Equipment
Ping Blueprint irons are officially coming to retail
After what has been much speculation they are here: Ping’s Blueprint forged blades.
Born from the idea of creating a club for the most exacting of golfers, Ping meticulously prototyped and tested in house with their tour staff and other highly skilled players on everything from preferred shots, grind, to blade size and shape. When it comes to shape, the Blueprints are one of the smallest blades on the market, but there’s some reasoning behind this.
From Ping:
“After extensive in-house research with varying head sizes, the findings revealed the theory of “aim small, miss small” was validated by many of the highly skilled players in the test, who produced tighter stat areas when hitting the more compact head.”
It makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that the more you concentrate mass, the more that mass will transfer energy when you get close to it right? It was that final design that we saw out on tour around nine months ago that has ended up becoming what we will see at retail. Tried tested and ready for fittings and finding their way into golf bags.
From Ping’s President John K Solheim:
“When we launched it on tour, a few players put it in play immediately and it wasn’t long before we had our first win. Based on a lot of their input, we were able to deliver exactly what they were looking for while expanding our iron offerings into a new category. We’re very pleased with the development process we went through and are looking forward to applying our learnings to future PING products.”
Like everything Ping, the company has gone the extra mile when it comes to engineering every last aspect of these irons. Even something as simple as a tip weight has a calculation attached to it. Just like the G410 irons, the Blueprint irons have a visible tungsten toe weight.
Let me explain: basically every iron on the market utilizes a tip weight, either inserted into the shaft or into a port in the bottom of the hosel. (We’re about to go deep into the weeds from a design standpoint but stick with me). There is 100 percent nothing wrong with OEMs using tip weights to achieve desired swing weight but when you use them you move the CG closer to the hosel/heel side of the club…not on a humanly noticeable level but certainly from a definite engineering perspective.
This is why Ping has always placed the CTP (Custom Tuning Port) in the middle of the club head, directly behind the COG. But with a forged blade this is NOT possible because it’s solid metal, but there is a way to keep that COG EXACTLY where you want it: taking the amount of needed mass, dividing it by two and placing equal amounts in the hosel and in the toe. Simple? Yes. Done by anyone else? No.
Ping Blueprint irons construction
Ping is utilizing a four-step, multi-stage process for the one-piece forging to create the Blueprint forged iron. This process provides very tight dimensional tolerance control within the compact design. The high-strength, 8620 carbon steel (same material used in the Glide forged wedges) increases the iron’s durability compared to other carbon steels, ensuring long-lasting performance. The Blueprint irons go through more than 50 steps in the manufacturing process, including milling faces and grooves to ensure quality control club after club with each and every head checked for absolute accuracy.
Details
- Available in 2-PW, starting at $230 per club
- Stock shaft options: True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 (S300, X100), Ping AWT 2.0 (R, S, X) with all other Ping shafts available at additional cost
- Arccos Smart Sensor grips available at an additional cost
- LIKE253
- LEGIT28
- WOW17
- LOL371
- IDHT3
- FLOP456
- OB380
- SHANK530
Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/7/24): Mizuno 245 irons
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Mizuno 245 irons.
From the seller: (@JB_007): “1. Mizuno Pro 245 – $1000 –> 950/obo
- Purchased brand new – they have 36 holes on them, with probably 10 premium range balls. Great set of irons, I just am looking to go another way right now.
- 5-PW –> stock L/L/L
- Project X LS 6.5
- Stock MCC Mizuno Grips.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Mizuno 245 irons
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Whats in the Bag
Peter Kuest WITB 2024 (May)
- Peter Kuest what’s in the bag accurate as of CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (19 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 85 6.5
Irons: Srixon ZX U (2), Srixon Z-Forged II (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3
Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 ZipCore Tour Rack (52-MID 10, 56-MID 10, 60-FULL 9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Peter Kuest’s clubs here.
- LIKE4
- LEGIT3
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Whats in the Bag
Kelly Kraft WITB 2024 (May)
- Kelly Kraft’s what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Red 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X Denali White 70 TX
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Synergy Blue
Irons: Srixon ZX U Mk II (23 degrees), Callaway X Forged Star (5-PW)
Shaft: Project X IO 6.0
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-08M, 60-08M)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey Versa 2-Ball Prototype
Grip: Odyssey Garsen Quad Tour
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Kraft’s equipment here.
- LIKE5
- LEGIT1
- WOW1
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK1
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
Equipment3 weeks ago
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 Mk II irons
-
19th Hole6 days ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Equipment6 days ago
Golf fans left surprised by LIV’s choice of course for its 2024 individual championship event
Pingback: Best irons in golf of 2022: Best blades – GolfWRX
Mark
Jun 9, 2019 at 11:47 am
I tried those irons today. They are so easy to hit straight (smaller MOI makes it easier to square the face) and really very forgiving as for blades. There is no comparison to traditional Miura blades that are more demanding for sure. I am 2 hcp and I don’t think at all that better players will have any problem hitting them but rather will play better. This is one of bigger innovations lately.
Dave r
Jun 6, 2019 at 9:19 am
Ping has to come up with a smaller golf ball now just so you can hit them. Just think at $100.00 bucks a dozen you would have the best of both worlds. You would be the envey of your club.
Chris
May 27, 2019 at 6:15 pm
The blade length is WAY TOO SHORT. Otherwise, good looking iron.
JP
May 21, 2019 at 12:38 am
Ping can thank PXG for allowing the price gouging. It’s ridiculous, but almost expected these days. Now with all these oem’s following in PXG’s model, PXG themselves introduces a lower priced iron model! They do a 180 and once again twist up the market! Haha.
.
Once my irons show heavy signs of wear, I won’t be buying anything. I’ll send them in to get cleaned up and rechromed. They’ll never leave the bag.
Dan
May 20, 2019 at 10:13 pm
Thanks for the specs
No Diggity
May 20, 2019 at 7:31 pm
was excited and debating picking up a set till the $1610 number showed up. You can pick up a new set of Cobra Mbs AND a F9 driver for that price and still have some greens fees cash left over.
Rolando Rushay
May 20, 2019 at 5:55 pm
I love Ping irons..Have used them for years!! I play with the cavity backed and play well. I tried switching to forged irons & they’re not for me. Unless one is a Tour professional the average weekend player needs to keep it simple and easy because golf is a difficult game to play…why make it hard & costly..$230/ WOW!!!!
T-Bone
May 20, 2019 at 5:32 pm
So PING made their name back in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s by inventing perimeter weighting. Now, in 2019, their touting the same blade technology they supposedly made obsolete way back when. Oh, and this 1940’s technology will now cost you what you could have bought a house for back then.
Tom54
May 20, 2019 at 5:13 pm
Gorgeous club – funny name – way too expensive. $1800 for 8 irons? No thanks
joe
May 20, 2019 at 4:54 pm
Don’t worry they will be in bargain bin in 5 years.
todd
May 20, 2019 at 4:34 pm
TW irons are $250/ea, Miura are $280, PXG are $400, CNCPT are $500/ea. So the cost on these are outlandish because…
I’m sure I would be deadly accurate buttering my toast in the morning with these. Hitting them would likely be another story 😉
Cdub
May 20, 2019 at 4:19 pm
Looked amazing until seeing the price.
Get in the hole
May 20, 2019 at 3:17 pm
$230 a club is outrageous. Just pricing the consumer out of the sport. But that said, these are for the serious of serious golfers. Ping does make good quality $600 iron sets that would work well for the majority of golfers. If you’re sporting these and not playing to at least a 2 handicap, you’re dumb.
Steve
May 20, 2019 at 3:41 pm
True, but not true enough! I’d wager a 2 hdcp would miss the 2-5i’s at least 30% of the time. Why put yourself through that kind of misery? A real player wouldn’t let ego cost himself that many strokes.
Carl
May 20, 2019 at 2:51 pm
At $230 per club, you better be making money with these.
If not, you’re looking like a poser.
David Lehmann
May 20, 2019 at 3:20 pm
Thats less than PXG and these look a heckuva lot better than those “toys”.
steve
May 20, 2019 at 2:51 pm
I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts about this new offering from Ping. First, wow!, that is a good looking club. Second, how many people do they really expect will pay $200+/iron For a full set? Lastly, I play to a three handicap. So while I am not bad, I am certainly not that great. I do this with a premier weighted set of irons. Why would I want to make the game more difficult than it needs to be? Club manufactures need to know that NOT ALL of us are clueless consumers
Steve
May 20, 2019 at 3:09 pm
Correction…Premier should read “perimeter”
BWatts
May 20, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Cue the Miura Baby Blade comparison! Smaller head=more mass concentrated to put into the ball. Last week I tested my small blades against ‘more friendly’ offerings: Mizuno, Cally Apex Pro, Srizon etc…none got the ball speed my small blades delivered. Cool to see this theory proved out by PING!
dat
May 20, 2019 at 1:50 pm
Insane price. Perhaps PXG should offer to buy Ping, or is it the other way around?
Milo
May 20, 2019 at 1:28 pm
Damn those are sexy, makes me drool. But for that price, maybe I’ll pick some up in 4 years.
Ray
May 20, 2019 at 11:24 am
Wow! $230 per club?
I’ve admired Ping and their engineering but that’s a pretty penny given some of the other irons in this class.
gunmetal
May 20, 2019 at 12:41 pm
Yeah, these guys like Ben Hogan and their ‘direct to’ model is going to start looking more and more attractive if we keep delving into $1600 7 piece iron sets, IMO.
Dave Lawrence
May 20, 2019 at 11:03 am
Specs (in case anyone was curious):
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 PW
___________________________________________________
17.5 20 23.5 27 30.5 34 38 42 46