It has been almost three years since Ping released the iBlade irons, their last real blade-style offering for lower handicap golfers looking for real precision and shot-making freedom.
Now, they have finally announced the Blueprint iron as an apparent successor, having been in the bag of their Tour Pros including Louis Oosthuizen and Tony Finau since the end of last summer.
The Blueprint is a forged blade crafted from a new 8620 carbon steel and is aimed at providing highly skilled golfers with the tools to work the ball with confidence.
Ping President John K. Solheim explains more:
As the name suggests, we’ve applied a Blueprint approach to the new irons. Every detail is extremely precise and carefully calculated. The resulting design is spectacular in every way for the elite player – performance, feel and looks. It’s a true shot-maker’s iron crafted with precision, and for precision.
With that in mind, we know the Blueprint iron isn’t for everyone. We encourage golfers interested in the Blueprint to get fit and compare it to other Ping iron designs to find the best solution for their game.
The small blade design of the Blueprint irons is intended to appeal to those players who seek workability and trajectory control. They feature shorter blade lengths, less offset and narrower sole widths to standard Ping irons, allowing elite players to attack pins with confidence.
There is a machined tungsten screw inserted into the toe which increases MOI to provide a little extra forgiveness, and it combines with an internal heel weight for precise tuning.
PGA Tour star Tony Finau is clearly a fan:
I put them in play immediately once they arrived. They’re workable, incredibly versatile and feel great. There isn’t a single shot I can’t hit with them, which gives me a lot of confidence in pressure situations. The look at address is also perfect; the size and shape really fits my eye.
Solheim also explained how the influence of Ping’s Tour players helped to shape the decisions and designs of their engineering team during the development stage, and the subsequent success of the Blueprint iron:
When we launched it on tour, a few players put it in play immediately and it wasn’t long before we had our first win. Based on a lot of their input, we were able to deliver exactly what they were looking for while expanding our iron offerings into a new category. We’re very pleased with the development process we went through and are looking forward to applying our learnings to future PING products.
The result of their research led to a theory of ‘aim small, miss small’ where the smaller head shape actually improved the player’s impact area, hitting the sweet spot more often. Nine months later, you can see if it will work for you too.
The irons undergo a four-step forging process which provides tight tolerance control for consistent quality throughout. The high-strength 8620 carbon steel increases the iron’s durability for long-lasting performance and quality.
Ping has worked hard to create a sound and feel which golfers will enjoy through the use of the 8620 carbon steel, along with a head design which concentrates mass through the impact zone.
Major winner Louis Oosthuizen commented:
The feel is amazing. I love the feedback I get and how smoothly they go through the turf from any lie. They’re like no other iron I’ve ever hit. The Blueprint’s workability gives me the control to hit all the shots with the precision I need to win tournaments.
Available from 30th May, the Blueprint irons will set you back £210 each with 2-PW available. Whilst this is expensive, if you’re a low handicapper seeking for a really sleek-looking head which affords you great feel and the ability for ultimate shot-making, it may be a price worth paying.