Ping i500 Irons

In September 2020, I just received notice I passed my NREMT paramedic exam. I was now a licensed paramedic and was going to receive the promotion (and pay raise) of earning that title, so I decided that I would treat myself to a new set of irons. I went into my local golf shop and tried the P790s, Apex, and Forged tech irons. They were each promising and offered something, but also missing something that I couldn't quite identify. Then the fitter recommended I try this set of Ping irons - a few years old but still pretty good. I swung the 7-iron about 10 times. Nine of those landed within the hula-hoop and the 10th was only about 3 yards over the line. I thought I had found my irons until I saw the price tag. Even though I was expecting a pay raise, I knew it wasn't going to be enough to justify buying them.

Fast forward 3 years and 10 or so sets of irons later. I now own those Ping i500 irons. I bought them at 2nd Swing Golf here in Scottsdale, Arizona (check out their website here), and I felt like a kid finding a beloved lost toy. A lot has changed in the last 3 years. I am a much different golfer and I understand much more about golf and golf equipment. So to find these irons with a stiff, lightweight graphite shaft AND a red dot, I didn't think twice. I was excited to take them out on the course and try them out. I didn’t care about launch monitor data. I just wanted to see them out on the course. They felt just like I remembered when I first tried them back in 2020.

These were the first forged irons that Ping had made in quite some time. When I first took them out, I noticed they had a higher-pitched “crack” or “snap” at contact. It might be the combination of shaft and club and golf ball, but I REALLY love the sound and feel of these clubs. I don’t care for the butter-soft feeling irons that a Mizuno has, for example. I know some prefer that, but not me. The feel that comes off the club face is firm, almost like the old-school orange and blue Stealth baseball bats from Little League. They are pretty forgiving and I received great feedback from my mishits.

An issue I have always had with the P790 irons, from the 2017 model to even the newest 2023 iteration, is that occasional moonball. Nothing changed in the swing or tempo, and all of a sudden the ball goes 10-15 yards farther. Now the newer models have improved that, but the 2017 Ping i500's nailed it right off the bat. It seemed every 7 iron I hit was between 162-167 yards and very tight in the grouping. The turf interaction I get with these irons is smooth. These irons do have a larger sole than a Blueprint or i230, making them glide through the ground better. I also love the clubs feature minimal offset to my eye. I find that clubs with more offset I tend to hook more, since I already produce a draw. But no offset also doesn't allow my club face to close in time and I hit a fair amount of pushes. The i500's have a good middle ground for a player like me. I compare it to the Callaway Mavrik Rouge ST Pro, and Mizuno Pro 225 irons, which fall into the same players distance category.

Something that I could see on the course, which was later confirmed by indoor monitors was the high launch and lower spin. I already have low spin iron shots because of my draw shot shape. Pair that with the stronger lofts (7 iron in 30.5), and lightweight graphite shafts and I could tell I was hitting some low spin shots. A normal 7 iron for me spins about 6400 rpm, with the i500's I was averaging 5900 rpm. Now is 500 rpms that big of a difference? I could tell a difference on the course, but it wasn't enough to drastically affect how my ball reacted when hitting the green. I am going to be doing some testing with a higher spin golf ball, to see if that can make up that difference, but I was still able to hold greens with these irons. In the 4,5,6, and 7 iron I noticed the lower spin, now the 4 iron I preferred that because off the tee I was getting a lot more roll out and even on my "Safe" shots off the tee I was able to get aggressive. the 8 and 9 irons spun about average for me, 7400-8800 rpms. Yet the PW and UW I noticed much higher spin than my previous clubs. Both easily getting over 10,000 rpms and still carrying the numbers I want to see.

Overall I love these irons. They check so many boxes for me from look and sound, to feel and performance. I have not tried the i525 or i59 irons from Ping yet, I have heard they feel and look even better than the old i500's but with the same consistency in performance. I will be on the hunt to try and get my hands on them to test and compare, but I think Ping has found a solid game plan with this model of iron.