How old is too old? Irons Edition

[rukahs]

Glad this thread popped up, just bagged these Japan release TP's and can't wait to hit them! 2008 model 

 

[BIG STU]

1 hour ago, polski said:

I'm still rocking my Ping i3 O-Size irons that are about 22 years old. Even my driver and fairway woods are old. Shot my best 9 hole round of -4 with them only a few months ago. Also shot 4 consecutive 9 hole rounds under par with them last year and countless other great shots and rounds with them. I do get a bit embarrassed at times with my old equipment as others around me seem to have much more modern equipment. I would like to get new clubs but I'm still having fun with what I have. 

I do not get embarrassed at all because I can beat the pants off of most guys my age with what is in my signature and some of the younger ones too. I will tell you one of my old running partners plays the same irons you have and has played them since they came out. And yes we have been called the "antique team" or the "Salvation Army Team" but we are virtually unbeatable as a team in our age group.

[SlothofDespond]

On 1/15/2022 at 12:16 AM, dodint said:

Very happy with my Ping i3 iron set. Hard to believe they turn 23 years old this year. I plan to keep them as a backup set when the replacement G425s arrive.

 

I went from i3 to G400, and had those i3 in my bag for about 18 years. They are great clubs.

 

I hit the G400 about the same distance when comparing clubs loft-to-loft (and they're just about one club stronger). The only significant difference is the G400 retains distance better on imperfect contact. That's really just a shift from CB to GI/SGI or whatever the G400 are on that spectrum.

[dodint]

I ordered my G425 in retro spec. The lofts line up about the same. But the G425s hit a lot higher, likely because the i3 had a 114g shaft and my fitter put me in a 95g shaft with the new clubs. 

 

Inspired by polski I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a 2i that I was watching on eBay, so I'll have that in the collection soon. Now I just need the 1i and Uw. It's crazy to me how many of the Uw out there are not black dot. You'd think it would be the most common but they rarely pop up, at least in a JZ stiff shaft like I want. 

[BIG STU]

5 minutes ago, dodint said:

I ordered my G425 in retro spec. The lofts line up about the same. But the G425s hit a lot higher, likely because the i3 had a 114g shaft and my fitter put me in a 95g shaft with the new clubs. 

 

Inspired by polski I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a 2i that I was watching on eBay, so I'll have that in the collection soon. Now I just need the 1i and Uw. It's crazy to me how many of the Uw out there are not black dot. You'd think it would be the most common but they rarely pop up, at least in a JZ stiff shaft like I want. 

I have noticed among the Ping fans that I know that for some reason despite of saying upgrading they tend to hang on to those U wedges like some hang on to Eye2 SWs and LWs.

[msg]

I was playing last season the 2019 T300's. They were amazing and I hit so many greens that my average really went up by a lot. I bo0ught a set of Mizuno 921 Hot Metal and I compared them with a set of G30 that were my in laws'. I could not really see any huge difference and made me think. Then I picked up some Cobra Fly Z irons from 2015 just for kicks. Same results. At this point, I wondered, if it even matters? I think I just got better with my swing and my course management that lead to more greens last year. I usually just aim for the middle of the green and don't really shape shots. 

[jar59]

2 hours ago, dodint said:

I mentioned earlier in the thread but I love my i3s and plan to keep them as a backup set. I'm in the process of trying to find a 1i, 2i, and Uw so I can have the complete set. It's tough to find a 1i that isn't part of a complete set already. I'm not sure when Ping stopped making 1i but the i3 has to be pretty close to the end. 

I bought an i3 Blade 1 iron about 20 years ago.  Still have it.  I use in a couple times a year and practice with it from time to time.  Hard for me to get the loft I want.  Shaft is Z-Z65 with a New Decade Multi Compound grip.  Fun to hit.

[sfdoddsy]

I've been musing about this following my response to the thread about equipment that has made a dramatic difference and another elsewhere about the classic Adams CMB irons.

 

After years of hoing, I've come to the conclusion that there have been only two really major advances over the past 15-20 years. One has been in hollow bodied foam filled  'players distance' irons like the P790, PXG 0311 and Cobra Forged Tec which give cool looks combined with GI level forgiveness and proper forged feel.

 

The other is full  hybrid irons like Cleveland XL Halos and their ilk.

 

There may be aesthetic differences, but current forged blades/cavity backs perform pretty much identically to the MP20s or CMBs of yore.

 

Likewise SGI/GI irons are all minor variations of clubs such as the original Big Berthas or Ping. The advantages of moving weight to the edges, wide soles etc are well known and there are only so many ways to do it.

 

Of the literally dozens of irons I've owned, PXG and their followers made me think 'oh, that's different'. As did the original Cleveland Altitudes.

 

 

[longballjs]

I played 962b's, they were cast, from I think 97 -2016.  I played a ton of golf and pounded tens if not hundreds of thousands of range balls.  They are still in great shape.  If I played more i might even still be using them, but 1x a week, needed some help to keep shooting low numbers

[shanx]

Yep, old school bag here too...

 

4 - Pw are Mizzy Comp EZs

also bag the original black triangle DCIs once in a while

have a set of 07 X Forged too.

 

I did just buy a set of 2013 X Forged, will assemble them soon.

 

I get it that there are always advances in "new technology" every year, don't think its anything other than marketing.

[Mitchell]

17 minutes ago, longballjs said:

I played 962b's, they were cast, from I think 97 -2016.  I played a ton of golf and pounded tens if not hundreds of thousands of range balls.  They are still in great shape.  If I played more i might even still be using them, but 1x a week, needed some help to keep shooting low numbers

Still rotate between 962b and 990b sets myself, the 990b are a bit higher launching in longer irons. If need a bit more help in 2,3 irons will also use DCI B in those. Point being, lots of “older” gear is both conforming to the condition of competition (if one cares about such things) and as good or better than latest and greatest.

[MattTheTaff]

I'm still playing with the old stuff, mp32's or mp37's - they must be coming up to 20 years old now. 

 

Capitalism, man... it will eat us all alive eventually.

[dodint]

4 hours ago, BIG STU said:

I have noticed among the Ping fans that I know that for some reason despite of saying upgrading they tend to hang on to those U wedges like some hang on to Eye2 SWs and LWs.

 

I think another issue is that they might not have sold a lot of set U-wedges in 1999-2002. They had a PW, UW, SW, LW available for purchase but I bet most sets were only sold with 3i-PW, SW with a few folks buying a LW. That said it's still weird to me that the vast majority of the ones that do show up are green, orange, red, etc. 

[Singletrack1]

I just retired a set of Callaway x-22 Tour Irons that I bought new in 2008 or 2009. I'd say they were probably a little on the "too old" side. 🤣

[MrFlipper]

So if 2008 or 2009 is "too old" what about my 1971 bounce soles? Too old, I think not lol

[Tenkies]

I've been playing my Mizuno MP53 since 2012. I just recently purchased the MP223s. Still waiting on delivery but from the demo club I hit the MP223s felt a bit more forgiving while delivering the same type of forge feel I'm used to. I'd say the newer clubs have gotten better but not by leaps and bounds. 

[BIG STU]

5 hours ago, shanx said:

Yep, old school bag here too...

 

4 - Pw are Mizzy Comp EZs

also bag the original black triangle DCIs once in a while

have a set of 07 X Forged too.

 

I did just buy a set of 2013 X Forged, will assemble them soon.

 

I get it that there are always advances in "new technology" every year, don't think its anything other than marketing.

I can tell you from experience that the do not make a gap wedge for 2013 X forged. One reason is because they are more traditional lofts. If I remember correctly the PW stock is in the 47* 48* range. My late friend Bear I built a set for him and he wanted a Gap Wedge but no such animal. He had someone jack the lofts and he needed a GW. I also had a set and they were good sticks but the soles had too much camber for me so I sold them

[BIG STU]

4 hours ago, MattTheTaff said:

I'm still playing with the old stuff, mp32's or mp37's - they must be coming up to 20 years old now. 

 

Capitalism, man... it will eat us all alive eventually.

I was laughing like the dog in your avatar when I punched in the like. But yeah I agree with you

[polski]

18 hours ago, dodint said:

I ordered my G425 in retro spec. The lofts line up about the same. But the G425s hit a lot higher, likely because the i3 had a 114g shaft and my fitter put me in a 95g shaft with the new clubs. 

 

Inspired by polski I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a 2i that I was watching on eBay, so I'll have that in the collection soon. Now I just need the 1i and Uw. It's crazy to me how many of the Uw out there are not black dot. You'd think it would be the most common but they rarely pop up, at least in a JZ stiff shaft like I want. 

 

Did you get the O-Size or Blade 2i?

[dodint]

5 hours ago, polski said:

 

Did you get the O-Size or Blade 2i?

 

O-Size. I'm trying to complete a set and that's what I played. Although when you start to get into the long irons it's hard to tell them apart at a glance. 

 

One thing I do not fully understand is the Blade has a higher Maltby Playability Factor than the O-Size. Not by much but you'd think it would be the other way around. 

[NRJyzr]

4 hours ago, dodint said:

One thing I do not fully understand is the Blade has a higher Maltby Playability Factor than the O-Size. Not by much but you'd think it would be the other way around. 

 

MPF final score is the C Dimension minus the AVCOG, with a penalty for high CG.  

 

MOI is the actual forgiveness measurement.  It doesn't have much influence on MPF.

 

[meliaant]

I bagged a set of Ping i3 blades from 2002-2018, and could reasonably foresee keeping my current irons in the bag for a similar period of time (depending on grooves, my swing as I creep into my late 40s and into my 50s, etc...)

[joostin]

If condition, grooves, fit are good....

Irons in the hands of skill capable of scorching a course 10, 20, 30+ years ago, can do the same today!

 

And same for mucking it up!

[this_is_golf]

I have a set of i3 O Size irons that were my grandfathers and I really like them. I played a round a few weeks ago and had one of my best ball striking days with them.