Well, the i500 are smaller and sleeker with minimal offset and a thinner topline. Visually they look like a ‘better player’ golf club whereas the G700 look more like a traditional ‘game-improvement’ iron.
So I wanted to test these two out side by side to see what sacrifices, if any, are being made by opting for the ‘sexier’ i500 iron.
But when I put both irons onto the SkyTrak launch monitor, the i500 seems to have the edge with a bit more carry and ball speed.
Another thing to note was the consistency.
The i500 seems to have much more consistent launch and spin numbers whereas the G700 seemed all over the place.
Ping i500 v G700 irons: NCG verdict
I think we may be facing a cultural shift when it comes to irons.
Either that or I’m just getting a bit better at golf.
Maybe there’s truth in both assertions.
[skylab_video id=”137411″]Ping G700 irons vs. Ping G400 irons YT[/skylab_video]
Golf companies have been telling us for years that better players should use this club and higher handicappers should use that club.
But I think with irons like the i500 and the TaylorMade P790 we have fantastic looking golf clubs that literally anyone can use.
Are the G700 more forgiving than the i500? Not from my testing.
Do the G700 go further? They were a good few yards behind the i500.
If I was to go through a proper irons fitting with Ping I think there’s a chance the G700 or G400 might possibly come into play for the 5 and 4 iron.
But it’s incredibly rare for club golfers to get fitted into a split set of irons like nearly all the tour players have.
Right, I’m off to see Ping for an irons fitting and I’ll report back…
Ping i500 irons details
SRP: £139/£149 per iron (steel/graphite)
More information can be found on the Ping website.
