36 replies to this topic

[jmeyerson2004]

I just played a round today with a demo set of PING G20 irons to see if they might be a good fit for my game even as a low handicapper (currently a 1).  I was really excited to see them in action during an actual round and not just on the range.  I was not worried about forgiveness or distance.  The number one concern I had going into the round was workability.  

The question was whether I could I hit a controlled fade or a big fade (or draw/hooks) when I needed to out of the trees or other trouble.  I got my answer on the second hole when I was faced with a 200 yard second shot on a par 5 that I need to fade about 15 yards around some trees. As I approached my ball, I thought to myself "I better give this some extra hold-off because according to golfwrx you cannot work these like you can with a blade".  Boy was that a mistake...I started the ball off on the perfect line just to the left of the tree line and overcooked it OB.  The shot looked exactly like my shot would have looked had I hit it with a blade.

High, low, I could pretty much make it do what I wanted.  The best part was that I had the extra forgiveness when I was trying a "hero" shot so it gave me more confidence to pull it off.  Bottom line: GREAT irons and will do what you ask them to do. I think the right shaft paired with those heads would be downright dangerous.

[starrman77]

All the 17 handicappers here that say blades are the only way to go aren't going to like this one bit.

[SilverBullets]

A good swing is a good swing... Regardless of the arrow

[Jack Pearsall]

Some dudes have an agenda.

[puttingmatt]

Have you looked at the i 20's, just curious to what
you thought ?

[J.W.]

The player works the ball not the golf club.  Reminds me of the same internet discussion of "high launch, low spin drivers", "workable but forgiving irons" and "15 handicapper that strikes it well enough for blades because he has no short game."  I have no problems working it with any club when I'm swinging well.  I would play G20's too but I hate the way they look...for me the perfect iron is something that looks good and I can still get away with little miss hits with the long irons.  All irons feel great when you hit it out of the middle in my opinion.

Edited by J.W., 07 May 2012 - 05:58 PM.

[jmeyerson2004]

I have hit the i20 7 iron on the range and liked it generally.  The G20s I hit today and the i20 demo 7 iron I hit a few weeks ago both had the CFS stiff shaft in it, which is a little weak for my swing.  The ball flight on both irons were very similar, but I actually liked the turf interaction with the G20 more, which is insane to me because I have played blades since I was 13 (23 years).  The additional offset actually was helpful in getting my hands ahead of the ball a little more at address and impact (not sure if that is what offset is for).  The key for me today was to make sure that I aligned the clubface carefully to my target because it has been a long time since I have hit something with that much offset.  I shot -1 (70) with a double on the par 5 that I hit OB.  For a 1 handicap, that is unheard of especially when using a set of irons that I have never played before.

I hit 14 GIR and missed a couple of short birdie opportunities and failed to birdie two of the other par 5s both of which were reachable after my drives.

Edited by jmeyerson2004, 07 May 2012 - 06:03 PM.

[AFcelica]

where does this theory that blades are more workable come from? i could see it being more difficult but surely not impossible to hit it low with sgi irons. however i'm not convinced a center contact cut/draw swing with with a blade vs a g20 with the exact same impact conditions would produce drastic or possibly even a noticeable difference in ball curvature. i have a feeling trackman may debunk this as a myth in the future just like it did with the "old ball flight laws". perhaps with a very wide sole SGI iron it might make it difficult to hit a big push slice from a tight lie vs a blade but thats about it.

[Jack Pearsall]

I thought the heads were a bit oversized for my tastes. NICE CLUBS. But aesthetically -- they are a nightmare of boredom.

[Ezgolfer]

Great .
What is your experience with thick rough ? My playing partners struggles to get them out of rough consistently .

[shortfield]

i agree. i find these to be highly workable. a little harder to hit low. but left and right isnt a big issue.

[MtlJeff]

working the ball is just spin manipulation. Every club spins the ball, every club can work the ball. The G20 irons are a little on the big side i'll give people that though

[lukesmurf59]

That is good to hear.  I have been thinking about this, trying some G20's with low launching shafts and see how they compare to the blades but right now, the blades are working great.  maybe I'll do the same thing you did soon and just play a round with some big GI's.  Maybe they'll work.  Although I do love my blades.

[Nessism]

I'm a big G-series supporter having played G10's in the past and G20's as of late.  Had a brief foray with "players" clubs again (J40 DPC & i20's) and found myself struggling, but first round with G20's and I shot my best round in months.

[jmeyerson2004]

Not sure about hitting them out of the rough.  It is getting to summer like temps here in AZ so rough is light at best.

[rockiesgolf]

First time I hit a demo 7 iron I said "Really?".  Easy launching, typical solid Ping feel, workable, straight, little offset to help from going far right, and was able to gain a little backspin from 180 out.  Bought a full set and my first time out with the G20's (coming from the AP2's) which happened to be my first tournament of the year, I shot a 76.

[herdman]

I just bought a set of G20's. I am not good enough to work the ball(I admit it). I had G2's and am just now upgrading my irons. Played my first round with them yesterday and really like them. The ball flight is high, but they are very forgiving. I have been using a 4 hybrid, but the G20 4 iron is pretty easy to hit(as far as 4 irons go). Coming from the G2's, which were game improvement at the time, the G20's are larger and that is taking some getting used to. But, compared to the G2's they do seem to have a softer feel.

[GooseHook]

AFcelica, on 07 May 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

where does this theory that blades are more workable come from? i could see it being more difficult but surely not impossible to hit it low with sgi irons. however i'm not convinced a center contact cut/draw swing with with a blade vs a g20 with the exact same impact conditions would produce drastic or possibly even a noticeable difference in ball curvature. i have a feeling trackman may debunk this as a myth in the future just like it did with the "old ball flight laws". perhaps with a very wide sole SGI iron it might make it difficult to hit a big push slice from a tight lie vs a blade but thats about it.

A higher COG on a blade, coupled with a low MOI, make it easier to manipulate. Easier. Doesn't mean you can't work it with another iron though!

[Nessism]

GooseHook, on 07 May 2012 - 08:09 PM, said:

AFcelica, on 07 May 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

where does this theory that blades are more workable come from? i could see it being more difficult but surely not impossible to hit it low with sgi irons. however i'm not convinced a center contact cut/draw swing with with a blade vs a g20 with the exact same impact conditions would produce drastic or possibly even a noticeable difference in ball curvature. i have a feeling trackman may debunk this as a myth in the future just like it did with the "old ball flight laws". perhaps with a very wide sole SGI iron it might make it difficult to hit a big push slice from a tight lie vs a blade but thats about it.

A higher COG on a blade, coupled with a low MOI, make it easier to manipulate. Easier. Doesn't mean you can't work it with another iron though!

Yea but most blades have a low CG, partly because the clubs themselves are low profile.

[anth]

With regards to blades having a higher COG, read the comments at the bottom of this page: http://wishongolf.co...mance-who-wins/

With regards to the OP, I found this video very interesting:

[awil]

Right now I'm playing vrs forged and came off vr blades did a lm test hit the vrs forged 20 yards longer and the same lift of each iron so I hit 67 iron 160 instead of 140 which helps when you have 5 iron in from 190 instead of a 4 or 3
But the only drawback is I can't hit them low in the wind with out them losing all the spin and giving into the wind

[nutter]

i'm with you, shovels are plenty workable. only 2 shots i find are harder, flighting it down a bit and a low fade

[Rebel420]

I'm not to the point that I'm trying to shape shots on purpose.  Still struggling with thin shots and the ball flys like a bullet.  Fat shots make nice pop-ups.  Too closed or open at impact and the ball goes out and will hook and almost boomerang on me.    Doesn't matter if I try a blade or an SGI either, but it tells me if I can do that unintentionally, intentional shaping should work just fine

[J_D]

I have never hit an iron that I couldn't fade or draw. Blades and small irons did feel like it was easier but they all curve the ball. I used to use old ball flight rules too before moving to D plane, and D plane feels very different.
If SGI irons weren't workable, everyone would hit straight or pulls or pushes with no curve.. And trust me some of my friends hit some slices with those "not workable" SGI's

[tbowles411]

As someone who can use a mid-iron, a GI or SGI iron, with some effort, I can shape a shot.  But to say it can't be done, there a probably a lot of people that with definately disagree.  It depends on the level of skill to pull it off, though.  But to say it can't be done?  No.

Of course, I don't drive it 300 yards and use X flex in my woods, so what do I know....  

[Scott@84]

I think some people mistake "working the ball" with hitting it all over the face with a blade. I watch guys "work" the ball all the time when all they are really doing is struggling to hit the center of the face. Hitting it low is merely a skull, a high fade is a slice, low running hook is some horrible attempt to square the face etc. I played the original Burner irons for a season and had no problem hitting the shots I wanted to hit with them.

Anyway, the G20's are great irons!

[farmer]

Glad you like them.  I swim upstream on this, but I think you swing better when you're not so concerned about the effects of a slight miss.

[tembolo1284]

Pings...ewwwwwwww.

[gopherguts]

Of COURSE you can move the ball with GI's and SGI's. It's just a matter of how much.

Anyway, I spent a good deal of time, on multiple days, in a Golfsmith hitting bay with launch monitor trying the G20 with the 4 available shafts (DG, KBS, AWT and CFS).

My dispersion (as expected ?) was FAR better with the Dynamic Gold S300. Both side-to-side and and distance-wise the DG's gave me the best, most consistent pattern. The DG was maybe 2-3 yards shorter than the others but,,,,,,,

So I bought them. Picked them up late yesterday afternoon but had a chance to hit a small bucket. Verrrrrrry nice. Wasn't really trying to work it much though, just trying to get a good feel for the clubs. I typically hit a straight ball unless moving it is "required". I'll be more likely to try to move it right to left than left to right though (like many I was "scared" by a vicious slice in my youth,,,,,,, and even though I NEVER hit it anymore,,,,,,,,, ).

Hopefully I'll be able to hit the driving range a couple of more times before taking them out on the course.

[TJCDAS]

jmeyerson2004, on 07 May 2012 - 05:44 PM, said:

I just played a round today with a demo set of PING G20 irons to see if they might be a good fit for my game even as a low handicapper (currently a 1).  I was really excited to see them in action during an actual round and not just on the range.  I was not worried about forgiveness or distance.  The number one concern I had going into the round was workability.  

The question was whether I could I hit a controlled fade or a big fade (or draw/hooks) when I needed to out of the trees or other trouble.  I got my answer on the second hole when I was faced with a 200 yard second shot on a par 5 that I need to fade about 15 yards around some trees. As I approached my ball, I thought to myself "I better give this some extra hold-off because according to golfwrx you cannot work these like you can with a blade".  Boy was that a mistake...I started the ball off on the perfect line just to the left of the tree line and overcooked it OB.  The shot looked exactly like my shot would have looked had I hit it with a blade.

High, low, I could pretty much make it do what I wanted.  The best part was that I had the extra forgiveness when I was trying a "hero" shot so it gave me more confidence to pull it off.  Bottom line: GREAT irons and will do what you ask them to do. I think the right shaft paired with those heads would be downright dangerous.

Not being able to work GI clubs is the biggest BS myth in golf.

Just ask any hacker if their GI and SGI clubs have stopped their slice.  You can slice the clubs just as well as any players iron.  They big drivers that are so forgiving on mishits still produce a big slice if you come across the ball.

Last I heard an outside-in swing causes a slice an inside-out swing causes a hook.

Unless GI and SGI have a way of over coming physics an inside-out and an outside-in give the expected results.



Mr. Tom Wishon's opinion.

http://golf.about.co...ronsworking.htm

Nice Q and A

http://golf.about.co...f_clubs_faq.htm

Edited by TJCDAS, 08 May 2012 - 03:17 PM.