Multi-material, multi-piece irons are en vogue these days. They've been for years. And the years have brought performance enhancements, particularly in how engineers get the most out of the space between the face insert and the body of the iron.
With their new i59 Forged irons, Ping is bringing forth a new proprietary technology called AlumiCore that they say helps deliver a new level of forgiveness in these player's irons.
AlumiCore is an aerospace-grade aluminum insert that goes inside the head of the irons, which features a forged 1025 carbon steel body and a cast 17-4 stainless face insert. The insert, custom to each iron, affords approximately 30 grams of material from the center of the club to be redistributed to the perimeter. Depending on the iron, the distribution to the toe and shaft tip regions varies in the form of tungsten, but the goal is to increase the moment of inertia to equal the larger i210 irons. The idea is to offer massive forgiveness in a head that typically requires much more precision.
The i59 Forged has all the other trappings of irons for better players: a more compact shape, thinner topline, a narrower sole and less offset.
The face insert is machined with new MicroMax grooves, which has tighter spacing and a geometry that nets an average of four extra grooves on each club. The goal is to reduce fliers in the short irons, in conjunction with the Hydropearl 2.0 finish, and preserve spin in the long irons for greater control.
All three pieces are plasma-welded together after a forging process known as swaging is performed. Swaging applies pressure to all three parts, which them seals together better with the plasma-welding technique.
The Ping i59 Forged irons are available in 3-iron through pitching wedge in 10 color codes with Project X LS (6.0, 6.5) stock steel shafts and UST Recoil 760 ES (A), 780 (R, S) stock graphite shafts. The clubs are $275 each with a stock steel shaft and $290 each with a stock graphite shaft. Optional shafts are also available.
