ColinKelvin

Wow - great score! You may already know this but your Eye 2 becu lob wedge is worth a pretty penny on its own (if it's unused or near mint, $200 ballpark). The irons, the blonde woods - which look unused - and the bags are all great. True Ping porn!

To go back to your original question, it is definitely both the simple cast metal construction (no plating), hard-wearing nature, and aesthetic appeal of the pre-2000 Pings which makes them a focus for collectors and restorers. These Eye 2s (which were in the background of the previous pic I put up of my KIIs) are a good example. They are very playable and look incredible. A few other manufacturers also made becu irons (Lynx, Ram, maybe even Titleist) back in the day.

The Ti pixels were the 124 ones (larger pixel area) and were only made in the Anser, Darby and Sedona WRX models. B60s, Pals and Zings were the later main production models which all had the smaller area 50 aluminium or cu pixels.

It was great fun to watch. He hasn't driven the green yet though!

Swing improvements: Ian Baker-Finch Closing out majors: Monty Maximising talent: McIlroy Overall sportsmanship: The entire US Ryder Cup team of 1999, except Payne Stewart Team golf: Mickelson Gaining popularity and affection in winning the Open: Cink.

Absolutely delighted to see the Scots doing well. Laird is a classy player and young Bob Mac could be a rising star of the game.

Fair enough - I totally empathise, having done exactly the same - I told anyone who would listen (including those who didn't ask) that I was a single-figure player when I reached 9. It's a great milestone. You have some good scores in there, so hopefully you can get even lower in 2021. Good luck!

The question is, can you say you are single digits / single figures when your playing handicap is 10? I ask as a fellow 9.8 handicap. Deep down I think/know I am a 10, having drifted up from 9.1 18 months ago...

Your copper Epons are hands-down the most gorgeous irons I have ever seen in my life. I don't know much about Japanese forged irons so a bit of research just now on whether/how I could get my hands on a set, and it seems extremely unlikely. Super-jealous!

As well as the ISIs discussed/shown above, I recently bought a set of Karsten IIs from 1975, just for fun. Yet to play much golf with them but based on a quick 9 holes of testing, these ones are still super-playable today too. This really makes me think that while there is no doubt that driver/woods tech has moved into another universe over the past 40 years, iron tech really hasn't. I like my iBlades as my main set as they feel smooth and are easy to hit (and yes, they look good in the bag!), but I doubt they save me many strokes in a round over the ISI, the Eye 2 - or even these KIIs!

I am very sceptical about the Maltby MPF; for example I found my old i20s (459...) much easier to hit than my old S58s (778!!). However, the ISIs definitely perform just as nicely as my current iBlades, albeit they fly higher and a little shorter (ofc this is partly to do with the shafts) and are a bit more forgiving, obviously. It's funny to see them rated here as more playable than the G410s!! ETA: re: your additional comment about the sole shape and this being Karsten's final design - there is definitely an argument to be made that the ISI is the pinnacle of the 'classic' Pin

Other posts have already explained the appeal and the historic significance very well - durability, pioneering perimeter weighting tech, and so on. I would just add that in my experience, Ping irons from the 90s are just as playable as any current model (once you factor in the weaker lofts). Plus, the beryllium copper sets still look fantastic. Here's my holiday set...

Another vote for PXG, simply due to the worst ads I have ever seen (and HEARD). The ads also seem totally mismatched to their supposed high-end image. Never liked Callaway but I am not sure why - they just seem really bland, somehow. Terrible product names too - Epic Flash, RazR, Mavrik and so on. Apex is their nicest line but I assume that was bought up/taken over from Hogan. Wilson Staff and Titleist are solid brands making nice stuff though and if I ever shook my Ping obsession, I'd probably head to them.

That headshape is in this new line. Unfortunately it has an unattractive cheapo black (i.e. fast wearing) finish with 80s style red and white blocks on the sole, and a plastic insert - instead of the bronze look antiqued carbon steel of the PLD Hovi.

There'll B60 or so more to come I reckon. This place is Wack-e. It's good that we're all Pals though.