S-59 Tours in Black Nickel Chrome

[sandy]

I spoke to a friend today who lives in Colorado and has some Ping contacts and it seems that Ping has decided not to offer the S-59 Tours in Black Nickel Chrome. His understanding was this finish produces a very hard surface and they would be limited how much they could bend them for custom orders. I think he said much over 2 degrees and the hosel started showing some very noticeable wrinkling. I don't know if they have that limitation on their Black Nickel Chrome Wedges. Too bad they would have been great looking but they would have had to send various pre bent heads for the finish and that was just too complicated. Also didn't get all that many requests for the finish to boot.

[easyyy]

to bad is right. That would have been a decent option. Good news Ping sticks to their quality standards though. Quality shop!

[tickyboy]

Why wouldn't they pre bend them then finish them? I know if the MP60s dont work for me this year the S59s are on a VERY short list of irons to use.....fantastic irons IMO.

[sandy]

They don't finish them, they are finished in China which makes bending them and then sending them for finishing a very expensive situation. That is why they didn't want to do it because they would have had to guess how many in each color code would be needed and have them prefinished and risk winding up with a bunch of heads that weren't useable.

 

Another indication that they don't refinish them after work is if you have a Black Nickel Chrome wedge custom ground by Wrx you don't get the ground area refinished in Black Nickel Chrome, just shiny polish after grinding.

[mmarler]

Just got my set of Ping Tour S59's today and I have hit just about every type of iron that is made left handed and these are the most solid feeling irons I have every put in my hands.

[kkhere]

That's really bad news. I was actually considering buying a set if they came out in the black nickel finish

[braincramp]

I thought all of Pings manufacturing process was done in Arizona.

[golfhawaii]

I thought all of Pings manufacturing process was done in Arizona.

 

I've always heard that EVERYTHING is done on site at PING. This is the first I have heard of something being done off site, let alone outside of the U.S. in regards to a PING club.

[Cameron Circle T]

Ping does in fact make all of their own equipment except I believe since switching to forged Drivers they no longer make their own heads. Not 100% if they're no longer making them but i can confirm Ping makes all of its irons in house in their own factory. That is Ping's claim to fame. They pour all molds right there in Arizona and then they pour all the molten steel in Airzona. This allows them to stay with what they believe of pouring their own clubs and controlling their own product and not putting these clubs into 3rd world factories thus putting american workers out of jobs. The only club that I ever remember hearing that they had outsiders make if i remember correctly was the nickel and copper ISI's and that is why they stopped making them. The toxicity level of these two materials was sufficient that it was posing a severe risk to the workers health.

 

The Ping clubs are particularly hard to bend bc of the materials they make them out of. They are an extremely hard and sturdy steel. The black nickel is not particularly harder to bend than any other ping. In fact they do not use typical bending bars and lie loft machines at ping. They have their own machines that involve the use of a special hammer which is not used on the hosel thus prevent the problem of hosel breakage that is so common in attempting to bend ping clubs. This is why ping can bend the clubs supposedly up to 6-8* in various directions, while most regular clubmakers have trouble bending them 1-2*. I have had personal experience with this problem when last minute bends were needed on my set of S59's. If you want ease of change on a set of irons Ping is not it. They have great service but almost everything must be done by Ping bc of the hardness of the metal. After talking to both staff players and pings tour dept. they had no intention of releasing the S59 in black nickel as it wasnt requested by any staffer, in fact these are one of the lesser common irons to be played by ping staff. Many are playing I3's I3+'s I5's etc.

 

Also ping does not do any refinishing to any kind, so much so that I know some staffers who have requested that a Ping driver be finished sans the golf ball alignment on the top and they do not perform this for anyone. When wedges are ground they dont refinish them, thats just the way ping is thats why they dont redarken the copper wedges etc.

 

 

See sig*

[sandy]

OK rather than rely on second hand information I called some of my contacts at Ping. Indeed the Black Chrome Nickel isn't harder to bend than standard 17-4 stainless (which isn't that tough if you know what you are doing particularly with the hosel notch--BeCu and BeNi were much harder and more brittle, which they used to get from the Cabot corporation using their dies/design). It is and now read VERY carefully this time a cosmetic issue the chrome on the hosel starts to wrinkle if you go beyond 2 degrees. IT IS A COSMETIC ISSUE WHICH IS COMPOUNDED BY MULTIPLE COLOR CODES AND A FULL SET NOT AN ISSUE OF HOW HARD IT IS TO BEND.

 

Ping does indeed cast all the heads for their irons and putters (Starting with the first KI to todays G5/i5). The only irons they didn't make themselves were their first three forged sets--they bought the heads from Golfcraft (later sold to Achusnet) and machined the backs to produce the first cavity back forging). But their Drivers, Fairways, Hybrids are now done in China. The Black Chrome Nickel Finish is done in Asia as well. All other products like bags etc. are done in places like Mexico. The only Woods Ping did in house after the laminated maple heads were the initial Zing 2 steel metalwoods. When they went to the TISI model and Tec model they had Ruger in Prescott, Arizona doing those (not in house). Ruger also had the ability to make custom lofts for Ping for some long drive contestants. They could produce a 3.5 degree head by cutting the head and laser welding it back together at the new loft (beautiful work you could never see the weld line even with a black paint finish). The Si series were done in Australia which didn't lower the price significantly from the TISI. The finally had to go to China to compete price and technology wise (the world leaders in true thin wall ti casting) with the rest of the industry starting with the G2 and now G5.

[Cameron Circle T]

Basically the problem with bending the black chrome nickel is no different than bending real chrome irons. If you bend a forged iron past a few degrees the chrome will eventually crack bc it is plated on it only has so much room to move. Ruger has made many of the titanium drivers of many of the companies, including the original great big bertha the biggest big bertha etc. Im almost 100 percent positive that ruger was/is a gun manufacturer and that is how they had the capability to make such good quality titanium stuff. Unfortunately it was pricey. Solid post sandy. and go ping.

[TheBUNKY]

This is a great history lesson about PING products. I would love to tour their facility some day out in AZ.

[Cameron Circle T]

IF your ever out there stop by, they do regular tours of the faciility to the pubilc