XL.jpg

People ALWAYS want size comparisons and ask for them, so I'm bumping this for the weekend crowd.
 
Looks like they are almost identical to the XHP in head shape/size. Maybe a smidgen more offset? Also the top line could just be an optical illusion of the pic, but are the top lines pretty identical? The iE1 looks a hair thinner.


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Looks like they are almost identical to the XHP in head shape/size. Maybe a smidgen more offset? Also the top line could just be an optical illusion of the pic, but are the top lines pretty identical? The iE1 looks a hair thinner.


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IE1 is smaller in blade length, topline, and sole width imo, though that is damn close. Offset varies since ping us use the progressive setup through the set.
 
While I digest my thoughts though, I shall leave you with these...

Ignore the dirt. Dirt is good.

Ugh, dirty irons :alien:
 
James. You are absoultly killing it with the info in this thread. Thanks so much. But that's nothing new :drinks:
 
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
 
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