X-18 vs I5 vs LT2

[sdbui2000]

From 12 sets down to the final 3

I have tried many different irons and have narrowed it down to these 3. I have hit them both multiple times and just having a hard time deciding. What are your experiences with these irons. Thanks for your input.

[millercg]

All three sets are good. I don't think you could go wrong with them. I demoed all 3 of these sets a few months ago. If it were me selecting the irons of these 3, I would pick the LT2's because of the following:

 

1. Never been a Callaway iron fan. I understand there's a lot of love for their irons, and I've actually tried to like them, but I just never found them to my liking. I've demoed the X18 and X18 pro's on several occasions, but just never felt comfortable hitting them.

 

2. The LT2's have a thinner profile, and have great feel. They were slightly lower in trajectory, but I'm normally a high ball hitter, so this was fine. The LT2's and the I5's were both good on the sims, but I just felt more comfortable with the LT2's. Distance and forgiveness seemed to be about the same.

 

Best thing to do is go back, and only hit these 3 irons the next time, and pick the one that you hit the best, and feel comfortable with.

 

Good Luck.

 

:stop:

[app10]

I liked the I5's on both feel and forgiveness by a small margin over the LT2, and by a large margin on feel over the x-18.

[jkawaguchi]

I was able to try out the LT2's and the X-18's...the LT2's gave a lot more to me in the feel department, the X-18's didn't have any variation in how the club felt when you hit it in different spots, i.e. toe, heel, sweetspot. I've ended up with the LT2's and haven't been disappointed, but make sure that you have a chance to hit these irons outside before you buy...there's is definitely no substitute for the great outdoors...

[StarFleetGolfer]

I5's in a landslide in trems of feel & playability. LT2's are horrible.

[WCD]

What is horrible the LT2's? They are a great set of Irons. I'd rank the them in the following order LT2, I5 and X18.

[rb83993]

I was making the same choice a few months ago and choose the I5's. First I could not get over the look of the x-18' or x-18 pro, just to bulky. The LT's and the I5's were very close for me, but it came down to the PING reputation for fitting. I felt comfortable with there fitting method, don't know how well TM trains the local sales guys in fitting. Well I have played two rounds with the I5's and can't be more happy! I am really surprised in how soft they feel, I am coming from Hogan Apex +, and the short irons are like thorwing darts. I was able to hit the long irons very straight, distance was hard to tell because both rounds were played in 45* temperatures. I also got two tour nickel wedges 52 & 56 very nice, lots of spin and great around the greens.

[Husky18]

I5's in a landslide in trems of feel & playability. LT2's are horrible.

:stop:

[bd8802]

1) Ping I5: Man, I really like these clubs. i keep wanting to take out the X-Tour's but I can't because I am hitting the I5's so well in the long irons. They are just stupid easy for me to hit. They are forgiving, and provide a good ammount of workability. I think they are the real deal. I don't think you would go wrong with these.

 

2) TM LT2: I prefered a handful of clubs over these (Cleveland CG4, Mizuno MX-23, Callaway X-tours, ect). They were not bad, but did not jump out at me.

 

3) Callaway X-18: Never hit them so I can not really tell you one way or the other

[aturi]

I5's are easy to hot and you can knock them down when needed. They are awesome.

[^m9]

Just tested the i5s and x18s yesterday at the range, and b/w these 2, i5s by a landslide! I hit over 300 balls total when testing, so I got a really good feel for each iron, although when I started getting into a groove, I wouldn't even pick up the 18s anymore.

 

The i5s feel soo soft when nutted, and super-forgiving on off center hits (even bad ones with so-so swings). The trajectory is perfect with the TT CS lites for me - high, but not ballooning (I'm a low ball hitter, so these shafts help a lot.

 

You really can't go wrong with any of the sets, but I prefer the irons in this order: i5, lt2, x18.

 

Good luck.

 

jp

[willie991]

If you don't mind, I'll take a little different approach. If you can't decide between these three sets, after hitting all three, that tells me you hit them equally well. Therefore, let's look at some side notes. Personally... from those three I would first eliminate the LT2's. Why? Historically, Taylor Made clubs do not hold their resale anywhere near like the Pings and Callaways. Why should that make a difference? First, if you are interested in ANY TM club, just wait 6 months. You can purchase them at half price when the next model is released. If you pay, say, $700 for the LT2's and in 30 days see them on sale for $399, you could be unhappy. The game is tough enough without having negative thoughts in your mind about your clubs.

 

That leaves the Callaways and the Pings. Callaway irons have a great reputation! Callaway customer service is second to none! You can't go wrong with Callaway... if you are comfortable with the look at set up. The X-18's will have a little wider sole than the I5's. The X-18's are somewhat "standard off shelf... take it or leave it". Custom orders to fit your needs are possible, but a little more out of the ordinary with Callaway. The X-18's you purchase will probably have a "one flex fits all" uniflex shaft.

 

Ping's customer service is every bit as good... and some would profess better... than Callaway. Historically, the best customer service in the industry. You can have the Pings fitted by a professional to your exact specs and have the set delivered to your door in less than a week. Correct lie angle, correct shaft, correct grip size... Completely custom fitted to you at no extra charge. In the future, if you have any questions about the specs of your irons, simply call Ping... give them the serial number off the hosel... and they have a record on file of that set's specs. For a very minimum charge, they will adjust loft and lie for you at the factory. And, Ping is the ONLY current U.S. club manufacturer that manufacturers their iron heads here in the U.S. Both TM and Callaway's iron heads are cast in the Far East and imported to the U.S. Ping owns their own foundry and casts all their iron heads there.

 

There, I've given you loads of drivel that may or may not mean anything to you. Definitely, go with the irons you feel most comfortable with in your hands. However, if I hit all three sets equally as well there would be no hesitation on my part... I'd opt for the Pings.

[sdbui2000]

Sorry, I was referring to the X18 Pro series. The reg x18 have too much offset.

[schmidlack]

I prefer the i5's due to the durability, fitting, no chrome to wear out, and my god they feel solid and I just can't seem to mishit them. Your mileage may vary of course, but I'm really impressed and these are my first ever Pings.

[camquest]

I agree with the above postings that state the LT 2's have the most feel of the three.

[pingshack22]

Of the three i5's all the way. They are very forgiving, have a great feel, and are workable as well.

[rednumbers69]

x 18s

[winston99]

I had the very same problem that you are going through. I was choosing between the I5's, and LT2's. I used to have a set of TM LT's and really liked them but was offered a deal on them that I could not turn down so I sold them. So I figured I would try the LT2's and they would be better since they are the second version... Well I was pretty dissappointed. I wasn't quite sure what it was because I LOVE the look of the iron but for some reason the clubs did not feel all that great (to me) and were really just all around okay. I could shape them hit them high or low but nothing really spectacular going on. The I5's were very similar to the TM's in the fact that I can easily shape the ball but I think that the feel is much better. Another couple of nice things about ping clubs is that the blasted finish on ping clubs also wears very nicely. The metal used for the I5's is softer then most casted clubs allowing adjustments to be made up to 4*'s either way upright or flat. Match that up with choice of grip size, shaft, and lie fitting as well as swing weight and you got yourself one hell of an iron. I recently sent my irons back to ping to get the lies adjusted 2*'s upright and I had them back including shipping time in 7 days. It was only 13 dollars for the adjustments and they repainted my first groove white free of charge! I didnt even ask for that to be done.

 

One thing to note about the I5's is that they are slightly lighter then other OEM irons on the market right now so if you want a D-2 or heavier swing weight make sure you order them like that. If you want to make them heavier down the road you just send them into ping and they remove the ping label in the cavity and replace it with a heavier one and bingo heavier club!

 

All I'm basically trying to get at is both irons if fitted properly can preform great. I just thought that the pings felt much better and with all the ease of customization as well as affordable and fast adjustments ping was the definate winner. If this post was a post between the origional LT's and the I5's I think it would be a closer battle but here I would say that the I5's nose out in front of this pack.

 

Matt.