Ping i525???

[lbhitter]

Long time Ping user, thought I would give these a try.  So far I like them.  They are slightly longer and surprisingly forgiving for their profile.

 

Most Pings I have owned in the past I just pick one of my favorite shafts and its no issue.  Not with these.  Much like other distance irons, the spin is pretty low on these.  It is very important to be fit for these and get the spin dialed in with the shaft and your ball of choice.  Otherwise, you cannot get the full performance out of them.

 

I changed to a shaft with more spin, and a ball with more spin.  The ball is a tad softer too.  These are very playable for me now, and I am getting a little extra distance -- about 5 yards on an average strike.  If I really flush one, maybe 8 yards.  

 

Launch/height on these seems effortless, and the profile of the short irons is excellent.  

 

I like them, but I am not in awe of them like the i210 when they came out.  When the i230 hits the street we will see if they stay in the bag.  

[Walkerdb7]

On 7/7/2022 at 9:06 AM, lbhitter said:

Long time Ping user, thought I would give these a try.  So far I like them.  They are slightly longer and surprisingly forgiving for their profile.

 

Most Pings I have owned in the past I just pick one of my favorite shafts and its no issue.  Not with these.  Much like other distance irons, the spin is pretty low on these.  It is very important to be fit for these and get the spin dialed in with the shaft and your ball of choice.  Otherwise, you cannot get the full performance out of them.

 

I changed to a shaft with more spin, and a ball with more spin.  The ball is a tad softer too.  These are very playable for me now, and I am getting a little extra distance -- about 5 yards on an average strike.  If I really flush one, maybe 8 yards.  

 

Launch/height on these seems effortless, and the profile of the short irons is excellent.  

 

I like them, but I am not in awe of them like the i210 when they came out.  When the i230 hits the street we will see if they stay in the bag.  

Content i210 user, but always love the sound of "more forgiving". I don't know that I want more distance? sometimes those kinda clubs have hot spots and a good swing turns into a penalty because I nuke it.

[WarEagleGolf]

Finally got the full set redone with the 95 SFs....

 

I seriously don't understand the feel debate.  These feel amazing. Much smoother, but again, i500 wasn't that bad to me.  Take a good, descending strike.  Sound better, of course not on bad strikes, and you can feel where you missed.  I also like the sound of the 425LST, perhaps I'm just deaf...

 

More accurate, more spin and same distance.  What's not to love?  I just hope they don't lose that spin as they start to wear.  

 

Definitely liking the improvements.  Also look smaller, but not sure they actually are.  

[jt2gt]

6 hours ago, WarEagleGolf said:

Finally got the full set redone with the 95 SFs....

 

I seriously don't understand the feel debate.  These feel amazing. Much smoother, but again, i500 wasn't that bad to me.  Take a good, descending strike.  Sound better, of course not on bad strikes, and you can feel where you missed.  I also like the sound of the 425LST, perhaps I'm just deaf...

 

More accurate, more spin and same distance.  What's not to love?  I just hope they don't lose that spin as they start to wear.  

 

Definitely liking the improvements.  Also look smaller, but not sure they actually are.  

I tend to agree...tested them in SF 95 and really liked them.  Curious about the i230, so may hold off for comparison.  But would have no prob playing these.  They looked great and felt pretty good to me.  Playing ZX5 SF 95 currently.

[blangst1]

What’s everyone’s thoughts after the 525’s have been out for a while? 

[AzSuperHack76]

7 minutes ago, blangst1 said:

What’s everyone’s thoughts after the 525’s have been out for a while? 

I’ve had them since the preorder, early March. Amazing irons. No issues with feel or sound for me, hit them in the middle, they feel great, hit them out towards the toe, you get audible feedback for sure, loud thwack. Super long and super forgiving. Very workable, they stop on a dime for me in all conditions. 

I have the PX IO 6.0’s, they are great shafts. 
 

I’m a complete and total gear junkie and don’t see moving on from these anytime soon. I came from the I210’s, then 2021 790’s. To me the 525 outperforms them all, although the 210’s are more traditional compared to the hollow bodies of the 790’s and 525’s. 

[Golf64]

Ordered a set last week. Can't wait to try them out on the course! Ordered some Glides 4.0 to complement my set too.

[Ripken08]

1 hour ago, Golf64 said:

Ordered a set last week. Can't wait to try them out on the course! Ordered some Glides 4.0 to complement my set too.

Last you a week at best 

[blazman11]

16 hours ago, blangst1 said:

What’s everyone’s thoughts after the 525’s have been out for a while? 

 

Unfortunately I traded mine in already for i59.  Kept the i525 4 iron since I put an AD-DI in there.  I had so much work done on these clubs to compensate for poor Ping build (SW, loft and lies were all over the map).  The clubs performed fine.  Well actually.  I just hit them all over the face and I couldn't stand it any longer.  

 

The i500 were the best performing clubs I've ever had with no close second.  I just couldn't stand the sound/feel.  Ping definitely made the sound/feel of i525 much better, but they changed something that I can't put my figure on.  No worries, I still love Ping irons.  

[GolfTurkey]

5 hours ago, blazman11 said:

The i500 were the best performing clubs I've ever had with no close second.  I just couldn't stand the sound/feel.  Ping definitely made the sound/feel of i525 much better, but they changed something that I can't put my figure on.  No worries, I still love Ping irons.  

 

If you still have the i500s lying around, I strongly recommend Prosoft inserts.

 

It's a pretty big difference. You won't mistake them for Japanese forgings, but it takes the sting out of mishits, especially the teeth-rattling low impacts on stock i500s.

[HalfSet]

Update: I got rid of mine after a couple weeks.

 

They feel better than i500 for sure, but these irons are still very blah compared to other hollow body irons or any other Ping offering. The sole width is also bigger than the i500 which for me ended up being the reason I had to move on. I will most likely go back to a set of iBlades 

 

Also Ping should be down right embarrassed with how the finish on these irons holds up.

[blangst1]

2 hours ago, HalfSet said:

Update: I got rid of mine after a couple weeks.

 

They feel better than i500 for sure, but these irons are still very blah compared to other hollow body irons or any other Ping offering. The sole width is also bigger than the i500 which for me ended up being the reason I had to move on. I will most likely go back to a set of iBlades 

 

Also Ping should be down right embarrassed with how the finish on these irons holds up.

Ugh… that’s not good. I just got a new set 

[Hawkeye77]

Tried some Apex 21s at a fitting earlier in the month and now have just over two weeks with them. Totally different shaft than what I was in with the i525 (dropped down to a 65 gram in a Tensei Blue) so not apples to apples. But the feel and sound to me are much better and I’m getting height (!) and back to some old reliable distances I’d thought were just gone no matter what irons I use. Revelation more so on the shaft, but the Apex 21s suit me much better. 

[blangst1]

35 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Tried some Apex 21s at a fitting earlier in the month and now have just over two weeks with them. Totally different shaft than what I was in with the i525 (dropped down to a 65 gram in a Tensei Blue) so not apples to apples. But the feel and sound to me are much better and I’m getting height (!) and back to some old reliable distances I’d thought were just gone no matter what irons I use. Revelation more so on the shaft, but the Apex 21s suit me much better. 

Nice!

[blangst1]

13 hours ago, HalfSet said:

Update: I got rid of mine after a couple weeks.

 

They feel better than i500 for sure, but these irons are still very blah compared to other hollow body irons or any other Ping offering. The sole width is also bigger than the i500 which for me ended up being the reason I had to move on. I will most likely go back to a set of iBlades 

 

Also Ping should be down right embarrassed with how the finish on these irons holds up.

I am concerned about sole width as well. Ive played AP2 for the last 10 years. These are much larger. 

[WarEagleGolf]

Still happy with mine.  Don't see anything on the finish, seems better than i500, although they just evened out after first couple months anyway.  

 

Sole width looked wider to me, but also appears to be somewhat ground off on the back.  .

I'm having good performance, look great, sound/feel better...

 

No complaints.  Expect these to last as long as i500, so 3+ yrs.  

 

[gogolfing]

Got mine in late March to replace my i500's. I am very happy with them; sound and feel is great, and consistent distance. I know when I mishit one, but not losing significant yardage. I see these staying in my bag for a while. 

[Hawkeye77]

14 hours ago, blangst1 said:

Ugh… that’s not good. I just got a new set 

I've had no issues with the finish at all, FWIW.

[blangst1]

4 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

I've had no issues with the finish at all, FWIW.

ok, thats good!

[AzSuperHack76]

22 hours ago, blangst1 said:

Ugh… that’s not good. I just got a new set 

Haha, they wear just like any other set of Ping irons. I don't have any excess wear, my 2021 790's showed more wear after a few months compared to these after 6 months. 

[blangst1]

2 hours ago, AzSuperHack76 said:

Haha, they wear just like any other set of Ping irons. I don't have any excess wear, my 2021 790's showed more wear after a few months compared to these after 6 months. 

Gotcha. This is my first set of ping irons so we will see. 

[blazman11]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:50 PM, GolfTurkey said:

 

If you still have the i500s lying around, I strongly recommend Prosoft inserts.

 

It's a pretty big difference. You won't mistake them for Japanese forgings, but it takes the sting out of mishits, especially the teeth-rattling low impacts on stock i500s.

 

Thanks for the tip on the ProSoft and I have used them in prior steel sets.  My i500 had Steel Fibers and had no complaints about stingers.  

 

I already traded in the i500 to the i525.  I had the i525 on pre-order way before it was announced publicly.  Stinks, but it happens and it'll never cure my hoing.  I had the i500 for 3 years and desperately tried to replace them with Forged Techs, P790, P770, Gen 3 T and Gen 3 P but nothing could adequately perform like the i500 did.  

 

All I want in life is the exact same form factor of i500 and would take the feel/sound of any of the other irons that I tried to replace them with.  Sadly the i525 was not it for me.  Hopefully the i59 will be.  If not I'll buy the i230 🙂   

 

[ShowMe]

Played my first round with my new i525s on Sunday.  Hit 14 greens and had a hole-in-one.  Probably the best new golf club honeymoon experience I've ever had.  We'll see if it lasts, but so far so good! 

 

Coming from G425s, here's my comparison:

- i525s don't flight as high as the G425s, but still flight pretty high. 

- Distance (power spec lofts) is comparable.  G425s carry 2-3 yds farther.  But the i525s have better distance dispersion.

- i525s are easier to work left and right, but also produce a more consistent result.

- i525s have better stopping power on the green.

- G425s are better for me out of thick rough.  i525s are better from light rough and the fairway.

- i525s feel and sound way better than the G425s.

- I was hitting more consistently on or near center of the face with the i525s.  Maybe because the clubhead is not as wide as the G425's, so it forces me to pay more attention to how I address the ball.

[WarEagleGolf]

3 hours ago, ShowMe said:

Played my first round with my new i525s on Sunday.  Hit 14 greens and had a hole-in-one.  Probably the best new golf club honeymoon experience I've ever had.  We'll see if it lasts, but so far so good! 

 

Hope it's not just the honeymoon period...great way to start!

[Golf64]

Been 2 weeks now, still waiting for mine?!

[dmeeksDC]

7 hours ago, ShowMe said:

Played my first round with my new i525s on Sunday.  Hit 14 greens and had a hole-in-one.  Probably the best new golf club honeymoon experience I've ever had.  We'll see if it lasts, but so far so good! 

 

Coming from G425s, here's my comparison:

- i525s don't flight as high as the G425s, but still flight pretty high. 

- Distance (power spec lofts) is comparable.  G425s carry 2-3 yds farther.  But the i525s have better distance dispersion.

- i525s are easier to work left and right, but also produce a more consistent result.

- i525s have better stopping power on the green.

- G425s are better for me out of thick rough.  i525s are better from light rough and the fairway.

- i525s feel and sound way better than the G425s.

- I was hitting more consistently on or near center of the face with the i525s.  Maybe because the clubhead is not as wide as the G425's, so it forces me to pay more attention to how I address the ball.

 No matter what happens next, that’s impressive. 
 

Finally had an extended session to test these irons. They feel absolutely fine to me, really good in fact. It is not a forged feel but it is not better or worse, just different. A nice sensation at impact. I think they feel somewhat similar to PXG irons but the Ping shape is better IMO. Shorter blade length, looks great from address. 

[ShowMe]

7 hours ago, Golf64 said:

Been 2 weeks now, still waiting for mine?!

Took 8 weeks to get mine.

[Golf64]

I hope not!? If that is the case, would not have ordered them. I'll touch base with my retailer next week to get ETA. May cancel order if it is going to be that long!?

[WarEagleGolf]

8 hours ago, Golf64 said:

I hope not!? If that is the case, would not have ordered them. I'll touch base with my retailer next week to get ETA. May cancel order if it is going to be that long!?

Got my set in 4 wks and it was a custom component build...barring anything being backordered, and that could be shaft, grip or head...turnaround has improved greatly.   

[Hawkeye77]

22 hours ago, Golf64 said:

Been 2 weeks now, still waiting for mine?!

Not unreasonable at all, but you should check and they can tell you if any particular aspect of your specs might be an issue.

 

My Pings came in maybe 6-7 weeks, timing of head shipments for them and processing large demand at the time was the issue with not getting them sooner earlier this year.  They estimated 6 weeks and I wasn't too worried.

 

My Callaway irons were in my hands 8 days after the order was placed.