PING has a reputation of understating and over delivering on its products. It’s proven to be a strong combination. The company is reporting it new i200 irons, which first surfaced at the SBS Tournament of Champions, have a face and cavity structure that is more dynamic to achieve faster ball speeds, a soft, powerful feel and forgiveness.
“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,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “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 said they created a head design that provides precision distances with horizontal and vertical trajectory control while substantially increasing forgiveness. A muscle-stabilizing bar and deeper, longer tuning port with a thinner, faster face to promise a powerful feel and sound. This results, according to the company, from the elastomer insert activating at impact to enhance face flexing for faster ball speeds while damping vibrations. The insert, it said, nearly doubled in volume, allowing for more than three times the amount of face contact. It is concealed to create a clean cavity design, which is precision milled.
The 431 stainless steel head has a hydropearl chrome finish that repels moisture for more control, PING said and helps minimize fliers from wet conditions and lies in the rough. The thin face (30% thinner than the i iron) and tuning port structure produce weight savings that are redistributed to the toe and hosel regions to increase the moment-of-inertia in both the heel-toe and high-low orientations. 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 custom-shaft options are available 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 offer a 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 upcharge.
The i200 iron are available for pre-order started January 16, 2017 at authorized PING golf shops around the world. The U.S. MSRP is $135 per club with steel shaft and $150 per club with graphite.
