S
Snelly
Guest
First round of golf with Ping i25's after being fitted courtesy of GM & Ping...
I played golf yesterday for the first time with the new clubs that I was very kindly given by Ping after the fitting session at Centurion Club earlier this month and I thought I would let you know how things went.
I was the co-organiser of an event at Knole Park GC and we had a great day in fantastic weather on what is a superb golf course and an excellent test of golf. That aside, my (un-hit) new clubs were in my bag and didn't have a single mark on them - absolutely pristine.
Knole starts with a long par 3 of 193 yards and based on the fact gleaned in the Trackman session that the i25's were 12 yards longer than my Callaway X-16 Pros, I decided on a 4 iron. Unfortunately for me, I middled it and it rocketed away, clearing the green and leaving me with a difficult chip back resulting in a double bogey which wasn't ideal but the club ball contact on the tee shot was great and I was pleased rather than despondent.
This proved to be a good marker for what followed during the first few holes. I was past the pin or through the green on every occasion, basically because I could not quite believe that I needed one less all the time after over a decade with the old irons. By the time I got to the 5th hole, I had got a decent grasp of this though and with about 185 yards to an elevated green, I decided on a 6 iron whereas previously, I may have even gone with a 4 but certainly a 5. 6 proved correct and a well struck shot finished close to the flag, resulting in a birdie.
In summary then, the i25's are a bit more than a club longer than my old irons but have the same lofts. They feel absolutely great to play with and have a lovely trajectory that is noticeably and pleasingly lower than the Callaways. They also make a fantastic crunching sound at impact with the ball racing away off the face every time.
Without question, they are the nicest irons that I have ever played with and a significant improvement in every sense over my old irons. Longer for sure and very satisfying to hit good shots with. Excellent feedback on the shot and additionally, the one really poor contact I made yesterday ended up with a reasonable result despite being fat, and it put me on the front edge so you can certainly say that they are forgiving.
Ping i25 irons - highly recommended. Really superb clubs with the right shafts in them.
Moving on, Ping also gave me an i25 19 degree hybrid. This is also a fantastic club. I used it off the tee several times and I played with two guys off 9 and 10, one of whom is a reasonably powerful hitter and the hybrid was longer than their drives (240 yards ish) and dead straight. I didn't have the chance to try it off the deck though. It is a good looking club too that isn't too chunky. Another club to unreservedly recommend and I liked it so much, I am thinking of buying a 21 degree version to replace the 3 iron. More testing required first though.
Wedges. Also excellent. I played with 54 degree and 60 degree Ping Gorge wedges yesterday and they were faultless. The latter being a delight to chip with and easy to hit low with check or lift the ball high for a soft landing. This was a surprise to me as I expected them to be different to this. I was anticipating them being tricky to judge at shorter than full distances and that they might ping the ball off too rapidly. This wasn't the case and they are excellent from a variety of distances with the chipping ability being especially good. Best thing about the wedges is the feel off the face and the balance. You can really get a good feel for clubhead speed and this is great for controlling distance on pitches and definitely chips.
In conclusion, despite it being very early days, I do think that these are going to affect my scores in a positive way. I had two double bogeys and three bogeys yesterday. Three of these lost shots were caused by stupid course management decisions and the other 4 were direct results of going through the greens during the early part of the round. I also had 4 birdies though so would've had a good round if I had trusted the clubs to go further at an earlier point than I did!
I did not expect to think that these clubs could or would meaningfully affect my scores but now I do and this is surprising and to some extent, at odds with my normal view.
I am looking forward to my next game on the 5th May for further experimentation.
Final point, if you are looking for new clubs then I recommend the above. All are absolutely great and because of the fitting process, fit my swing.
I am a convert. Custom fitting works. Now where is that humble pie?
I played golf yesterday for the first time with the new clubs that I was very kindly given by Ping after the fitting session at Centurion Club earlier this month and I thought I would let you know how things went.
I was the co-organiser of an event at Knole Park GC and we had a great day in fantastic weather on what is a superb golf course and an excellent test of golf. That aside, my (un-hit) new clubs were in my bag and didn't have a single mark on them - absolutely pristine.
Knole starts with a long par 3 of 193 yards and based on the fact gleaned in the Trackman session that the i25's were 12 yards longer than my Callaway X-16 Pros, I decided on a 4 iron. Unfortunately for me, I middled it and it rocketed away, clearing the green and leaving me with a difficult chip back resulting in a double bogey which wasn't ideal but the club ball contact on the tee shot was great and I was pleased rather than despondent.
This proved to be a good marker for what followed during the first few holes. I was past the pin or through the green on every occasion, basically because I could not quite believe that I needed one less all the time after over a decade with the old irons. By the time I got to the 5th hole, I had got a decent grasp of this though and with about 185 yards to an elevated green, I decided on a 6 iron whereas previously, I may have even gone with a 4 but certainly a 5. 6 proved correct and a well struck shot finished close to the flag, resulting in a birdie.
In summary then, the i25's are a bit more than a club longer than my old irons but have the same lofts. They feel absolutely great to play with and have a lovely trajectory that is noticeably and pleasingly lower than the Callaways. They also make a fantastic crunching sound at impact with the ball racing away off the face every time.
Without question, they are the nicest irons that I have ever played with and a significant improvement in every sense over my old irons. Longer for sure and very satisfying to hit good shots with. Excellent feedback on the shot and additionally, the one really poor contact I made yesterday ended up with a reasonable result despite being fat, and it put me on the front edge so you can certainly say that they are forgiving.
Ping i25 irons - highly recommended. Really superb clubs with the right shafts in them.
Moving on, Ping also gave me an i25 19 degree hybrid. This is also a fantastic club. I used it off the tee several times and I played with two guys off 9 and 10, one of whom is a reasonably powerful hitter and the hybrid was longer than their drives (240 yards ish) and dead straight. I didn't have the chance to try it off the deck though. It is a good looking club too that isn't too chunky. Another club to unreservedly recommend and I liked it so much, I am thinking of buying a 21 degree version to replace the 3 iron. More testing required first though.
Wedges. Also excellent. I played with 54 degree and 60 degree Ping Gorge wedges yesterday and they were faultless. The latter being a delight to chip with and easy to hit low with check or lift the ball high for a soft landing. This was a surprise to me as I expected them to be different to this. I was anticipating them being tricky to judge at shorter than full distances and that they might ping the ball off too rapidly. This wasn't the case and they are excellent from a variety of distances with the chipping ability being especially good. Best thing about the wedges is the feel off the face and the balance. You can really get a good feel for clubhead speed and this is great for controlling distance on pitches and definitely chips.
In conclusion, despite it being very early days, I do think that these are going to affect my scores in a positive way. I had two double bogeys and three bogeys yesterday. Three of these lost shots were caused by stupid course management decisions and the other 4 were direct results of going through the greens during the early part of the round. I also had 4 birdies though so would've had a good round if I had trusted the clubs to go further at an earlier point than I did!
I did not expect to think that these clubs could or would meaningfully affect my scores but now I do and this is surprising and to some extent, at odds with my normal view.
I am looking forward to my next game on the 5th May for further experimentation.
Final point, if you are looking for new clubs then I recommend the above. All are absolutely great and because of the fitting process, fit my swing.
I am a convert. Custom fitting works. Now where is that humble pie?
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