PING i525 Irons - Powerful Precision

As a professional golfer of over twenty-five years' experience in the golf industry, you would think by now that I would be immune to the excitement and furore created by the release of new drivers and irons each year. I am, however, an unashamed golf tech junkie that still attempts to play tournament golf, and so I genuinely can’t wait to see what innovations arrive in the months before the new season starts.

Having been so impressed by the Ping i59 when it was released in the latter stages of 2021, I was very much looking forward to the arrival of the i525, their new players distance iron. I have used this type of iron for some time now as, although I am still a decent player, I am not getting any younger and I welcome the extra performance they bring. In order for me to properly analyse the i525 irons, the lovely people at PING sent me a 4-iron, a 6-iron, an 8-iron and a pitching wedge, all built to my exact specifications.

The first thing to say about the PING i525 irons is that they look truly stunning both behind the ball at address and when resting in your golf bag. Following the same minimalistic design trend as seen in the i59 irons, bag appeal has never been higher. At address the i525’s offer a wonderfully crisp aesthetic, with clean, classic lines. The blade length is long without being too long, and this increases confidence levels especially in the longer irons. It is a look that really suits my eye and one that I am sure will be very well received by the wider golfing public.

When PING came to talk us through the new range, the four clubs they had built for me were passed over mid-meeting. Sadly, I have no idea what they said for the rest of the time they were with us, as I was too busy waggling each iron over and over again, counting down the minutes until I could go downstairs to our Performance & Build Centre and begin hitting them. When that moment eventually arrived, it is safe to say that I was blown away by the performance these irons produced. Whilst I did like their predecessors (i500), I wasn’t overly keen on the feel as it was a little too ‘clicky’ for my taste. Thankfully, this is most certainly not the case with the i525’s, they feel responsive and provide excellent feedback through the strike.

PING have taken great steps to make this their most precise players distance iron to date. One of the things that can potentially put a good player off buying such a set, is when they are prone to flyers or inconsistent distances. Hitting an iron further is obviously beneficial, but only when that distance can be achieved time after time. Having one or two shots fly much further than the rest can result in a card wrecking disaster. In the extensive testing I have done with the i525’s on our GC Quad, my front to back grouping has been phenomenal, with only a few yards separating the longest and shortest shots with each club. This proved to me that they are extremely forgiving and produce yardage control normally associated with a full bladed iron.

As you can see from my early morning testing session, the standard deviation in twenty balls between my shortest and longest carry distance was two yards. That is simply sensational for a club that has such a fast clubface. The ball speed was virtually identical on every shot I hit with a standard deviation of just 1.1mph, and this consistency was evident in every statistic across the board. At the top of the photo above, you can see the trajectory I was producing was extremely predictable, with even a couple of low face strikes not being markedly different from the rest.

Multi material construction has been used in the design of the PING i525 irons which sees a 17-4 stainless steel body merging with a variable-thickness, maraging steel face. The face is very thin on the perimeter which produces more rebound, whilst an internal sole undercut increases face flex; both combine to significantly increase ball speed and launch shots higher into the air. I was a good club longer with these than I am with my current set, and I couldn’t help but be impressed by the distance control element. PING explain that this is because their new technologies move the impact stress on the face closer to the sole which produces a more uniform bending in the centre of the face.

The sound at impact has been significantly improved on the PING i525 irons through the addition of a thin polymer on the back of the face which eliminates noise and vibration. On the face itself the grooves are now milled, which has allowed for tighter spacing in between them and an average of four extra grooves on the face. This significantly reduces the chances of getting a flyer in the shorter irons and gives the golfer the confidence needed to fire at the flags with the scoring clubs.

As with many of the clubs in this class, the i525 irons have stronger lofts than is found in more ‘traditional’ bladed style heads with the 7-iron coming in at 30.5°. It is worth remembering that much like shafts and grips, loft is just a tool that is used to create your optimal launch and ball flight characteristics. Stronger lofts are often needed by golfers that aren't off a low single figure handicap because, unlike tour players, most amateur golfers add loft through impact. Using irons with stronger lofts can negate this and allows the golfer to hit their irons the distance they are supposed to go. The i525 irons produce plenty of launch and I actually hit them slightly higher than my existing set that have much weaker lofts. Descent angle was plenty steep enough to allow the ball to stop smartly on the green. Of course PING offer both Power Spec & Retro Spec options should you wish to deviate from the standard lofts.

If you are thinking of upgrading your irons to a set in the players distance iron category this season, then you really need to put the PING i525 at the top of your list to demo. They offer an enticing combination of stunning looks and class leading performance that has the potential to transform your iron game. I am notoriously fussy (some would say needlessly difficult) when choosing irons, but I have to say that, after extensive testing, I genuinely couldn’t fault these superb golf clubs.

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