Ping i e1 irons - long term review??

[txl146]

For those who went from Ping i20 or i25, how do you like i e1 irons? Are they really that soft like forged irons? What about durability? Just curious how they are holding up as I am seriously thinking about buying a used set just to try out.

 

Thanks!

[bigmoneyp]

I'm interested as well. In wondering about the iE1 and after honeymoon if you still love them. I'm trying to decide between those or i20/i25.

[Stonewalled]

Iv'e had the i20 and i25s. I liked the i25s more than the i20s. The i25s are very forgiving and straight, distance wise they were a club shorter than most.

 

The ie1s have improved on everything the previous i's had. Best combination of forgiveness, lower offset, distance, soft feel, that i have found.

 

I have had alot of iron sets go thru my hands and the ie1s are still with me.

 

I put some recoil 125 F5 shafts in and am very happy,but that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to find a set to replace the ie1s.

 

Half the fun for me is trying out new stuff, not sure if that will ever change.

 

The ie1's are the King of my hill so far.

[txl146]

I havd read comments where people were complaining about finish and how easy it is to put scuff marks on back side. Do you find that to be true? Do you think face is expected to be as durable as i20 of i25?

 

Thanks

[Stonewalled]

I havd read comments where people were complaining about finish and how easy it is to put scuff marks on back side. Do you find that to be true? Do you think face is expected to be as durable as i20 of i25?

 

Thanks

I think the i20s were probably the most durable, i had at least 3-4 sets of i25s and didn't have any issues with durability. My son had a set of lefty i25s that had the delamination happening he was able to get a nsew set of ie1s out of them.

 

My ie1's are in like new condition, i only have 12-15 rounds with them and i usually tape up the contact areas when i hit a range. My vehicle usually has 5-6 sets of irons bouncing around at all times and the ie1s have been in that pile. The backs show no damage, i was very concerned when i saw the pics of one of the members clubs. Mine are perfect.

 

Just got a set of Ping i3 plus blades these are pretty old but in like new condition, damn durable. Ping has probably slid a little bit in the durability department, but still better than most.

[Mcgeeno]

Still going strong with mine and I was an early adopter.

 

Usually I go through a couple sets a season so even my playing partners are in awe.

 

look good, feel giod and forgiving.

[Ivyguy]

The durability issue comes with the finish when ping left the "galvanized rough" look, they were perceived to be less durable. Check the grooves, still there.... In whole.

 

The backside of the iron is different. I think (more than anyone else) that what looks good in the bag will be bought so they opted for different finished to meet their targets (a lot of marketing work in that one)

 

It's cosmetic, but, after 30 rounds the grooves will still look new. That's ping.

 

I had a candid conversation with a rep that thought that pings were ugly but the most durable and highest percentage of players would actually see benefit from playing their equipment. The next would be mizunos cast lines.

 

He was with a major company and admitted that he did not play his brands clubs when he played for cash in the weekends. He played s55's

[danielhkim92]

i didnt have the i20s/i25s but i did come from the mp 64s. they are definitely soft for cast irons. they can feel pretty "hot" off the face but nothing can come close to a sweet spot mp64 hit. can feel similar but its just not the same thing.

 

durability is alright. the face definitely shows some wear and ive played them for about eight months now. im actually in the process of switching to apex pro 16s at the moment. if youre a ping fan, i would highly recommend at least giving them a try. but if you're a forged elitist, i wouldnt bother.

[Llortamaisey]

The durability issue comes with the finish when ping left the "galvanized rough" look, they were perceived to be less durable. Check the grooves, still there.... In whole.

 

The backside of the iron is different. I think (more than anyone else) that what looks good in the bag will be bought so they opted for different finished to meet their targets (a lot of marketing work in that one)

 

It's cosmetic, but, after 30 rounds the grooves will still look new. That's ping.

 

I had a candid conversation with a rep that thought that pings were ugly but the most durable and highest percentage of players would actually see benefit from playing their equipment. The next would be mizunos cast lines.

 

He was with a major company and admitted that he did not play his brands clubs when he played for cash in the weekends. He played s55's

 

I'll bite. Nike rep?

[Bkgeneral]

I have had mine for almost a year. Came from MP-54's. They are just really good clubs. Coming from the 54's the difference in feel is minimal. I am used to forged, so durability is great to me.

[Roadking_6]

I came from Mizuno. I played T-Zoid Pro 2 for years. Bought them new in 1998ish and were in the bag until the MP5 came out last year. Horrible fitting experience and ended up selling the set and scheduling another fitting this past April. Let the fitter do his job and thought I would be in Mizuno again but didn't want the 5's again and the 25 and 850 forged didn't do it for me.

 

Hit about everything under the sun with multiple shaft options at a boutique fitter. Awesome experience and the I are all I could have hoped for. I actually like the feel of the Ping even coming from Mizuno Forged clubs. Really consistent clubs and distances as long as I do my part. The finish does seem to smudge a bit but after playing forged irons forever, this is very minimal compared to what I am used to seeing. They feel awesome and soft and have really stopped looking for replacements.

[paulchung]

I am loving mine. No issues what so ever. Very forgiving irons.

[scottaz]

I've had i20's and after them s55's. Both were great but I absolutely loved my 55's. Wasn't looking for a change but had to after playing the IE's.

 

Turf interaction with the IE's is so good. My club is generally wet/damp a good part of the season. Just as good in dry conditions. It took a while for me to get used to the 5 and 4 irons with the IE's. But now I love them.

 

As for wear, yes the badge on the back gets some marks, but hardly noticeable for me. And I walk 95% of the time.The face scuffed up right from the start, just as the 55's did and most irons I've owned. The grooves are still perfect. After 100 or so rounds I'd say they held up extremely well and would have no problem calling them 8 out of 10 if I were selling them, which won't be happening anytime soon.

 

The U wedge is my favorite club in the bag. Always played a Vokey gap but this thing is deadly.

 

Lastly, I had MANY delamination issues with both the 20's and 55's. Thankfully none with these.

 

The old me would have ordered the Iblades the second they were released. No interest.

[Mtngolfer1]

I went from Ping S58s to the ie1 irons and I still feel this is the best overall iron I have ever played. I have played the Ping eye2, eye2+, I3+, S 58 and these are by far the best of the bunch. Durability has not been a issue yet, but I spoke with Ping and they can be refinished with a star shot back/cavity rather than the painted. Mine still look great so I am in no hurry to have it done.

[carn9698]

Iv'e had the i20 and i25s. I liked the i25s more than the i20s. The i25s are very forgiving and straight, distance wise they were a club shorter than most.

 

The ie1s have improved on everything the previous i's had. Best combination of forgiveness, lower offset, distance, soft feel, that i have found.

 

I have had alot of iron sets go thru my hands and the ie1s are still with me.

 

I put some recoil 125 F5 shafts in and am very happy,but that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to find a set to replace the ie1s.

 

Half the fun for me is trying out new stuff, not sure if that will ever change.

 

The ie1's are the King of my hill so far.

Are you sure the i25s being 1 club shorter is not down to stronger lofts in your latest irons? Or different shafts?

 

I tested the Apex CF16s against my i25s and they were 1 club longer. But I think that was down to stronger lofts, lighter shafts and more bulk in the heads of the Callaways.

 

I love my i25s for dispersion etc, but getting that half to 1 club extra distance could help(if I could maintain dispersion of course!).

[Ivyguy]

The durability issue comes with the finish when ping left the "galvanized rough" look, they were perceived to be less durable. Check the grooves, still there.... In whole.

 

The backside of the iron is different. I think (more than anyone else) that what looks good in the bag will be bought so they opted for different finished to meet their targets (a lot of marketing work in that one)

 

It's cosmetic, but, after 30 rounds the grooves will still look new. That's ping.

 

I had a candid conversation with a rep that thought that pings were ugly but the most durable and highest percentage of players would actually see benefit from playing their equipment. The next would be mizunos cast lines.

 

He was with a major company and admitted that he did not play his brands clubs when he played for cash in the weekends. He played s55's

 

I'll bite. Nike rep?

 

Titleist, the rest of his bag was titleist. He had cbs in the bag that he carries around "for business". Also had a 62* tour only Cleveland wedge.... That was interesting too.

[Stonewalled]

Iv'e had the i20 and i25s. I liked the i25s more than the i20s. The i25s are very forgiving and straight, distance wise they were a club shorter than most.

 

The ie1s have improved on everything the previous i's had. Best combination of forgiveness, lower offset, distance, soft feel, that i have found.

 

I have had alot of iron sets go thru my hands and the ie1s are still with me.

 

I put some recoil 125 F5 shafts in and am very happy,but that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to find a set to replace the ie1s.

 

Half the fun for me is trying out new stuff, not sure if that will ever change.

 

The ie1's are the King of my hill so far.

Are you sure the i25s being 1 club shorter is not down to stronger lofts in your latest irons? Or different shafts?

 

I tested the Apex CF16s against my i25s and they were 1 club longer. But I think that was down to stronger lofts, lighter shafts and more bulk in the heads of the Callaways.

 

I love my i25s for dispersion etc, but getting that half to 1 club extra distance could help(if I could maintain dispersion of course!).

The distance differences probably came down to loft and shaft lengths. Being iron crazy i would usually take numerous different irons with me and have a hit off. The 2 longest sets were Cal 2014 apex and Cal 2013 forged, both had 1 inch longer graphite shafts. At the time i did't realize what a difference that could make.

 

I'm not as influenced by distances as i once was. Straight and consistent is more important. The i25s were one of the more consistent for me.

 

I have read where David Lingmerth has strengthened the lofts on his i25's 1 degree. He seems to hit them well. lol Thought if i ever came across another set i would strengthen the lofts.

 

Ping has done something to the ie1s to improve on distance, i have taken the ie1s Tmade M2 Tours Z745s and numerous other out to the range and the ie1s out hit all those. It looked like i was getting more height as well. I was hitting 5 irons into a wind to a green 175 out and the ie1 was the only club to hit the green, the others rolled on to the green. That day was the key factor in me keeping the ie1's [Hi and long] and selling off a few others. I have since had my fitter install my 125 F5 recoils 1/2 inch over steel length and had them all swing weighted and had the shafts spine aligned.?? What ever he did i'm happy.

 

I don't have to worry about feeling that i'm leaving something behind when i play the ie1's, great distance and dispersion and nice feel.

 

I hated the look of the ie1s compared to the i25s, damn blue badge,thought they were the ladies model. lol

 

I have had alot of honeymoons with a lot irons i don't have anymore but the ie1's are still here.

 

Might be worth a look.

[CDLgolf]

I've had the ie1 for over a year and they are a great set of iron's. Before them I played the i25's for a couple years, they are also a great set of iron's. Hindsight being what it is I don't think I gained anything from switching to the ie1's. I could play either set no problem. I also thought the durability of both sets is fine, I haven't noticed any excessive wear on either set. I honestly didn't notice the ie1's being that much softer than the i25's but that's just me. I guess what I'm saying is both sets are very good.

[javierruis]

I've had i20's and after them s55's. Both were great but I absolutely loved my 55's. Wasn't looking for a change but had to after playing the IE's.

 

Turf interaction with the IE's is so good. My club is generally wet/damp a good part of the season. Just as good in dry conditions. It took a while for me to get used to the 5 and 4 irons with the IE's. But now I love them.

 

As for wear, yes the badge on the back gets some marks, but hardly noticeable for me. And I walk 95% of the time.The face scuffed up right from the start, just as the 55's did and most irons I've owned. The grooves are still perfect. After 100 or so rounds I'd say they held up extremely well and would have no problem calling them 8 out of 10 if I were selling them, which won't be happening anytime soon.

 

The U wedge is my favorite club in the bag. Always played a Vokey gap but this thing is deadly.

 

Lastly, I had MANY delamination issues with both the 20's and 55's. Thankfully none with these.

 

The old me would have ordered the Iblades the second they were released. No interest.

 

I could not agree more with your last paragraph! The old me also would have ordered the iblades without hesitation! This is th first time a set of ping clubs leaves me so satisfied that I'm not tempted to have their latest offering. The I irons are The best irons I've ever played, and I've played every ping iron released since 2004.

[jdemocko]

Still loving mine.

[KarstenK]

I played i20s for years, have these now and also have no complaints at all. Durability is a non issue for mine.

[MJL313214]

I have had mine for almost exactly one year. They are very forgiving and feel really good as well. The ball tends to want to just go straight which is great. They seem very hard for me to work, but I don't try and do that unless I absolutely need to. The durability seems ok. I do have some wear spots on the back of some of the irons, but nothing crazy looking. Mine have PX 6.0's in them.

 

I'm actually going to be selling them in the next couple of weeks because I went to Miles of Golf in Cincinnati and ended up buying new irons. I'm not getting rid of them for performance reasons. I would recommend them to anybody. I just don't necessarily like the look of them behind the ball.

[tdelam]

I've had a set for over a year. While the irons are excellent, the CFS S distance shaft is not, for me... I swing a 6 iron 92 mph, the CFS S is not a good shaft for me. I am going to keep the heads and experiment with some shafts over the winter. I haven't gamed the ie's in a while. They're forgiving and about a half club longer than anything else I have. The shaft is probably to blame for that and the ie's I believe are 1* stronger.

 

As for durability, they're definitely not like the older pings but more durable than most irons out there. The finish wears pretty quick on them but they're golf clubs not glasswares, they go through dirt 50+ times a round. The finish I speak of is the light grey finish on the face and when i saw "wears quick" I mean the grey makes way for the shiny metal that the grey hides, it actually looks better with the grey finish worn where you hit the ball :)

[ShowMe]

I have had mine for almost exactly one year. They are very forgiving and feel really good as well. The ball tends to want to just go straight which is great. They seem very hard for me to work, but I don't try and do that unless I absolutely need to. The durability seems ok. I do have some wear spots on the back of some of the irons, but nothing crazy looking. Mine have PX 6.0's in them.

 

I'm actually going to be selling them in the next couple of weeks because I went to Miles of Golf in Cincinnati and ended up buying new irons. I'm not getting rid of them for performance reasons. I would recommend them to anybody. I just don't necessarily like the look of them behind the ball.

 

What did you buy?

[malelee21]

Glad many people seem to like them... I am looking for a set if anyone has a set for sale. Prefer regular shaft in stock length.

[malelee21]

I just bought a set of 4-UW heads after weeks of searching.

 

Can someone tell me what raw length of 5i shaft is on I E1 iron set? I know these measure 0.25" longer than I series irons, but not sure CFS standard length on i series irons will be 0.25" short or not on I E1 irons. I have sent an email to Ping, but haven't heard back yet.

 

Thanks,

[animalgolfs]

I just bought a set of 4-UW heads after weeks of searching.

 

Can someone tell me what raw length of 5i shaft is on I E1 iron set? I know these measure 0.25" longer than I series irons, but not sure CFS standard length on i series irons will be 0.25" short or not on I E1 irons. I have sent an email to Ping, but haven't heard back yet.

 

Thanks,

 

Yes +1/4" is standard= 38" 5 iron, so if buying stand i25 pulls, you'll be short so to say.....I don't have a raw CFS to measure right off hand

 

 

[Swjake83]

I went from i25's to ie1's earlier this summer. Only a few rounds on them but other than durability (which I just can't comment on yet) I love them more in every category. To be fair I did go from cfs stiff in the i25's to project X 5.5's in my e1's so not totally apples to apples. The feel is softer, the trajectory is more consistent, spin rate is surprisingly up in a good way, and my dispersion is much much tighter. I attribute the last one probably more to the shaft than the head but still feels good to know where the ball is going to go!

 

I will say the i25's flew higher if that's important to you, but at the expense of 10 yards more or less than you expect and left or right similar dispersion problems. Again some or most of that is shaft change, but these just go where you aim and you can still work them, it's just more controlled workability.

[carn9698]

Anyone play the Ie1 in the zz65 shaft?

 

I play my i25s in the zz65. Interested to know how the same shaft plays in the newer Ping?

[mlavallee23]

I went from Ping S58s to the ie1 irons and I still feel this is the best overall iron I have ever played. I have played the Ping eye2, eye2+, I3+, S 58 and these are by far the best of the bunch. Durability has not been a issue yet, but I spoke with Ping and they can be refinished with a star shot back/cavity rather than the painted. Mine still look great so I am in no hurry to have it done.

 

Can you expand? I have the ie1 and love them, but am interested in the refinish since I plan on keeping these irons for a long time.

 

I came from Cobra Amp irons, and was hesitant about using a Ping Iron due to forgiveness, but these irons are way more forgiving than those Cobra's. By far the best irons I ever hit. The turn interaction with these are what really sold me on keeping these irons.