At the start of May, as spring was starting to give way to summer, I travelled to Ping’s European Fitting Centre in Lincolnshire to go through a full iron custom fitting.
The brand is known for producing some of the best irons on the market – as well as drivers, fairways woods and more – but I was specifically there to upgrade from 4-iron to gap wedge.
For the previous seven or eight years, I’d been using Nike Vapor irons. Nike stopped making hardware in 2016, so you can understand why I was so excited to visit Ping’s fitting HQ – especially when you consider I’d never been through a full custom fitting in my life. Given what I do for a living, that’s perhaps surprising.
The whole process was very eye-opening – I found out my Nike irons weren’t suited to my swing at all and I went through various measurements to establish what length of shaft, lie angle and model were best suited to me.
Iron technology has moved on leaps and bounds and I hit the ball really well with both the G430 and i530 models. I was blown away by the distance I was achieving and the forgiveness on offer, even with the i530, which isn’t a high-handicap iron.
Perhaps the best element of a fitting, though, is the candid back-and-forth with the expert technician – it’s almost like you’re talking to a therapist. There’s no reason for you to lie – and your shots paint a perfect picture in any case – and they have no reason to not be honest with you. What results is an engaging and open discussion about your strengths, your weaknesses and your tendencies and what you need from the equipment to improve.
I really enjoyed the ebb and flow of the session – you get measured, hit some balls, have a discussion, look at the data and repeat the process with different heads and shafts. By the end, you’re left in no doubt you’ll come away with a model that will improve your game – a combination of affirmation from your expert fitter, the data and how you feel about the clubs you’ve hit.
The excitement when your custom-built clubs show up is palpable – you’re like a kid ripping open a present at Christmas. It’s painful waiting for your first round with your new sticks.
Of course, it takes a little while to get used to your new toys. I hit some great shots in my first round and it’s so good to look down on clubs you know are packed with the latest technology. However, there were some inconsistent strikes in there – the weighting and aesthetics are different from the clubs you’ve been used to hitting for so long.
One piece of advice – get straight to a range with ball-tracking technology as soon as you get your clubs, ideally before your first round out on the course. During a fitting, you typically only hit with a 7-iron.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I hit my new i530 7-iron 20 yards further than my outgoing model, so I genuinely didn’t know how far my other clubs would travel. As we all know, if you have any uncertainty standing over a golf shot, it’s probably not going to go where you want it to!
Now I’ve worked out my yardages and had a few rounds, I couldn’t be happier with how my i530s are performing out on the golf course. There are three key reasons why.
Firstly, I know I don’t have to force anything. The tech is built in and I don’t need to hit aggressively at the ball. All I need to do is focus on completing my backswing and keeping things smooth from the top and I know the ball will go where I want it to.
Secondly, I’m able to hit shots I didn’t have in the locker before. For example, I can hit a 200-yard 4-iron that comes down soft (not every time, of course, but I’m capable of it). I’ve never been able to carry a 4-iron more than about 185 yards before.
Thirdly, my gapping has been sorted out at both ends of the bag. Ping were kind enough to give me a 7-wood to bridge the gap between my 3-wood and 4-iron. In the past, I’d really struggled with any shot between the 200- to 220-yard mark. I also now have a utility wedge that sits nicely between my pitching wedge and my 56-degree lob wedge.
All in all, I’m delighted with my new irons. Once my handicap settles down (two of my best ever rounds are about to fall off my last 20, so my index will go up), I genuinely believe they will make me a better golfer. I’ve already seen evidence of that. I’m excited to see what the future holds.
