Does anyone still game Ping Eye 2's?

[sdandrea]

I just scored (another) set of Eye 2 irons. Could someone with a PING account get me the specs and date for serial #381599? Thanks in advance!

[North Butte]

I took my new (to me) Eye2’s out for nine holes recently. Left my usual driver, 5w, hybrid and my usual wedges at home. Just the 3-W Eye2 set, an early-70’s vintage Anser putter and my one “modern” necessity, a 56-degree Vokey.

 

Teed off with the 3-iron in lieu of driver. Seemed to go about 180-ish which is similar or a bit shorter than the 23-degree hybrid from my usual set. Other than that, they seemed to play roughly the expected distances with each club number being “one less” than my Ping G irons. That’s because the Eye2 5-iron has the same loft as my G 6-iron and so forth through the set.

 

Biggest difference from modern game-improvement irons is the Eye2 really wants to take a serious divot. I always think of myself as something close to a “picker” and playing on Bermuda grass my mid irons simply do not take divots at all. A perfectly struck, clean contact, straight and high 6-iron shot from a tight fairway lie made a 8-10” long (albeit extremely shallow and not very wide) divot. Even iron shots from the rough the leading edge just plows through the grass before and after ball with very little apparent resistance. Remarkable.

 

But don’t ask about catching a PW just a couple of grooves low from a tight lie. Not good!

[Coachdoss]

I play a BECU Set 4-LW.... Awsome clubs! I have shot all of my sub par rounds with eye 2's.

 

They are as good as anything else out there.

[9woodfan]

I've been a huge PING fan forever and only strayed when I went into single length. I've kept all my favorite PING clubs and was building a 8-10 club fun bag. The other day my wife spies a PING bag at a garage sale so I pop over.

 

Beautiful set of Ping Eye2+ 3-LW (missing the SW) in a white leather PING bag. The sale was actually at a friend's house... gives me the bag and old clubs for free just for helping clean out the garage.

 

Looking forward to putting them into play!

 

 

[sdandrea]

Yes. Green dot, ZZ-Lite shafts. SW and LW are Eye 2+

 

[boggyman]

Yes. Green dot, ZZ-Lite shafts. SW and LW are Eye 2+

 

Simple yet effective.

[Bad9]

Imagine if Ping reissued the Eye2's with the offset of a Iblade ? :)

 

They would be decried as hideous and no one would buy them

[scruffynick]

My eye2s went back into the bag yesterday... Shot 78 for 72 nett. I can't hit modern clubs anymore and I've struggled all season with g15. Not sure why but after months I've switched back to the eye2s.... Felt like going back to an old friend!

[Donno]

My eye2s went back into the bag yesterday... Shot 78 for 72 nett. I can't hit modern clubs anymore and I've struggled all season with g15. Not sure why but after months I've switched back to the eye2s.... Felt like going back to an old friend!

 

They are definitely not "light" irons, and after 30 years i've found they aren't all that forgiving....but....the hit balls that track like darts to a target...and the "old" lofts are not a detriment.

[slantsflood]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

[jplroper]

Picked up another set of Eye 2's a couple weeks ago, $60 , couldn't pass that up. I've only hit them once on the range so far[heated] since Wi. is still under snow. They felt great, and I wondered why I sold the last set I had.

[ppl4golf]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

No kidding...I must have posted at least 10 times how pleased I am with some Eye2+ with KBS Tour S pulls.

Pulls are around +0.5” and came out absolutely perfect.

Traditional lofts but modern distances still LOL

[BCULAW]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

No kidding...I must have posted at least 10 times how pleased I am with some Eye2+ with KBS Tour S pulls.

Pulls are around +0.5” and came out absolutely perfect.

Traditional lofts but modern distances still LOL

 

I also played KBS Tours in my Eye 2s and loved the combo. They felt tremendous - much to my surprise. I could easily still be gaming them.

[jplroper]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

No kidding...I must have posted at least 10 times how pleased I am with some Eye2+ with KBS Tour S pulls.

Pulls are around +0.5" and came out absolutely perfect.

Traditional lofts but modern distances still LOL

Did the KBS Tours add distance over the ZZ lite shafts? I have heard of KBS shafts but have never hit them, how are they different from the ZZ lites?

[NRJyzr]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

No kidding...I must have posted at least 10 times how pleased I am with some Eye2+ with KBS Tour S pulls.

Pulls are around +0.5" and came out absolutely perfect.

Traditional lofts but modern distances still LOL

Did the KBS Tours add distance over the ZZ lite shafts? I have heard of KBS shafts but have never hit them, how are they different from the ZZ lites?

 

 

It will probably depend on your personal launch and spin tendencies. KBS Tours didn't work so well for me for spin reasons. Others may find them quite lovely.

 

When I played Eye2+, my reason for switching to them was spin, I found they spun the ball quite a bit less than the Mizunos I'd been playing at the time. For someone with a more normal spin profile, when combined with the Eye2/Eye2+, I could see them working well.

 

Swingweight would be one thing to keep an eye on, though. KBS Tours are not counterbalanced, but they do swingweight 2-3 pts lighter than something like DG, due to a higher balance point.

[ppl4golf]

Reshafted with kbs tours and cushins. Great combo imo.

 

No kidding...I must have posted at least 10 times how pleased I am with some Eye2+ with KBS Tour S pulls.

Pulls are around +0.5" and came out absolutely perfect.

Traditional lofts but modern distances still LOL

Did the KBS Tours add distance over the ZZ lite shafts? I have heard of KBS shafts but have never hit them, how are they different from the ZZ lites?

 

 

It will probably depend on your personal launch and spin tendencies. KBS Tours didn't work so well for me for spin reasons. Others may find them quite lovely.

 

When I played Eye2+, my reason for switching to them was spin, I found they spun the ball quite a bit less than the Mizunos I'd been playing at the time. For someone with a more normal spin profile, when combined with the Eye2/Eye2+, I could see them working well.

 

Swingweight would be one thing to keep an eye on, though. KBS Tours are not counterbalanced, but they do swingweight 2-3 pts lighter than something like DG, due to a higher balance point.

 

I am buying into your observation Eye2s being low spin (which I never though of with the design).

 

The swingweight wasn't as anticipated to be an issue for me. The only thing is the KBS pulls I got were probably in a regular hosel with ferrule, for sure not a short one. The bottom of shaft to ground distance is shorter when in the Eye2+ for me, The '+0.5" turned out to be about '+0.25". Swingweight turned out to be bang on at D1.5 which I prefer.

Shots are mostly medium-high trajectory not too high in spin.

[Tim Schoch]

Now I want a set. Again.

[Dan Drake]

A very kind WRX'er reached out to me and I am now the proud owner of an Eye 2 BeCu Lw! This completes my Dad's set (2i - Pw to start), now in full regalia as 1i - Lw. Of course, the serials don't match, but I'm no collector, I'm just a normal club junkie, so in my eyes (get it?!?!), they are perfect.

 

And so, it is with both great delight and a touch of anguish that I pronounce my Dad's Eye 2 set to be my "End all, be all" set. The remaining clubs in the garage, some amazing, some worthless, will be given away, sold, and sadly, thrown away. As much as I love to putz around with them all, the money can be used for new ventures, the time can be better spent with my family, the clubs can be better used by friends and fellow golfers, and the space in the garage can be better used by my wife!!!

 

But, some clubs will stay with me forever:

 

My Grandfather's Palmer "The Standard" 4 wood

My first "real" golf club, a Cleveland "Tom Austin" :haha: 485, 56° wedge

My previous gamer and now #1 backup putter, an OG Odyssey White Hot #1 that I have "frankensteined" until it just flat-out works

 

And.................

 

My Dad's PING Eye 2s, 1-LW, soon to be re-shafted with my old lovelies, Nippon SPBs.

 

And, of course, there will be a driver thrown in the bag (a PING stand bag, of course), just so that the set is fully functional, but, truth be told, it *almost works perfectly with just the 1i as the tee shot club (except from the way backs...).

 

Actually, the more and more I think about it, the more I realize that I don't want this bag in the garage at all. It deserves a kinder, more appropriate place to rest until they are needed. I'm not entirely sure where that is at this exact moment, but these clubs are more than just hunks of metal on a stick, at least to me, and they deserve to be honored as such.

 

These are my Forever Clubs.

[ALIF]

Well, I’ve been trying desperately to kick my eye 2 irons out of the bag. Old forged blades, modern forged CB, hollow bodied rocket launchers, etc. NOTHING can do it. They are safe for now. Probably only the i210 could replace them. I have ZZ Lites in them and increased the swing weight to D5. 4-LW and a G700 5 iron which distance wise is the equal to my 3 iron but a higher trajectory. These eye 2 irons truly are timeless. What a testament to Karsten Solheim. Trajectory, spin, launch angle, descent angle, etc. They just check all the boxes.

[erikro]

You guys are a bad influence. Just picked up a set 1-sw with s300 sl shafts. First swings felt great. I’ll get them on the course this week.

[Buzzkill]

I'm in as soon as they release a modern version!

[MountainKing]

> @Buzzkill said:

> I'm in as soon as they release a modern version!

 

I would jump back in a heartbeat if they released a new version of the irons. I got my Eye 2's brand new in the early 90's, my first real set, and I finally had to retire them a few years back cause of the grooves.

[ALIF]

What I noticed is that I’m not all that fond of them at stock swing weight (C9), but at D5 they are absolutely amazing. As good as anything. Over the last few years I’m amazed at how many times I’ve hit decent shots with them. They are just still totally relevant. I actually don’t mind the offset b/c I’m used to it. Maybe I’ll get some i210’s this fall but for now these are safe.

[NRJyzr]

> @chiva said:

> What I noticed is that I’m not all that fond of them at stock swing weight (C9), but at D5 they are absolutely amazing. As good as anything. Over the last few years I’m amazed at how many times I’ve hit decent shots with them. They are just still totally relevant. I actually don’t mind the offset b/c I’m used to it. Maybe I’ll get some i210’s this fall but for now these are safe.

 

 

I may be repeating myself from earlier in the thread, but when have I let that stop me? LOL

 

I found the same thing about the swingweight. Lighter clubs have never been great for me and the stock weight of the Pings just didn't get it done. Added lead tape and they began working better for me.

[slantsflood]

Best thread on wrx.

[pmcuk]

I didn't believe all the love for Eye 2s until I got a set - I thought it was just a retro nostalgia thing. I have the Eye 2 set, not the 2+. With stock shafts they feel great - quite soft and a very positive feel off the face. As a senior I play light shafts and I'm going to reshaft the set (5-SW) with Nippon 950GH reg. shafts. I'll also make the shafts more flexible - put a 4 shaft in the 6 iron and so forth. I'll add 10g lead to the tip and maybe also some tungsten powder if needed to bring the swing weight to D0 and above. I've been playing Speedblades, but I can see myself switching. I really like the wedges. Plus the 9 iron at 45° is actually a PW by modern lofts. I'm looking forward to reshafting and playing these.

[NRJyzr]

> @pmcuk said:

> I didn't believe all the love for Eye 2s until I got a set - I thought it was just a retro nostalgia thing. I have the Eye 2 set, not the 2+. With stock shafts they feel great - quite soft and a very positive feel off the face. As a senior I play light shafts and I'm going to reshaft the set (5-SW) with Nippon 950GH reg. shafts. I'll also make the shafts more flexible - put a 4 shaft in the 6 iron and so forth. I'll add 10g lead to the tip and maybe also some tungsten powder if needed to bring the swing weight to D0 and above. I've been playing Speedblades, but I can see myself switching. I really like the wedges. Plus the 9 iron at 45° is actually a PW by modern lofts. I'm looking forward to reshafting and playing these.

 

 

I was the same way, buying Eye2+ about 8 years ago. They surprised me, they're by far the best CB's I've played. I've had a love affair with ISI, after getting a set, was surprised (and disappointed) that they couldn't reach the level of the Eye2+.

 

For loft reasons, I may pick up a set of Eye2, prefer the idea of a 50*ish PW. A set of original v-groove Eye2 would be extra sweet.

 

 

[slantsflood]

For those of you that are worried about their ego of hitting a 7 instead and your buddy hitting an 8. Two words, fvck em. We are playing a game called golf, lowest score wins period. Doesn't matter what you use or how you use it.

I used to have a set of modern irons that the pw went almost 150 yards. It made the game more difficult for me. I had created a bigger gap, but not in the area I wanted with the scoring clubs. The modern irons felt like they had a hot spot also. One shot would go 165, the next would go 180.

The ping eye 2s never did this. Distance was extremely consistent. Whether it went left or right was on me. I still ho. But only drivers and putters. My 2-LW becus are with me til the end. Embrace your old school and enjoy the game the way you want to.

[14max]

Heck, I had a refinished set of v-groove EYE2s for sale a couple of weeks ago on here and didn't get a bite. They were blue dot with ZZ-Lite shafts and brand new factory-installed 5L grips.

 

Edit: So, what do I do?  I sell them on the 'bay for a minor loss and a year later I'm searching for another set.  These are now re-shafted (KT-M), refinished, and re-gripped and will remain a permanent fixture in the bag for the foreseeable future...

Edited November 7, 2021 by 14max

[tomc262]

Sending my BeCus to Ping this week to get reshafted. Mine were born on 6/4/1986 with MicroTapers; a couple of them are bent hence the need for the shafts. Can't wait to get them back out on the course, its been at least 15 years since I have played with them!