Who has recently transitioned to modern strong lofted irons?

[BY#99]

So I have been hesitant to trade my old PINGS for new irons due to stronger lofts. I have been thinking a lot about pulling the trigger and wanted your thoughts on those who have done this.

 

My main hang up is I have never been able to really hit irons under 24/25 degrees of loft and my current 4 iron is 24. The newer sets have 5 irons at around 24 that I am looking at so that should be ok I hope. Not interested in the lower lofted 4 irons.

 

Has anyone had issues with gaps or is this working well for you? Having 1 less club filling similar gaps from 23-24 to 45 causing any issues? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[rufus mangler]

I have. 2 degrees stronger than my old irons. 28 degree 5 iron to a 26 degree. 48 PW to 46. The main factor for me has been a slightly lower flight, due mainly from a shaft change. Even without the shaft change, I think my irons would probably fly too high if they weren't lofted stronger.

 

I haven't had a gap problem going from 46 to 54. I've always been able to hit easy PW's or hard SW's.

 

Good luck.

[dasams]

I recently got a set of AP3's and the pitching wedge is 43*. To help with gapping, I also bought the 48* wedge but that necessitated replacing my 52 & 56 with a 54* sand wedge. It's worked out pretty well so far. BTW, I think of my PW as a 9 iron and the 9 as an 8, etc. Then my 48 makes a nice pitching wedge :)

 

Question for you: Has the 43 deg pitching wedge been designed to launch as high as a traditional 46 - 48 deg pitching wedge? I'm thinking lower center of gravity, the design, choice of materials, etc. One of these days, I'd like to play the AP2 (46*) and AP3 (43*) pitching wedges side by side to evaluate trajectory.

[jjj912]

Get the 5-PW plus a GW/AW if offered and you’ll probably have the closest possible replacement to a traditional 3-PW set up. Possibly you may have to buy an extra wedge, but it depends on the set.

 

Ideally, you test the new set side by side with your current set to see how the clubs compare for distance and then decide which clubs in the new set you need and if an extra wedge is needed.

[NRJyzr]

Question for you: Has the 43 deg pitching wedge been designed to launch as high as a traditional 46 - 48 deg pitching wedge? I'm thinking lower center of gravity, the design, choice of materials, etc. One of these days, I'd like to play the AP2 (46*) and AP3 (43*) pitching wedges side by side to evaluate trajectory.

 

 

CG locations, both vertical and rearward, shown on GolfWorks' site say not "afraid not."

[cfmgolf]

Dear OP - the newer lower lofted irons I have found still launch the ball quite high so while the lower loft might seem too low for you, I would recommend trying a demo 4I if you can get your hands on one. Might be surprised, as I was. My 4I is in the 20* range now, and just love it on long par 3's or off the tee on really tight holes or a hole that you run out of fairway on. I added the 4I back in my bag a few years ago with these stronger lofts and have been very happy with it.

[chippa13]

The only way to know is to go hit them. I updated to Rocketbladez from 845U and have found the long irons much easier to hit.

[BY#99]

Dear OP - the newer lower lofted irons I have found still launch the ball quite high so while the lower loft might seem too low for you, I would recommend trying a demo 4I if you can get your hands on one. Might be surprised, as I was. My 4I is in the 20* range now, and just love it on long par 3's or off the tee on really tight holes or a hole that you run out of fairway on. I added the 4I back in my bag a few years ago with these stronger lofts and have been very happy with it.

 

That is a good suggestion. My issue is not height but longer length and lower loft seems to cause me issues. I will see about trying to find a demo. I tried the PING crossover 4 iron and struggled with that. I hit my 5 iron fine though. Always searching.

[Chuck905]

I had gapping issues on the long iron side and wedge side.

 

In hindsight, I didn’t need extra distance irons considering I had all my yardages covered in 3 iron 21* to PW 48* set.

[hook_or_slice]

So I have been hesitant to trade my old PINGS for new irons due to stronger lofts. I have been thinking a lot about pulling the trigger and wanted your thoughts on those who have done this.

 

My main hang up is I have never been able to really hit irons under 24/25 degrees of loft and my current 4 iron is 24. The newer sets have 5 irons at around 24 that I am looking at so that should be ok I hope. Not interested in the lower lofted 4 irons.

 

Has anyone had issues with gaps or is this working well for you? Having 1 less club filling similar gaps from 23-24 to 45 causing any issues? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

What PING irons are you currently playing?

[sdandrea]

This year I went to G400 from older G series (G10/15). They are a club longer. Took me a few rounds to trust them and hit the 9i from where I used to hit the 8i, but all in all, I am hooked.

[BY#99]

So I have been hesitant to trade my old PINGS for new irons due to stronger lofts. I have been thinking a lot about pulling the trigger and wanted your thoughts on those who have done this.

 

My main hang up is I have never been able to really hit irons under 24/25 degrees of loft and my current 4 iron is 24. The newer sets have 5 irons at around 24 that I am looking at so that should be ok I hope. Not interested in the lower lofted 4 irons.

 

Has anyone had issues with gaps or is this working well for you? Having 1 less club filling similar gaps from 23-24 to 45 causing any issues? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

What PING irons are you currently playing?

 

Currently the 25’s and have the 15’s as backup. Hit the 26* 5 iron well. The 23* 4 iron in both sets is hit or miss.

[hook_or_slice]

So I have been hesitant to trade my old PINGS for new irons due to stronger lofts. I have been thinking a lot about pulling the trigger and wanted your thoughts on those who have done this.

 

My main hang up is I have never been able to really hit irons under 24/25 degrees of loft and my current 4 iron is 24. The newer sets have 5 irons at around 24 that I am looking at so that should be ok I hope. Not interested in the lower lofted 4 irons.

 

Has anyone had issues with gaps or is this working well for you? Having 1 less club filling similar gaps from 23-24 to 45 causing any issues? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

What PING irons are you currently playing?

 

Currently the 25’s and have the 15’s as backup. Hit the 26* 5 iron well. The 23* 4 iron in both sets is hit or miss.

 

Those are really good game improvement irons. Unless you need to change flex, I would play them for a while longer and look for a hybrid to take the 4 iron spot.

[NevinW]

4-P old = 5-G new

[jjj912]

...

 

That is a good suggestion. My issue is not height but longer length and lower loft seems to cause me issues. I will see about trying to find a demo. I tried the PING crossover 4 iron and struggled with that. I hit my 5 iron fine though. Always searching.

 

Keep in mind that you can have the shaft shortened a bit or have shorter shafts installed and that you can have loft adjusted. Loft on Pings used to have factory adjusted, but I don’t know if that is still the case; might depend on the model.