Are the Ping Blueprints worth it?

[doubledub]

Any idea if Ping is backed up on the Blueprints like they are/were on some of there other irons? I'm considering ordering a custom set before Christmas and don't really want to wait more than a month or so.

[kiwii]

BP irons are worth it if you are looking for:

minimal offset

small compact club head

no hand buzzers on miss hits 

+ all other benefits of blade irons

 

To me the blueprints are a unique iron. Even though they have a small hollow cavity, they don’t feel as if they do. They feel solid on a strike but you don’t get hand buzzers on miss hits. They especially do Not feel like other ping irons that have elastomer inserts (iblade, s55, i210, i200 etc). Iblades to me felt hotter off the face and “softer”. But BP don’t feel as soft as other forged irons like mizuno or srixon 

Edited December 16, 2020 by kiwii

[scott_Donald]

7 hours ago, doubledub said:

Any idea if Ping is backed up on the Blueprints like they are/were on some of there other irons? I'm considering ordering a custom set before Christmas and don't really want to wait more than a month or so.

 

I ordered mine in October, finished in 4 weeks and arrived a few days later. awesome except they had one wrap too much tape on them! oh well.

 

Loving the blueprints, they feel better than my 919 Tours did, just as forgiving and I am controlling the flight very well.

 

Being a small head certainly makes hitting the middle easier. 

[PreppySlapCut]

15 hours ago, kiwii said:

BP irons are worth it if you are looking for:

minimal offset

small compact club head

no hand buzzers on miss hits 

+ all other benefits of blade irons

 

To me the blueprints are a unique iron. Even though they have a small hollow cavity, they don’t feel as if they do. They feel solid on a strike but you don’t get hand buzzers on miss hits. They especially do Not feel like other ping irons that have elastomer inserts (iblade, s55, i210, i200 etc). Iblades to me felt hotter off the face and “softer”. But BP don’t feel as soft as other forged irons like mizuno or srixon 

The Blueprints do NOT have a hollow cavity.

[wdaig1]

They are incredible.  More forgiving than you would think.  Perfect for players that like to hit golf shots.

[Fairway14]

On 9/13/2020 at 3:25 AM, jomatty said:

.  The  blueprints give me a anxiety even thinking about hitting out of the lightest rough...

The relatively small size head of the Blueprint will move through rough easier than a larger head.

[jomatty]

4 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

The relatively small size head of the Blueprint will move through rough easier than a larger head.

While that may be true from a turf perspective it has not been my experience that blades are easier to hit out of the rough.  I’m no expert though, but that has been my experience.  Of course ymmv

[Stanks]

14 minutes ago, jomatty said:

While that may be true from a turf perspective it has not been my experience that blades are easier to hit out of the rough.  I’m no expert though, but that has been my experience.  Of course ymmv

Ya. Thinner sole and more compact club is easier to move through rough. Physics.

[jomatty]

30 minutes ago, Stanks said:

Ya. Thinner sole and more compact club is easier to move through rough. Physics.

I’m no physics expert either but I’m quite certain the formula would be more complex than what you have offered. Even if the club gets through the rough better there is more to hitting a solid golf shot than just that.   Like I said ymmv.  I doubt I’m the only one who has had a difficult time with hitting a blade out of less than perfect lies...

[Fairway14]

On 12/18/2020 at 7:12 PM, jomatty said:

  I doubt I’m the only one who has had a difficult time with hitting a blade out of less than perfect lies...

 

I've played both small head and large head irons. In my experience the larger the head the more challenging it is to make solid ball contact from a sloped, sandy, grassy, or other less than ideal lie.

[cardoustie]

I’m switching shafts ... recoil 110 going into Apex cf16 heads and blueprints getting recoil 95’s.  
 

Will bag them with my Ping Glide gen 1 wedges in 50/54/59 and a 64* Tour W ... which all have recoil 110’s in them

 

loving my black recoil proto’s in 919t, will be tough to displace, not gonna lie

 

the s55’s are mad at me ... stuck in the man cave with Fuji mci 100 in them

Edited December 20, 2020 by cardoustie

[jomatty]

3 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

 

I've played both small head and large head irons. In my experience the larger the head the more challenging it is to make solid ball contact from a sloped, sandy, grassy, or other less than ideal lie.

Like I said, your mileage may vary...

[puttingmatt]

A true forged offering from ping, definitely a  good set of irons, look forward for the next generation, these irons have received good reviews

[JakeW13]

I've had them in my bag for 2 years now, starting at a 12 handicap and today I'm a 3. I knew I wanted a players iron that my game could grow into. Little did I know they were going to be far more forgiving than I had anticipated. Recently moved from Zcord+S300s into Jumbomax Ultralight+MMT 125TXs, and I've got one of the most stable and great feeling player iron setups I could ask for.

 

And just to comment on the size/turf interaction discussion, I will say that the sharpness and small head design of these clubs really make them great through the rough. Lots of mass in that short blade.

Edited December 21, 2020 by JakeW13

[cardoustie]

they are the best out of the rough

[NRJyzr]

For what little it's worth....

 

If I were in the market for a new set of clubs, Blueprints would be on my short list. 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

On 12/19/2020 at 3:12 AM, jomatty said:

I’m no physics expert either but I’m quite certain the formula would be more complex than what you have offered. Even if the club gets through the rough better there is more to hitting a solid golf shot than just that.   Like I said ymmv.  I doubt I’m the only one who has had a difficult time with hitting a blade out of less than perfect lies...

This is exactly why Rick Shiels moved them on. 

[jomatty]

3 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

This is exactly why Rick Shiels moved them on. 

Me an Rick are in the minority...enough people seem to like blades out of the rough that I will have to give it another try.  Maybe the fear factor was in my head already, but I sure struggled with it.  To be fair i quickly realized that blades are not for me so maybe I didn’t give them a chance...

[TheDeanAbides]

3 minutes ago, jomatty said:

Me an Rick are in the minority...enough people seem to like blades out of the rough that I will have to give it another try.  Maybe the fear factor was in my head already, but I sure struggled with it.  To be fair i quickly realized that blades are not for me so maybe I didn’t give them a chance...

I find them fine out of the first cut, but any deeper and I can't get them in the air. So I just hit the ball straight. 🤣

Edited December 22, 2020 by TheDeanAbides

[jomatty]

5 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I find them fine out of the first cut, but any deeper and I can't get them in the air. So I just hit the ball straight. 🤣

True wrx’er style!  Smash it 320 down the middle and hit your blade to 2 feet!  That’s what I do as well!

[TheDeanAbides]

2 minutes ago, jomatty said:

True wrx’er style!  Smash it 320 down the middle and hit your blade to 2 feet!  That’s what I do as well!

That's correct apart from the 320 yards bits. 🤣 

Edited December 22, 2020 by TheDeanAbides

[nsxguy]

5 hours ago, jomatty said:

Me an Rick are in the minority...enough people seem to like blades out of the rough that I will have to give it another try.  Maybe the fear factor was in my head already, but I sure struggled with it.  To be fair i quickly realized that blades are not for me so maybe I didn’t give them a chance...

 

Without knowing much about physics, if I think about it, in the rough one must get through some grass before one contacts the ball.

 

To me, the fact that a smaller blade has far less surface area means, at the very least, it is getting through the grass more efficiently. Less friction/resistance means more club speed and less twisting/deflection of the club head before it contacts the ball. 

[jomatty]

4 hours ago, nsxguy said:

 

Without knowing much about physics, if I think about it, in the rough one must get through some grass before one contacts the ball.

 

To me, the fact that a smaller blade has far less surface area means, at the very least, it is getting through the grass more efficiently. Less friction/resistance means more club speed and less twisting/deflection of the club head before it contacts the ball. 

I don’t know enough about physics to really comment aside from agreeing with that part of the equation.  I think there are other parts to the physics debate, like from the rough I am less likely to make pure contact and the small head with no cavity or “help” will be punished more severely if\when that poor contact happens.    Sounds like many don’t struggle with that but I seemed to.  I suppose I’m just saying there may be more to the physics that simply the act of getting through the grass.  I admittedly am not smart enough to make that argument very well though...

[Tree Levino]

11 hours ago, jomatty said:

Me an Rick are in the minority...enough people seem to like blades out of the rough that I will have to give it another try.  Maybe the fear factor was in my head already, but I sure struggled with it.  To be fair i quickly realized that blades are not for me so maybe I didn’t give them a chance...

 

Generally speaking, if you are good at controlling low point and have sufficient speed, a heavy bladed head like a Miura can be beneficial in getting it out of the rough. For most average speed players though, sole width and bounce is much more helpful. I swing 7i at 100mph so my take on things is obviously going to be different than someone swinging theirs at 80-85. A Ping G may be much easier for them. It all depends on your individual swing and that is why it's important to test irons out in the wild rather than just bashing them into a launch monitor as hard as you can. 

 

On 12/16/2020 at 12:04 AM, Guia said:

Are they worth it?  No

 

Didn't you make a whole post about how your reg flex shaft was mislabeled and you couldn't handle the stiffness?

 

 

They are a great set of irons. 

[Guia]

Yes, I made a post.  It was not about the shaft being mislabeled, but that I thought played stiffer than most regular shafts.  From replies received several though that was true, probably because it is very tip stiff.

[Guia]

Concerning my reply that the blue printed Ping's were not worth it.

Blue printed irons are fine, the only problem is that you are getting clubs that are certified to be technically correct/perfect.  

The only drawback as I see it they are not professionally tailored to 

your particular swing pattern and strengths (only to what you requested. 

I think an in person session by a professional goes much further, and they will check loft/lies/correct shafts/length, and make adjustments.  A professional fitting is expensive but well worth it. 

 

I had one about 5 years ago and it really helped.

[TheDeanAbides]

10 hours ago, TigerInTheWoods said:

 

Generally speaking, if you are good at controlling low point and have sufficient speed, a heavy bladed head like a Miura can be beneficial in getting it out of the rough. For most average speed players though, sole width and bounce is much more helpful. I swing 7i at 100mph so my take on things is obviously going to be different than someone swinging theirs at 80-85. A Ping G may be much easier for them. It all depends on your individual swing and that is why it's important to test irons out in the wild rather than just bashing them into a launch monitor as hard as you can. 

 

 

Didn't you make a whole post about how your reg flex shaft was mislabeled and you couldn't handle the stiffness?

 

 

They are a great set of irons. 

Speed is the essential point. Crossfield did a video on this where he and Lockey talked about how they play certain shots from 200 yards ish. Coach's extra speed made long irons much easier to hit from the rough. 

 

Funnily enough, even at my speed older, heavier and sharper leading edged irons work great from the rough. My '59 Hogan Starbursts just cut through it like it's not there. 

[Tree Levino]

5 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Speed is the essential point. Crossfield did a video on this where he and Lockey talked about how they play certain shots from 200 yards ish. Coach's extra speed made long irons much easier to hit from the rough. 

 

Funnily enough, even at my speed older, heavier and sharper leading edged irons work great from the rough. My '59 Hogan Starbursts just cut through it like it's not there. 

For sure. It is absolutely based upon the individual swing. I think for some, a clunky sole like a Ping G could do the opposite of help! It also really depends on the type of rough. At my club near club C time they grow ours to the length some of the tougher PGA tournaments get and it is nasty moist stuff. I played with an older scratch last year who’d thrown his back out trying to hit a shot from it. I find my Miuras are much better out of it than my Srixon 745s were for instance. I think it was the sharpness and weight.  It is also much easier if you have your low point way in front of the ball. Like Ian says on TXG a lot, turf interaction becomes more and more important with the shallow guy. I would add to that that even more important that AoA is where the low point is. My coach is huge on that. He would rather a player be 2 down on his 7i with low point way forward that 6 down with it close to the ball (obviously). That is a big help in digging it out though. 
 

10 hours ago, Guia said:

Concerning my reply that the blue printed Ping's were not worth it.

Blue printed irons are fine, the only problem is that you are getting clubs that are certified to be technically correct/perfect.  

The only drawback as I see it they are not professionally tailored to 

your particular swing pattern and strengths (only to what you requested. 

I think an in person session by a professional goes much further, and they will check loft/lies/correct shafts/length, and make adjustments.  A professional fitting is expensive but well worth it. 

 

I had one about 5 years ago and it really helped.

 

My comment was only snide because you left a one liner saying they aren’t worth it. 
 

I would argue that at your speed you are nowhere near the demographic this club is aimed at and although your opinion can still be valid, I really don’t think it holds as much weight as someone who has the game they are meant for. 
 

That’s like saying “this F1 car is not worth it. It isn’t tailored to me and doesn’t perform like it should “. Well, a professional f1 driver might disagree. 
 

 

as an aside, if you check out some of the European tour players as well as the PGA guys, I’d say at least 3/4 of the guys that use them combo in iBlade long irons. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by TigerInTheWoods

[bevans0222]

I did an iron fitting last weekend, and the Blueprints made my final 3.  They are definitely not for everyone though.  They are so tiny, they made the MP20's look big.  

[dmeeksDC]

Been wanting to try these for a while. Testing i59 and i230 now so why not Blueprints? Kept hearing how small these are and they are compact. Not baby blades but definitely smaller than most.
 

The Blueprints don’t swing like a small iron. Had the scoring irons only (8-P) at an outdoor range today and these are surprisingly easy to hit. Addictive to hit even. They launch well. So precise and nimble. Thin soles with bounce — in and out of the ground and don’t dig. Very nice.