Sometimes releases are quite the surprise, other times, they’re the worst kept secret ever. File this one somewhere in between as the rumblings about PING’s newest irons has been ramping up for months now, including some rather interesting pricing discussion.
But let’s table that for now, shall we? Instead, its time to officially get our first looks at the new PING i59 irons.
A Core Story – PING i59 Irons
I’ll be honest, a new iSeries iron from PING is exciting to me. As someone who cut their teeth entering this game with the i20’s, any time something new drops with the moniker on it, my ears perk up. This time though, it’s been an interesting one to get, and keep, a pulse on. We have known these were coming for a long time now, but the details have been relatively tight lipped as far as the actual technology within them. Turns out, it might be because that tech is literally at the core of the i59.
The irons themselves are a forged body 1025 carbon steel with a 17-4 forged stainless face. Yes, you read that correctly, I used the word “forged” twice in one sentence when referring to a PING i-Series iron. The big story there though is what is in-between those two metals as internally there is an aerospace aluminum being utilized. Coming in at 1/3 of what stainless steel weighs, PING is claiming that utilizing this material at the core is letting around THIRTY grams to be saved and allowing the design team to use tungsten heel and toe weights to replace it at the perimeter of the head to increase MOI (Moment of Inertia).
Now, PING is being adamant that the feel is very real with these and that the aluminum actually adding to the solid feel at impact that golfers who tend to lean towards these smaller more compact shapes like the i59 demand. Not only that, that weight movement has apparently meant that the MOI actually matches the i59’s bigger sibling, the i210’s.
That “Alumicore Technology” is truly the main story here, and honestly, in a smaller profile like this iron if it has allowed them to maximize the perimeter weighting as the claims are telling us, then that is all they might need. That said, PING did want to also make sure they addressed spin consistency and thus the Hydropearl 2.0 finish (which is truly excellent at its intended job in wet conditions) and MicroMax grooves are part of the equation as well. Those grooves are fully machined and have steeper sidewalls and tighter gapping to allow for four more grooves on the faces. PING states that this helps reduce jumpers in the short irons and keep that spin up to maximize peak height as well as descent angle in the longer irons.
The i59’s will come standard with Project X LS shafts in steel (6.0, 6.5) as well as UST Mamiya Recoil 760 ES and 780 in graphite. As always, there is an assortment of optional stock shafts available from PING, eight options to be exact. Also, because I know many are curious, yes, “Power Spec” is an option here, as is what PING is now calling “Retro Spec” which should appeal greatly to those who have had their feelings hurt by stronger lofts. The sets standard loft will play off a 46° PW with Power Spec at 45° and Retro Spec at 48°. The i59’s will be available in 3-PW.
Last week we profiled another piece of equipment that had a price hike and it would be impossible to write this one without mentioning it. PING is about to raise the price on most of their current lineup (at the time of this writing) and this set comes in with a hefty price of $250 per iron for steel and $15 more than that for graphite. With the technology outlined and the sleek looks, does that change perception of the brand that has at least in recent history been slightly less expensive?
Do you plan on giving these a closer look? Does the story from PING move the needle for you? Let us know how you feel both below as well as on the THP Community!
Details
In Stores: 9/2
Cost: $250 per iron in steel and $265 per iron in graphite
They’re my preferred visual over the ball, with a more compact appearance. Don’t mind a high toe for that, and they look gorgeous from the back. Soles are borderline unnerving for me. I don’t play PING irons much, so I think I have an excuse on that one. Offset and everything is really nice imo. Balanced.
Really consistent for me in testing, with plenty of spin. 7i’s would have come in a close second in the toe to toe to toe for me between T100, i59, and TCB yesterday. Probably partly shaft related though on one of them. The PX LS 6.0 isn’t my favorite despite playing it’s 5g different cousin, but fine for me and I play it pretty well. I find that stock pairing interesting, because it doesn’t feel like the LS has had a great reception overall? Probably just a result of what I haven’t read or seen, but haven’t noticed much excitement or long term in-play use of them personally. I think it’s cool it might put them in more hands, and maybe get them talked about more. I would need to play the 6.5’s in them for the feel I want, but probably won’t go stock anyway. Maybe. Overall numbers near it’s more direct club comps as expected for me, but those clubs are getting pretty spread out on feels. Will likely create a lot of love and hate. Those 3 yesterday back to back was quite the feel range.
I think in the end these will be the excuse to finally put a few blueprints in my bag. I’ve always baulked at the price of them despite loving them, but the cap is pretty much off the price discussion once you start talking about these. I’m curious to hit them back to back again though and see if I would actually like the look and feel transition.
Some. And we are told most by next week.
Have to imagine the other OEM’s are watching it too. Which makes me nervous. All the others have done it with "special" lines, but this seems to be the first standard line at that price other than PXG.
Since you put it that way, that is considerable increase. I didn’t do the math.
It’s kind of weird math because the Blueprints (which I don’t understand the pricing of) were a fair bit higher at the time – and I guess these sort of replace both of them.
I really hope 2022 isn’t the year of the price jack. PXG is about to be a bargain brand
Price is… Something.
The biggest issue with the prices going up that much is you will never see them come back down. Still wanna hit it, just won’t be buying this iron. Do have my eye on others though.
I’ve been thinking about that too. Curious to see what they do there.
And in the i500 especially. Good performers known for being a bit harsh in the hollow body realm. I’m not sure if we’re technically calling the i59 hollow.. ? I mean they kind of are, so ? Forged face over filled cavity. Anyway, this feel in something like the i500 could totally flip that script.
It’s weird how light metal is viewed differently from ‘foam’ or ‘goo’ haha
PXG knew this was coming all along!!!
a few lean years followed by complete domination on price wars. Fascinating. It’s like the inverse of Chrome Soft.
Yeah, I don’t get it. And the pictures don’t help if they don’t want people calling them hollow. Forged body, empty cavity filled with tungsten weighting and brand specific magic insert material, steel face. :confused2:
edit: dyslexic
Okay thanks. Yeah those are a bit higher. Perhaps to drive more into their standard offerings made for Ping. I honestly don’t know.
Meaning are there three different molds? No. Just one set abs lofts bent accordingly, which will alter bounce.
ping traditionally offers very little in the way of stock or no upcharge shaft offerings. I think it has to do with them having their own shaft lines. So the try to push more people into those. Just a guess but is how it seems to play out.
The price point is a little tough I think. Maybe not far off from the previous releases but to be honest if I’m in the market for clubs at that price point I probably may be leaning to pick up a second hand set of miura irons for relatively the same price. And probably some premium shafts in them, Unless You are PING Loyalist
Over the years, See Titleist CNCPT, Callaway Star line, XXIO and Honma Beres.
So this falls into that. I didn’t expect to see Ping raise prices across the board, but obviously materials and shipping are not set costs and can fluctuate.
Now that is a line of clubs I now remember reading about, and then promptly forgetting.
I have a friend that plays the CNCPTs and hits the crap out of them but I haven’t hit them. The Callaway Epic Forged is also another high end offering.
The aluminum insert is a curious design choice, although you explained their reasoning well. It will be interesting to hear people’s thoughts on the feel once they get these irons in some hands.
The privies increase is noticeable – do you think this is an industry trend due to availability, demand, and logistics constraints? Or an intentional markup due to the tech?
I think it’s not an industry trend, I think it’s a PING with an unexplainable decision trend to be honest
is that what these are intended to be, in that hyper premium tech/concept condition?
Heck of a company to be in.
I honestly don’t know. It’s not explained that way, but maybe?
Aluminum innards or not, I have to believe that Ping wouldn’t release these if the tech wasn’t solid and performance wasn’t what they wanted. I’d love to swing a few of these irons…
Back to pricing for a bit. I’m in manufacturing (different industry) but costs have skyrocketed. For everything.
I don’t know if the average American (THP’ers being well above average) realizes the increases that manufactures are seeing for everything from raw materials, to packaging to shipping.
Yes these products come from a lower cost vendor overseas, but even their costs, and the cost of shipping containers h as gone nuts. I spoke with a customer that imports goods from China as well. His cost to ship a container from China to the east coast has gone from around 3k to around 11k. It all adds up.
Some crazy stuff going on out there…
Will there be though? I was just coming in here to say how I thought I had made my peace with the price a while ago, but I’m really struggling with it. Guys I know are making quick moves and I’m definitely not. It really makes me curious. I’m not opposed to paying a bit for some golf clubs, so for it to give me serious pause… I don’t know. It was the same way with blueprints for me. Love them, just could never find them at a palatable price. These are just a big ole jump to wrap a head around. I have lots of numbers/data in front of me that says they shouldn’t cost quite this much in terms of performance vs. peers. So the ping faithful will still go for it, but I don’t have an real ping history that would demand loyalty. Can you survive on your current customers alone? How much is too much to deter new ones?
I’ve heard people who don’t love ping say they like these… or at least they are the best Pings they’ve tried in years or ever. So maybe they will get buyers outside of Ping loyalists or maybe they don’t really plan to sell that many sets.
It was a no brainer from the 3rd shot onward……as I smoked the 2nd
1st new set of irons I’ve ordered since ’08 to boot
I agree that seeing what they are doing is kind of exciting.
For me and Ping it has always been about the sound (except Blueprint. I was awful with them haha). can’t wait to try these.
And don’t forget the utilities sound horrendous.
I wonder what the average age of Ping equipment owners is compared to other brands. I see all ages using their drivers but other than that it seems like it’s older players using the rest of the lineup, at least in my area. At some point you would think they have to target a younger crowd and prices like this won’t help with that I can’t imagine.
I don’t disagree these prices are too high to be attractive to most average golfers. I think I said that in my original post.
As for procurement… they’re going to be setting pricing based on costs when they go to market and what they’re forecasting, moving forward, not what they budgeted during development.
Ping has never presented itself as being a modestly priced line and they sure aren’t starting with this offering. They’re going to make their margins one way or another. If they can’t cut costs, prices will increase.
If the i59’s don’t sell at this price (and I don’t see a lot of interest) we’ll probably see retails cut to meet minimum acceptable margin. Until then, they’ll stick to their $250 a club. Even if I could hit them well, I doubt I’d be buying any at that price.
I see a lot of older and younger people in their g410/425 irons here. They’re big sellers. But they’re mostly people who will use those irons for at least 5 years. So yeah, how do you bring in the new people at this price, and do you need to? I feel like you’d have to. It’s odd, especially since I’m not entirely sure who exactly these are aimed at in multiple levels.
Ping represents roughly 20% on the collegiate level…..they have a stronger AJGA presence. They also focus on their core programs quite nicely
Oh boy that crossover from a few years back was forgettable for sure!!
I love the tech on the these new ones though.
I will be eager to hit them at my local golf store. The new price makes me feel a little bit better about my purchase. My wife gives me the darkest stares when finding out about new golf purchases.
If only I could find a Ping putter I really like.