I500 Questions and reviews...

[lc1342]

Pissed at the moment. Sent my i500's to Ping (or so I thought) to have the lie angles changed. Turns out they are at some apartment in Phoenix. FedEx is going to try to recover them. Have been there since last Tuesday. Found out when I contacted Ping and they told me that they were not ready.

 

But, I still love the irons. Distance and gapping has been great. Sticks on the greens quite well for me.

 

Once FedEx retrieved my irons they were delivered to Ping the same day (11/21). Ping had my irons back to me with lies adjusted, 11/29 just in time for the weekend. Great change for me!

[bladehunter]

Glove on swings inside the house ?^^^^this guy is dedicated

[cjbohn78]

I have had my i500s for a couple of months now and love them. Started to notice a bit of the face outline mentioned above but no signs of cracking. These things just give me a ton of confidence on the course now.

[av1084]

Sorry if this has been answered earlier or elsewhere, but is the i500 tip size confirmed to be 0.355 all the way through, even the long irons (not that there should be variation within the set). Thanks in advance!

[Ripken08]

Glove on swings inside the house ?^^^^this guy is dedicated

 

Maybe he has nail fungus LOL

[charlyb1]

I have had my i500s for a couple of months now and love them. Started to notice a bit of the face outline mentioned above but no signs of cracking. These things just give me a ton of confidence on the course now.

 

This is my experience as well. These irons no doubt show more cosmetic wear than other irons that I have owned over the years, but really who cares. I am going to battle with them not displaying them in my house as art. They truly have the feel of the better forged clubs but with a nice amount of forgiveness. Some nice distance improvement and have no problem stopping them on greens.

 

As far as the cosmetics, my original set is actually in great condition, no markings on the face etc. After that I found a used set that had quite a bit of marking on the face particularly the toe area on a couple of irons. I decided to buy them at a fairly cheap price as a backup set. This was before I read all of this stuff about "faulty welds" etc. Although I am aware now of the potential problem and am monitoring it , through about 10 rounds and at least that many extended range sessions there is zero impact in the performance of the clubs. In fact I am not seeing any incremental marking and if anything the overall finish seems to be blending as stated above. The funny part is I am seeing nothing more in the toe area. Really starting to think some of the problem with these at least is somebody may needed to be in a G-line and had too many mishits outside of the center groove area of the club.

 

To each his own, but would hate for someone to be overly influenced in not trying this iron because of potential cosmetic issues. For me at least they are really improving my performance and enjoyment, exactly what you are supposed to get from these new line of clubs.

[Oh Hi Carl]

My G400 Crossover shows similar wear.

[scottaz]

I had to send back one of the best irons sets ever made (s55) 3 times because of delamaination, when they first came out. All in less than a year. I gave up and moved on and on and on. I’ve probably had 10 sets since then and I’m still chasing the 55s.

 

For those who loved the i500, I’d suggest hanging in there. They’ll get it right, pretty quickly most likely.

[WarEagleGolf]

Still nothing. And I've been playing like crap so it's not mishits causing it.

 

I know it sucks for those who have had issues, but I still love hearing "you hit a 7???" From my compradres.

 

Ping will make it right, but I'm certain the struggle is what makes people switch.

 

To.scottaz...i still have my S55's, probably close to 250 rounds on them and they still look nice. Probably take them out for a spin soon. Winter rules and such. :)

[kcsf]

~50 rounds on mine and they show no signs of delam or weld issues. I bought mine as soon as they were available too. Either I'm lucky, others very unlucky, or others making a mountain out of a molehill. No doubt there have been a COUPLE proven fails, but I fail to believe it's an issue outside of normal manufacturing tolerances.

 

Can't wait for the Blueprints to fill 8-PW!!!

[bladehunter]

Here are some pics of my i500 PW. As you can see no cracks or crazy marks. Just ball wear from all the balls I hit. Can't imagine anyone is abusing a set of these like I have ( shear number of balls hit I mean ).

[kcsf]

Looking good Blade. That's an impressive dime strike patch.

 

So mine are looking similar in their wear and I'm curious what can be done to refinish short of sending them to Ping and getting the same disappointing HydroPearl? This is my first set of cast irons and I have no idea how they would respond to torching, plating, etc. I really wish Ping would release these with the same black finish as their stealth wedges. That finish is wearing incredibly well.

 

Has anyone tried to torch or plate these? I've seen some polishing, and it looks great, just looking for other ideas.

[bladehunter]

Can’t help on the hydro pearl. I have no clue. To me it wears in like a raw iron. The ugly is ok because it’s ugly quick and makes you not care I guess.

 

Vs bright chrome that scratches with a finger touch.

[Stonewalled]

Here are some pics of my i500 PW. As you can see no cracks or crazy marks. Just ball wear from all the balls I hit. Can't imagine anyone is abusing a set of these like I have ( shear number of balls hit I mean ).

Obviously with the amount of balls hit you are liking the i500's. Picked up a set of these recently, but have never hit one in the wild. You have had a ton of stuff Blade so keeping the i500's in the bag, must mean they are pretty darn good set of irons.

 

Nice wear pattern by the way.

[animalgolfs]

Here are some pics of my i500 PW. As you can see no cracks or crazy marks. Just ball wear from all the balls I hit. Can't imagine anyone is abusing a set of these like I have ( shear number of balls hit I mean ).

 

Bet Tiger never saw blade hunter in all those K-Mart lots.

 

If only he'd listened......

[np78]

anyone compare these to AP2

[bladehunter]

thought id show the find i made this week... i500 tour issue early proto 3 iron... notice the i500 logo is milled off ..

 

 

rest of the set still holding up nicely ...and im confident this set will be in my bag for a long while ( baring a combo with the blueprint short irons of course)

[GolfTurkey]

Mine are also still going strong. Loving the feel as I have become better at finding the sweet spot and seldom hit the teeth rattling thin shot anymore. I usually have a few shots a round where I panic and think I whiffed because the middle is so soft.

[Qegurezi]

Anyone know how these would compare to Forged Tec Cobra's?

[BCULAW]

I have a set of heads (3-p) on the way. Coming from forged blades and looking for a similar profile with a bit more distance.

 

With the lower spin, is anyone going to a slightly softer shaft with these? I've been playing KBS Tour 130x to knock a little spin off of my iron shots, and am wondering if I could go to a slightly softer profile, keep or gain distance, but not have to work as hard.

[gvogel]

Here is a question for players like me: I am 65, play a combo set of AP1 (712) and AP2 (714). 5, 6, 7-iron AP1, 8 to PW AP2. Seems to work. Sometimes the AP2 7-iron goes in the set, other times the AP1 8-iron goes in.

 

These days, I am hitting 7-iron around 140, maybe 145. 148 if I put my best, strongest swing on it, but I generally don't go after iron shots. In fact, I enjoy hitting 135 yard punch 7-irons.

 

Handicap is around 9, used to be 6 or 7. Distance off the tee is the issue, and when I play alone, I have no problem moving to the senior tees. But the league plays the whites, so I struggle on the longer par 4's.

 

I like the idea of a hollow body iron, but I also like a little offset. Of course, I also have a hickory set with no offset, and I enjoy playing those from time to time.

 

I am wondering if i500's might be nice to play?

 

I tried a set of AP1's one time with Steelfiber 95 R shafts, but I couldn't find the sweet spot with them. So I went back to Titleist/Nippon 105T in R, which works well in both my AP1 and AP2.

 

Thinking of trying the i500 6-iron with the Recoil shaft to see how I get along. Geesh, maybe even in F2 (senior shaft).

[gvogel]

Here is a question for players like me: I am 65, play a combo set of AP1 (712) and AP2 (714). 5, 6, 7-iron AP1, 8 to PW AP2. Seems to work. Sometimes the AP2 7-iron goes in the set, other times the AP1 8-iron goes in.

 

These days, I am hitting 7-iron around 140, maybe 145. 148 if I put my best, strongest swing on it, but I generally don't go after iron shots. In fact, I enjoy hitting 135 yard punch 7-irons.

 

Handicap is around 9, used to be 6 or 7. Distance off the tee is the issue, and when I play alone, I have no problem moving to the senior tees. But the league plays the whites, so I struggle on the longer par 4's.

 

I like the idea of a hollow body iron, but I also like a little offset. Of course, I also have a hickory set with no offset, and I enjoy playing those from time to time.

 

I am wondering if i500's might be nice to play?

 

I tried a set of AP1's one time with Steelfiber 95 R shafts, but I couldn't find the sweet spot with them. So I went back to Titleist/Nippon 105T in R, which works well in both my AP1 and AP2.

 

Thinking of trying the i500 6-iron with the Recoil shaft to see how I get along. Geesh, maybe even in F2 (senior shaft).

 

So, I guess what I am saying is that the AP1 5-iron is playable, but I could use some help. The AP2 6-iron does not go high/far enough; the AP2 7-iron is OK, but the AP1 7-iron is easier. I prefer the AP2 9-iron and PW for the smaller size, and for shots around the green. Hey, they feel better too.

 

So, I am looking for a 6-iron that might be longer than my AP1 (loft 30*). The G700 looks a bit too big.

 

I am slowly transitioning to an all Ping bag.

[Fourpar18]

I just sent my set to PING due to weld issues. I am in Okinawa, Japan so I went through and American Rep (who was awesome) and forwarded my email to a Japanese representative. So far its been very smooth process but I hope the outcome is even better. Tell me what you all think...do I have a "bad batch?"

 

 

 

[WarEagleGolf]

Maybe. That talk (about weld) all happened early on then went away, maybe a bad batch. Perhaps a delay on when Japan got their, who know.

 

That line has shown up in some ,but chalked up to the weld line and the finish, others have broken through. Still knocking on wood, but still never and issue, since July. Probably 60 rds. Good batch I suppose. Ping will fix and you won't have the issue again. Tops in customer service imo.

 

 

[Fourpar18]

> @WarEagleGolf said:

> Maybe. That talk (about weld) all happened early on then went away, maybe a bad batch. Perhaps a delay on when Japan got their, who know.

>

> That line has shown up in some ,but chalked up to the weld line and the finish, others have broken through. Still knocking on wood, but still never and issue, since July. Probably 60 rds. Good batch I suppose. Ping will fix and you won't have the issue again. Tops in customer service imo.

>

>

Yeah, we will see what they say. They still haven't gotten them yet for inspection, had to send from my local shop to PING Japan. They pro here (local shop) said he didn't think it was a issue. He forwarded my pictures to Japan rep and wanted to wait and see what he said, the same pictures above and the ones I have already sent. Call away has sent me new heads based on pictures that I have sent with no questions ask, PING has been a little rough from the time I gave them to a reputable PING distributors.

 

Time will tell...problem is I a, running out of it due to club championship and All Navy tryouts.

 

[WarEagleGolf]

I will say its just the outline and not broken through, it's typically just the finish not a weld fail. Only way to know is to hit the club and see if it's affecting distance/feel, because that would be really obvious.

[Fourpar18]

> @WarEagleGolf said:

> I will say its just the outline and not broken through, it's typically just the finish not a weld fail. Only way to know is to hit the club and see if it's affecting distance/feel, because that would be really obvious.

 

PING verified it today...just a outline.

 

 

[goheels11]

anyone else take a look inside their I500's? Out of the 4 sets I have looked at, all of them have had a bit of hotmelt inside. Was considering ordering a set and having hotmelt put in to improve the sound, but not sure it will work. The two demo heads I have opened up have already had it, but still sounded a bit off for my liking. However, that ball flight....love it. Wonder if 4-5 grams would do the trick?