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Ping i20 Irons Review - Forum Testing Review Thread

SuperStroke
TheWoo said:
Just got word that mine aren't shipping until Thursday (a week and a day after order) and will likely be delivered next week Wednesday.

That's forever from now!!! How am I going to make it through!?! Life is terrible.... :mad:

(As long as waiting for my clubs is the worst part of my life, I think I'm going to be okay.)

Tapped (probably poorly) on my Transformer Prime
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Think of the joy you'll experience as you unbox, unbind and undress your new babies. I did it in front of my wife and even she enjoyed the show.
 
JPaul said:
Think of the joy you'll experience as you unbox, unbind and undress your new babies. I did it in front of my wife and even she enjoyed the show.
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Yep. Getting new clubs creates a feeling similar to Christmas at 6 years old. It absolutely turns me into a child!

Tapped (probably poorly) on my Transformer Prime
 
Played nine today with my i20s. First chance I've had to play in a month so my swing was off, but man I love these irons already. I'll post more in a bit.
 
I finally broke down and ordered a set today. We've had a pool under construction for the past 8 weeks so I didn't feel right dropping more money on clubs but now that everyone is splashing I'm going slashing. New set will be 4 thru UW, White Dot, +1/2 length and Stiff AWT Shafts, basically matched my i15 build.
 
So once these irons came in today I thought about heading to the range to get some swings in before I play tomorrow. I thought that I should work on my timing since I haven't played in a month and this is the smart thing to do. But alas, that isn't what I did. I decided to go out and play nine holes in the heat of the day and glad I did.

A little background, I have been playing macgregor VIP vfoil blades with rifle 6.0 shafts for about 10 years now, I think, hard to remember that far back. I started looking for something that still gave me that player iron feel and look but with more forgiveness. I settled on the i20s blue dot with KBS-C-taper shafts stiff flex.

My first swing came on the first hole where I had 108 yards about a club uphill and I hit three balls with my UW. Two struck well and one off the toe. The two struck well were on the front middle and the one off the toe was about 5 yards shorter and maybe 8 feet off the front of the green. In hindsight I should've hit a wedge but I'm not familiar with the distances yet. At any rate the club felt great, the launch angle was a hair lower for me and the ball sat but didn't spin back, which what I wanted. The one off the toe I could clearly feel was misfit, but it wasn't a harsh feeling. The same swing with my blades and I would've been a club or more shorter than where I ended up.

I will spare you all the entire 9 nine holes with two to three balls each hole but will provide a few highlights.

The four iron is great off the tee and I don't think I'll miss a three iron. I walked the distance off each time I hit the four off the tee and I can safely use it from 190 and push it hard to 200. There was one par five with the pin othe front and I was a yard in front of the 200 marker. I landed in the middle of the green with the ball 2 feet from the mark.

A par three over water and a club uphill with a slight breeze in my face gave me an opportunity to see the penetrating flight the shaft provides. The pin was in the back making the yardage around 160 while playing a club uphill and into a breeze I chose a six iron playing it 170. I hit the six pretty solid and right at the flag. I then dropped two balls and hit the seven iron. Once I got to the green one seven iron was just off the front and the other was a club short as I hit it very fat. The six iron, however, was perfect and was about 6 feet straight up hill from the hole.

The last few holes I found my timing and hit some really nice shots so I'm looking forward to 18 tomorrow.

The one thing I noticed today that I have mixed emotion about is the spin. My side spin was a bit more than with my rifle shafts and I was hoping for less, but I did come out of my swing a few times so I'll be looking at this more tomorrow. And the ball flight, while more penetrating was not quite as low as I wanted overall, but again, that could be my swing as my really good shots had the lower penetrating flight I was looking for. I will say though that not once did a ball balloon on me, and that happened with my rifle shafts on occassion.

All in all i was very pleased with the clubs especially for not having played in a month, which would've been brutal with my blades. I'm looking forward to nailing down the distances and really getting dialed in with these irons and shafts. From what I can currently tell I am aout 5 yards longer with these on solid hits and a lot longer on miss hits.

Tomorrow should be a good test on my home course that I've played for 25 years now. Knowing where I can miss the ball, distances, etc will tell me a lot about the irons and shafts.

Thanks for hearing my rant on these irons.
 
GolfZook said:
All in all i was very pleased with the clubs especially for not having played in a month, which would've been brutal with my blades.
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This is what I've been most pleased to hear. I'm going the other direction, looking for something closer to a players club but still wanting good forgiveness. Even when I was playing my best I couldn't justify playing blades, and that's definitely true now.

Great overall review!

Tapped (probably poorly) on my Transformer Prime
 
For the former "blade" users who have converted I pose a question. What made you choose the i20's as a replacement set?

I ask because after talking to a local friend and PING staffer/fitter his thoughts were that he was sick of seeing kids catch one out on the toe and still tuck the ball in closer to the pin than he did with a "near perfect" strike with his blades.


Tapping and crashing with the new updated/downgraded Tapatalk.
 
For me I was looking for something more forgiving, especially on the toe which is where my misses typically occur. I also have an "eye" for a thin top line. For me something like the s56 wasn't forgiving enough for me to give up by blades and something like a g20 had too thick of a top line. Now I only used ping as an example but that is the general look I was going after and the type of iron I looked for when I miss the ball. Then for me came feel and I thought these felt great when hitting them. There is also a slight offset the longer the iron which makes those longer irons easier to hit.

There are other irons out there that will fit someone's eye better or work better with their misses, but this was the first set in 10 years that I really jumped on.
 
COLT said:
For the former "blade" users who have converted I pose a question. What made you choose the i20's as a replacement set?

I ask because after talking to a local friend and PING staffer/fitter his thoughts were that he was sick of seeing kids catch one out on the toe and still tuck the ball in closer to the pin than he did with a "near perfect" strike with his blades.


Tapping and crashing with the new updated/downgraded Tapatalk.
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Basically my deciding factor was what your friend said. I had blades when I was young, worked at a golf course and played and hit on the range every day. During college, I separated from the game for 5 years where I only played 3 or so rounds a year. When I came back, I had lost my ego...and also lost my swing. I realized that blades might be too much club for me. I knew I could work and get back to hitting them the way I once did, but I was finally mature enough to ask myself "Is it really worth it? What added benefit do I get?" I can work the ball with a Nike Slingshot if I had to, so that didn't seem like a good reason to chose to stay with blades. Length wasn't a factor, I never felt blades were longer. Bag appeal didn't matter to me...finally. The last piece of the puzzle was the feel I had become accustomed to.

After reading so many reviews about how great the i20's (and other more recent CB's) felt, I decided it was time to see for myself. I attended a demo day as I had decided I wanted to get rid of my 7 year old blades. I fell in love with the clubs that day, and I absolutely loved the feel. From there, I did one extra fitting for piece of mind sake, and placed my order. To be honest, it's the best equipment move I have ever made...it is insane to be about to "miss one" and still have it on the green and in decent proximity to the pin. Coming from blades to the forgiveness of the i20's, comparatively, the i20's seem like they have the most forgiveness in the history of the golf club industry to me.

When I miss, I miss on the toe and a bit heavy...which coincidentally happen to be the strengths of the i20's. It was a match made in heaven.
 
COLT said:
For the former "blade" users who have converted I pose a question. What made you choose the i20's as a replacement set?

I ask because after talking to a local friend and PING staffer/fitter his thoughts were that he was sick of seeing kids catch one out on the toe and still tuck the ball in closer to the pin than he did with a "near perfect" strike with his blades.


Tapping and crashing with the new updated/downgraded Tapatalk.
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He might not be hitting it nearly as perfect as he thinks. :alien:

Forgiveness. I was coming off a 12 year lay off when I was barely playing and went a few years without playing at all when I got these and realized that it made no sense for me to play blades. I don't get punished for bad swings, which I have a lot of, nearly as much as I did with my old Hogans. It has made the game for fun for me. I hit them further too, so that's never a bad thing.
 
Have I mentioned I absolutely LOVE that the i20's continue to get more and more love from more people. The performance is just flat out there IMO and that is the real selling factor, so cool to see people stil posting up about taking the plunge! You all are going to LOVE them!
 
So, I got out on the course this afternoon. Walked 18 in 105+° heat, but absolutely loved it because the new i20s got their first action. Why go to the range when I can just hit the course and put them through their paces? :thumbup:

Anyway, initial impression is fantastic. I've got done work to do to dial in my distances, as I was consistently a half to a full club longer than my X16s.

These clubs have an amazing feel, and what I came away liking the most was the confidence that the ball was going to do what it should do based on the swing. I hit a couple poor shots, but they were plenty forgiving while giving me good feedback, and as I got dialed in and made some aggressive swings I was amazed. I hit a couple 3 irons off the tee and loved what I saw. Consistently 230-240. That's long for me.

When struck well I got a fairly high, but penetrating flight with the mid and long irons. Just beautiful.

What I liked the most, though, were the short irons. The shaft and head combo gave me a significantly more consistent and controlled flight. I just have to get used to hitting them so far! I hit a couple PWs out to about 145. Crazy long for me. I'm going to have to get the i20 UW to help with what is now a 25 yard gap top my current gap wedge.

My driver gave me a chance to hit some recovery shots, and I was very pleased. Shot of the day wad probably a high, hooking 7 iron from 220 over a tree and down to the front of the green. Just amazed myself at how easy out was to work the ball the way I wanted.

Overall, I am super pleased. It's only one round, and I haven't even had a range session yet, but I like where we're starting. I have a week before a two day medal play tourney, so I need to get dialed in quick!

Thumbs up on the i20s from me so far!

Shanked with my Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk
 
Played with my i20's today and am just loving these sticks. Getting some reat distance and starting to groove a better swing with these. Really paid attention to my ball flight today and it seems to be mid/high flight which I like especially with the shorter irons. Have been debating on changing out the CFS for KBS but am more confused today. Not sure how much ball flight may change or if it really worth it right now. May just swap out a 6i and play it for a while to see any differences. I also think that the CFS is probably all I need for my game. I am completely sastisfied with my clubs and think I getting into a tweaking mode which may not be necessay.

Is there such a thing as Pondering A Ponder?
 
Ditched the AP1 712s and put an order in for a set of I20s, should have ordered them in the first place instead of the AP1s. Should be here next week, 5-PW KBS Tour Stiff +1" white dots.
 
SeeMoreGuy said:
Is there such a thing as Pondering A Ponder?
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There most certainly is.


Just tap it in, just tap it in. Give it a little tap tap tappy. Tap tap tap-a-roo via Tapatalk.
 
When I first started playing golf I fell in love with my Taylormade burners every club I had in my bag was TM. I believe I was a little bit stubborn maybe under educated towards other brands. That was till I got fitted for my Titleist driver last year since then I have tried other brands of irons and whilst they was OK I can honestly say that getting fitted and buying the Ping i20s was the best decision I have ever made I love them I mean really really love them.
 
If I was a lurker just reading threads and didn't own Ping I-20's, I would think we are all crazy. How can an iron make people fall in love with them? How can they be this easy to hit? Well they are! It is just something you have to experiance to believe.

When I started looking for irons at the beginning of the year, I was shooting around 95 and EVERYONE said the I20's were too much for me to game. Not just here but every sales rep and other forums as well. So I bought the G20's. Let me tell you the I20's (to me) are easier to hit than the G20's. Every now and then I go to the range with both just to see and settle my mnd a little and always hit the I20's straighter. I would not hesitate to recommend the I20's over the G20's
 
TMElectric said:
If I was a lurker just reading threads and didn't own Ping I-20's, I would think we are all crazy. How can an iron make people fall in love with them? How can they be this easy to hit? Well they are! It is just something you have to experiance to believe.

When I started looking for irons at the beginning of the year, I was shooting around 95 and EVERYONE said the I20's were too much for me to game. Not just here but every sales rep and other forums as well. So I bought the G20's. Let me tell you the I20's (to me) are easier to hit than the G20's. Every now and then I go to the range with both just to see and settle my mnd a little and always hit the I20's straighter. I would not hesitate to recommend the I20's over the G20's
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I'm with ya TME. I have made some ridiculously poor swings and gotten ridiculously better results than I should have since bagging the i20's. What used to be a hole killing swing with my MP37's has become a very manageable swing with these, they are stupid forgiving IMO. I hit the G20's at a demo day while being fit for the i20's, just to waste time waiting for the i20 color dot head to become available, and I couldn't tell much (if any) difference in forgiveness between the two...but I know the i20's looked and felt MUCH better.
 
I agree on being packed with forgiveness, obviously if you go back and look at my review posts.

That said I think the point does need to be made again that they aren't cure all's, you still have to have a decently consistent swing IMO as the more you put into them, the better they perform. I think we need to be sure not to lose hold of that point, they won't be for everyone because of that, but they would amaze a very large portion IMO (and as we have seen here).
 
TMElectric said:
If I was a lurker just reading threads and didn't own Ping I-20's, I would think we are all crazy.
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Agree - this thread is ridiculous, and the fact that it has been for a long time is what convinced me to try, and ultimately buy, my i20s.

Jman said:
the more you put into them, the better they perform.
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I also, in my limited experience with them, agree with this. I didn't find them necessarily more forgiving than game improvement clubs, but they compete nicely there. Where these really stand out is when hit well. They do what they are supposed to do and really perform when given a chance.

And they feel great...:alien2:
 
I wish Ping made an i20 2 iron.
 
The i20s have certainly turned out to be my top purchase this year. Never thought anything would challenge my JPX 800 Pros but its a difficult decision before each round. Look feel and consistency these babies more than make the cut.

I don't recall a.thread with this much longevity or this much juice but is certainly warranted.



TapAhoy!
 
SeeMoreGuy said:
The i20s have certainly turned out to be my top purchase this year. Never thought anything would challenge my JPX 800 Pros but its a difficult decision before each round. Look feel and consistency these babies more than make the cut.
TapAhoy!
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It came to the JPX Pros and the i20s for me. I loved both, but I hit the i20s just a little bit better.
 
Played my second round with the i20s today, after a month layoff with summer travel. Didn't get a chance to warm up before the round either, so had a really slow start (7 over after 5!). But I pulled it together and played the next 12 holes in 2 over, then finished poorly with a double on 18 (dang it!) for a final score of 83, beating my handicap by one stroke.

As a reminder, in my first round with the i20s, I beat my handicap by 5 shots, in spite of another weak finish (double on 17, triple on 18).

The i20s are definitely helping me shoot better scores, and my handicap is already trending down!
 
Played again today, round 2 with the i20s, and put some sub-par swings on the ball overall today but still was very pleased with the irons. Hit 14 of 18 GIRs, and 10 fairways due, in part, to hitting 3 iron off the tee 5 times. I absolutely bombed a couple of these, one between 240 and 250 thanks to hard fairway, until taking a big dip and hitting a "stab it in the ground chunk" off the tee at 18. 14 GIRs is the most by far for me this year, and if my putter had been working at all I'd have had a chance to put up a nice number. Shot +7 with two doubles and three three jacks. When I missed, I missed big and caused myself real problems.

But the i20s performed, and I'm amazed at how long and true these fly when well struck. I'm getting distances I've never seen off my clubs before.
 
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