Anyone still playing Ping Eye 2?

[sbboudreau]

You guys are not going to believe what I found yesterday when I walked into the local Golf USA.

 

A brand NEW, never hit still having the factory plastic on the grips, full set (1-SW) yes (1-9, PW & SW) PING Eye original Cat Eye Green Dot. This guy bought them new between 1980-82 or something like that, he then passes away. The wife then puts them in a closet and left them for 35 years. This contractor comes to the home to do some repairs and see's them and asks if she would like to sell them. I don't think I'm getting the full story here but I'll bet my life she gave them to him or he paid less than $50.00 for them, she's like 87 years old her husband has been dead for 35 years. Golf USA is trying to sell them for $285.00 and won't even accept an offer for less. Damn I want them BAD.

 

PRISTINE, NEVER HIT ORIGINAL PING EYE'S! I'm besides myself here.

Wife and I just had an argument because she has a difficult time when I'm sick and stay home from work and I'm really sick, antibiotics and steroids and feeling bad. I may just go buy these to make me feel better. 33 years married and still putting up with crap. What the heck! :russian_roulette:

[baloo]

This type post is exactly why I am leaving you great guys. I come here to discuss Ping Eye 2's and this Jackwagon wants to post about knockoffs. Make a new thread!!! This is not complicated! Mike

 

If something this simple drives you crazy, it probably is time to leave... Or at least take a break.

 

Anyway, back to Pings...

 

 

^brand new ping eyes are a sweet find.

[sbboudreau]

This type post is exactly why I am leaving you great guys. I come here to discuss Ping Eye 2's and this Jackwagon wants to post about knockoffs. Make a new thread!!! This is not complicated! Mike

 

If something this simple drives you crazy, it probably is time to leave... Or at least take a break.

 

Anyway, back to Pings...

 

 

^brand new ping eyes are a sweet find.

LOL

[sbboudreau]

I could throw my eye 2's in a ditch and they would boomerang back into my bag. I've played these for 25 years and I plan on playing them the next 25. They are black dot, other's pending, beautiful chocolate patina.

 

In a bit of a tangle with the eye 2's recently though. I've learned more about proper fitting and have learned my irons are pretty short for my height and build. Learning that a 9 iron at 1.5 inches over standard is my ideal position. So I'm in a experiment phase of trying to keep my eye 2's in the similar swing weight range with a different shaft. I've tried just using extensions in a zz lite and zz 65 and that ended up in some ugly results. High swing weights and the balance of the club being all screwed up. My next attempt is a 80 gram stiff hard stepped steelfiber. Fingers crossed for the classics

I'm a PING Iron guy for my every day set of Irons(Titleist Tour Models Irons and Woods are my retro clubs that I love for some unknown reason) and I like more modern Callaway Woods because I started with second gen Big Bertha Warbird Soleplate.

 

You could just find a nice set of used correct length/lie clubs for about $150.00 to $250.00(unless you have the BeCu(chocolate patina) Eye's then $450-$650) on ebay and then sell yours. Way cheaper than reshafting your set at about $300.00 to $400.00 for the local pro to do, unless you have the nohow to do your own shafts because you're joined at the hip with your Irons, we all know how that is.

 

Golfsmith will fit you to the correct length/lie for $49.99 and a half hour in the net. I did it and found I needed a Yellow Dot lie standard length with regular flex shaft Ping. I had gone through Red dot Zings, Green Dot Zings and low and behold the Yellow Dots were the ticket. So I found a really nice set of G10's, fairly new clubs in really good condition(near impossible to find a full set of Zings Yellow Dot) and sold the Green Dot's Zing's for $225.00 (3-9, PW, SW & LW) I found for me, I'm 5'9" weight 185 and 55 years old that the yellow Dot Pings with a regular flex shaft was my best choice, I sure wasn't buying $900.00 new Pings so ebay away I went.

 

Buy the way if you're really set on keeping your Eye 2's send them out for a full restoration for about $600-$900 maybe less, I did find a few companies that did restorations when I was going to reshaft my Green dots with regular shafts, I just don't remember their names. A full groove recut, totally restored with new shafts of your desire and length. A company in California that does a really nice job and I'm sure if some of the other guys here Chime in they may know of a better lower cost company to do them for you.

[Robb]

I just picked up a set (5-sw) of Ping Eyes Black and took them on the course yesterday. Very nice clubs indeed.

Go forth with those E2's and play away.

[Shambles]

Ping got soooo much right with these, and still play well today.

 

I have a stainless set for the odd round (nostalgia puroses) - provided i remember to go an iron longer than my normal set for each distance (weak lofts etc etc) they are still a great set of irons. Love the ease of use throughout the whole set.

 

They are not weak lofts. They were actually about a club strong when they were introduced but even stronger, 1 club less, irons came after. These days some irons come with a PW that is the equivalent loft of the Eye 2 8 Iron or pretty close to it. Most come at about the 9 iron loft. There is also a side effect. Kind of forces you to find wedges that are the loft of the Eye 2 pitching wedge to fill the gap. You can live without it, but will find life a lot more comfortable with a 50* wedge. With the Eye 2, you have a complete set ready to play all conditions, exception being the sand wedge which is great but some prefer other lofts which are also available in the Eye 2.

 

 

 

Shambles.

[Scully13]

Funny that this topic came up.

 

Met a Local club guy downsizing recently. He had at least 25 sets of Ping Eye 2's plus singles and about 50 wedges (SW,LW).

 

Asked him what he wanted for everything. First said $1000. I quickly did the math and if I stand correct (25 sets X 8 clubs=200) = 50 wedges = 250 clubs. $1000/250 = $4 a club.

 

Anyhow, I didn't have the cash on me but said that I would come back. 48 hours later, I inquired again and he said take them all for $600. I literally hopped in my car, bank machine here we come. Carefully paid the man and not only did he sell me the 25 sets and the 50+ wedges, he also through in about 20 odds and ends ( Eye 2 1 irons and some nice woods).

 

Hit them at the Paddock golf dome and boy are they SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET feeling.

 

I hit about 10 different 7 irons and each one felt the same. Except for the stiff Titanium shafted one.

[golfunderpar18]

Funny that this topic came up.

 

Met a Local club guy downsizing recently. He had at least 25 sets of Ping Eye 2's plus singles and about 50 wedges (SW,LW).

 

Asked him what he wanted for everything. First said $1000. I quickly did the math and if I stand correct (25 sets X 8 clubs=200) = 50 wedges = 250 clubs. $1000/250 = $4 a club.

 

Anyhow, I didn't have the cash on me but said that I would come back. 48 hours later, I inquired again and he said take them all for $600. I literally hopped in my car, bank machine here we come. Carefully paid the man and not only did he sell me the 25 sets and the 50+ wedges, he also through in about 20 odds and ends ( Eye 2 1 irons and some nice woods).

 

Hit them at the Paddock golf dome and boy are they SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET feeling.

 

I hit about 10 different 7 irons and each one felt the same. Except for the stiff Titanium shafted one.

 

You hit the mother load! Wow. I'll give you $650 :)

 

Where are you....Ontario Canada or was that in NY state?

 

I've owned about 200 various sets of pings. Currently down to 6 or 7 sets. Keeping my original set of stain,Es eye 2's I received from my parents as a teenager in the 80's. Also some becu's, nickel isi's, zing 2's and a few other eye 2 sets.

.

[KCCO]

I learned with Ping Zing 2's , similar..... Could hit straight as arrow, no shape.... Played mizzy past 12 years? Just made switch to PXG, which have all the benefits of what ping gave me consistency/forgiveness, but feel and ability of my MP's. Maybe the ping engineers at PXG play a part, but these irons make game fun again as my old pings did. I know not eyes, but have a set refinished to look at

 

***but I would play those all day, prob only iron 20 years old that still gets ton of respect

[baloo]

Funny that this topic came up.

 

Met a Local club guy downsizing recently. He had at least 25 sets of Ping Eye 2's plus singles and about 50 wedges (SW,LW).

 

Asked him what he wanted for everything. First said $1000. I quickly did the math and if I stand correct (25 sets X 8 clubs=200) = 50 wedges = 250 clubs. $1000/250 = $4 a club.

 

Anyhow, I didn't have the cash on me but said that I would come back. 48 hours later, I inquired again and he said take them all for $600. I literally hopped in my car, bank machine here we come. Carefully paid the man and not only did he sell me the 25 sets and the 50+ wedges, he also through in about 20 odds and ends ( Eye 2 1 irons and some nice woods).

 

Hit them at the Paddock golf dome and boy are they SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET feeling.

 

I hit about 10 different 7 irons and each one felt the same. Except for the stiff Titanium shafted one.

 

Great find! Do you have any red dot sets in there you would like to unload??

[baloo]

Anyone have a set of Ping Eye 2 V-Grooves or Tour irons??

 

I'm looking around for some as they're legal in ALL tournaments. Tournaments I'll probably never play in, but I have this itch to get some anyway. The regular eye 2s are legal in all the tourneys I actually play.

 

Anyway, I haven't found any ebay sets yet.

[birly-shirly]

I passed the used rack at my local driving range tonight. A set of i20 irons for £130. A set of G5 irons for £100. And a set of copper Eye2+ for £205!

[scruffynick]

The eye 2s I recently bought then struggled have made a fantastic return to my bag! Don't understand why I struggled with the weight at first, then bang hit them really well! There's something about eye 2s, just love the look, feel, history of them....best irons ever made

[disco111]

 

For all you eye 2 fans, the above link is very interesting and informative. May make some folks take a more positive look at older Pings.......

[scomac2002]

Thanks for posting the link. More or less confirms my own observations from playing modern Ping irons versus and Eye 2 clone. I agree wholeheartedly that the feel of a well struck Eye 2 shot is unlike anything else I've experienced including forged blades. I find that modern irons with all the bits and bobs that go into a head have the least pleasing feel of the entire lot.

[baloo]

Just bought a set from the bst. Will be fun to have around.

[200Golf]

BeCu w/ ZZ-lite shafts

[Texsport]

I was talking to a former PGA Tour player, and later swing coach for several Tour players, about clubs.

 

He said that the Ping wedges were so enormously popular because they were so versatile - worked well in different types of sand the pros encountered, changing courses every week.

 

Another former Tour player at my club used to trade his equipment for every Ping beryllium SW he could get.

 

Texsport

[SmiterOfPv1x]

But of course. Unlike most on here, I only own one set of irons. I've tried just about everything and never had any reason to take them out of the bag in the last 20 years. I had a now defunct local golf shop fit me for them and black dot it was. I originally bought the set 3-SW but after the SW had the audacity to squirt three balls into a lake at Apple Valley in Mt Vernon OH 20 years ago (and going through a rough patch in my life), the SW joined the balls in the bottom of said lake. So now it's a 3-pw. Any other iron that I've played over the years just doesn't look right when I'm addressing the ball. Regardless of how I hit them I just never feel comfortable which leads to a lack of confidence.

 

The grooves in the short irons and in particular the pw are just about shot at this point so I'm either going to have to have them restored or more likely replace them with another set. Just thinking about taking the trusty friends out of my bag, even replacing them with the exact same thing, is enough to make me lose sleep. So maybe I will spring the bigger money to have them restored after this season. Or maybe I'll just play the same worn out grooves for the rest of my life. My swing generates a ton of spin anyways so it's not like I HAVE to do it.

 

I do have a modern driver in my bag (TM R15 430 9.5 w speeder xflex) and a modern ish 3wood (Nike something or rather, maybe VRS-I'd have to go look to tell for sure and I'm lazy today) but in addition to the Eye 2 irons, I also carry an eye 2 driver. Say what? I carry it for several reasons. On that day where nothing else goes straight, I can almost always hit it where I want to. I do lose at least 50 yards to my TM, probably more like 75, but most courses I play have few 425 plus par 4's so it's not like I'm hitting 3 irons into them anyways. I also carry it because I can hit it off the deck on second shots into par 5's. From the deck I hit it about the same distance as my 3w, albeit it with different ball flights. If I want to carry the ball onto the green and have it stop I use the 3w. If I want to chase it up on to it with a left to right ball flight, I use the Ping. If there's trouble left it's always a good choice because I never hit it left of where I want it to go. It's also my punch out club. I'll hit it when I'm under a tree and have to scoot one anywhere from 50 yards plus. I can hit it from any lie including a buried in rough lie. The last reason I carry it is because I think it's cool as all get out. I find a reason to hit it almost every round and for the 5.00 I paid for it in the "old crap" bin it was in at a local course 15 years ago, it's the best value club I've got.

 

Most people, especially those that have a tour bag stuffed with the latest and greatest take a look at my tired old bag, with my great mish mash of new and old clubs including my 25.99 Walmart putter that like the irons I've never found anything that out performs it for me for any price, and assume I can't play. I play with 13 clubs, which includes a standard set PW as my shortest club-again I've tried to find something that works for me and have failed as I can hit every wedge shot with it. I play a lot of rounds as a single and get paired up quite a bit. I'll always concede honors on the first tee and hopefully the people I get paired with will hit a decent drive on the first hole. At that point I love to suggest a small wager on that drive and just to keep it interesting I'll even offer to use the old Ping. Ahh, if only people wouldn't judge a book by its cover, and if only they'd have taken the time to examine exactly where the grooves are worn out on those tires old Ping irons, maybe they wouldn't have just paid for my round, lol.

[TimV]

This... *Unlike most on here, I only own one set of irons.* is sacrilege. I loved the rest of the story.

[Qwiklap]

Just sold my BeCu Ping Eye 2 - they were the U-grooved ones (lettering right-side up when in the bag). No plus.

 

I liked them, but they were no match for the Ping G's when I got fitted. I miss their look though .... I gamed them for 25 years. They had seen Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Dubsdread, Chicago Golf Club, Sycamore Hills, and numerous other famous and distinct courses (including the cow pasture public course I played for $12 twilight right outside the Univ. of Chicago).

 

Good times ....

[TurboFade]

I feel the need to share my luck on this thread. I don't post too often as I am a semi-newbie since last year. Totally love these forums and very much enjoy reading everything on here. A couple weeks ago, I was searching for a set for my brother to use as he just took up the game and while searching on Ebay I happened to come across this listing for a set of "Ping EYE 2 Iron Clubs #2 4 5 7 8 9 M Set of 7 Golf clubs". I realized that this person was not privy to golf (hence the M instead of W and the 2 which is actually the 9 iron) and looked further as the person had a ton of great photos of the clubs still with original Ping grips. After inspecting further it showed all the clubs as a 7 iron set of 4-W in black dot standard zz lite shafts for $69.99 with free shipping. I rolled the dice and sure enough when they arrived, they were in great shape! Here are some photos of the listing and clubs.

[TimV]

Nice. I always play the M when I'm anywhere between 90 to 110 yards out myself. :tongue:

[Juice__25]

My black dot 2 iron only goes about 130 too, maybe I'm confusing it with my 9 iron.

[8bitpowerfade]

I play them occasionally with the 90s nostalgia bag.

[scomac2002]

Love the white leather staff bag. One of my Men's League characters showed up with the exact same bag a couple weeks back -- $40 on a kijiji add -- and in very similar condition!

[HoganApexBlades]

Just sold my BeCu Ping Eye 2 - they were the U-grooved ones (lettering right-side up when in the bag). No plus.

 

I liked them, but they were no match for the Ping G's when I got fitted. I miss their look though .... I gamed them for 25 years. They had seen Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Dubsdread, Chicago Golf Club, Sycamore Hills, and numerous other famous and distinct courses (including the cow pasture public course I played for $12 twilight right outside the Univ. of Chicago).

 

Good times ....

 

Congrats on playing Chicago Golf. I know Ben Crenshaw played there and may have had a membership. I lived in Wheaton for almost 25 years and never played it. Of course, I played Butler National, Olympia Fields and Medinah #3 several times instead...

[scruffynick]

Just sold my BeCu Ping Eye 2 - they were the U-grooved ones (lettering right-side up when in the bag). No plus.

 

I liked them, but they were no match for the Ping G's when I got fitted. I miss their look though .... I gamed them for 25 years. They had seen Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Dubsdread, Chicago Golf Club, Sycamore Hills, and numerous other famous and distinct courses (including the cow pasture public course I played for $12 twilight right outside the Univ. of Chicago).

 

Good times ....

 

Congrats on playing Chicago Golf. I know Ben Crenshaw played there and may have had a membership. I lived in Wheaton for almost 25 years and never played it. Of course, I played Butler National, Olympia Fields and Medinah #3 several times instead...

Birkdale, great course! Only live 20 minute drive away. Will be stewarding on the 7th for the open. But my eye2s through the 90s graced Birkdale... Brilliant irons

[gsea33]

So I play Eye 2s becu 4-sw. Was having a bad round with a fairway wood so took it out of the bag. I have been hitting the irons so good I said screw it and grabbed the eye 2 2iron. Went to the range and just torched it. Not to excited yet. Now have 4 rounds played with it and will not take it out of the bag. I cannot believe the trajectory and distance I get (220ish off tee, 205 off fairway) which is great for me. I use it consistently on tight and /or short par fours and have not missed a fairway yet. LONG LIVE THE KING OF IRONS.

[TurboFade]

So I play Eye 2s becu 4-sw. Was having a bad round with a fairway wood so took it out of the bag. I have been hitting the irons so good I said screw it and grabbed the eye 2 2iron. Went to the range and just torched it. Not to excited yet. Now have 4 rounds played with it and will not take it out of the bag. I cannot believe the trajectory and distance I get (220ish off tee, 205 off fairway) which is great for me. I use it consistently on tight and /or short par fours and have not missed a fairway yet. LONG LIVE THE KING OF IRONS.

 

I totally agree, despite the weaker lofts, I hit these irons a mile! I've never been able to hit a 3 iron this well.