New Ping Irons Spotted At 150th Open At St Andrews

New Ping Irons Spotted At 150th Open At St Andrews

The Open Championship is often a testing ground for new product to be tried and even put in play despite it being arguably the most important event on a player's schedule. Just like Rory McIlroy adding a new club to his bag ahead of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, a new prototype Ping iron has been spotted in the bags of Tyrrell Hatton and Stewart Cink.

Based on images published by Sports Marketing Surveys (@SMS_on_tour) on Instagram (below), the new irons are the Ping i230 irons and look likely to be the replacement for the i210 iron, which remains one of the best Ping irons originally launched back in July 2018. Upon first glance, they appear quite similar. On the eye, they seem to have a longer blade length in the longer irons and a more compact profile in the shorter irons with less offset, meeting the balance of forgiveness, workability and pleasing visual aesthetics which has become synonymous with Ping i-series in recent years. 

One noticeable difference to the previous i210 model however, is the introduction of the weight screw in the toe of the iron. These are present throughout the set and follow a similar design to that of the i525, i59 and Blueprint iron which all have a tungsten screw in the toe for maximising ball speed and forgiveness. It would appear Ping has adopted something similar in the new i230 iron. The i230 irons also appear to feature the extra grooves on the face that we saw in the i59 and i525 that are said to deliver more consistent spin from different lies.

The i525, i59 and Blueprint irons are made from forged metal and that is indicated on the iron itself however, there is no mention on the i230s relatively clean cavity design. It is likely the i230 iron is a cast head and will feature some sort of elastomer insert behind the face to improve the feel, but this is all speculation at this time.

They are straight in the bag of at least two of Ping's leading staff players and are likely to be designed with the better player in mind. Be sure to check back in with Golf Monthly for a full and comprehensive review if and when the i230 irons launch.