Ping I500 Irons
The Evolution Of The Ping I500 Irons
Although Ping has produced excellent irons for many decades, they have stayed out of the forged iron market, until fairly recently.
I for one am glad that they combined the forged iron with the hollow back construction to create good-looking irons with excellent workability and performance.
With the G700 irons and Ping i500 irons release date in 2018, the company ventured into a new category that they have not competed in previously.
This was done in response to PXG launching its hollow body irons in 2014 followed by TaylorMade’s release of the extremely popular P790’s in August 2017 and Titleist’s 718 AP3 irons.
While the i500 irons target the player’s distant iron market, the Ping G700 irons focus on the market for game improvement. In this Ping i500 irons review, we will look at the differences, advantages, and specifications.
The Ping i500 Irons are a premium product and fall under the Ultra-Premium Market. They have a hollow body design that improves forgiveness and playability.
Irons are constructed with a forged face but unlike its rivals from TaylorMade and Titleist, it does not use tungsten weighting or internal foam to dampen vibration.
Vibration can have a lasting impact on your elbow and wrist joints. It also affects your ability to torque your shaft.
Ping is the first to venture into manufacturing a forged club. The Ping i500 irons face is forged while the body is cast.
They can be combined with hollow heads to create a whole new class.
It is aesthetically pleasingly on the eye while offering the performance a skillful player expects and some extra distance and forgiveness. The topline is slim with a muscle back appearance.
Ping I500 Vs. Ping II210
The Ping i500 irons succeed the i210 irons therefore you would expect some differences or enhancements on the i500.
Ping claims that the i500 irons can provide additional distance. This claim has been proven to be true by testing. This is a result of changes in spin rate and stronger standard lofts on the irons. Wedge lofts are the same on both sets.
Lower spin assists in the distance but offers less stopping power on the green than the Ping i210 irons.
The i210 irons tend to offer more accuracy out of the rough and from the fairway than the i500.
Taylormade P790 Vs Ping I500
TaylorMade P790s were released before the Ping i500 irons with some notable differences.
The lofts on the two sets are the same with the exception of the 3-iron in the Ping i500s with a stronger loft than the TaylorMade P790 the i500 5-iron and 6-iron have higher lofts than the P790 irons.
All irons are the same length as the opposition except for Ping i500 3-iron to 6-irons that is marginally longer than the equivalent P790 irons and the pitching wedge of the i500 being shorter than the P790.
Ping i500 irons from 3-iron to 8-iron have a slightly lower lie angle than the matching P790 clubs while the 9-iron and wedges of both brands have the same lie angle.
Most lower handicap golfers will find the Ping i500 irons more to their liking than the TaylorMade p790s.
The Long-Term Performance Test of the Ping I500 Irons: What They Did for Me
My golf game has many issues. The first is the fact that I hit my ball with more loft than ideal. That means I tend to hit the ball a little high and with a touch too much spin.
In calm conditions, that isn’t a problem but as soon as a breeze gets up then it is that much harder for me to control my flight.
Given that I play virtually all my golf in the wind, this is not ideal. This is to say the least.
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Tests confirmed that the i500s lowered spin rates a bit and flattened the launch angle a lot.
After going into power lofts, I finally achieved the launch angle I wanted for each iron and the spin rate that I needed to stop the irons from bouncing into the wind.
I made sure to test a long iron because I didn’t want to find out that the 4-iron was flying little or no further than the 6-iron, which is a definite concern when you start using stronger lofts. This was not the case.
Distance gaps were constant, ball speeds increased, as well.
I should stress that while my i500s are anything up to a club longer than my i200s, this was not part of my decision. I was looking for consistency and control.
With such high lofts, it was only natural that extra distance would be inevitable.
I love the head shapes and proportions of the i500s so that was easy.
I feel that the soft i210s are better, particularly for short shots. However, the numbers gave me great faith in the decision to make the change.
Ping I500 Irons Review
Are you looking to purchase a brand new set of golf clubs? Today we will review the Ping i500 irons and dive into the features, looks, feel, sound, and performance.
Ping i500 irons come with a more professional look than other famous Ping models, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t shine on other aspects such as distance and forgiveness.
They also come with a hollow body construction similar to that of G700.
The i500 irons for golf are very similar to G700, but there are many differences that will be noticed by golfers once they take them to the fairway. Let’s get into the full review.
Can Ping I500 irons be used by high-handicappers?
Ping i500 Irons’ aesthetics are as you would expect of a true players club. This is why they were created.
High handicap golfers may find the look and feel of these irons rather intimidating. The i500 range may work for mid-handicap handicap golfers who consistently hit the ball.
The ping I500 is not recommended for high handicap golfers. Instead, they are suggested to be replaced with more flexible cavity back irons.
A Long-Term Ping I500 Irons Test: The Conclusion
The i500s made my first rounds of golf so wonderful. The iron shots that I have taken into headwinds, which always had the best front edge, suddenly thudded into the hearts greens.
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And I will admit that becoming a club longer overnight didn’t exactly make me unhappy. This was partly due to lofts.
My concern was that, as the greens got firmer, I might struggle for control. However, getting my iron shots stopped quickly has not been a problem. In fact, they stop too quickly.
I am not worried about it anymore, having just returned from two early-season links trips.
Rather, I have, for the first time in my life, been able to thump mid-irons into a stiff headwind and maintain a stable flight.
If your spin rate and ball flight are low then the i500s may not be right for you. Your iron shots may drop too fast and land too far.
If you are like me and all it is about control, then the i500s can’t be recommended enough.
The Sound and Feel of Ping I500 Irons
The i500 iron gives an iron-like sound at impact. The sound is muted and soft. It gives an explosive sound from the sweet spot which is pleasing on the ears.
To give the impact a firm sound, the weighted tungsten and the forging face dampen vibrations.
It feels more like an iron from a distance than it does. The iron has a greater impact and can feel as if it is about to smash the ball.
However, the i500 irons do not conceal mishits. You will easily notice the difference between a miss and a pure strike making it hard to locate each miss.
RESOURCE: Complete my Short Game Practice Plan Challenge (10 Levels)
Ping I500 Verdict
Moving your game forward to the next level using blades rather than cavity back irons is not easy but worthwhile.
A set of good looking irons will give you better control and performance. If you’re a more skilled player this will help reduce your score while making the game easier.
Click the following link to find out more about the Ping i500 Irons.
Click Here to Check the Ping I500 Price.
The Club Lasts
We will be comparing the new i210 with a more traditional design iron. For average swing speed players, they may be able to see seven or eight more yards. However, higher speed golfers could get as far as 15 miles. It should go without saying that the actual numbers will vary from player to player depending on how the club is delivered. This disclaimer is for the possibility that your mileage might vary.
The more compelling point is that the distance gains come with nearly identical launch angle, despite the fact that i500 lofts are up to 2.5deg degrees stronger than the i210.
The loft police will, no doubt, be up and arms looking over the spec sheet, but the reality is that any discussion around static loft that ignores peak height and descent angle isn’t worth having. As we’ve said on several occasions before, static loft is nearly meaningless. A slew of dynamic variables contributes to the flight of a golf ball.
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“We were comfortable making the lofts a little bit stronger because the ball goes so higher with these irons.” – Marty Jertson
What you get with i500, according to PING, is an iron that launches appreciably higher than anything else in its class – particularly at long iron lengths. Jertson states that average golfers are able to detect a difference of between 2% and 3% in height, while tour-caliber players will be able to identify changes in heights of between 4% and 5%. The i500’s peak height is 10% more than the competitive models, according to PING. 10% should not be taken lightly and should immediately become apparent for anyone who plays the club.
An increase in peak height will steepen the landing angle. This makes for soft landings on greens.
This iron is up to two times longer than the traditional design. Practically, this means you will find yourself hitting an eight-iron where you might have hit a 7 before. Now the cynics will say that PING has done little more than stamp a different number on the sole of the club, but the reality is you’re going to be hitting an iron that flies higher, and because an 8-iron is half an inch shorter than a 7, you’re going to swinging a club that’s easier to control and hit straight. By any practical measure, that’s a performance advantage.
It’s so rare, in fact, that we believe the i500s are only the second Ping iron model in the last three decades to incorporate any form of forging (albeit on this occasion it’s only the face that’s stamped into shape, as the body is still cast).
To illustrate where each new model fits into Ping’s range, we got TG test pro Kevin Hale to hit both, along with the current iBlade and outgoing i200 (all of which fall into the better player category) to reveal how all four models compare on a launch monitor.
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Small Irons Deliver Big Results
Fundamental to the challenge is the reality that it’s easy to get distance out of a big club, but it’s hard to do in a smaller club. To give you some clarity around what we’re talking about, the i500 has the same face size as the new i210 (similar to the i200), and while the blade length is a bit longer, it retains the offset of PING’s most player-centric design, the iBlade. The i500 iron, although not the smallest, can be used to improve your game.
G700-like hollow-body construction is offered by the i500. The defining performance characteristics (high launch and bigtime ball speed) come from a C300 maraging steel face that’s robotically welded to the frame. It’s the same material PING uses in its fairway wood and hybrid faces, and it creates what PING’s Marty Jertson describes as a diving board effect. It not only creates higher ball speeds that you would get with traditional iron design, but also a significantly greater launch (PING claims +/- 700 RPM at 7-iron, as compared to the i210).
Performance
Ping says that the 7-iron Ping i500 will produce up to 15 more yards than the 7-iron Ping i210.
It can also be explained by the higher loft and the better technology of the hollow head. Also, the extra speed from the forged faces, as well as the lower spin, are some reasons for this.
The compact Ping i500 iron head is built for speed, and it does not disappoint with the seriously inspiring average ball speed of 124mph generating a hefty average carry of 185 yards.
Much of the increased performance can be ascribed to the low spin that is around 4300 rpm coupled with the relatively low launch angle and ball flight.
What you gain in distance, you may lose in the lack of stopping power on the greens due to the lower spin and incoming angle.
The Ping i500 irons provide the performance of a blade with a touch of forgiveness.
