Talk me into i530's

[JermWRX]

My last PING set was ISI, so it's been awhile. I had Eye2 and Zings back in the day, too. Currently in 923 Forged, and Hot Metal Pro before that. I'm happy with my irons, but I have a wandering eye and I'm an admitted club ho. 925 Mizuno JPX line is fugly, so that's a no go.  I also have fallen in love with the 430 10K, so I'm thinking of rekindling my old affair with PING. I haven't seen any on course, but I have a few buddies who play g430 and i230. 430 is too chunky for me, and 230 is probably too weak lofted. So, is i530 Goldilocks, or a wicked step sister that I should stay away from? I know, I know, go get fitted... But that's boring. I know my specs, and which shafts I like (SF 110cw Stiff SS once). Also, I like this place better than driving over 2 hours to Club Champion. 

[LCG]

i530 has been good in my fittings so far but nothing that blows me away. Have you tried zx7 or T200?

[JermWRX]

I've never liked Titleist clubs. Not sure why, but they've just never been my thing. Srixon is interesting, but I've only ever gamed CBX wedges and hated them. It makes me think I don't get along with the v-sole? I could definitely be wrong, though.

[hintzd]

I just got fitted on i530 with nippon shafts. Still getting used to them, but so far I am a fan. Nice ball flight with good spin. Solid irons. Was playing T100s before these.

[mantan]

Interesting timing on this thread, my fitter/instructor is telling me that I should give the i530s a try as he feels they are a better fit for me than my ZX5s...

[PARETO]

I hear ya on the old love affair with Ping. I go back with Ping to Eye2 days as a junior at my old club (1989 ish) and played just about all their older irons up to i5 (holy I loved i5’s) Calc hitting Eye2’s into pins, Westwood bagging Zing2, white Ping staff bags and BeCu wedges. Ansers everywhere. College kids dragging around L8 Hoofer bags with single straps. Love it all. 

I’d build an all Ping bag in a heartbeat and sprinkle it with some retro flair. 
Perhaps a winter fun project? Hmmmm. 
G20 driver

Rapture 3W

G425 4hy. 
i5 5-P

Eye2+ BeCu S/L 

Craz-e Sigma 

Old beat Hoofer off Marketplace. 
 

Challenge accepted. 😂😂

[JermWRX]

On 9/18/2024 at 11:23 PM, mantan said:

Interesting timing on this thread, my fitter/instructor is telling me that I should give the i530s a try as he feels they are a better fit for me than my ZX5s...

ZX5's have peaked my interest, too. All I ever see is rave reviews about Srixon irons. I had a couple generations of CBX wedges in the past and didn't get along with them, at all. I didn't care for the turf interaction, and it makes me hesitant to give Srixon irons a try. If I'm not mistaken, they share a sole shape. I'd love to be able to demo them outdoors, but that's not a possibility where I live.

[animalgolfs]

I've demo'ed all the latest Pings over the last month - at least 2 sessions with each iron G430 G730 i530 i230 Blueprint S - against both my gamers i59 & i210

 

i530 performed the most consistent for my swing. Pretty compact size with generous sole & MUCH improved mishit feel over i500

 

Pretty solid iron - as with others ZX5 has my interest- as does the new Ti Fusion Callaway 

 

Edited September 21, 2024 by animalgolfs

[jrg75]

My bag has been a ridiculous revolving door of irons for 10+ years.  I was super lucky to get selected for the GolfWRX i530s members test and it may have broken the cycle.  I love them, long and straight with a piercing ball flight is the best I can describe.  Check out this thread:

 

 

Edited September 21, 2024 by jrg75

[Stoc]

i530s are awesome. My dad has a set and have been impressed in almost every way. They aren't as forgiving as a 430, but if you want long and straight with still "pretty good" forgiveness they are great. Only thing I have seen that may not work for some is the sole. It's a bit on the wider side and like all ping irons has quite a bit of bounce. So if that jives with your swing, they should be a performer

 

 

[Cblount1121]

I’ve tried more irons than I care to admit. Always been a Ping guy but don’t like the G series and often could benefit from a little more distance and forgiveness than the normal I series. FWIW, My favorite irons have been the i210’s. 
 

I tried the i530’s when they came out and have not looked at another set of irons since. Love the look and forgiveness and am hitting more greens than ever before and my score shows. They feel much better than previous generations. I’ve hit other irons that feel better but none that perform as well for me. I’m very happy. 
 

now if I could just hit my driver better….

[JermWRX]

1 hour ago, Cblount1121 said:

I’ve tried more irons than I care to admit. Always been a Ping guy but don’t like the G series and often could benefit from a little more distance and forgiveness than the normal I series. FWIW, My favorite irons have been the i210’s. 
 

I tried the i530’s when they came out and have not looked at another set of irons since. Love the look and forgiveness and am hitting more greens than ever before and my score shows. They feel much better than previous generations. I’ve hit other irons that feel better but none that perform as well for me. I’m very happy. 
 

now if I could just hit my driver better….

The G series has never been my thing, either. I'm far from a pretentious "blade only" golfer, but the G's have always been too big for my liking. I hit the 210's when they came out, and I really liked them. But, distance won out and I went with Mizuno Hot Metal Pro at the time. The i500 felt terrible, and I moved into JPX  Forged and liked them, so I never bothered to try i525. Posts like yours make me realize that the inevitable is going to happen... I'm gonna order i530s sight unseen without even hitting them🤦🏻‍♂️😂

 

As far as driver goes, the 10K is the greatest help my game has ever had. It's a god send. I blow through drivers. 3-4 drivers a year is not out if the ordinary for me. Those days are over. The 10K is so good.

[Archimedes65]

18 hours ago, JermWRX said:

The G series has never been my thing, either. I'm far from a pretentious "blade only" golfer, but the G's have always been too big for my liking. I hit the 210's when they came out, and I really liked them. But, distance won out and I went with Mizuno Hot Metal Pro at the time. The i500 felt terrible, and I moved into JPX  Forged and liked them, so I never bothered to try i525. Posts like yours make me realize that the inevitable is going to happen... I'm gonna order i530s sight unseen without even hitting them🤦🏻‍♂️😂

 

 

Don’t do it.  Go test them and make sure.  You could start a thread titled ‘Talk Me Into…’ and put any club name at the end and you’d get a dozen responses about how great they are, best clubs ever, etc., because most people love whatever it is they play, that’s why they play them.  

 

Every time I’ve bought a club or clubs without fitting/testing, I’ve been sorry.  At a minimum, Ping makes it easy to order one club in your specs, so you can test it out for the price of a single club rather than dropping $1600 on a full set.  I order a six iron and test it before going any further.  If I can hit that club well and like its performance, then I know I’ll like the set.  And Ping seems to be turning things around quickly right now.

Edited September 22, 2024 by Archimedes65

[argee1977]

I've got a set, love them for the looks and their forgiveness. I wanted a set of pings, last ping iron i had was ping eye2s, so i went into the fitting with a bit of a one set mind, so unless the 530s were horrific, i was buying them in the best fit for me.

 

Might be overstating it, but almost all of these player distance irons are as good as each other, P790s, Forged Tec, 245s, Apex AI 200s and so on, almost every manufacturer has them in their range, and they all pretty much hit the same, feel is slightly different, if i wasn't after Ping, i'd have had the Forged Tex, they did feel a little nicer and a couple of yards longer, but reality is an iron goes the distance you want if for the shot you play, and the 530s do that well for me, i just wouldn't say they were special, they all do well these days, it really is a case of being able to pick something you like the brand and looks for, as playability is almost identical with them all.

[AllDunn]

I've got a set on BST. I enjoyed playing them, but the sole was a bit wide for my swing and I've gone back to my 245s. I will say this about the i530's, they launched high and went a long ways. Never had any issue with not holding greens. I just couldn't get through the turf as well I liked.

[JermWRX]

5 hours ago, AllDunn said:

I've got a set on BST. I enjoyed playing them, but the sole was a bit wide for my swing and I've gone back to my 245s. I will say this about the i530's, they launched high and went a long ways. Never had any issue with not holding greens. I just couldn't get through the turf as well I liked.

I've been gaming Mizuno for awhile now. What didn't you like about interaction with i530? Are you a divot taker or a sweeper? I only ask because I'm a picker/sweeper.

[Cblount1121]

15 hours ago, argee1977 said:

I've got a set, love them for the looks and their forgiveness. I wanted a set of pings, last ping iron i had was ping eye2s, so i went into the fitting with a bit of a one set mind, so unless the 530s were horrific, i was buying them in the best fit for me.

 

Might be overstating it, but almost all of these player distance irons are as good as each other, P790s, Forged Tec, 245s, Apex AI 200s and so on, almost every manufacturer has them in their range, and they all pretty much hit the same, feel is slightly different, if i wasn't after Ping, i'd have had the Forged Tex, they did feel a little nicer and a couple of yards longer, but reality is an iron goes the distance you want if for the shot you play, and the 530s do that well for me, i just wouldn't say they were special, they all do well these days, it really is a case of being able to pick something you like the brand and looks for, as playability is almost identical with them all.

I agree. I think there are a lot of good irons in this category. It ends up just being personal preference. 

[AllDunn]

14 hours ago, JermWRX said:

I've been gaming Mizuno for awhile now. What didn't you like about interaction with i530? Are you a divot taker or a sweeper? I only ask because I'm a picker/sweeper.

I'm more of a sweeper. I'd argue that the i530's are more forgiving across the face, mishits went further, but for me personally I get along with the thinner sole on the 245s a bit more. 

[johnnybogey]

Played Mizuno JPX 919 forged for a few years but wanted to go back into Ping. started with i230 last year, while I really liked them, struggled a great deal with the long irons.

 

at the start of the season this year, picked up a set of i530's paired with Axiom shafts. they are incredible for me. have transformed my iron game. I'm a sweeper as well but haven't encountered any issues with turf interaction.

 

finally, while subjective, I found the long irons to bee "clicky". I'm not sure if it's because I took out the factory toe weights (which have blue gunk on them) and replaced them with aftermarket toe weights. possible the blue gunk helped dampen the clickiness. not sure.

[JermWRX]

5 hours ago, johnnybogey said:

Played Mizuno JPX 919 forged for a few years but wanted to go back into Ping. started with i230 last year, while I really liked them, struggled a great deal with the long irons.

 

at the start of the season this year, picked up a set of i530's paired with Axiom shafts. they are incredible for me. have transformed my iron game. I'm a sweeper as well but haven't encountered any issues with turf interaction.

 

finally, while subjective, I found the long irons to bee "clicky". I'm not sure if it's because I took out the factory toe weights (which have blue gunk on them) and replaced them with aftermarket toe weights. possible the blue gunk helped dampen the clickiness. not sure.

I wonder if the blue stuff was the polymer that's inside the head. Sounds like it, unless it was just a thread lock chemical. Loctite is a common product for that, and it's blue. Great info on the sweeper results!! That helps me a ton!! I'm definitely a sweeper. When I'm striking it well, I barely bruise the turf. I saw a set in mint condition last week on Dallas Golf Online in my specs and shaft, SteelFiber 110CW Stiff. 900 bucks. I went back to jump on them, but I missed them. I'll stay on the lookout, or just bite the bullet and buy new. Normally I'd have no issue in shafting them myself, but all I've heard about re-shafting Ping irons is that they're a nightmare.

[Mike_C]

One of my golf partners put a set in play a couple of months ago, came from P790s.  He's 76 years old, a very good player, scratch, and still hits the ball quite far for his age, his i530s go about the same as my Mizuno Pro 223s, its mostly loft, but he still hits them high enough and spins them enough to stop them. He has Modus 105 stiff in his.

 

I hit them on the simulator, they went a ridiculous distance for me (7 iron going 185-190+ vs about 170 for my Mizunos), not my cup of tea.  But they felt surprisingly good, for the right player who needs a little more distance they are a great option I would think. 

[johnnybogey]

On 9/23/2024 at 4:20 PM, JermWRX said:

I wonder if the blue stuff was the polymer that's inside the head. Sounds like it, unless it was just a thread lock chemical. Loctite is a common product for that, and it's blue. Great info on the sweeper results!! That helps me a ton!! I'm definitely a sweeper. When I'm striking it well, I barely bruise the turf. I saw a set in mint condition last week on Dallas Golf Online in my specs and shaft, SteelFiber 110CW Stiff. 900 bucks. I went back to jump on them, but I missed them. I'll stay on the lookout, or just bite the bullet and buy new. Normally I'd have no issue in shafting them myself, but all I've heard about re-shafting Ping irons is that they're a nightmare.

same. When my swing is on, I just brush the turf. 
i reshafted my i530’s with axiom myself. Just need extra patience when heating up the head to remove the old shafts. 
 

only advice I can add is, you’ll need collared ferrules for the pings and really good expoxy. I was in a pinch and picked up some golfworks epoxy from Dicks sporting goods and had shaft failure on multiple irons. I thought maybe it was because ping insertion depths are not your typical 1.5”  but rather 1.25”. After more research, I learned many have had similar failure results with the golfworks epoxy sold at Dicks. Thinking bad batch. 
Ordered longer cure time epoxy from golfworks direct and no issues thus far. 

Edited November 2, 2024 by johnnybogey

[johnnybogey]

39 minutes ago, JermWRX said:

I wonder if the blue stuff was the polymer that's inside the head. Sounds like it, unless it was just a thread lock chemical. Loctite is a common product for that, and it's blue. Great info on the sweeper results!! That helps me a ton!! I'm definitely a sweeper. When I'm striking it well, I barely bruise the turf. I saw a set in mint condition last week on Dallas Golf Online in my specs and shaft, SteelFiber 110CW Stiff. 900 bucks. I went back to jump on them, but I missed them. I'll stay on the lookout, or just bite the bullet and buy new. Normally I'd have no issue in shafting them myself, but all I've heard about re-shafting Ping irons is that they're a nightmare.

I’m hoping loctite. Going to pick some up and give it a go. 
but tbh, it oddly only with long irons and tbh, it’s an after thought because I’m too busy in amazement how I am able to hit a 5 iron so well. 😂

[JermWRX]

2 minutes ago, johnnybogey said:

same. When my swing is on, I just brush the turf. 
i reshafted my i530’s with axiom myself. Just need extra patience when heating up the head to remove the old shafts. 
 

only advice I can add is, you’ll need collared ferrules for the pings and really good expoxy. I was in a pinch and picked up some golfworks epoxy from Dicks sporting goods and had shaft failure on multiple irons. I thought maybe it was because ping insertion depths are not your typical 1.5”  but rather 1.25”. After more research, I learned many have had similar failure results with the golfworks epoxy sold at Dicks. Thinking bad batch. 
Ordered longer cuts time epoxy from golfworks direct and no issues thus far. 

I've heard of Ping having "loose" hosels. That the .355 taper doesn't fit quite right, and can be tough to center? Did you find that to be the case? Or is it simply a case of needing the proper collared ferrule? I've shafted plenty of irons, but have always shied away from Ping because they seemed like a headache. I would probably just order new SteelFiber direct from Golfworks and pay the $2.50 a shaft for them to prep them.

[johnnybogey]

I think the collared ferrule is key as it ensures proper centering. I used them because Ping uses them so stuck to the same plan. 

[Anser3]

2 hours ago, JermWRX said:

I wonder if the blue stuff was the polymer that's inside the head. Sounds like it, unless it was just a thread lock chemical. Loctite is a common product for that, and it's blue. Great info on the sweeper results!! That helps me a ton!! I'm definitely a sweeper. When I'm striking it well, I barely bruise the turf. I saw a set in mint condition last week on Dallas Golf Online in my specs and shaft, SteelFiber 110CW Stiff. 900 bucks. I went back to jump on them, but I missed them. I'll stay on the lookout, or just bite the bullet and buy new. Normally I'd have no issue in shafting them myself, but all I've heard about re-shafting Ping irons is that they're a nightmare.

The blue stuff is likely Loctite.  It's also on the G430 (and G425 before that) driver weight threads. 

[Anser3]

Won't talk you into i530's but I will talk you into iblades.  They are 8 years old now and still the best irons Ping has released, IMHO.

[JermWRX]

6 minutes ago, Anser3 said:

Won't talk you into i530's but I will talk you into iblades.  They are 8 years old now and still the best irons Ping has released, IMHO.

I've never played blades in my life. I have a very distinct feeling that my game would suffer dramatically if I did😂

[Anser3]

14 minutes ago, JermWRX said:

I've never played blades in my life. I have a very distinct feeling that my game would suffer dramatically if I did😂

 

Ping iblades only look like blades.  They are super forgiving.  Finding a set is now difficult .  I have a brand new backup set in a spare bag (identical specs to my current ones) that I bought as soon as I heard ping was turning them into "replacement only" clubs. 

[JermWRX]

1 hour ago, Anser3 said:

 

Ping iblades only look like blades.  They are super forgiving.  Finding a set is now difficult .  I have a brand new backup set in a spare bag (identical specs to my current ones) that I bought as soon as I heard ping was turning them into "replacement only" clubs. 

They look great. 34 degree 7 iron is a non starter for me, though.