In hand photos of the Ping i500 irons (MERGED)

[Geaux Gators]

I am dying. I want mine to show up. Played in a tournament this weekend and played like trash. Gave my partner no help. We should even par best ball on day two and we win by 1. But no we shot 5 over. Awesome

[braincramp52]

I am dying. I want mine to show up. Played in a tournament this weekend and played like trash. Gave my partner no help. We should even par best ball on day two and we win by 1. But no we shot 5 over. Awesome

 

You were just thinking about your new irons instead of hitting golf shots. :)

[longbal30]

So, since I listed my set on the BST and nobody jumped, I decided to hit them on my gcquad. At first spin was a bit of a issue, I was using tp5x, but after switching to pro v1, I gained about 1000 RpMs of spin. So here are my averages for those who want to know about gapping.

 

PW 138 8600 spin

9 157 7500 spin

8 175 6300 spin

7 195 5800 spin

6 210 5000 spin

5 223 4200 spin

4 231 3800 spin

 

Those are all carry numbers. Now before you get all riled up with lower club gapping, I found the easy solution to just grip down a inch if I had a 170 shot, or 150 shot etc. Before I switched balls, the numbers were a bit ridiculous. I was seeing 205 7 irons with 4200 spin. I'm a fairly low spin player to begin with, I usually only see 7 iron spin rates in the high 5000 low 6000 range with my tp5x, Mizuno MP18 set. The pings have a very steep desent angle, like in the 48-49* range. I had greens set to firm, and no issues with keeping a ball within a couple yards of the pitch marks.

 

I still have them listed, but now they are a bit more interesting to me. The long iron heights were impressive, the dispersion were great and I didn't see any super high shots. 7 iron averaged 120 ft.

[radiman]

So, since I listed my set on the BST and nobody jumped, I decided to hit them on my gcquad. At first spin was a bit of a issue, I was using tp5x, but after switching to pro v1, I gained about 1000 RpMs of spin. So here are my averages for those who want to know about gapping.

 

PW 138 8600 spin

9 157 7500 spin

8 175 6300 spin

7 195 5800 spin

6 210 5000 spin

5 223 4200 spin

4 231 3800 spin

 

Those are all carry numbers. Now before you get all riled up with lower club gapping, I found the easy solution to just grip down a inch if I had a 170 shot, or 150 shot etc. Before I switched balls, the numbers were a bit ridiculous. I was seeing 205 7 irons with 4200 spin. I'm a fairly low spin player to begin with, I usually only see 7 iron spin rates in the high 5000 low 6000 range with my tp5x, Mizuno MP18 set. The pings have a very steep desent angle, like in the 48-49* range. I had greens set to firm, and no issues with keeping a ball within a couple yards of the pitch marks.

 

I still have them listed, but now they are a bit more interesting to me. The long iron heights were impressive, the dispersion were great and I didn't see any super high shots. 7 iron averaged 120 ft.

 

Standard lofts?

[longbal30]

So, since I listed my set on the BST and nobody jumped, I decided to hit them on my gcquad. At first spin was a bit of a issue, I was using tp5x, but after switching to pro v1, I gained about 1000 RpMs of spin. So here are my averages for those who want to know about gapping.

 

PW 138 8600 spin

9 157 7500 spin

8 175 6300 spin

7 195 5800 spin

6 210 5000 spin

5 223 4200 spin

4 231 3800 spin

 

Those are all carry numbers. Now before you get all riled up with lower club gapping, I found the easy solution to just grip down a inch if I had a 170 shot, or 150 shot etc. Before I switched balls, the numbers were a bit ridiculous. I was seeing 205 7 irons with 4200 spin. I'm a fairly low spin player to begin with, I usually only see 7 iron spin rates in the high 5000 low 6000 range with my tp5x, Mizuno MP18 set. The pings have a very steep desent angle, like in the 48-49* range. I had greens set to firm, and no issues with keeping a ball within a couple yards of the pitch marks.

 

I still have them listed, but now they are a bit more interesting to me. The long iron heights were impressive, the dispersion were great and I didn't see any super high shots. 7 iron averaged 120 ft.

 

Standard lofts?

 

Yep standard lofts

[radiman]

So, since I listed my set on the BST and nobody jumped, I decided to hit them on my gcquad. At first spin was a bit of a issue, I was using tp5x, but after switching to pro v1, I gained about 1000 RpMs of spin. So here are my averages for those who want to know about gapping.

 

PW 138 8600 spin

9 157 7500 spin

8 175 6300 spin

7 195 5800 spin

6 210 5000 spin

5 223 4200 spin

4 231 3800 spin

 

Those are all carry numbers. Now before you get all riled up with lower club gapping, I found the easy solution to just grip down a inch if I had a 170 shot, or 150 shot etc. Before I switched balls, the numbers were a bit ridiculous. I was seeing 205 7 irons with 4200 spin. I'm a fairly low spin player to begin with, I usually only see 7 iron spin rates in the high 5000 low 6000 range with my tp5x, Mizuno MP18 set. The pings have a very steep desent angle, like in the 48-49* range. I had greens set to firm, and no issues with keeping a ball within a couple yards of the pitch marks.

 

I still have them listed, but now they are a bit more interesting to me. The long iron heights were impressive, the dispersion were great and I didn't see any super high shots. 7 iron averaged 120 ft.

 

Standard lofts?

 

Yep standard lofts

 

I would imagine that the numbers you posted for your PW and 9 are pretty typical for you. There does seem to be a gapping issue in the lower irons, as you said. I am eagerly awaiting more information on the retro specs. The 18 and 20 yard gaps between your 8-7-6 irons seem extreme, but you have figured out a way around that it would seem.

 

Without knowing much about your game, would you say that these carries are a club longer in some clubs or pretty typical with what you've played in the past?

[longbal30]

So, since I listed my set on the BST and nobody jumped, I decided to hit them on my gcquad. At first spin was a bit of a issue, I was using tp5x, but after switching to pro v1, I gained about 1000 RpMs of spin. So here are my averages for those who want to know about gapping.

 

PW 138 8600 spin

9 157 7500 spin

8 175 6300 spin

7 195 5800 spin

6 210 5000 spin

5 223 4200 spin

4 231 3800 spin

 

Those are all carry numbers. Now before you get all riled up with lower club gapping, I found the easy solution to just grip down a inch if I had a 170 shot, or 150 shot etc. Before I switched balls, the numbers were a bit ridiculous. I was seeing 205 7 irons with 4200 spin. I'm a fairly low spin player to begin with, I usually only see 7 iron spin rates in the high 5000 low 6000 range with my tp5x, Mizuno MP18 set. The pings have a very steep desent angle, like in the 48-49* range. I had greens set to firm, and no issues with keeping a ball within a couple yards of the pitch marks.

 

I still have them listed, but now they are a bit more interesting to me. The long iron heights were impressive, the dispersion were great and I didn't see any super high shots. 7 iron averaged 120 ft.

 

Standard lofts?

 

Yep standard lofts

 

I would imagine that the numbers you posted for your PW and 9 are pretty typical for you. There does seem to be a gapping issue in the lower irons, as you said. I am eagerly awaiting more information on the retro specs. The 18 and 20 yard gaps between your 8-7-6 irons seem extreme, but you have figured out a way around that it would seem.

 

Without knowing much about your game, would you say that these carries are a club longer in some clubs or pretty typical with what you've played in the past?

 

My typical Carry's for my mp18's are

PW 135

9 150

8 165

7 180

6 195

5 210

4 220

[CAJ4AU]

Someone that has them in hand. Is the head size and topline the same as the iBlade?

 

I posted some pics earlier in the thread with the i500 demo and my iBlade for comparison

[RonSwanson]

Obviously this is just one guy's experience, but it's the first direct comparison of standard vs. retro spec that I've seen.

 

[caloge]

Just got the call. Hoping I can find time to pick them up tonight.

[PantherFritz]

Just got the call. Hoping I can find time to pick them up tonight.

 

When did you order?

[caloge]

Just got the call. Hoping I can find time to pick them up tonight.

 

When did you order?

 

Friday before orders were officially open. Likely wasnt submitted to Ping until the Monday though.

[easyyy]

UPS.com

 

 

 

[caloge]

UPS.com

 

 

 

 

Looks like Ups.com is going to have their ping account suspended.

[Frohlich]

UPS.com

 

 

 

 

Looks like Ups.com is going to have their ping account suspended.

 

Don't worry, Fedex.com still has plenty in stock.

[SeaIsland]

I hit the 500s and was centering them. As said by someone in this thread, they felt soft. Whether that's springy or hollow or... all I can say is that they felt better to me than the P790s or the T-MBs (the T-MBs are probably a better comparison because they don't have fill either). Not to take issue with the folks who don't like the feel (that's fine) but the distance consistency on these irons is not being talked about enough. Although I'm sure the naysayers are out there, almost every review I have seen talks about how consistent the numbers are. Some like the feel, some don't, but they all like their numbers. When I saw a review of the retros vs reg loft, the distance and height differences were exactly what you would expect (about 7 yards more distance and a few meters in height --again very consistent). It's going to come down to power spec in the i210s, or regular loft i500s or retrospec 500s. Decisions, decisions. Doing my best to not overthink it, but I'm terrible at that.

[The Frase]

For those buying i500s, are you specifically requesting swing weights or are you taking your chances with standard which I assume is D1. I may go D1 to D3 from 5 iron to pitch or perhaps d1 to d2 with 5-6 d1, 7-8 d1.5, and 9p d2. Any thoughts on this strategy as to not leave to chance.

[WarEagleGolf]

I got whole set swingweighted, but I'm using same shafts (so I knew what I wanted), so did d2 all the way and d3 on PW. Just matched my S55 since I hit them well.

 

Wedges do to d4. Although my driver is d4 as well.

 

As for discussion on consistency, I hit all shots within a 2.6 yd dispersion. Consistent is key IMO, the right left is me, the forgiving distance consistency is the club helping me.

[braincramp52]

I got whole set swingweighted, but I'm using same shafts (so I knew what I wanted), so did d2 all the way and d3 on PW. Just matched my S55 since I hit them well.

 

Wedges do to d4. Although my driver is d4 as well.

 

As for discussion on consistency, I hit all shots within a 2.6 yd dispersion. Consistent is key IMO, the right left is me, the forgiving distance consistency is the club helping me.

 

2.6 yards? There's about 300 guys on the PGA tour that would like to know your secret.

[Minarets]

UPS.com

 

 

thats my combo right there. Want to hear all about them.

[WarEagleGolf]

I got whole set swingweighted, but I'm using same shafts (so I knew what I wanted), so did d2 all the way and d3 on PW. Just matched my S55 since I hit them well.

 

Wedges do to d4. Although my driver is d4 as well.

 

As for discussion on consistency, I hit all shots within a 2.6 yd dispersion. Consistent is key IMO, the right left is me, the forgiving distance consistency is the club helping me.

 

2.6 yards? There's about 300 guys on the PGA tour that would like to know your secret.

 

3.6 avg actually, lol. Had to go back and look. Small sample set though. Didn't take many for me to be good. 6mph ball speed on average same swing speed. Right to left dispersion, a bit different. Much different, still better than my s55 though. Actually had trouble fading them. We'll see on course.

[Jordan Speeth]

 

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The “wounded ducks” were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn’t have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It’s pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can’t be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it’s almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I’m accustomed to this kind of club, it’s fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who’s thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I’m looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it’s going to be fairly demanding. I’m still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player’s club. They’re going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They’re also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

[GeorgiaLefty]

 

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The “wounded ducks” were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn’t have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It’s pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can’t be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it’s almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I’m accustomed to this kind of club, it’s fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who’s thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I’m looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it’s going to be fairly demanding. I’m still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player’s club. They’re going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They’re also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

 

I appreciate the candid feedback. I’m surprised to hear you don’t find them even slightly forgiving. From everything else I’ve seen and heard, they offer as much forgiveness as you can find in a compact iron.

[Jordan Speeth]

 

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The "wounded ducks" were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn't have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It's pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can't be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it's almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I'm accustomed to this kind of club, it's fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who's thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I'm looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it's going to be fairly demanding. I'm still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player's club. They're going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They're also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

 

I appreciate the candid feedback. I'm surprised to hear you don't find them even slightly forgiving. From everything else I've seen and heard, they offer as much forgiveness as you can find in a compact iron.

 

It's probably because my misses are either low (thin) or heel-side and these irons are more helpful toward the toe. With most blades and forged CBs, heel-side strikes don't suffer much, giving the clubs an effectively larger sweet spot. The i500 has a sweet spot, but it's very small and all sorts of weird things happen when you miss it, the worst of which is the sound. Because of these idiosyncrasies, the club just isn't forgiving for me. Good thing is that I wasn't really looking for a forgiving club, but rather a distance iron in a blade package, and that's what I got....no complaints here. Maybe I should have left that up to the user. Correction- it could be forgiving for a certain type of player ;-).

[torbill]

 

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The “wounded ducks” were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn’t have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It’s pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can’t be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it’s almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I’m accustomed to this kind of club, it’s fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who’s thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I’m looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it’s going to be fairly demanding. I’m still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player’s club. They’re going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They’re also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

 

Jordan, my experience is different. I am a low handicap senior who currently plays iBlades and wants to maintain/increase distance. I hit several buckets of balls with the demo 7 iron. I find this iron to be very forgiving. I also find no great difference in sound and feel (although I have to say that my hearing isn't what it used to be). And I am getting 10 more yards and high ball flight, which takes me back to the good old days. I like this iron so well that I ordered a set last week. Perhaps some of the difference that wE are experiencing is the shaft. For the first time in my life I am going with graphite. I tested and ordered regular flex graphite shafts. This might explain a difference in sound and feel. I have no idea why it would account for a difference in perceived forgiveness.

[USGA22]

 

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The “wounded ducks” were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn’t have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It’s pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can’t be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it’s almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I’m accustomed to this kind of club, it’s fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who’s thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I’m looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it’s going to be fairly demanding. I’m still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player’s club. They’re going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They’re also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

 

Jordan, my experience is different. I am a low handicap senior who currently plays iBlades and wants to maintain/increase distance. I hit several buckets of balls with the demo 7 iron. I find this iron to be very forgiving. I also find no great difference in sound and feel (although I have to say that my hearing isn't what it used to be). And I am getting 10 more yards and high ball flight, which takes me back to the good old days. I like this iron so well that I ordered a set last week. Perhaps some of the difference that wE are experiencing is the shaft. For the first time in my life I am going with graphite. I tested and ordered regular flex graphite shafts. This might explain a difference in sound and feel. I have no idea why it would account for a difference in perceived forgiveness.

 

I have not paid to close attention to this complete thread. That being said, a few weeks ago I had a chance to hit the demo I500 7 iron indoors at GG. with the stock shaft and the PX LZ.

 

I thought the stock set up was perfectly fine, sound, feel, and the numbers on the LM monitor seemed ok, I never trust the spin number. The LZ was dramatically different, club felt heavy, and clicky (not sure that is word). I honestly did not feel it was like hitting a blade, or the sweet spot was the size of a dime. I actually thought it was a really good product to compete with the 790's of the world.

 

I guess I should go and hit the I500 outdoors to make a more comprehensive determination.

[easyyy]

For those buying i500s, are you specifically requesting swing weights or are you taking your chances with standard which I assume is D1. I may go D1 to D3 from 5 iron to pitch or perhaps d1 to d2 with 5-6 d1, 7-8 d1.5, and 9p d2. Any thoughts on this strategy as to not leave to chance.

 

I didn't take chances. I put them to the test by asking for D2 and Aerotech Steelfiber i95's as well. They have to add weight to get those i95's to D2 what I asked for. I noticed on the Ping WRX tag they had "Toe" and "Melt" with weights in the back. Such as 4-5.7 melt and Toe - 6. I assume it was how much hot melt they were adding and the toe weight. Looking at the numbers It looks like they tried to add the same amount of melt and adjust the weights from 3 to 6 to spec.

[easyyy]

Comparison pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[radiman]

Comparison pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks forthe comparisons. The PXG and i500 share so many similarities. Both gorgeous irons.

[Jordan Speeth]

Latest update on the i500....

I went to another local range today that has better range balls than the one I visited on Sunday. The “wounded ducks” were indeed the fault of the old, poor quality balls and I didn’t have a single one of them today but I did have a few nine irons that took off surprisingly high. I also had pretty much the same experience as Sunday with the sound and feel of the club. It’s pretty darned good on perfect center strikes but again, anything off-center is punished. In my opinion, this can’t be possibly be regarded as a Game Improvement iron of any sort. In fact, it’s almost as demanding as most blades. Anything even a little bit off gives a notable penalty in feel, sound, and distance. Since I’m accustomed to this kind of club, it’s fine and I even welcome that but for anyone who’s thinking this is a forgiving club, maybe look elsewhere. Anything short of an absolutely nutted hit nets mostly average results while center strikes take off like a rocket. I’m looking forward to actually playing with them to see how it goes but I know that it’s going to be fairly demanding. I’m still ok with the sound and feel, but with at least the same caveats as any player’s club. They’re going to require careful attention on the course. BTW, the finish still looks perfect even after several sessions at some pretty dodgy driving ranges. They’re also still as beautiful as can be. I wish I had some numbers to go along with these thoughts. It would be helpful for everyone, me included.

 

Jordan, my experience is different. I am a low handicap senior who currently plays iBlades and wants to maintain/increase distance. I hit several buckets of balls with the demo 7 iron. I find this iron to be very forgiving. I also find no great difference in sound and feel (although I have to say that my hearing isn't what it used to be). And I am getting 10 more yards and high ball flight, which takes me back to the good old days. I like this iron so well that I ordered a set last week. Perhaps some of the difference that wE are experiencing is the shaft. For the first time in my life I am going with graphite. I tested and ordered regular flex graphite shafts. This might explain a difference in sound and feel. I have no idea why it would account for a difference in perceived forgiveness.

 

It could be. The real difference is, like I've said in the past, that I'm no expert on forgiving or GI clubs. I've never really tried one that, for me, was more forgiving than a good blade or CB (not this again) so you could ignore me and be no worse off. It seems like a GI club for my game isn't even possible. The i500 is a tough club for me to figure out still but with the way they look, I sure want to like them. You may have found the magic formula for yours....hope so. I compromised on my shaft selection and ended up with D7....not getting along with that yet. Good luck with them!