PING 2009 G15 i15

[aussiehack]

Any news?

Im so looking forward to whats coming this year from PING. Ive had my Eye 2+'s for 14 years and they need updating. What is coming this year? I am thinking if i dont like them Im just going to order a new set of eye 2 +'s - but i hope its not going to be the case

[juicyjuice]

I don't think anything is coming this year....I think next year maybe!! But I am not 100% sure.

[Harry Longshanks]

I don't think anything is coming this year....I think next year maybe!! But I am not 100% sure.

 

PING clubs have traditionally been on a 2 year rotation, with new product released around September. The "Power of 10" line was introduced in Fall 2007, and the i5/G5 was in 2005. In all likelihood, a new line will be introduced this Fall. And it's usually about this time of year that information starts leaking out.

[meliaant]

I'd love to see something "new," not just an i3 with a different looking weight port thing in the cavity....the i3, i5, and i10 all seem a little too similar for me to switch...something new could change my mind

[Robert Brown]

Yes, there will be a new G line later this year....

[sandy]

All new power of infinity G line coming this fall. Colors will be magneta and purple nurple but they will come with 256 different color stickers for the cavity so everyone will be happy.

[ohcanada17]

drivers are suppose to have adjustable/interchangeable shafts.... irons i have not heard.... lets hope they finally make something that doesnt feel like a rock...

[bigstunnerdude]

I just want an I5 version of the Rapture i.e. A Rapture with reduced offset and sole profile so that Good Players can actually use them.

 

I've felt this last two years the I10 has been a neither here nor there club. Its too similar in offset and profile to the S57, you might as well have the S57s. There is also too much of a gap between the G10 and I10s. So the guys looking to move from Game Improvement Clubs are perhaps a bit intimidated. I know quite a few lads who bought I10s, but then moved back to I5s.

 

Come on Ping this year do something that makes sense rather then just to make Money!

[Konklifer]

I just want an I5 version of the Rapture i.e. A Rapture with reduced offset and sole profile so that Good Players can actually use them.

 

I've felt this last two years the I10 has been a neither here nor there club. Its too similar in offset and profile to the S57, you might as well have the S57s. There is also too much of a gap between the G10 and I10s. So the guys looking to move from Game Improvement Clubs are perhaps a bit intimidated. I know quite a few lads who bought I10s, but then moved back to I5s.

 

Come on Ping this year do something that makes sense rather then just to make Money!

 

What more do you want? They make an iron for every player.

[inertiamonster]

I just want an I5 version of the Rapture i.e. A Rapture with reduced offset and sole profile so that Good Players can actually use them.

 

I've felt this last two years the I10 has been a neither here nor there club. Its too similar in offset and profile to the S57, you might as well have the S57s. There is also too much of a gap between the G10 and I10s. So the guys looking to move from Game Improvement Clubs are perhaps a bit intimidated. I know quite a few lads who bought I10s, but then moved back to I5s.

 

Come on Ping this year do something that makes sense rather then just to make Money!

 

Rapture J is available now from their WRX department.

[seena_beena]

I just want an I5 version of the Rapture i.e. A Rapture with reduced offset and sole profile so that Good Players can actually use them.

 

Totally missin the concept of Rapture.........SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT..........not for a 'player'

 

I've felt this last two years the I10 has been a neither here nor there club. Its too similar in offset and profile to the S57, you might as well have the S57s. There is also too much of a gap between the G10 and I10s. So the guys looking to move from Game Improvement Clubs are perhaps a bit intimidated.

 

Firstly the i10 came out a year before S57............

 

Secondly guys looking to move from Game Improvement Clubs who aren't good enough to play i10's should do themselves a favour & stick to G10's!

 

Come on Ping this year do something that makes sense rather then just to make Money!

 

Anyone listening from Ping..........keep making great product..........(the money will take care of itself)

 

As a previous poster mentioned at PING there's a club for everyone................

[frozen_rope]

I hope Ping will introduce some irons and wedges without the plastic cavity medallion. I also hope Ping will resume using their old standard stainless tumbled finish for irons and putters. The newer guyson and other satin type finished are not nearly as durable as the plain tumbled.

 

 

Im so looking forward to whats coming this year from PING. Ive had my Eye 2+'s for 14 years and they need updating. What is coming this year? I am thinking if i dont like them Im just going to order a new set of eye 2 +'s - but i hope its not going to be the case

[jebb]

Seena,

 

I dont agree that there is a club for everyone and agree with BigStunnerDude's post entirely.

 

Regardless of when the i10 came out it was pitched too close to the suposed good player's club (s58 when i10 was launched and s57 in the current range). I play i10s and cant see much in terms of forgiveness or playability between these and the s57 offering. I think this is backed up by the Maltby Playability Factor aswell.

 

The other thing is that I think the continued success and popularity of the i5 shows how Ping have missed a trick with the i10s. To me there remains a chasm between the G10 and i10 offerings. To much of one.

 

A return to the tumbled finish would be great and getting rid of the horrible tacky plastic in the back would be another boon. We will see what happens.

[seena_beena]

The other thing is that I think the continued success and popularity of the i5 shows how Ping have missed a trick with the i10s. To me there remains a chasm between the G10 and i10 offerings. To much of one.

 

 

 

I don't see a chasm here, a difference YES.........no-one is still buying the i5, that's untrue.

[Robert Brown]

Good thoughts guys.... I love Ping and would not play anything else. Having said that, I would agree that there is to big a gap between the I10 and the G10...Something more like the I5 would be a better mix for the Ping iron choices...There is not very much difference between the Rapture V2 irons and the G10. The Rapture "J" is a good club for many good players that want a forgiving club that you can move the ball with... I can see why a player would want a smaller version of this after hitting them at Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. There are many choices that you can make...many players that I see would be better off with a mixed set such as I5 short irons and G5 or G10 mid and long irons... it will be fun to see what they will come out with later this year. Bob 6 hdcp

[bigstunnerdude]

See I tried the I10s and didn't like them, didn't find them all that friendly. I went back to I5s which were more forgiving for me but lacked that bit of flash. I then tried S57s last year and found them to be very good surprisingly quite forgiving for me, more so then the I10 and having a bit of flash and something special about them.

 

I also owned a set of J-Spec Raptures which were a massive improvement over the standard Raptures the poor old US and European Markets got. Why they didn't just release the J-Spec version as the standard version everywhere I don't know. However I still found the Rapture even in J-Spec to be a tad too chunky and bulky and the sole width irritated me.

 

I'd have like to have seen them do an I10/I5 version of the Rapture in the way they have done the i5/I10 version of the G5/G10 to aim it at a different level of player. I love the feel of the Rapture Clubs, Love the Titanium face and the way the balls fizzes off it and seems to go for miles. I just don't want all the ultra forgiveness and want a bit more playability.

 

Kinda like the Ap1 and Ap2 of Titleist. Similar clubs but designed to target different players.

 

 

I'd also like to see Ping start providing more shafts as a stock option and not have all the good shafts as expensive WRX upgrades which take 6 weeks to order and ship. If most companys now put Dynamic Gold Shafts of all varieties and Project X Shafts of all flexes as standard options so should Ping. Why must we always have the Ping designed and made Shaft?

[WhiteStake]

I agree with a lot of this thread. The old tumble finish would be a "home run" for Ping (I don't mind the plastic thingy in the cavity; afterall, it's used to swing weight the clubs). DG, Rifles, and other industry standard shafts would be a welcome change. Hope to get back to Ping as soon as I see a compelling reason to. I do think the I10 is an appealing club and don't really have a problem with their product line evolution.

[lotbean21]

I agree with posts re: gaps in current Ping iron range.

 

I have played G2s for the last 5 years and like them alot.

 

I find the G10s/Rapture V2s far too clumpy (like the G2 HLs) and the I10s too small. There is nothing in the current Ping line up in between.

 

I would like to see a new Ping iron with size/sole between a G2/I5.(something like a Callaway X22).

[pingshack22]

New Ping introductions always show up in tour bags at the British Open !

[jebb]

Seena,

 

That is why I said "popularity" in respect of the i5.

 

Look through the Ping related threads. How often when someone comes on asking for advice is the answer given "Well you can still get the i5s".

 

As far as the difference between the G10 and i10 offerings they are massive. They look and play differently and the gap is too wide between the models. The threads are on here to echo this.

 

As a company Ping should really be listening to its customers and not being complacent. The people who buy your (and I say that because you work for Ping dont you?) products are speaking. Whether you choose to listen is up to you.

[frozen_rope]

Complacent ? Get real.

In recent years Ping has been introducing new iron , metal wood, and putters at a faster rate than ever before in the company's history.

And the last thing Ping should be doing is "listening to its customers". Why have a bunch of guys who struggle to break 80 telling you what clubs to make. Company founder Karsten Solheim was an engineer at heart. If he "listened to customers" the company never would have got off the ground. As a sharp engineer he knew that if he made irons and putters to the designs he knew would work, then customers would come to accept and buy his designs. And they did.

Unfortunately , Karsten's heirs have been abandoning some of his design principles and instead "listening to customers". This is why

in recent years Ping has introduced so many products that don't make sense like blade irons and heavier weight putters. These newer designs go against Karsten's design convictions.

 

 

Seena,

 

That is why I said "popularity" in respect of the i5.

 

Look through the Ping related threads. How often when someone comes on asking for advice is the answer given "Well you can still get the i5s".

 

As far as the difference between the G10 and i10 offerings they are massive. They look and play differently and the gap is too wide between the models. The threads are on here to echo this.

 

As a company Ping should really be listening to its customers and not being complacent. The people who buy your (and I say that because you work for Ping dont you?) products are speaking. Whether you choose to listen is up to you.

[jones137]

The other thing is that I think the continued success and popularity of the i5 shows how Ping have missed a trick with the i10s. To me there remains a chasm between the G10 and i10 offerings. To much of one.

 

 

 

I don't see a chasm here, a difference YES.........no-one is still buying the i5, that's untrue.

 

I ordered a set of i5's with KBS Tours in January of which I received in 4 business days. Perfect combination of forgiveness & workability.

 

There is definitely a gap in their current iron lineup. Most golf companies have a tweener club (in between a player's cb and game improvement). To name a few, Tour Burners, X22 Tours, AP1's, MX 200's, etc. Ping's tweener club is the i10 which I've found is much closer to a player's cb. Honestly, IMO, the s57's are more forgiving than the i10's.

 

What I'd like to see is the i5 with a sole grind like the Tour Preferred's as stock (not having to go through WRX). It would also be nice to see the i5's have the new tech that the s57's have along with a similar finish.

[jebb]

Frozen Rope- Why dont you get real and listen to what the people who buy the product say?

You may remember them- in business we call them "the customer". They tend to be important in most enterprises.

 

a) I dont have any trouble breaking 80.

b) The company that fails to listen to its customers dies. The whole point of marketing is that you offer products that customers want rather than what you fancy producing.

c) If you cant see complacency in some of the recent offerings such as the 50th Anniversary stuff where have you been?

d) Your post carries very muddled logic because the reason guys who cant break 80 are exactly the ones Ping should listen to. They are precisely the ones that buy the product.

 

But they arent the ones asking for blade irons. If you take time to re-read my post you will see that I'm asking for irons that are more friendly towards this group of players and not making them harder. See the difference between the i5 and i10 for that.

 

And while I'm on if the recent products have been so good why are you still playing Eye 2s?

[frozen_rope]

In general terms, businesses that run by "listening to their customers" are doomed.

Instead , successful businesses design and produce innovative good functioning products which a consumer will inevitably demand.

Strong company management needs to understand the industry where they play, have convictions about what products and services will work best, and then execute their plan very well. Sure customer feedback has a role to play, but it's a limited one. When a business owner/manager starts letting customers call the shots then the business will get in trouble.

Strong company's should be flexible and open minded, change with the times and consumer tastes, no question about it. But, successful company's do all that while staying true to their heritage and company culture. Ping today doesn't have near the conviction it once had as a company. In recent years Ping has strayed away from its roots as an original innovator and started copying widespread industry trends. Sure this can work well for some short terms sales revenue boost success. But in the longer run , by spreading itself too thin, Ping will not have the value and relevance it had when the company held true to its original strong convictions.

Right here on this board there are putter makers soliciting pot shot opinions by any poster willing to contribute. Some may call that "market research". I call it weak management. For any kind of real success a new putter manufacturer needs to find an innovative design which offers significant functional improvement over the existing products in the marketplace. That's how Ping got started. That's how Callaway got started. But, these two company's have lost their focus a little bit and no longer mean what they used to mean.

One successful company that has remained true to its roots is Nike. They have had their ups and downs, but through it all Nike remains true to its product design philosophy and product distribution convictions. Nike has never chased product design fads or softened their distribution policies, and because of this the company has maintained its strength. Along the way Nike has had to say "no" to tons of customer requests and suggestions, because management was smart enough and strong enough to know what's right for their business.

Finally, I never wrote I liked Ping's newer iron and putter designs. You misunderstood my previous post.

 

Frozen Rope- Why dont you get real and listen to what the people who buy the product say?

You may remember them- in business we call them "the customer". They tend to be important in most enterprises.

 

a) I dont have any trouble breaking 80.

b) The company that fails to listen to its customers dies. The whole point of marketing is that you offer products that customers want rather than what you fancy producing.

c) If you cant see complacency in some of the recent offerings such as the 50th Anniversary stuff where have you been?

d) Your post carries very muddled logic because the reason guys who cant break 80 are exactly the ones Ping should listen to. They are precisely the ones that buy the product.

 

But they arent the ones asking for blade irons. If you take time to re-read my post you will see that I'm asking for irons that are more friendly towards this group of players and not making them harder. See the difference between the i5 and i10 for that.

 

And while I'm on if the recent products have been so good why are you still playing Eye 2s?

[Gridlock]

I am going to hold back judgement on the most current lines, but am hoping that PING designs a mid-low handicap iron that has these attributes:

 

a) Thin topline and headshape of the i10

b) Offset of the i5

c) Slightly more bounce (But less than a G10)

d) A full complement of matching wedges

 

and Finally

 

e) Made in the U.S.A.

 

It is starting to bother me more than design features that PING is slowly moving all product lines over to China. First Woods, Hybrids, then Tour Wedges, Redwoods, etc. Woods, even Fairways and Hybrids, don't bother me as much, I know that Titanium is a bear to work with and too cost ineffective to work with in the States. But the irons and wedges and putters, come on. Been to PING, seen the manufacturing process, and truly believe that the only reason they have anything done in China is to cut costs, not because the product is manufactured just as well as it is in Phoenix for less.

[307golf]

Their sales numbers will tell them where to go next... Something tells me that if they're selling a lot of i5's, there will be a 'new' i5 coming soon.

 

Also, don't forget the groove rule. There will be quite a few new iron and wedge sets next year because of the rule, or 'condition of competition' change.

 

Oh, and I definitely agree about the shafts. Use the standards, DG, PX, KBS, Nippon, etc. I hate that there's an upcharge to get back to standard shafts which I already know that I like.

[macboy]

All of the that have released this year confirm with the new groove rule . Check the website.

[307golf]

Macboy;

 

No, you are incorrect. Their current lineup does NOT conform (or confirm I guess) with the groove rule which will go into effect next year. IOW, their current clubs will not be able to be played in high level competitions (tour events) next year and the USGA events beginning in 2014. I just checked the website and it clearly states that they do not conform to the new rule.

 

307golf

[Bee-Man]

Accepting that you can't please all of the people all of the time...and being a long term fan of PING.

 

It struck me as odd that they broke stride and released the S57 closer than normal to the i10 and the S58's......which were doing ok....

I think they decided the 57's were a real step forward and not to be held back...hard to disagree with that....

 

The two year cycle is credible, inspires loyalty......and allows the company to plan nearly to the letter......so, just to play king for a day....here's what i would do if holding the marketing reins.....

 

# A single launch of three versions of irons and a single players line of wedges for every odd year

# A single launch of all drivers, fairway woods and hybrids each even year

 

.....this would hopefully keep PING fans grooved and interested with something significant coming out every year...

 

I would launch in February.....September never quite made total sense to me.....unless your in playing weather all year round.....

 

1) Three irons for release in 2009 based on the S57........

2) the players club as it is....S57 - stopping at PW

3) A re-styled i5 with same specs and similar looks to the S57 - stopping at PW

4) A G series.......with G10 specs and similar S57 cosmetics.........the G series includes gap and sand wedge.

5) A players line of wedges to to integrate with the 2009 versions of the 'S57 and i5'

 

A wider range of standard shaft options certainly is needed.......

 

Forums are a great thing...nothing more than my two cents though..... :drinks:

[jones137]

Accepting that you can't please all of the people all of the time...and being a long term fan of PING.

 

It struck me as odd that they broke stride and released the S57 closer than normal to the i10 and the S58's......which were doing ok....

I think they decided the 57's were a real step forward and not to be held back...hard to disagree with that....

 

The two year cycle is credible, inspires loyalty......and allows the company to plan nearly to the letter......so, just to play king for a day....here's what i would do if holding the marketing reins.....

 

# A single launch of three versions of irons and a single players line of wedges for every odd year

# A single launch of all drivers, fairway woods and hybrids each even year

 

.....this would hopefully keep PING fans grooved and interested with something significant coming out every year...

 

I would launch in February.....September never quite made total sense to me.....unless your in playing weather all year round.....

 

1) Three irons for release in 2009 based on the S57........

2) the players club as it is....S57 - stopping at PW

3) A re-styled i5 with same specs and similar looks to the S57 - stopping at PW

4) A G series.......with G10 specs and similar S57 cosmetics.........the G series includes gap and sand wedge.

5) A players line of wedges to to integrate with the 2009 versions of the 'S57 and i5'

 

A wider range of standard shaft options certainly is needed.......

 

Forums are a great thing...nothing more than my two cents though..... :drinks:

 

Yep, that would be perfect.