Ping i230 pic

[VanTheMan0519]

[coreyhr]

3 hours ago, jblough99 said:

Preliminary MPF numbers are out on the I230.  Looks to be pretty close to the I210.  I230 VCOG is slightly lower, MOI is a bit higher, C-DIM a hair more toward the toe, and RCOG is slightly deeper.  Typical Ping making incremental improvements.  Amazing thing is they made all these improvements in a slightly more compact package.

 

“Update:  Ping i230 MPF came out to be 393 MPF, which is in the Classic category.  The Actual Vertical CG is .898″, which is high and that is what hurt the rating.  The #6 iron has 8 degrees of bounce, which negatively effects the vertical cg.  The MOI was really good at above 15.398 and the C-dim wasn’t too bad at 1.348.  Rearward cg location is .484″, which is average.  Again, the vertical cg is the reason for the Classic category rating.  Britt Lindsey”

What do we suppose is causing the high launch that it appears most people are reporting? That VCOG is higher than my Z745’s and they launch much lower than my ZX7’s.

[sociojeje]

10 minutes ago, coreyhr said:

What do we suppose is causing the high launch that it appears most people are reporting? That VCOG is higher than my Z745’s and they launch much lower than my ZX7’s.

Maltby and Ping are not getting along very well?  i525 mpf is 327... Per Maltby, i525 is more demanding than i230. 

[NRJyzr]

32 minutes ago, sociojeje said:

Maltby and Ping are not getting along very well?  i525 mpf is 327... Per Maltby, i525 is more demanding than i230. 

 

Final MPF score is not a measure of forgiveness.  It's an arithmetic formula that's not much more than C Dimension minus Vertical CG (a couple relatively  minor modifiers in there).

 

[sociojeje]

Just now, NRJyzr said:

 

Final MPF score is not a measure of forgiveness.  It's an arithmetic formula that's not much more than C Dimension minus Vertical CG (a couple relatively  minor modifiers in there).

 

Yes of course. But he puts the different playability tags, which many understand them as forgiveness, based on the MPF scores. Not many would think a "classic" tag is more forgiving than a "game improvement"

[BostonWRX]

1 hour ago, VanTheMan0519 said:

How are you liking them vs the zx5/zx7?

[NRJyzr]

1 minute ago, sociojeje said:

Yes of course. But he puts the different playability tags, which many understand them as forgiveness, based on the MPF scores. Not many would think a "classic" tag is more forgiving than a "game improvement"

 

Doesn't work like that.  Those categories are not speaking to forgiveness.  They speak to "playability."  Which Ralph Maltby defines as a low CG as far from the hosel as possible.

 

MOI is the measure of forgiveness.  Though it doesn't guarantee you'll be able to hit the sweetspot.  See: TI-100, Tommy Armour.  😉

 

 

[sociojeje]

7 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

Doesn't work like that.  Those categories are not speaking to forgiveness.  They speak to "playability."  Which Ralph Maltby defines as a low CG as far from the hosel as possible.

 

MOI is the measure of forgiveness.  Though it doesn't guarantee you'll be able to hit the sweetspot.  See: TI-100, Tommy Armour.  😉

 

 

Moi is one of the factors in forgiveness, not the sole measure. Forgiveness (or playability) is not a preexisting entity and we need multiple factors to measure the diverse spectrum of forgiveness (same for "playability") to make our measurement more valid. And Maltby thinks i525 is more demanding than i230. And he thinks Ping I series are much more demanding than other irons that are in the similar category. I don't necessarily agree with him. Perhaps, Ping does not agree with him either. But that's his measurement and many laypeople think his concept of playability is quite interchangeable with forgiveness.

[realmfg]

Besides sound/feel and loft, saw no difference between i525 and i230.  At address, they look almost identical.   I230 definitely feels and sounds much much better. 

[RacineBoxer]

45 minutes ago, realmfg said:

Besides sound/feel and loft, saw no difference between i525 and i230.  At address, they look almost identical.   I230 definitely feels and sounds much much better. 

 

At address they look almost identical. i525 has a little wider sole and a little more thickness at the toe. 

Huge difference in sound. 

[JZ75]

9 hours ago, jblough99 said:

Preliminary MPF numbers are out on the I230.  Looks to be pretty close to the I210.  I230 VCOG is slightly lower, MOI is a bit higher, C-DIM a hair more toward the toe, and RCOG is slightly deeper.  Typical Ping making incremental improvements.  Amazing thing is they made all these improvements in a slightly more compact package.

 

“Update:  Ping i230 MPF came out to be 393 MPF, which is in the Classic category.  The Actual Vertical CG is .898″, which is high and that is what hurt the rating.  The #6 iron has 8 degrees of bounce, which negatively effects the vertical cg.  The MOI was really good at above 15.398 and the C-dim wasn’t too bad at 1.348.  Rearward cg location is .484″, which is average.  Again, the vertical cg is the reason for the Classic category rating.  Britt Lindsey”

Thanks for posting this, I've been waiting to see these just to confirm what I thought - slightly higher MOI and C-DIM a hair closer to the toe compared to the i210.  I don't think the MPF rating is useful as others have pointed out.  Maltby is a good source of the actual measurements and that's about it.   As a guy who needs a bit of spin and likes the CG closer to the toe than my MP223's this all makes sense.  

 

A couple people asked questions about the higher launch.  From my experience the 4i and 5i are where the i230's really have a higher launch.  Those clubs have a different construction than the rest of the set and I would suggest that if you measured those clubs the specs would be a different than the 6i tested by Maltby.  The slightly lower and more rearward CG would also increase launch slightly.  

Edited March 26, 2023 by JZ75
grammar

[Cactus Jack]

9 hours ago, coreyhr said:

What do we suppose is causing the high launch that it appears most people are reporting? That VCOG is higher than my Z745’s and they launch much lower than my ZX7’s.

Regarding height I honestly think folks are likely delivering more dynamic loft than they think…swing mechanics. Besides that height is largely a byproduct of ball speed so it’s possible folks are seeing more efficient strikes. 
 

The high CG does make sense. The higher the CG the more spin potential. Appropriate spin combined with class leading MOI will produce some very stable & consistent ball flights. That was the I210s secret sauce and it appears the I230 will be similar. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Cactus Jack

[karstens_ghost]

The level of performance for these irons is excellent. Had a chip in with the U, and by all means unless you must have a 50º wedge, just get the U. It's fabulous. Unlike my other 50, I can step on it and get 110 out of it. It's normally my 97-100 club but it's versatile. So good with a run-out chip.

 

I admit it's fun getting an extra club length over the Blueprints, but there are times where a nice fairway lie begs for them. That said, on balance right now, they are just hard to beat. If you're a bogey golfer or better, these are just those irons that cannot be beat. If you're a 5 or less, you aren't going to get talked out of your blades… but seriously consider the 4/5 and even 6 iron.

 

My 5-iron Blueprint is officially retired. Never touching that beast again. Never did tame it.

[TJ83]

17 hours ago, 54CW said:

@TJ83 How did they compare to your ZX7 in lower irons 7-PW? And which shaft did you have in each? I currently play zx7 w/ KBS 120
 

I just picked up i230 5-PW with same shafts in a trade, but they’re soft stepped. I’d like to think it won’t matter but I may end up having to reshaft them.

 

I think so far I'm seeing about 5 yards or so more carry compared to my zx7s. Pings are really easy to flight as well. My zx7s had dg x7s played those since the zx7 came out. I230 have px ls 6.5. They are lighter and more "active" compared to dg x7. Also between zx7 and i230 im enjoying the slightly thinner top line of the 230's 

[MMB1500]

On 3/25/2023 at 12:26 AM, sociojeje said:

You are of course right. It was similar to 223, zx7, and t100s (I liked all of them). Just wanted to own a ping iron set for the first time...

 

Here's a really good comparison between the two:

 

 

[NRJyzr]

25 minutes ago, MMB1500 said:

 

Here's a really good comparison between the two:

 

 

 

Had to laugh when he started talking about the smash factor (efficiency), and didn't mention the loft difference.  Yes, a 30* club will produce a higher smash factor than a 33* club.  

 

He mentions it later, but seems to be glossing over it...

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by NRJyzr

[braincramp52]

16 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

Had to laugh when he started talking about the smash factor (efficiency), and didn't mention the loft difference.  Yes, a 30* club will produce a higher smash factor than a 33* club.  

 

Yea, it's funny how some testers forget to mention that stuff. I hit the I230's and I have to admit they are very nice. They didn't perform any better than my Honma's and the Honma's felt better. I could definitely play them though. Ping makes such solid clubs. 

[NRJyzr]

14 minutes ago, braincramp52 said:

Yea, it's funny how some testers forget to mention that stuff. I hit the I230's and I have to admit they are very nice. They didn't perform any better than my Honma's and the Honma's felt better. I could definitely play them though. Ping makes such solid clubs. 

 

I've thought it might be interesting to try a set.  The higher CG is a bit of a worry, though.

 

Then there's my affinity for my Golden Ram collection...  😉

 

[VanTheMan0519]

15 hours ago, BostonWRX said:

How are you liking them vs the zx5/zx7?

when comparing to zx5/7 combo…::
 

pros: better dispersion, slightly more forgiving, consistent with better distance control

 

cons: kinda dead feeling compared to srixons. Almost feels hollow in a way when striped 

 

I don’t think I ever had the correct shaft in the srixons. I want to test the mkII’s with some DG X100’s before deciding. 

[Tiptx1122]

12 hours ago, realmfg said:

Besides sound/feel and loft, saw no difference between i525 and i230.  At address, they look almost identical.   I230 definitely feels and sounds much much better. 

That's so interesting as I really liked the i525's and would have gone for the i230 but I don't like that gap on the back of the badge. I would have thought the 1525 would have felt better being forged.

[Z1ggy16]

I don't pay attention to the MPF because not everyone needs a low cg. Most golfers struggle with low point and lack the speed needed to have the desired low launch "high spin" flight that tour players use. 

 

I will say that subjectively, I do find these to launch lower than my T100 but for me that's a good thing because I spin the ball a lot due to my negative AoA and speed. So I tend to find lower MPF with high MOI to be a good situation for me. That's exactly what these are. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Z1ggy16

[eric61]

1 hour ago, VanTheMan0519 said:

when comparing to zx5/7 combo…::
 

pros: better dispersion, slightly more forgiving, consistent with better distance control

 

cons: kinda dead feeling compared to srixons. Almost feels hollow in a way when striped 

 

I don’t think I ever had the correct shaft in the srixons. I want to test the mkII’s with some DG X100’s before deciding. 

In terms of being slightly more forgiving, is that relative to the ZX7, ZX5 or both?

[pmang]

15 minutes ago, eric61 said:

In terms of being slightly more forgiving, is that relative to the ZX7, ZX5 or both?

I too am curious about this? If they are more forgiving than ZX5’s they are going in my bag!

[realmfg]

I personally feel my zx7s are more forgiving.   Zx7s are rocket launchers for me.  Dispersion I would go i230.

[VanTheMan0519]

I find them slightly more forgiving on toe hits than the ZX7’s. To me the Zx5’s launch incredibly high even though I only had them in the 4 and 5 irons. 

[eric61]

26 minutes ago, realmfg said:

I personally feel my zx7s are more forgiving.   Zx7s are rocket launchers for me.  Dispersion I would go i230.

I played a ZX combo set last year and have i230s now. Dispersion I’d say without question, i230s are better. I also think both are quite forgiving. Biggest difference I noticed is i230s are more resistant to drawing too hard and are higher spin. The ZX7 8 iron was almost a full club longer for me than the i230 8 iron, presumably because of spin. At the 7 iron I went down to the ZX5 and it was also almost a club longer than the i230. But dispersion with the i230s is much, much better. 
 

All that said, I took lessons this winter and sort of don’t know if my comparison is meaningful, since my swing has changed. I’m delivering a bit more loft now. I’m interested to try the Srixons again at some point to get a head-to-head, same-day comparison. I’d love to pick up a little extra distance and get the amazing turf interaction of the V-sole back, but not at the cost of the i230’s resistance to hooks that used to plague me.

[54CW]

@TJ83 I hit about 25 balls head to head with my zx7s. I like how the i230 sets up compared to the zx7. I felt like I didn’t give up anything on distance but mishits in 38 degrees and rain looked better from the i230s. I’m playing 18 today with the i230s. I really want to see how these do on uneven lies and out of the rough. 

[BostonWRX]

1 hour ago, eric61 said:

I played a ZX combo set last year and have i230s now. Dispersion I’d say without question, i230s are better. I also think both are quite forgiving. Biggest difference I noticed is i230s are more resistant to drawing too hard and are higher spin. The ZX7 8 iron was almost a full club longer for me than the i230 8 iron, presumably because of spin. At the 7 iron I went down to the ZX5 and it was also almost a club longer than the i230. But dispersion with the i230s is much, much better. 
 

All that said, I took lessons this winter and sort of don’t know if my comparison is meaningful, since my swing has changed. I’m delivering a bit more loft now. I’m interested to try the Srixons again at some point to get a head-to-head, same-day comparison. I’d love to pick up a little extra distance and get the amazing turf interaction of the V-sole back, but not at the cost of the i230’s resistance to hooks that used to plague me.

My miss is left which makes me want to try these out. Have zx7s and t100-s currently 

[VanTheMan0519]

10 minutes ago, 54CW said:

@TJ83 I hit about 25 balls head to head with my zx7s. I like how the i230 sets up compared to the zx7. I felt like I didn’t give up anything on distance but mishits in 38 degrees and rain looked better from the i230s. I’m playing 18 today with the i230s. I really want to see how these do on uneven lies and out of the rough. 

Forgot to mention on my comparison, that the 230’s do align easier with the white leading edge line. 

[VanTheMan0519]

47 minutes ago, BostonWRX said:

My miss is left which makes me want to try these out. Have zx7s and t100-s currently 

I think you should. Don’t think you’ll be impressed with the feel, but my miss is a huge pull draw and the i230’s brought that in consistently to being extremely playable versus in jail or OB.