Are You Worried About Ping G15 Irons?

When you are setting up to a "classic" iron, what kinds of thoughts run through your mind? For me, I imagine the silky smooth feel of the sweet spot. Like its predecessor, the Ping G15 Irons is an oversized iron designed for players seeking maximum forgiveness. However, several changes have been made which PING believes should make the club even more forgiving.

The PGA Tour rookie, who never won on the Nationwide Tour, joined fellow grads Jhonattan Vegas and Brendan Steele in this year's winners circle after striking a superb low draw-shot from the trees before two-putting from 45-feet for par at the first extra hole.

For someone that has not played a PING iron in quite a while, setting up to the G15s can be quite a shock to the system. Literally, no matter what angle you look at the club, the wide sole - which is even wider than before - was unavoidable. For some players this is like seeing a mustache on the Mona Lisa. For others, the bulge may be the finishing touch necessary to inspire confidence. This is likely going to be the feature that will determine your disdain or devotion to the G15s.

Like all PING golf clubs, they are meant to be custom ordered to your specifications including shaft, grip texture, grip size, lie, and loft. If you were to get a set of G15s off the rack, they come standard with either the PING AWT steel (Soft R, R, S, and X flexes) or TFC 149i graphite shaft (L, Soft R, R and S flexes).

Honestly, I thought I was losing it. I thought perhaps that my swing was changing and I was biased. After randomly grabbing three other golfers to hit each of the cheap golf clubs using the launch monitor I found that they were having the same results. In fact, the highest handicap player had nearly a three-degree increase in trajectory with the G15s.

So far, Ping had kept its promise: there was a better feel and there was an increase in distance. But how can you dramatically improve a club that you had just a few years back claimed was the "maximum" forgiveness iron? Well, Ping did.

With all that said, Ping has no intention of me putting the clubs in my bag. The G15 is targeted at golfers that dig into the ground when they shouldn't; golfers that probably can't hit a feather draw or fade; golfers that could benefit from the offset. Ultimately, the G15 is a perfect fit for a mid- to high-handicap golfer.

After three weeks of experiencing the ridiculous forgiveness of the G15s, I believe that these irons will attract a lot of converts. While you will not see the G15 irons in the bags of any tour professionals or many lower handicappers, this is a club that any player seeking maximum forgiveness should seriously consider.