I-500s; after using them for a while, anybody else loathe them ?

[JDMRN81]

> @jwb10 said:

> What's an "OP" ?

 

You.....original poster.

 

[rocket500]

I like mine a lot. They aren’t the best feeling irons but I don’t care. Hit them really close to the hole a lot.

[A.Princey]

I was afraid when I sold mine, the buyer would want to return them cause every shot feels like a rock, no joke. I'm not one of those obsessive "feel" players either, but these may have made one out of me.... and I wanted to like them so, so bad because they look so good.

[rbilramz]

So I’m a Ping guy. Historically played the field, have gravitated to an all Ping bag (minus putter after several attempts) over the last 5 years. I was basically dead set that the i500 would be my next irons.

After 2 fittings (I was that determined / stubborn) these would be my next irons, I started to play the field. Admittedly, I love the concept of a progressive set, that’s why my i25’s have lasted this long.

Since I’ve opened my search to all OEM’s I fell upon a blatant winner. The PXG 0211’s are amazing. Great precision in the short irons and a ton of forgiveness in the long irons.

I was hesitant of anything non-Ping at first, but got over that more quickly than expected. Now that I’ve landed on the PXG, I tell myself they are just fancy Ping irons, but really, they were just the best evolution of my i25.

[JLo_73]

Liked mine for a few rounds but they went back after 10 rounds. Felt very light and had a hard time with distance control. Went with combo set of apex and apex pro, game is best it’s been in awhile and way more confidence with irons. Paired my with Project x which is better weighting for me so that could have been a contributor

[Kamen]

Had mine since launch and when I got fitted they felt good. When I got them they feel so hard I really didn’t like them. Also my first set had the weld line issue so ping replaced the set for me. The second set I could still see the weld line faintly and it kinda bugged me. Sold them recently and won’t look back or to any other hollow body irons.

[jwb10]

Anyway, I started this just to see if others had similar issues. Many did, but many love their I-500s and are playing great with them. I didn't think that it would controversial, as for each his own, but I was mistaken. For those that love them, GREAT !! I hope you continue to love them and play great. I love the I-210s I bought to replace them, so all is good. I appreciate those that had similar issues so that I can comfort myself for buying $ 1100 irons that I loathed. Oh well.....I know I'll do other stupid stuff, soon,too

[bigbore56]

The I500’s are either a love or hate relationship. If you can properly compress the ball up on the face, they feel like butter, and fly high and straight. I can make them fade or draw just like a blade. I have no problem with distance control or gaps between irons. Have played them all season, and scored very well. Don’t expect them to make you a low handicap golfer if your swing sucks. They won’t!

[torbill]

Bigbore56, nobody has said it any better. You nailed it.

[jwb10]

I am scratch and they still sucked. Got I-210s and they perform. Hypothesis disproved or do some clubs just work better for some but not others.

 

[The Mad Bomber]

It's already been said, but worth reiterating. If you compress the ball AND hammer it, the i500's feel great and sound pretty good too. Otherwise, they'll feel hollow and sound tinny. Definitely not a club engineered for your average golfer

 

[nilopol]

Courses opening back up in Pa with covid. Any latest thoughts on Ping i500?

[WarEagleGolf]

Just played Wednesday. They still work, still look good, and still longer than anything else I've hit.

This July will be year two finishing up with these. They are really good, and still look good wear wise. Can't say my S55 or i10s were much different after multiple years of rounds.

[62@Oakmont]

^^^^ This

Still don’t feel the best, but this is truth.

[hammergolf]

Well, you’re only kinda cheating on Ping... The main two engineer design guys for PXG were Ping engineers for years. I’m the same way, been a Ping guy for 20 years, but I’m just not a fan of any new Ping releases in the last few years, especially when it came to feel. It’s very easy to see the Ping look in the 0211’s and the progressive set concept. I literally just was fitted for a set yesterday. I’m going to have to wait a while to get them, but I’m excited to get them in the bag.

[QuigleyDU]

The i500 look great. Not of fan of them otherwise.

[jwb10]

  I moved on more than a year ago. Glad I did, I've been a Ping guy for more than 30 years. The last club that worked as poorly was the Zing. It lasted 2 iterations and then, mercifully went away. I-500s, which are gorgeous to look at but suck to hit, will join them. probably sooner rather than later

[Chip Duffer]

I enjoyed the i500's and played them last season. I didn't like the DG S300 shaft at all and was about to change shafts when a friend made me an offer I couldn't turn down for them. Yesterday while we were playing, I hit a few shots with them. I still really dislike the shaft, but the club performed very well anyway. Still a pleasure to hit.

[torbill]

I’ve played the i-500s (graphite shafts) for another full season in Arizona, and continue to love them. I am old and have lost about one club of distance over the last few years. I was playing i-Blades until I replaced them with the i500. The i500s have given me back the distance that I lost, they are long and high. I am not a high swing speed player, but I am a good player who makes good contact and for me the sound and feel are as good as any clubs I have played before - rock solid and soft unless I mishit them. On mishits there is some amount of feedback - nothing like the teeth-rattling shock of mishitting a classic muscleback blade - but the distance is still good. There were complaints about the finish on the i-500. Well, I’ve had them for a long time now, and the finish is great. There are some chatter marks on the back of the clubs, where they bounce against each other. But this is totally minor and the clubs have lost none of their good appearance, overall. The look a lot better at this point than my iBlades, as I recall.

I got tired of dragging clubs back and forth, seasonally (snowbird). So I bought a set for up north. I bought the Taylormade P790. As much as I like the i500 I thought it would be boring to have two sets of the same thing. The P790s are great. They are long and high and have a good, solid feel. I seen nothing much to choose from, between the two sets. The i-500s are better looking, in my view, and seem to have a slightly thinner top line and maybe a bit less offset(?). I like thin top lines and minimal offset. The i-500 might be a touch longer, I dunno. I give both sets high marks for what they are - hollow, hot-faced players distance clubs.

[Chip Duffer]

These i500’s are very nice irons. If you’re a golfer who tends to pick the ball clean and/or strike the ball low on the face, these may not be for you. The one shot these irons don’t forgive is the “thin”. (Ask me how I know). If you strike down into and through the ball, the i500 is a great iron set that really performs.

[Dion1970]

Hey everyone. New to WRX. Thank you for this post. I bought the i500s, and could not agree more with jwb10. Could not get these dialed in. After about 3 months with them, I sold them a friend and went back to my original clubs.

[zwhitworth]

I loved them for a minute, but after a little while I found myself hitting the ball all over the face. It is really tough for me to recognize a center strike based on feel. Switched back to blades and hit the sweetspot alot more.

[skyleralan]

I picked up a set a couple months ago, read lots of input on the forum and went into them with an open mind. I purposely made sure to get a set with standard lofts (power/standard/retro), I wonder how big of a role this plays in issues of distance control, etc. I have no problem with distance, I'm not tour long, but have a driver SS of 113ish on average. I have to think that low spin numbers are a large culprit with flight and distance issues on mishits or shots out of bad lies. Aside from how clicky they are if you use them to chip around the green, I think they feel great like any iron when you find the center. I also am sort of a ball snob, and will only play premium multi layer balls. I am yet to hit an actual "range" ball, just lots and lots of shag Pro V1s.