In hand photos of the Ping i500 irons (MERGED)

[sekim]

165 per stick for me for i500s and 199 per for glide forged

[bazinky]

Just played a round on my new i500s with proVs. Note that I have been playing CF16s for around a year and they have similar lofts. I500s are 1/2 club longer from PW - long irons. Definitely not as soft, but more forgiving IMHO. I’m a 5 hcp with 95mph driver ss.

 

The sound is not as bad with proVs, but still louder and more clickly than my CFs. But the 1/2 club longer and more forgiveness has me sold. Not to mention that they look great in the bag and at address. I do wish they would address the sound with some “matter” inside the club tho.

 

BTW - the new forged glide wedges that I ordered with the set (54 and 58) are some of the best wedges I’ve ever played. Soft and beautiful with loads of spin.

 

What kind of yardage gaps are you seeing between the i500 U wedge and the 54 versus your other iron gaps? I traditionally play (and like) a 54 and 58 wedge combo, and am just trying to figure out how this might blend with the i500s.

[adh2k1]

What's everyone paying for the 500's? I see TGW sells them for $162.50 a club but I keep seeing $175 without upgrades pop up also.

 

It was 162.5 for me with steel. Possibly graphite is the 175 price?

[mallrat]

I payed $1160 for 4-P with a shaft upgrade. Dropped the 3 iron in the set

[RonSwanson]

I haven't seen this brought up yet, but I just noticed that the i500 are also progressively longer in length. Comparing the i500 to the P790, which seems to be one of the most obvious direct comparisons, the standard length is .25" longer in 7-9 and increases that discrepancy by .125" on each subsequent iron making the i500 3 iron .75" longer than the P790 3 iron.

 

In simple terms, the i500 5 iron and P790 4 iron are the same standard length, the i500 4 iron is actually 1/8" longer than the P790 3 iron at standard length. This could certainly contribute to the reported distance gains.

[bunta]

Alright. This is on my phone so forgive me. Got my set this afternoon, 3 through PW, regular lofts, Ctaper lite 110 (yes an upcharge, but I love these shafts, have every iron and wedge in them).

 

First glance, absolutely beautiful. Wedge about the see size as my S55 wedge, 3 iron much bigger. Longer heel to toe and a little thicker. No pics, I keep my sticks at the course and it was late, since I hit then played 15 holes. But believe me, absolutely stunning in the bag.

 

Got them all D2, with wedge d3.5. I called to confirm because they felt light to me. Still feel light, but I'm going to keep them where they are. These are speced almost exactly like my S55 with same grips and all. Added two wraps, perhaps that was the change.

 

These do NOT like range balls. Felt like crap, loud click when I hit, etc etc. We use nxt yellow balls on the range. Didn't hit especially well, was concerned leaving the range.

 

Fast forward to the course. ProV1 balls, much better. Took 3i off the tee on one. Hit it a tick thin, rolled out to 215 or so, our fairways are zoysia, so rollout isn't always too good. Hit a 9 up the hill from 150, pin high, but left.

 

Other highlights....205 yd par 3, little help and cross wind. Less than 10 mph. Flew it, hit about 215. More on that later. 189 into wind, about 10mph, 5i to pin high, stopped on a dime. Spin was good, nothing with too much rollout.

 

Another 205 par 3, into the wind, pin high 4iron. Wedge from 142 par 3 little help maybe 5mph, flew it by about 3 yds. Still a great shot. 191 par 3, 7iron with help, pin high missed the putt but I wasn't there to putt. I hit irons. :)

 

3iron tee shot, about 215 into a bit of cross wind. Short par 4. Left 90 in.

 

Seems my gapping is:

 

140 Pw

155 9

170 8

180 7

190 6

200 5

210 4

220 3...

 

Misses weren't too penalized but I hit alot of thin shots, again the weight IMO. I think I'm gonna like these alot. Gaps seem about 15 on short irons, 10 on longer ones. No need to step into one unless you're trying to hit it lower, at least for me.

 

Flushed shots felt like my S55, not quite flushed were still pretty good. Mishits are penalized heavily. Like 15 yd short, but c'mon, what are we expecting? I think it was a bit of over swinging, not that it can be helped with new sticks in hand.

 

A smooth swing with center contact gets you so much more. Ball flight actually a tick higher than S55, but wind really didn't affect them much.

 

All in all...if I get used to them (or maybe even add a bit of weight), these are straight money. Feel was soft and explosive, turf interaction was quite good, took some monster divots with short irons but much less with longer irons, more bounce it seems. Play to a 4.5, haven't been playing well so that's up, but I gained a full club and a half on solid strikes.

 

Hit a pull draw (my miss) from 190 with a 6...it went far, hit the path behind the green and ended up on the next tee box...probably my worst miss of the day. But those misses normally go 15 yds further for me, so about right. Played another from the same spot. Dropped it on the flag, think it hit it actually judging by the ball mark and where the ball ended up. Never hit a 6 more than 170 in my life.

 

Also tried to get to an uphill par 5 in two from 220 with the 3. Didn't hit either attempt especially well, just short green side bunker, the three is harder to hit than my previous, at least so far, but I'm a 3 iron kind of dude, so be it. Little bigger, nd bigger sole, I'll figure it out.

 

Another one of my issues with the i500. How am i supposed to practice at the range with range balls when every other shot is a loud click ? in my last range session, i literally had to look at my clubface after every shot to see where i hit it cuz i just didnt know. ive never had shots sound so unsatisfying when they flew so beautifully.

 

yes, it sounds better with my Bridgestones on the course, but the click is still there even when i flush it, just not as loud. i really want to keep it, but im not sure if i can bear the sound. the sound is actually embarrassing at this point.

 

Sorry you can't play a club based on an occasional sound. That stinks. This isn't meant to slam you or anything, just makes me realize how much there is to different strokes for different folks.

 

I can't imagine not playing a club I like/love because of the sound. For goodness sake I still see the Nike SQ or Sumo or whatever that square club was the was the WORST sounding club in history, daily.

 

But I also generally don't mind people talking, jingling change or someone taking my tee box.

 

i dont think youre understanding where some of us are coming from. So imagine this, you're hitting some balls at the range with some 3 year old range balls. Some balls looked good enough for driver, some youre better off warming up with. (Im assuming youve been playing golf long enough you can recognize the sound pitch between a well struck centered shot vs toe/heel/too high on the face/thin shot). Now imagine, you just flushed an iron. Felt nice, dead center, strong flight, good traj, and ball lands where you aimed. but the sound it put off made this clicking sound like you just mishit it. You didnt.

 

Now lets say by the love of god, you flushed an entire bucket of 50 balls in a row, but every shot has a loud click. I guarantee you will leave the range so confused thinking you need to readjust something in your swing because youre not making solid contact but in reality, theres nothjing wrong with your swing because you just nuked 50 balls in a row. See where im going with this ?

 

Now put yourself in a foursome, playing scramble (i havent done this in years), your partners are going to think you cant find the middle of the face if they gave you 18 holes and thats where the embarrassment comes from. Hear me ?

[Jack Pearsall]

Really nice looking iron.

[andrevanderpost]

Got mine on 7/31 and pulled the AWT 2,0 shafts after one range session (they sounded and felt horrible with the AWT in them. Reshafted them with the new Mitsubishi OT Tour 90-X shafts. Sound and feel are now like I got from the demo iron with the Nippon 105's in them. Shaft selection clearly impacts the sound and fell of these quite dramatically. A couple of things I learned during the reshafting:\

 

1. The hosel is plugged with a rubbery black substance at normal bore depth. Pretty tough and resistant to a drilling as I found out when cleaning out the old epoxy.

 

2. Normal Ping ferrules that fit the i20s etc, do not fit the i500s. The OD is too small. Instead I had to use the Ping Glide ferrules which have an OD that is a little too big but can easily be turned to fit. EXPENSIVE to reshaft at about $2 a ferrule. Hopefully properly fitting ferrules will be available soon.

 

3. Getting a great fit for the ferrule is horrible. When you insert the shaft with ferrule with no epoxy, it creates a nice snug fit, BUT when you then come to expoy them, the shaft backs out about 1/32 of an inch. After multiple (and very frustrating with lots of cursing) attempts, I finally figured out why. When you push the shaft dry into the head to set the ferrule, it pushes into the rubber plug but doesn't seem to move back. Once epoxy is introduce, the shaft doesn't push into the rubber plug and you are left with a small gap. No impact on playability, but really irritating for any OCD builder!.

[mefnocerous]

Not sure if my fitter gave me a deal or Ping is good about shaft options but the XP 105’s I ordered with mine cost me an extra $6 a club. Modus 120 & 105’s were like $18 a club or something like that.

 

Very reasonable

 

Modus 105 are stock on these.

[RonSwanson]

Posted this in the other i500 thread, but thought I would post it here as well as there seems to be an equal number of followers in each thread.

 

I haven't seen this brought up yet, but I just noticed that the i500 are also progressively longer in length. Comparing the i500 to the P790, which seems to be one of the most obvious direct comparisons, the standard length is .25" longer in 7-9 and increases that discrepancy by .125" on each subsequent iron making the i500 3 iron .75" longer than the P790 3 iron.

 

In simple terms, the i500 5 iron and P790 4 iron are the same standard length, the i500 4 iron is actually 1/8" longer than the P790 3 iron at standard length. Something to keep in mind and this could certainly contribute to the reported distance gains.

[radiman]

Posted this in the other i500 thread, but thought I would post it here as well as there seems to be an equal number of followers in each thread.

 

I haven't seen this brought up yet, but I just noticed that the i500 are also progressively longer in length. Comparing the i500 to the P790, which seems to be one of the most obvious direct comparisons, the standard length is .25" longer in 7-9 and increases that discrepancy by .125" on each subsequent iron making the i500 3 iron .75" longer than the P790 3 iron.

 

In simple terms, the i500 5 iron and P790 4 iron are the same standard length, the i500 4 iron is actually 1/8" longer than the P790 3 iron at standard length. Something to keep in mind and this could certainly contribute to the reported distance gains.

 

I can't remember what info is from what thread. At this point, they should probably be merged.

[GeorgiaLefty]

Completely agree.

[mallrat]

Bunta

 

I wasn’t trying to make fun of you at all I just didn’t notice the noise and the feel was incredible to me and i’m Coming from MP-4’s.

 

But I understand the noise but does the noise override the feel?

[mallrat]

Not sure if my fitter gave me a deal or Ping is good about shaft options but the XP 105’s I ordered with mine cost me an extra $6 a club. Modus 120 & 105’s were like $18 a club or something like that.

 

Very reasonable

 

 

 

Modus 105 are stock on these.

 

The fitter I go to had a DG as the stock shaft, don’t remember which one.

 

Are Modus’ an option at no upcharge or did my fitter get a set with the wrong shafts?

[agood3putt]

Not sure if my fitter gave me a deal or Ping is good about shaft options but the XP 105s I ordered with mine cost me an extra $6 a club. Modus 120 & 105s were like $18 a club or something like that.

 

Very reasonable

 

 

 

Modus 105 are stock on these.

 

The fitter I go to had a DG as the stock shaft, dont remember which one.

 

Are Modus an option at no upcharge or did my fitter get a set with the wrong shafts?

 

 

The modus 105 is not their stock shaft. They come stock with DG 105s. You can get the modus 105 for no upcharge

[bunta]

Bunta

 

I wasn't trying to make fun of you at all I just didn't notice the noise and the feel was incredible to me and i'm Coming from MP-4's.

 

But I understand the noise but does the noise override the feel?

 

no i know you werent. You made it clear you werent trying to offend. i just didn't think you understood the full scope of my issue.

 

i know off 2 other people that have this same issue. And a 3rd that works at Golf Galaxy that wouldnt commit to i500 because of the sound and feel. All three arent golfwrx posters. And then the some of us here that have the same issue. So i know im not the only one.

 

i dont have a problem with the feel. That i can get used to. It feels slightly hollow in the longer irons but its not an "issue". Im ok with the feel. Its the clickiness of the sound. and it can get loud esp with range balls.

[WarEagleGolf]

I heard it with range balls, but to be fair I hear it with other clubs too. Just harder balls. No sound like that ever with prov1. If anything it's a much deeper thud, still loud ish, but more solid sounding.

[Konklifer]

I think I'm more excited about the i500 threads being merged than I am about the actual i500's.

[bunta]

I heard it with range balls, but to be fair I hear it with other clubs too. Just harder balls. No sound like that ever with prov1. If anything it's a much deeper thud, still loud ish, but more solid sounding.

 

Yes i agree. With premium balls (i play B330) on the course, the sound is less prominent. albeit still there. i do seriously think only SOME of us hear this sound. Maybe we were dogs in our past life. i dunno lol.

 

ive played i25 irons for 5 years, and i dont hear the click sound with our range balls. Different kind of click maybe, not the click the i500 makes. All my friends irons dont make that sound either. Just the i500.

[alkal11]

I don't think it can be argued that there is a "sound" to the i500's. I think it's whether it bothers you or not.

 

For me it sounded bad even on what I considered to be good strikes that had good results. And I didn't have that issue with either the Apex's I played or the P790's I got fit into.

 

But man I really wanted them, they look sexy.

[richmond_hokie_golfer]

I don't think it can be argued that there is a "sound" to the i500's. I think it's whether it bothers you or not.

 

For me it sounded bad even on what I considered to be good strikes that had good results. And I didn't have that issue with either the Apex's I played or the P790's I got fit into.

 

But man I really wanted them, they look sexy.

 

Today was one of the few times I've been happy to be losing some of my hearing. I hit the i500 for the first time today and did not notice the sound. Did notice that extra 10 yards or so. I thought the club was very forgiving. Even the mishits went as far or farther than current 7 iron. Mishits didn't provide overly harsh feedback, but at the same time provided enough feedback that you knew for sure you had mishit it. Also hit a wide variety of shots (draws/fades and high/low) and it did everything I wanted it to do. Waiting for my club to get the i210 demo head (not sure why they only got the i500 so far) so we can get on trackman and do a real comparison with my current i25, the i210 and i500. But it looks like I'm going to be spending some money soon.

[WarEagleGolf]

Posted this in the other i500 thread, but thought I would post it here as well as there seems to be an equal number of followers in each thread.

 

I haven't seen this brought up yet, but I just noticed that the i500 are also progressively longer in length. Comparing the i500 to the P790, which seems to be one of the most obvious direct comparisons, the standard length is .25" longer in 7-9 and increases that discrepancy by .125" on each subsequent iron making the i500 3 iron .75" longer than the P790 3 iron.

 

In simple terms, the i500 5 iron and P790 4 iron are the same standard length, the i500 4 iron is actually 1/8" longer than the P790 3 iron at standard length. Something to keep in mind and this could certainly contribute to the reported distance gains.

 

I missed this as I just got them setup similar to my last set, and always play .75-1in longer. Seems them being a tick longer ended up being exactly what I already played. 39.5 in 3iron. Who knew? My S55 was 39.5, up from 38.75 at stock. So it worked out I suppose.

 

 

[Tyler K]

Ordered the i500 3 iron with “standard” loft to replace my #3 G Crossover which I’ve seemingly lost consistency with. Concern is the ballflight might be too high. Ordered with DG 120 X100 this time though to match the rest of my irons. The G Crossover felt too light even with the heaviest graphite shaft. Thought about going with power spec since this will mostly be used off the tee but worried about that making it too difficult to hit off the deck for any par 5 approaches. Think the 18* should hopefully be a good compromise. If not, can send it back and get it bent to power spec as that is what would have been done anyway (same head just bent regardless).

[WarEagleGolf]

Hated the crossover, love the 3iron i500. Off the tee and the fairway. Did try to hit a 215yd approach out of a trap, over water...maybe too confident on that one. Yeah...but the fact that I even considered it has to count for something, right?

 

And don't say counted as 2 strokes. Practice round and my layup was already safely in play. This was a "I bet I can make it" moment.

[mefnocerous]

Wait what is the title of the OTHER i500 thread?!

 

And sorry I meant modus 105 is no charge upgrade, not stock.

Not the 120 tho.

[RonSwanson]

Wait what is the title of the OTHER i500 thread?!

 

And sorry I meant modus 105 is no charge upgrade, not stock.

Not the 120 tho.

 

Don't worry, the threads were merged yesterday. This is now the one true thread.

[Kmac]

Yes! Now I dont have to read two threads about the same thing! Today is a good day.

[bogey777]

Not sure if my fitter gave me a deal or Ping is good about shaft options but the XP 105’s I ordered with mine cost me an extra $6 a club. Modus 120 & 105’s were like $18 a club or something like that.

 

Very reasonable

 

 

 

Modus 105 are stock on these.

 

The fitter I go to had a DG as the stock shaft, don’t remember which one.

 

Are Modus’ an option at no upcharge or did my fitter get a set with the wrong shafts?

 

 

The modus 105 is not their stock shaft. They come stock with DG 105s. You can get the modus 105 for no upcharge

i just ordered i500 an i was between modus an 6.0 lz i went with the LZ partly because i have the same set up in a set of cally apex pro an really like them .... how do you like ur i500 so far ?

[thigos]

My i500s with 6.0 LZ came in yesterday. Played 18 after work, and I am in love with them. I think the concerns over the sound are a bit overblown or I am less sensitive to it - they are a bit loud indoors, but the sound may be swing speed dependent - I am currently playing Chrome Soft X, which may help mute the sound some. Feel is fantastic and the sweet-spot is alot bigger than my 718 AP2s. Had no issues holding greens, even had the 6 iron spin back a little on a 212 yard downhill par 3. Can't wait to get them out on the course again this weekend. Also, I am really glad I got the U wedge and have no issues dialing it back. I hope everyone else is as happy with these sticks as I am!

[agood3putt]

Not sure if my fitter gave me a deal or Ping is good about shaft options but the XP 105’s I ordered with mine cost me an extra $6 a club. Modus 120 & 105’s were like $18 a club or something like that.

 

Very reasonable

 

 

 

Modus 105 are stock on these.

 

The fitter I go to had a DG as the stock shaft, don’t remember which one.

 

Are Modus’ an option at no upcharge or did my fitter get a set with the wrong shafts?

 

 

The modus 105 is not their stock shaft. They come stock with DG 105s. You can get the modus 105 for no upcharge

i just ordered i500 an i was between modus an 6.0 lz i went with the LZ partly because i have the same set up in a set of cally apex pro an really like them .... how do you like ur i500 so far ?

 

I actually have not got them yet! Hoping to get them by Tuesday! It seems Ping is a little behind on their custom orders at the moment. Will definitely report back once received