New Gear: Ping’s i200 irons unveiled

Most of Ping’s Tour staff use the company’s iBlade irons and they are highly appealing to low and mid-handicapped golfers.

While these golfers love the look of the iBlade, they need more distance and forgiveness, which is why Ping has released the i200 irons.

Cast from soft 431 stainless steel, the i200 irons replaces last season’s i irons as a versatile performer for accomplished players. The compact sized irons have minimal offset, a thin topline and a classic look at address. But the clubface is 30 percent thinner than with the i iron, which helps the face flex more at impact for increased ball speed and more distance.

This has made the i200 not only appealing to mid-to-low handicappers, but Ryder Cup players Lee Westwood and Andy Sullivan have put the iron in their bag for 2017.

“The i200 iron is engineered for golfers who want an iron with a clean look that delivers exceptional feel, distance and forgiveness while providing the trajectory control they need to play with precision,” Ping Chairman and Chief Executive, John A. Solheim, said.

“Bringing all these benefits into one iron required our teams to re-think how the face and cavity structure can work together to improve overall performance.

“The feel is amazing and the gains in forgiveness are significant for an iron this size. It’s a shot-maker’s iron by design, but it will fit a lot of golfers because it’s so easy to play. This iron will exceed their expectations in every way, especially the feel.”

Ping engineers created a head design that provides precision distances with horizontal and vertical trajectory control while substantially increasing forgiveness. A muscle-stabilising bar and deeper, longer tuning port harmonise with a thinner, faster face to create a powerful feel and sound.

This results from the soft elastomer insert activating at impact to enhance face flexing for faster ball speeds while damping vibrations. The insert nearly doubled in volume, allowing for more than three times the amount of face contact. It is neatly concealed to create a clean cavity design, which is precision milled.

The clubhead has a hydropearl chrome finish that repels moisture for more control and helps minimise fliers from wet conditions and lies in the rough.

The thin face and tuning port structure produce weight savings that are redistributed to the toe and hosel regions to greatly increase the moment-of-inertia in both the heel-toe and high-low orientations. Long irons launch high with increased distance and forgiveness. Precise short irons give golfers full command of their shot making.

Tour-inspired aesthetics, including a smooth hosel-to-face transition, minimal offset and a sharper face radius, result in a slim appealing shape and clean look. The i200 iron soles are designed with added bounce and a more contoured lead edge to create a profile that glides smoothly through the turf without digging or bouncing.

A variety of high-performance custom-shaft options are available in the i200 iron to fit a player’s ball flight and feel preferences.

The stock shaft is the proprietary Ping AWT 2.0, which employs a steeper weight progression paired with a variable step pattern to provide a unique balance of high trajectory, increased ball speed, and stable feel in the long irons, yet controlled trajectory and smooth feel in the short irons. The KBS Tour, Dynamic Gold, N. S. Pro Modus3 105, XP 95, and Project X are also available at no extra charge.