my honeymoon with SGI's

[MtlJeff]

[quote name='3wggle' date='17 April 2010 - 07:28 PM' timestamp='1271546912' post='2385426']
Sweet, thanks for the update. My biggest concern about moving to SGI irons is the trajectory control so your post is what I'd hoped to see.

I was hitting some G15's into the net earlier today and thought they felt great. I'm not much of a traditionalist and have always preferred cast cavity back irons anyways, so looks didn't dissuade me in any way. Pretty sure my next set of irons will be some PING SGI.
[/quote]

trajectory control and distance control have not been an issue at all. My gut feeling is that i will average 1-1.5 more greens in reg this year based on my first few rounds. The only issue with "distance control" so to speak is that your misses don't feel as bad as they would with a players club, so sometimes it feels like you hit it OK, but then you end up 10-15yds short of the target. But it's not the clubs fault, it's just the mishits don't feel as bad. For example the shot would've have been worse with a players club but it also would have felt a lot worse. I'm becomming better at recognizing where i am hitting them on the the face in every round.

[TCMP]

Jeff-

I too have found controlling trajectory rather easy with the G15's. Actually, if you can purposely catch the ball a groove or two thin, it works fantastic into the wind. They go the exact same distance thin or not for me.

I regularly play in 40-50km/h winds here in the states and don't have much of a problem with them.

[Ian]

Played my new G15's yesterday with "2 club wind" and freezing rain on 6 or 7 holes. Three layers of clothing, longjohns and gloves between shots. Miserable day and the course was winter burned to the point that even middle fairway lies were bare/hardpan.
My 5 iron approaches from 165-175 yds. were on the green or very close...even into the wind. One uphill par 3, 157 yds. I hit it off the toe and ended up on the right fringe and almost pin high.
My old clubs in these conditions would have produced a disappointing round. The G15's have elevated my confidence, especially on long approaches and Im thrilled with them.
Can't wait to play in sunny, warm weather without the bulk of extra clothing. Next week is shaping up nicely!
Go Ping.

[towndog]

How do the G15 compare with the Cleveland TA5? I thought it was a really forgiving club.

[Triplesticks]

Add one more to the list of G15 converts. Played at my buddy's club last Saturday and they had numerous vendors set up for demo. I'm no club ho ,(been playing my mp32's for a while now) so I really had no intention on falling hard in love. I wandered over to the tents, hit a couple drivers, then remarked to the PING rep that I'd like to demo one of his shovels. Egg meet face, foot meet mouth, or whatever cliche fits properly. Needless to day I was impressed, forgiveness, distance, forgiveness, feel, forgiveness, trajectory, forgiveness. Could I possibly be in love with a set of shovels?! Monday rolled around and I stopped by Edwin Watts(still not convinced, I mean I play Mp32's, I'm to good for these clubs. I think this stage is called denial) , jumped in the launch monitor and was pounding 7i's 170, wt?, smash factor( never heard of this) 1.4 through 1.5 ( he said this was a good thing). PINGS fitting was great, Red dots will be here Friday:)

[norge5]

I think I'm about to follow suit. What shaft did you get?

[Triplesticks]

AWT stiff.

[golfnuthb]

Been watching this thread with great interest for awhile now. Currently playing Mizuno MX 20's 4-pw. Did about a year with MP 52's and 57's before that. Prior to the last few Mizuno years I gamed some i3 blades for about 3 seasons. I also did a couple rather brief stretches with some i5's.While the i5's are great playable irons they are not much more forgiving than the Mizunos in the long irons...slightly but not enough difference to justify the look and the i5's are no more forgiving and are certainly less playable in the scoring irons pw-7i compared to any Mizuno irons Ive played...JMO.

Now to the point of my participation in the thread. Like all of us I'm looking for more forgiveness in the long irons. When I nut the MX 20 4 iron its a thing of beauty. When I miss it just a little it can get pretty ugly. This can happen from one day to the next on the same hole on the same course. Great shot one day ...bad shot the next. You all know the routine. So I picked up a brand new set of G5's for $399 the other day.I'm on a quest to have some easy to hit long irons. Looks like Im going to have a weird mixed bag. Mx 20-7-pw and G5 4-6. I have no problems with 7-PW in the Mizunos but look forward to the bigtime forgiveness I'm going to get from the G5 long irons. If I have reasonably better success with the Pings Ill reshaft them to match the standard DG's in my MX20's.I love Ping and Mizuno. Cast and forged.It could be an interesting combo...

If it goes really good I may just keep kicking Mizzys out of the bag...

[norge5]

It has been widely discussed that KJ Choi has gone the G15 route. And he is not being sponsored (yet) to do so. Out of curiousity, I checked on his stats and , lo and behold, he is a good 5% above the PGA average in GIR. All other stats are right on the PGA average. Gotta believe he likes his decision at this point. He's having a great year so far.

[muzz]

Played my new Raptures yesterday, never even hit a ball with them before the round because I got them late Thursday afternoon.......
I hit them nice, never an issue with the topline or wide sole, and now I like the way they look at address.

Launched a couple of beautius long irons, including a 190+ 4 iron to the center of the green.
I never played Flighted shafts before, and these have AWT Stiff- they feel good, and so far I like the trajectory, we'll see how much I like them as I play them more often.......short irons seemed to go a little lower than I expected, but then again I never played a "flighted" iron before and it seems to me that Pings AWT is somewhat similar in application.

I think I'm really gonna like these.......I hope so, I'm playing again tomorrow morning!!

[rockwallraider]

ordered g15 with x100. will have them Monday. cannot wait to play em. I am a 4.5hcp but am very inconsistant

[TCMP]

Just ordered a full set of G5's. Liked the G15's a lot, but the price of the G5's swayed me at only $50 per club.

I still have the G15 5-7 iron for comparison purposes.

[Cwing]

How many pros are now playing he g15 on tour? KJ i one -- others? How about "other" tours?

[norge5]

[quote name='Cwing' date='25 April 2010 - 08:22 AM' timestamp='1272198134' post='2399318']
How many pros are now playing he g15 on tour? KJ i one -- others? How about "other" tours?
[/quote]


Chris Riley, Garrett Willis, and Chris Tidland from Ping site. I am sure there are others on the Nationwide, European,and Asian tours but they don't what's in the bag on their site.

[ventus2cc]

Until end of last year been very happy with Mizuno MX-17. Fairly consistent iron play. Got fitted at Mizuno for MX-200, but did not get on with the Project X shaft in them. "Upgraded" to STD MP-52 which worked a lot better for me, but still not as consistent as my MX-17. So after see KJ Choi Augusta and reading here on golfwrx about the G15 decided to get then. After hitting about 100 balls on the range, today done my first 18 hole and got one of my best rounds ever. First of all have to mention the G15 are absolutely no miracle worker. They don't make your bad swing good, but they do help not perfect hit shots having a good result (for me!). They have proven today as being very accurate. Looking through my oobgolf statistics. I average 37% GIR over the last half year, today with G15 had 66% GIR. That says a lot about the improvement in iron play. Am excited am looking forward to this golf season with the G15 in my bag!

[draw1]

This is a great thread! I'll be transitioning from the MP-52s to a more forgiving iron.

My shortlist is:

1) MX-300 (I know they are not that much different than the 52s)
2) MX-200
3) G15
4) AP1

I'm curious to see where I wind up...will post as I figure out.

BTW - I'm not a low handicap - just a mid to high handicaper looking to join the club!

[weten2]

custom order G5's with almost any steel shaft and cost will be $400-$560.

[MtlJeff]

pretty cool to see a lot of people considering similar changes to me, hope you have as good a success as i have so far!

[norge5]

Well I'm following your lead and I just pulled the trigger on a set of G15's with X100 shafts. I even ordered the wedges. I can't wait to get them. I have enjoyed following this thread as much as any other I think. It brings out a lot of differing opinions which always makes it interesting.

[TCMP]

[quote name='MtlJeff' date='27 April 2010 - 12:05 AM' timestamp='1272344746' post='2403330']
pretty cool to see a lot of people considering similar changes to me, hope you have as good a success as i have so far!
[/quote]


If we can get another 1 to 1.5 GIR per round, that will be a godsend.

[cunn1n9]

Well isn't this interesting. Looks like everyone has at the same time gone in the same direction. Here's my story.

Played for years with the following Hogan Apex Plus, MP33, Ping i3 Blade, Srixon i302, Ping s58, and lastly s57.

Loved the S57's and had a backup set of s58's. Was in my favorite golf shop a while back and noticed a set of i5's and thought why not have a set of more forgiving clubs. Traded in my backup s58's for the i5's. Promptly went out and shot one of the best rounds I had in years. Couldn't miss. Thought to myself "what a fool I have been for playing the 'player' clubs all these years". Then I saw KJ Choi with his G15's. Thought "...mmm - he's actually a lot better than me - maybe I should even go the Rapture's". Found a set second hand and bought them. Unbelievable! What a club. After I got over the chunky sole - which doesn't affect its play except to send the ball on an incredible high long effortless trajectory that seems to unceasingly go straight at the target - I think they now look great as well. Everything else looks small and doesn't inspire my confidence. I was worried about the sole out of deep rough however if you get the club on the ball with even a gentle swing the ball goes like a missile. I have never enjoyed playing golf this much. Sold the S57's. Still have the i5's. But I am now a Rapture fan. Even bought the Sand Wedge and will buy the UW too. Considering the Lob as well. I have not problem chipping and it just makes the game so easy. Funny thing is that now my scores look more like a player but my irons don't - guess what I prefer it that way too!

[sharkiesj]

Did you get the Raptures or the newer Rapture V2's?

I'm curious about the Raptures as well.

[TCMP]

[quote name='weten2' date='26 April 2010 - 07:45 PM' timestamp='1272329148' post='2402720']
custom order G5's with almost any steel shaft and cost will be $400-$560.
[/quote]


$392 for 3-PW from Discount Dans

[caller]

have been playing two sets of Srixon I-701 Tour irons (one with PX 6.0 and the other with Nippon 1150GH Tour Stiff).

Only part of game I can be proud of for being 13handicapper would be my iron play.

However, this has been taken its toll due to my lack of practice or mental issues I had last few months.

When my swing is on, I have great day with precise iron play however, when it's gone, I get this nasty low hooks or off the toe shots
that punish me dearly.

Been thinking about more forgiving irons since I played with some scratch players and pros playing AP1 or Ping "shovels".
They look at my iron and say "very good looking iron but you gotta be perfec with these!"

That got me to try out Ping N Flight center for proper fitting and found out some facts I never been aware of.

- My swing speed is faster than what I thought of.
- Off center hits were causing very severe distance/direction challenges.
- I always thought I was standard lie and did show as standard on lie board but with radar and different testing, I happened to be Red code for Ping (flatter lie than standard)
- My most misses were hooks not slice.

I tried S57 (of course, I was in denial stage!), I15 and G15 but found out that G15 was the best fit for me and most consistant with direction and distance.

I was suprised by the feel (to me, either cast or forged both feel great if I have pure shots), accuracy, boring high trajectory that I need, and consistancy.

I ordered the set and waiting on them but hitting from bay to actual 10mph windy range, numbers didn't not lie.
I could clearly see the difference between G15 and my current set so I am moving on.

Once I get the set and try out, I will let y'all know how it went.

[harmonica]

Mini-thread-Jack here but - will the Ping NFlight system be compromised if the fitter uses super old faded dead range balls? A fitter at a range uses dead balls that go 75% distance at best. Would that be an issue with a Ping fitting?

[TCMP]

[quote name='harmonica' date='27 April 2010 - 03:28 PM' timestamp='1272400119' post='2404577']
Mini-thread-Jack here but - will the Ping NFlight system be compromised if the fitter uses super old faded dead range balls? A fitter at a range uses dead balls that go 75% distance at best. Would that be an issue with a Ping fitting?
[/quote]


I would say yes. That is a problem because spin, SF, LA are all affected by the ball.

[cunn1n9]

Original Raptures. Can't see much difference and cost was right.

Would be interested in opinions of those who have done a comparison of original Rapture and the V2.

[hammerheel]

I'm looking forward to upgrading to G15 from my starter set. Can't wait to play some quality clubs!

[sharkiesj]

[quote name='cunn1n9' date='27 April 2010 - 09:24 PM' timestamp='1272417866' post='2405175']
Original Raptures. Can't see much difference and cost was right.

Would be interested in opinions of those who have done a comparison of original Rapture and the V2.
[/quote]


I'd like to see that too, a comparison between the original Rapture and the newer V2. Anyone?

[rafal]

[quote name='hammerheel' date='28 April 2010 - 09:29 AM' timestamp='1272418142' post='2405195']
I'm looking forward to upgrading to G15 from my starter set. Can't wait to play some quality clubs!
[/quote]

You won't be disappointed!