i530 vs T150

[9ironiscash]

Demoed the i530 this week and fell in love with them.  They sit in the same price range as the T150, which I did not get a chance to hit. 
 

anyone hit both and can compare? I’m not the best ball striker and play off a 9 hc.  Tend to miss toe side. Still, have played more players irons in the past without issue (most recently the j15 cb).   I don’t anticipate practicing much this year- would the pings be considered substantially more forgiving? 

[bluedot]

Others may disagree, but I think the T200 is the Titleist iron more comparable to the i530.  While the i525 might be somewhat more forgiving than the T150, unless Ping has changed that club a lot since the i500’s (and they may well have) it’s not more forgiving than the T200s.

 

All of that said, I don’t think any of the three are best known for forgiveness.  I think all three would be classified as player’s distance irons, rather than game improvement.  That may be ok with you, or you might consider, as a 9 index who doesn’t plan to practice much, going a slightly different route.

[maddev]

Subscribing to this thread, I just found out about the i530s and in the market for a new set.  Too many choices out there!

[iNeedMoreGolf]

I530 is a bigger iron then t150 all around. 150 more players shaped. Excellent feel in the 150 and sound.

Havent hit the 530 but off other versions they are usually long and forgiving with good feel. I personally love the shape and feel of 150 and its very forgiving for the size and the lofts are where i like them. If you need more distance the i530 are lofted about the strongest there is.

[philly2kuk]

6 hours ago, bluedot said:

Others may disagree, but I think the T200 is the Titleist iron more comparable to the i530.  While the i525 might be somewhat more forgiving than the T150, unless Ping has changed that club a lot since the i500’s (and they may well have) it’s not more forgiving than the T200s.

 

All of that said, I don’t think any of the three are best known for forgiveness.  I think all three would be classified as player’s distance irons, rather than game improvement.  That may be ok with you, or you might consider, as a 9 index who doesn’t plan to practice much, going a slightly different route.

I agree here. I tried the i525 and t200 and these seem to be the matching clubs along with the p790. I also tried the i230 and these felt, to me, the same bracket as t150.

[Barfolomew]

t150 lower offset

i530 more offset

[Pepperturbo]

8 hours ago, 9ironiscash said:

Demoed the i530 this week and fell in love with them.  They sit in the same price range as the T150, which I did not get a chance to hit. 
 

anyone hit both and can compare? I’m not the best ball striker and play off a 9 hc.  Tend to miss toe side. Still, have played more players irons in the past without issue (most recently the j15 cb).   I don’t anticipate practicing much this year- would the pings be considered substantially more forgiving? 

Forgiving is subjective, dependent on the person's idiosyncrasies.  I am not a Ping guy, but if you don't practice much, probably better off with i530 or T200 series.

[2puttchris]

I hit them yesterday and compared them to the T200's with the same shaft. I liked the sound and feel off of the i530's more than the T200's, the T200's sounded higher pitched (subjective I know). Didn't get to try them against the T150 or my current zx5 but that would be the next thing I would like to do. Lofts are strong on them they are basically lofted like the Zx4's, but in a smaller package. 

[AWGolf]

I have the T100s and have been circling this idea of transitioning into these? I think the little extra forgiveness would be great. Anyone have thoughts on this with knowing absolutely nothing about my swing haha. I am around 10ish handicap. 

[maddev]

On 3/13/2024 at 8:34 AM, 2puttchris said:

I hit them yesterday and compared them to the T200's with the same shaft. I liked the sound and feel off of the i530's more than the T200's, the T200's sounded higher pitched (subjective I know). Didn't get to try them against the T150 or my current zx5 but that would be the next thing I would like to do. Lofts are strong on them they are basically lofted like the Zx4's, but in a smaller package. 

How did they perform against the T200 distance, height, forgiveness?  Please keep us updated with you compare against your gamer irons!  Thanks.  

 

[2puttchris]

5 hours ago, maddev said:

How did they perform against the T200 distance, height, forgiveness?  Please keep us updated with you compare against your gamer irons!  Thanks.  

 

So in terms of distance I thought they were longer and I found that it was more forgiving than the T200. I just felt that even on balls off the toe I didn’t lose as much distance with the i530. I have always like ping irons so not sure if that played a part in it. My only concern with them is how strong the lofts are with a 42 degree pitching wedge.

[dmeeksDC]

I think you’d have to go to the Titleist T350 to achieve comparable forgiveness to the i530. Every review I’ve seen says it is unbelievably forgiving. Ping may have the iron with the most forgiveness out there in a player’s iron sized compact head. Titleist T350 will have longer blade length, which some prefer. Depends on your preferences on look from address. 

[bombs]

These are not in the same category. Not even close. 

 

i530 bigger in every dimension. Probably more forgiving. Probably go further. 
 

I have seen some very ordinary golfers hit great shots with the i525. Can only assume the i530 is better again. 

 

T150 is a proper players iron for good golfers.  They are great for what they are but based on how you described your game I'd stay far away.

[bluedot]

17 hours ago, dmeeksDC said:

I think you’d have to go to the Titleist T350 to achieve comparable forgiveness to the i530. Every review I’ve seen says it is unbelievably forgiving. Ping may have the iron with the most forgiveness out there in a player’s iron sized compact head. Titleist T350 will have longer blade length, which some prefer. Depends on your preferences on look from address. 

We must be reading different stuff.  The MGS review of the i530s doesn’t really paint an especially forgiving picture.  Ping has lowered the COG significantly, but for reasons other than forgiveness.  I’m not sure if there’s an MPF rating on the i530s yet, but the i525s were listed as “Classic”, rather than GI, and that certainly what I found with the i500s.  The T200s, on the other hand, ARE listed as GI irons.  
 

Fwiw, I was always a Ping irons guy, but consider the i500s to be one of my big mistakes in club buying.  Yes, the distance was excellent on good strikes, but the forgiveness was much moe blade-like than I expected.  In that respect, the T200s are far superior.  Perhaps Ping has addressed that in the 525s and 530s, but since the 530s are more compact, I don’t see how.

 

I also think the T350s are much more comparable to the Ping G series irons that to the i530s.  They are very large, have a very wide sole, and are NOT marketed as “Players Distance”.  And MPF classifies the T350s as “ultra game improvement”.  I hit the 350s at a Titleist fitting, and they are huge.

[dmeeksDC]

45 minutes ago, bluedot said:

We must be reading different stuff.  The MGS review of the i530s doesn’t really paint an especially forgiving picture.  Ping has lowered the COG significantly, but for reasons other than forgiveness.  I’m not sure if there’s an MPF rating on the i530s yet, but the i525s were listed as “Classic”, rather than GI, and that certainly what I found with the i500s.  The T200s, on the other hand, ARE listed as GI irons.  
 

Fwiw, I was always a Ping irons guy, but consider the i500s to be one of my big mistakes in club buying.  Yes, the distance was excellent on good strikes, but the forgiveness was much moe blade-like than I expected.  In that respect, the T200s are far superior.  Perhaps Ping has addressed that in the 525s and 530s, but since the 530s are more compact, I don’t see how.

 

I also think the T350s are much more comparable to the Ping G series irons that to the i530s.  They are very large, have a very wide sole, and are NOT marketed as “Players Distance”.  And MPF classifies the T350s as “ultra game improvement”.  I hit the 350s at a Titleist fitting, and they are huge.

Well, you can be sure that I am not reading about MPF scores! Who cares? MPF is not a valid way to make this comparison. There are useful measurements within the MPF formula, but the MPF number itself is irrelevant and I would never buy a club based on that pointless number. They lost me when I noticed again and again that many irons I played best had low MPF scores but if you look at how they do it, you figure out what is helpful. It is not like it is an industry norm to consider MPF. I’ll take the Ping engineers instead. 
 

If you like high MPF you basically like clubs that have long heel to toe blade lengths. I don’t need or want that and my misses are far more vertical on the club face so compact is all I look at. MPF is for those who believe a larger and longer club face is always more forgiving and for a lot of people that may be true. More real estate = more forgiving is the mantra. But it is a limiting parameter that for a lot of golfers is not meaningful. 
 

As for how forgiving the 530 is, I trust smart reviewers who know what they’re doing and can demonstrate the forgiveness. He seems to agree with the Ping engineers. 
 

 

 

[bluedot]

5 hours ago, dmeeksDC said:

Well, you can be sure that I am not reading about MPF scores! Who cares? MPF is not a valid way to make this comparison. There are useful measurements within the MPF formula, but the MPF number itself is irrelevant and I would never buy a club based on that pointless number. They lost me when I noticed again and again that many irons I played best had low MPF scores but if you look at how they do it, you figure out what is helpful. It is not like it is an industry norm to consider MPF. I’ll take the Ping engineers instead. 
 

If you like high MPF you basically like clubs that have long heel to toe blade lengths. I don’t need or want that and my misses are far more vertical on the club face so compact is all I look at. MPF is for those who believe a larger and longer club face is always more forgiving and for a lot of people that may be true. More real estate = more forgiving is the mantra. But it is a limiting parameter that for a lot of golfers is not meaningful. 
 

As for how forgiving the 530 is, I trust smart reviewers who know what they’re doing and can demonstrate the forgiveness. He seems to agree with the Ping engineers. 
 

 

 

Whoa!  Slow down a bit.  I don’t know how old you are, but I got my first set of Ping irons before Karsten even dreamed up the Eye2!  I’ve had Eyes, Eye2’s (both steel and BeCu) Zing2s, ISIs, both i5’s and G5s, G10s, i20s, G25s and G30s, i500s, and even G700s.  Fwiw, in addition to the Eye2, I consider the i5’s and the i20s to be among the finest irons ever made by ANY manufacturer, and I doubt you know anybody with more confidence in the engineers at Ping than I have.  

 

As for the MPF, I never gave any numbers, only the general category designations, which correspond pretty well with what I found while I was using the i500.  That is NOT in any respect a GI iron, and I think I’ve said that I haven’t hit either the i525 or the i530, so while they MIGHT be more forgiving than the i500 was, that would be a bit of an odd place in the Ping line for a GI iron with a high degree of forgiveness, given that the G line is where Ping has traditionally done that, AND that the i530 is MORE compact than the i500 was.  
 

I appreciate the link to the video; I’ll try to watch that if I get the time, but the i530 is not a club I’m ever going to buy, so there’s not much point.  Again the MGS review of the i535 doesn’t really characterize that iron as especially forgiving or as a GI iron.

 

Go ahead and shoot the messenger if you like, but all I really said was that there is no comparison between the T200 vs the i500 in terms of forgiveness, and I’ll stand by that statement wholeheartedly.  

[RacineBoxer]

1 hour ago, bluedot said:

Whoa!  Slow down a bit.  I don’t know how old you are, but I got my first set of Ping irons before Karsten even dreamed up the Eye2!  I’ve had Eyes, Eye2’s (both steel and BeCu) Zing2s, ISIs, both i5’s and G5s, G10s, i20s, G25s and G30s, i500s, and even G700s.  Fwiw, in addition to the Eye2, I consider the i5’s and the i20s to be among the finest irons ever made by ANY manufacturer, and I doubt you know anybody with more confidence in the engineers at Ping than I have.  

 

As for the MPF, I never gave any numbers, only the general category designations, which correspond pretty well with what I found while I was using the i500.  That is NOT in any respect a GI iron, and I think I’ve said that I haven’t hit either the i525 or the i530, so while they MIGHT be more forgiving than the i500 was, that would be a bit of an odd place in the Ping line for a GI iron with a high degree of forgiveness, given that the G line is where Ping has traditionally done that, AND that the i530 is MORE compact than the i500 was.  
 

I appreciate the link to the video; I’ll try to watch that if I get the time, but the i530 is not a club I’m ever going to buy, so there’s not much point.  Again the MGS review of the i535 doesn’t really characterize that iron as especially forgiving or as a GI iron.

 

Go ahead and shoot the messenger if you like, but all I really said was that there is no comparison between the T200 vs the i500 in terms of forgiveness, and I’ll stand by that statement wholeheartedly.  

 

Not sure about the i500 but I'd expect the i535 to be similar to the t200 in forgiveness. I've mostly played Ping over the years and I did play the i525. Right now I have both the i230 and the new T200. The i535 and the T200 are both essentially "players distance" irons. They are both small-ish and then juiced up to give more distance . If anything, the i535 has a little longer blade length, so if the t200 is more "game improvement" in some other dimensions, the i535 catches up a bit with blade length and Ping's obsession with MOI. They should be similar.

 

I sold my i525's after one year of playing them because they were the worst feeling irons I had ever hit. The i230's were massively better feel... but about 7-10 yards shorter (a little too much for my old man shallow ego). The t200 gets me back the distance with an improvement in feel (at least to the i525). I haven't really gotten them on the course much yet but I don't expect them to be significantly more forgiving than the i525 or something like a P790. All 3 go about giving you forgiveness in slightly different ways. 

[tets]

Hit both on the golf course and on a simulator.  150 felt way better for me, was more consistent with dispersion and actually flew higher and spun more.  

[Pnwpingi210]

These are two different irons.

 

Are you a good ball striker, that misses low on low toe in the face?  Do you need more height and spin?  If so t150 would likely fit better. Or i230 if you want to stay in ping.

 

do you need a little more forgiveness all over the face?  Do you already hit it high with plenty of spin but want a little more distance?  If so i530 is your iron. Or t200 if you want to stay titleist. 

 

 

[T Creer]

On 3/18/2024 at 5:51 PM, Pnwpingi210 said:

These are two different irons.

 

Are you a good ball striker, that misses low on low toe in the face?  Do you need more height and spin?  If so t150 would likely fit better. Or i230 if you want to stay in ping.

 

do you need a little more forgiveness all over the face?  Do you already hit it high with plenty of spin but want a little more distance?  If so i530 is your iron. Or t200 if you want to stay titleist. 

 

 

AMEN. God has spoken, no more need for opinions. 

[Pnwpingi210]

34 minutes ago, T Creer said:

AMEN. God has spoken, no more need for opinions. 

I wasn’t trying to be preachy.  Just trying to help.

[T Creer]

4 hours ago, Pnwpingi210 said:

I wasn’t trying to be preachy.  Just trying to help.

Agree with you wholeheartedly. You are indeed correct. 

[9ironiscash]

On 3/18/2024 at 7:51 PM, Pnwpingi210 said:

These are two different irons.

 

Are you a good ball striker, that misses low on low toe in the face?  Do you need more height and spin?  If so t150 would likely fit better. Or i230 if you want to stay in ping.

 

do you need a little more forgiveness all over the face?  Do you already hit it high with plenty of spin but want a little more distance?  If so i530 is your iron. Or t200 if you want to stay titleist. 

 

 

Mostly miss near the toe. I assume the i530 would be more helpful for those misses? 

[BIM_Monkey]

I switched from 525s to T150s.

 

The Pings aren’t really forgiving at all in my experience. They were far too low spinning for me. 
 

The T150s are about half a club shorter as I get a lot more spin and they fly higher. But I can stop them.  My miss is on the toe side, and they seem forgiving enough not to lose too much distance or go too far off line.

[tcollett17]

Currently gaming ZX5 mk2 and had a recent fitting as I wasn’t happy with the performance of them overall. Went into it open minded (although my heart was on T200 as I’m a bit of a Titleist fanboy). Walked away with a set of i530 arriving 4th April, they are unreal. Good looking, forgiving, feel good, sound good, and go an absolute mile.

 

 

[MMB1500]

14 hours ago, tcollett17 said:

Currently gaming ZX5 mk2 and had a recent fitting as I wasn’t happy with the performance of them overall. Went into it open minded (although my heart was on T200 as I’m a bit of a Titleist fanboy). Walked away with a set of i530 arriving 4th April, they are unreal. Good looking, forgiving, feel good, sound good, and go an absolute mile.

 

 

 

What didn't you like about the ZX-5 performance? 

Edited March 26 by MMB1500

[tomg1969]

On 3/25/2024 at 5:55 PM, tcollett17 said:

Currently gaming ZX5 mk2 and had a recent fitting as I wasn’t happy with the performance of them overall. Went into it open minded (although my heart was on T200 as I’m a bit of a Titleist fanboy). Walked away with a set of i530 arriving 4th April, they are unreal. Good looking, forgiving, feel good, sound good, and go an absolute mile.

 

 

Surprised that you didn't get along with the ZX5. I think they're pretty darn good.

That being said, I'm considering a set of i530 as well. 

Did you like pretty much everything more with i530 when comparing the two?

[Neurotica]

Like some here I also had a bad experience with the i500s - great on center hits but not very forgiving and felt horrible.  Also had an issue getting the 5 iron to swing weight to D2 - even at +1/2”.  Got rid of them quickly.  Dropped into this thread thinking about the i530 but prolly wont trust them so…………

[Long_Left]

On 3/18/2024 at 6:41 AM, bluedot said:

Fwiw, I was always a Ping irons guy, but consider the i500s to be one of my big mistakes in club buying.  

 

I'm wondering how tiny of a minority I live in, I game my i500s (lofted weak, 7i at 34) still and have loved them from day 1, aside from the PW, which I replaced with a Glide 3.0 46 after maybe 3 rounds. Seems like most here loathe the i500s, I find them to be very forgiving, especially towards the toe.

 

They are getting very well worn though, and I have my sights set on irons this year, but I wouldn't think of selling or trading in the i500s.

 

1 hour ago, Neurotica said:

Like some here I also had a bad experience with the i500s - great on center hits but not very forgiving and felt horrible.  Also had an issue getting the 5 iron to swing weight to D2 - even at +1/2”.  Got rid of them quickly.  Dropped into this thread thinking about the i530 but prolly wont trust them so…………

 

Mine are D4 across the board and the builder didn't tell me there was any trouble getting them there, I wonder if you got a significantly underweight head?

 

As a lefty I don't get to hit a ton of new stuff, my local Ping rep doesn't get much lefty equipment and golf retail is non-existent in my neck of the woods, but a buddy games the 525s and he loves them.

[teedub21]

I had the i525's for a brief stint before getting wowed by the looks of the Mizuno Pro 245's.  Traded my i525's in and regretted it.  I am now waiting on my i530's that I pre-ordered.  I also found the i525's very forgiving, especially on the toe side.  More forgiving than the Mizunos.