Reviewer's Handicap: 0
Clubs acquired from: Pro Shop
Cost: $800
Positives of this Club
• Good feel at impact.
• Very forgiving on mishits.
• Very soft feel for a blade.
• Exceptional weighting.
• Very consistent shot control.
Negatives of this Club
• Cosmetically, could look better.
Review:
Ping is known for a solid club that is easy to hit, and Ping did not
disappoint with these irons. These are forged blades with superior weighting
in the sole. Good solid feel in your hands, very forgiving on mishits, easy
to work the ball left and right. Overall, a solid club.
This review is a product of my own internal comparison of the Ping S59 and the Mizuno MP33. Since I played both irons, I wanted to narrow down the choice and stick with one set of irons. I spent three days on the range hitting approximately 1800 balls to make my comparison.
• Distance: I averaged 3-4 yards extra distance with the Ping S59 blades. When practicing, I laser my targets with my Bushnell 500 laser. There was no comparison on distance, as the S59 clearly were the longer irons.
• Ball Flight: My S59 blades come with Ping Tour Staff custom-shafted shafts to create a lower boring ball flight, and to accommodate my faster swing speed. Although the ball flight was slightly lower, I really compliment these irons as they "maintained" consistent ballflight even on mishits. This was a surprise even to myself. The MP33, even with their great feel and control, did not perform to this consistent level - not even close. Even amateur golfers realize the importance of consistency in any club. Consistency builds confidence in your shots. I purposely hit hundreds of fades, draws, punch shots, and mishits close to the toe and heel to evaluate the feel, consistency, and control of these irons. The club had remarkable recovery (for off center hits) at most areas of the club face (minus the hosel shank).
• Looks: Look really doesn't matter when it comes to performance, but if you're one who cares about the look, these clubs could be more cosmetically pleasing. The sand blasting on the bottom half of the irons is unattractive (why would they do this?). The weighted insert on the back of the iron could be mounted better. No matter how unattractive, this iron performs very well.
As a first-generation iron, I'm very interested in seeing the continuing improvements on this model. However, there really is something unique about these irons. First, you can not find any set of irons on the market that look or feel like them. This says a lot, considering the market is saturated with duplicity in look, feel, and performance. Second, the Ping clubs always keep their value as the Ping manufacturer doesn't cannibalize their own products by too quickly flooding the market with excessive models. This makes good business sense and translates into good value for the owner of any Ping clubs.
