Ping iBlade irons: shot at the 2016 Players Championship (In-hand pics of Louis Oosthuizen's irons a

[av1084]

I almost feel like it is to dissuade people from using certain shafts, ie. with whatever their internal testing has shown, the shafts that are no charge or low charge will pair best with their irons and produce the best results for the vast majority of their retail consumers and fit a variety of swings and desired results.

 

But, for people that are picky or know what they are talking about, it is a huge annoyance to have to deal with those high upcharges.

 

Again, total speculation on my part, just sort of thinking out loud.

[tnord]

I almost feel like it is to dissuade people from using certain shafts, ie. with whatever their internal testing has shown, the shafts that are no charge or low charge will pair best with their irons and produce the best results for the vast majority of their retail consumers and fit a variety of swings and desired results.

 

But, for people that are picky or know what they are talking about, it is a huge annoyance to have to deal with those high upcharges.

 

Again, total speculation on my part, just sort of thinking out loud.

 

same mentality with the glide wedges.....

 

"what do you mean there are no bounce options, are you kidding me?"

[gioguy21]

...anyone know if you can get these with DG TI X7's in them?

[DatSliceDoe]

...anyone know if you can get these with DG TI X7's in them?

 

Probably not unless you order the shafts through a DG Performance Fitter...even then I doubt it.

[gioguy21]

...anyone know if you can get these with DG TI X7's in them?

 

Probably not unless you order the shafts through a DG Performance Fitter...even then I doubt it.

 

fack. thanks -- another expensive purchase.

[matchavez]

If they are taking orders are the project x lz shaft a no upcharge option?

 

 

40.00 up charge as explained to us when talking to our rep

 

Considering that PX is a no charge upgrade on the I-e, only seems equitable that Ping would up charge for the cost delta between shafts.

 

Might as well buy stock and has a custom fitter do the work.

 

I've found the best way to buy Ping irons is to get the lightly used, very good condition sticks that someone buys and doesn't get along with... then pull the shafts and get them redone. Then, send them in to Ping and have them do the weighting and grips.

 

It is a total pain in the backside, but you end up with fantastic product for a reasonable price.

[justwellsy]

I almost feel like it is to dissuade people from using certain shafts, ie. with whatever their internal testing has shown, the shafts that are no charge or low charge will pair best with their irons and produce the best results for the vast majority of their retail consumers and fit a variety of swings and desired results.

 

But, for people that are picky or know what they are talking about, it is a huge annoyance to have to deal with those high upcharges.

 

Again, total speculation on my part, just sort of thinking out loud.

 

same mentality with the glide wedges.....

 

"what do you mean there are no bounce options, are you kidding me?"

 

Standard bounce options on tour mean absolutely nothing these days as most players have a tour truck at their side to grind their wedges and produce the bounce they need for that week. A large number are starting to get their hands dirty and grind their own wedges too! Unfortunately, a vast majority of the public does not have this option and suffers unknowingly. I would argue a majority of golfers don't truly know what bounce is (other than a number marked on their club) in relation to how it is used. They have no idea why they hit shots "thin" out of bunkers that are more tightly packed or chunk shots out of bunkers with fine, loose sand. Both of those situations can be rectified by usign a wedge with the proper bounce. In fact, for better players, I would recommend buying high and low bounce "cheap" wedges to have on hand if you happen to travel a lot or play courses frequently that have vastly different conditions. Try playing a very low bounce wedge in "fluffy" or wet conditions and see if you can strike it perfectly from the fairway. It may be even harder to strike it perfectly (without de-lofting for a knockdown type shot) when you are forced to pick it cleanly from a tight, hard fairway with a high bounce wedge.

 

There will never be an adjustable bounce wedge, so if you only have one, you are forced to pick the one that work in most situations. It's unfortunate, but at least most people have no idea :)

[ErnieMcCracken2]

SHeit, I want them!

[joshfisher]

Anyone know the actual lofts?

[The Chicken Connoisseur]

Will new wedges be coming too? I'm close to ordering Glides but will hold off

[C_rad]

These are on my radar for sure. Look perfect to my eye.

 

Do we have a release date?

[threeputt]

These are on my radar for sure. Look perfect to my eye.

 

Do we have a release date?

 

I would say beginning of August..... Mine are on order and have an ETA of 11th....

[tbowen19]

I've seen August 11th on here but no one has confirmed that date from what I can find

[Brescia1016]

Rick shiels just posted a photo on Instagram with the clubs and he said review video coming August 1st. They have DG shafts in them and NDMC grips on them.

[C_rad]

Oh nice!!!

[drvrwdge]

What are y'all paying to have a set reshafted?

[cardoustie]

I hit the 7i last week a handful of times

 

Higher than my s55's ... Great feel ... Solid look at address

 

Won a Ping driver today ... Will trade towards a set of these

 

Not sure on shafts ... Nippon 105, 1050's or even the LZ's based on hitting them in PXG's

 

Gotta get my usual red paint fill

[IL2AZ]

Hit the iblade today. Great look, very thin topline, very little offset. Feel outstanding on flushed shots, heel toe misses and low misses. However, high misses felt clicky. Not 714 AP2 clicky, but close. I only hit s300 in the demo screw in shaft which I didn't find as smooth as my go to KBS Tour 120. Maybe some of that clickyness is from the screw in shaft? Interested to hear if others have the same findings.

[towncryer]

I need to get on our PING rep's case about getting a demo head for the store. Can't wait to hit this club.

[ccorrada]

Make a U-wedge and I will buy them

[kcowgolf]

No release date yet on the IBlades? They look great, my only fear is they will feel similar to the glide wedges which look incredible but feel terrible (IMO). I sure want to demo them though.

[rpaige88]

Make a U-wedge and I will buy them

 

That would be awesome! Would be nice to see a comparison pic of the iblade pw and glide gap wedge.

 

Edit: From a quick search.

 

 

 

[towncryer]

No release date yet on the IBlades? They look great, my only fear is they will feel similar to the glide wedges which look incredible but feel terrible (IMO). I sure want to demo them though.

 

Rumor has it you can place orders on August 1 and you'll see them in stores August 11. Those are both dates I'm repeating from what I've heard from others...I didn't get either from PING, so who knows.

 

I think you'll hate iBlade if you don't like Glide. Same steel, similar construction.

 

Make a U-wedge and I will buy them

 

I think the 50* Glide will fit in seamlessly. You could drop the 3 iron from iBlade and order the Glide in the same specs...should be about the same price.

[towncryer]

Demo heads came in to the shop today.

 

I'm in love.

 

-incredibly soft feel

-much higher launch than s55

 

I'll hit some s55 and iBlade groups of shots later if I have time and post some of the sim numbers.

 

Very, very impressed and about to send an e-mail to our PING rep with my specs.

[ekimox]

I've never found my S55s low launching. Quite the opposite actually. Not that I'm looking at upgrading anytime soon but all of this talk of high launch probably rules them out down the road for me.

[drvrwdge]

Yeah high launch is opposite of desired effect for me.

[towncryer]

I've never found my S55s low launching. Quite the opposite actually. Not that I'm looking at upgrading anytime soon but all of this talk of high launch probably rules them out down the road for me.

Yeah high launch is opposite of desired effect for me.

 

I should have said higher flight, not launch. My launch angle with the 7 iron was anywhere from 15 to 19 depending on the kinds of shots I was hitting. When I have hit s55 with a DG shaft in it, I had a hard time getting the peak height above 30y, while my 712 MB was routinely 31-32 (more loft...2 degrees I think). With iBlade (with DG S300) the overall flight of the ball is more in line with my 7 iron, so I was happy to see that.

 

I love a nice, high flight with my irons provided I can flight it down if needed. My full swing peak height with iBlade in the simulator was about 34 yards and carrying 170-175. I hit some knock downs that were peaking at 23 and still carrying 160-165. Very workable high and low as well as left to right.

[tnord]

i have found that my VR Pro with X100 actually fly higher than my S56 with S300. I attribute that to the perimeter weighting of the S56, where that mass is moved down to the muscle of the blade. more weight lower on the club = higher ball flight.

 

i'll bug our shop today about when these are going to show up.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

fwiw, orders start to be acknowledged for production on the 1st is correct (when you'll receive them after that will be case by case basis).... seeing wall sets beings displayed at locations that have them on 11th.

[towncryer]

fwiw, orders start to be acknowledged for production on the 1st is correct (when you'll recieve them after that will be case by case basis).... seeing wall sets beings displayed at locations that have them on 15th.

 

I'm thinking about taking my rep out for a steak this weekend so he'll remember to submit my order first on Monday morning. :) Realistically, I'd love to have mine midway through August or a little later at the latest. I've got a three day golf weekend with four rounds scheduled for Sept. 9-11 and I'd like to put the new irons through their paces before then.