Two of the hottest posts in our GolfWRX forums right now revolve around the same unreleased set of prototype irons: the Ping i230.

Early photos and speculation surrounding the i230 irons hit the forums in early July when they were spotted on the LPGA Tour and in the bag of Tyrrell Hatton. Stewart Cink and David Lingmerth have also put them in play, leading to increased buzz around the models.

It was way back in 2018 when Ping released its i210 irons, which remain popular choices on the PGA Tour (Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Joaquin Niemann currently have i210 irons somewhere in the bag), so the hype makes sense. A four-year build up is a long time for a successful tour product, especially one that has wider-ranging appeal than just tour players; the i210 is suitable for low-to-mid handicaps, as well.

Without seeing up-close and in-hand photos of the new i230 irons, though, there was too much to speculate and not enough visual evidence.

Then, at The 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews, GolfWRX was finally able to take in-hand photos of the Ping i230 irons, and capture Stewart Cink’s WITB setup, which included Ping i230’s for his 4-PW, UW.

GolfWRX has also received early word on what Stewart Cink is liking so far about the irons (which could also clear up some of the design speculation in our forums).

Ping Player Development Manager Spencer Rothluebber said:

“Once Stewart saw that the i230s were smaller heel to toe in the long irons, he was instantly excited to play them. He loved the feel and sound, the i230s have a very solid impact experience. He also found the transition to the new iron very easy as the sole design of the i230 compared to the i210 didn’t change.”

For comparison purposes, below are a few side-by-side photos of Stewart Cink’s former i210 8-iron from April 2021, next to his current i230 8-iron.

Clearly, there’s two glaring differences; the i230 appears to have some type of covering on the back cavity, and the i230 has a screw in the toe section of the sole.

I couldn’t track down in-hand photos of Cink’s i210 8-iron for a perfect comparison at address position (I’m sorry!), but I did have a recent photo of Hovland’s i210 7-iron handy:

We’ll keep you informed if and when more details surface about the Ping i230 irons. For now, enjoy more photos below…

Ping i230 8 iron

Ping i230 UW

• MORE Ping i230 photos from the 2022 Open Championship
• Stewart Cink’s 2022 WITB w/ Ping i230