New iron upgrade suggestions?

[Justuravggolfer]

Hello, so it has been a while since I have purchased any golf clubs and even so my entire bag is off the rack nothing custom fit. I am looking for a new set of irons, right now I play the ping I20s however I have been eyeing the mizuno 225 pros or the 923 hotmetal pros. I know that custom fitting is the way to go so hopefully I can find a decent fitter in my area but was just wondering the skill gap between my irons I play now and either of the two I named also open to suggestions. I am a lefty and where I live doesn’t stock a lot of lefty clubs so the internet is where I have to resort to for this type of information.

[Jeff58]

Welcome Average Lefty Golfer. There are two concepts to keep in mind I believe. 
 

The first is that buying golf clubs is a lot like gambling in Vegas. Buying totally blind without demoing and fitting is like putting your purchase budget on 23. You’re pretty much throwing your money away. Even if you do get fit, it’s still like blackjack. Your odds are grossly improved, but still against you.

 

Going from Pings to Mizuno’s blindly would be about the worst possible scenario. There isn’t a great ability void between the sets you list, but their construction is conceptually close to opposite. The Pings have wide soles, high bounce, highish center of gravity, low swing weights, and more upright lies. They are everything that the Mizuno’s are not. It’s very likely that you’re better off with a more modern Ping set, at least in the short term, or if you have to guess.

[cfmgolf]

Depending on where you are located, it might make sense to try and get to a demo day and try out different manufacturers.  In the US, the top 1/2 of the country going into winter, you won't see demo days until Spring 2024, but if you are in the southern part of the US, i would think that the demo days will start back up again shortly as all of the northern folks head south for the winter.  

 

[RogerinNewZealand]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:45 AM, Jeff58 said:

Welcome Average Lefty Golfer. There are two concepts to keep in mind I believe. 
 

The first is that buying golf clubs is a lot like gambling in Vegas. Buying totally blind without demoing and fitting is like putting your purchase budget on 23. You’re pretty much throwing your money away. Even if you do get fit, it’s still like blackjack. Your odds are grossly improved, but still against you.

 

Going from Pings to Mizuno’s blindly would be about the worst possible scenario. There isn’t a great ability void between the sets you list, but their construction is conceptually close to opposite. The Pings have wide soles, high bounce, highish center of gravity, low swing weights, and more upright lies. They are everything that the Mizuno’s are not. It’s very likely that you’re better off with a more modern Ping set, at least in the short term, or if you have to guess.

Red Dot are similar to std Mizuno. Rebuild with tip weights eg 6 grams and they can be a lot more similar. Loved my reddot S58s after added weight + regrip 😊

[knot2B]

Sort of in the same boat, currently swinging I20's with CTapers S120, but have just started getting back into golf after a 2 year on and off break.

Had a serious bulged disk in the neck that required surgery followed up with a torn rotor cuff in the shoulder and throw in a broken finger and knuckle on the right hand and my desire to swing a club was lost. Been hitting the driving range recently and starting to get back to my old swing, albeit a little rusty. Current 7 iron in high 80's and carry around 170, prior to injuries HC floated between 10 -12, loosing too many strokes off the T with the Driver. Irons were probably my strength.

 

Went into the local Golf Box shop with the intention to get advise on newer irons and maybe looking at graphite shafts for the softening effect on the 57 year old battered joints. Only hit maybe a dozen ball each, the Paradym with their standard graphite shaft, the P790 and I525 with steal shafts. Got the best results and feel from the Paradym, ( much to the surprise of the salesman ) but all were quite similar off the mats. Followed this up hitting 5 or 6 balls with my trusty old I20 7 iron and the salesman told me that he felt there was no reason to upgrade?? He was either a poor salesman or an honest fitter.

 

Either way, will probably book in for a full fitting with a professional and look at all the options with the various graphite shaft available today, and see what gains can be made. Can see myself swinging some I230's with the right graphite shaft, but will let the results speak for themselves.  

[SofaKingPure]

The wait time will crush you. Go titleist or pxg 

[Justuravggolfer]

So I am not a fan of titleist or pxg, I don’t like the way the pxg look at all and just never been a fan of titleist anything. My I 20s are red dot cut 1/2 inch with the stock ping awt or amt shaft I can’t remember which one I think it’s the awt. I  am in Tennessee and there is one shop here that may be able to fit me proper so I’m going to check them out soon.

[tatertot]

6 minutes ago, Justuravggolfer said:

So I am not a fan of titleist or pxg, I don’t like the way the pxg look at all and just never been a fan of titleist anything. My I 20s are red dot cut 1/2 inch with the stock ping awt or amt shaft I can’t remember which one I think it’s the awt. I  am in Tennessee and there is one shop here that may be able to fit me proper so I’m going to check them out soon.

I20 with AWT shaft is a nice combo ...,if they are fit for you, there is nothing wrong with that set up. No reason to buy new just for technology. Honestly, I would be perfectly happy today to still be playing my G15s ... Or my I10s ... Or my G5s ... 

[Justuravggolfer]

22 hours ago, tatertot said:

I20 with AWT shaft is a nice combo ...,if they are fit for you, there is nothing wrong with that set up. No reason to buy new just for technology. Honestly, I would be perfectly happy today to still be playing my G15s ... Or my I10s ... Or my G5s ... 

that’s the problem they weren’t fit to my I bought them used off the shelf they were fit for someone else lol!

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

Shameless plug for at least a look at the PXG 0317CBs. They're solid clubs, and offer plenty of forgiveness for CBs.