Equipment

SPOTTED: Ping “Blueprint” Forged prototype irons

Published

8 years ago

Oct 2, 2018

On Tuesday, Ping staffer Louis Oosthuizen posted photos of Ping prototype irons, which look as though they will be called “Forged Blueprint” based on the stampings.

See what GolfWRX Members are saying about the Ping prototype irons.

Looking forward to testing my new @pingtour prototype irons. #forged Been working with @PingTour for a long time to get these in the bag ???? pic.twitter.com/REAh5glGee

— Louis Oosthuizen (@Louis57TM) October 2, 2018

Judging by their sleek designs, and the fact that Louis Oosthuizen is testing them, the irons could be the replacements for Ping’s previous iBlade irons, which mixed design principles of both blade irons and more forgiving cavity back irons. But if you look closely, the irons also have a screw, or “tuning port,” in the toe of the irons. This could mean that they are hollow-bodied, much like the current, game-improvement G700 irons. But the irons also say forged; is the entire iron forged, or just the face? Are we looking at a forged blade iron with the forgiveness designs of a G700?

For now, we’re left to speculate on the designs and analyze the photos from Louis.

See what GolfWRX Members are saying about the Ping prototype irons.

Related Topics:featured

Up Next

Spotted: PXG’s new 0811X Gen2 driver

Don't Miss

New PXG 0811X and 0811XF “Gen2” drivers hit the USGA conforming clubs list

Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

20 Comments

Kevin

Jan 5, 2019 at 9:46 pm

As someone who has heard from Ping inside reps I can tell you they have no foam inside and the screw on the toe will open up to a hallow inside. The club is fully forged and may not be released to the public in general. I would love to have a set of these myself but I fear they might not be released to the public. Ping is only going to release these if they fee the demand is worth the price tag they would need to place on them due to the forging process as it is far more expensive than casting as they have done for most of their irons. They now have access to the Nike golf technology as Nike sold them many patents when they exited the golf business as Nike repspected Ping enough to go to them first and is the reason why a decent amount of the Nike tour pros are playing Ping now.

Reply Report comment
ht

Oct 3, 2018 at 3:53 pm

NIP set of MP-64’s in the BST right now for less than half of what these will cost. Can’t see any other reason to buying other than to satisfy your hoe urges. Nothing wrong with being a club hoe

Reply Report comment
William Davis

Oct 3, 2018 at 1:54 pm

I have a set of 25 year old Mizuno TP9 irons. Why would I want these?

Reply Report comment
- William Davis
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 2:06 pm
  
  …. and I’m only 22 years old ….!!!!!!
  
  Reply Report comment
- The dude
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm
  
  Ya don’t get IT
  
  Reply Report comment
Jim

Oct 3, 2018 at 12:14 pm

Meh… Buy & use late 60’s / early 70’s Wilson Staff – better clubs, solid carbon steel, no hollow or foam-filled gimmicks. But of course, if “growing the game” and helping manufacturers survive is your goal, then by all means acquire new clubs every few months.

Reply Report comment
- oppie
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 2:03 pm
  
  … for rich, old and impotent Baby Boomer (1945-1965) golfers who have more money than brains or talent… and gotta have a good looking WITB set of arsenal of weapons.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mokokos

Oct 3, 2018 at 11:37 am

This not the first attempt by Ping of this type of forged irons. I have the 2nd generation Anderso irons which were forged and hollow bodied. They are very good and accurate and Miguel Angel Jimenez won a tournament gamingvthese irons. The only drawback was the dead feel and dull sound of these irons. Hopefully Ping has addressed that issue with these prototypes. I still think when you go hollow body you need some kind of creative insert to improve the feel and sound of the strike.

Reply Report comment
- Mokokos
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 11:40 am
  
  Sorry, I meant to type Anser irons.
  
  Reply Report comment
- oppie
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 2:05 pm
  
  Yes…. sound and orqasmic impact feeeel are so important to incompetent duffers with no consistent swing.
  
  Reply Report comment
ogo

Oct 2, 2018 at 1:46 pm

Kudos to Andy Tursky for this!!!:
“But the irons also say forged; is the entire iron forged, or just the face? Are we looking at a forged blade iron with the forgiveness designs of a G700?”
I’ve been questioning the “fake forged” scam starting with the P-790 and now you’ve taken up the cudgel questioning another hollow iron design. Welcome aboard!!!!

Reply Report comment
- ogo
  
  Oct 2, 2018 at 1:52 pm
  
  Furthermore, it’s obvious the club OEMs are attempting to design in that soft buttery feel of fully forged irons but only hit on the sweet spot. A hollow iron filled with jello goop may absorb the clank of off-center hits to make the duffers feeeel gooood. Obviously an open cavity back with a rubbery insert just doesn’t do it so PING is following the herd their their PXG/TM hollow versions.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - jo
    
    Oct 3, 2018 at 9:21 pm
    
    maybe in some cases, but wait until you get old and you’ll appreciate the shock absorption.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - ogo
      
      Oct 4, 2018 at 9:55 pm
      
      Use soft lady’s flex graphite shafts because you must stop the mis-hit ‘shock’ in the shaft… NOT the clubhead.
      
      Reply Report comment
James

Oct 2, 2018 at 11:39 am

Looks like there is a faint mark on the toe area to designate tungsten (much like the iBlade).

Reply Report comment
- ogo
  
  Oct 2, 2018 at 2:28 pm
  
  Do you know why TM and PING are inserting very high density tungsten plugs low in the toes of their irons…. and why PXG achieves the same effect with external tungsten screws? I do…. 😀
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Luke
    
    Oct 2, 2018 at 5:26 pm
    
    Why?
    
    Reply Report comment
    - oppie
      
      Oct 3, 2018 at 2:09 pm
      
      … because most recreational golfers hit low in the toe… and the extra metal toe weight compensates for incompetence.
      
      Reply Report comment
rex235

Oct 2, 2018 at 10:27 am

Am in as soon as they show a LH set.

Reply Report comment
- Roy
  
  Oct 3, 2018 at 9:36 am
  
  so never…:-(
  
  Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

Putters that never made it: Check out some of the best tour builds that didn’t make the cut

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Arguably, the best perk of being a professional golfer on the PGA Tour is the ability to request or even just be handed pretty much any club you could think of. It happens more often than you think, usually with putters around the practice green from one event to the next. Come Wednesday, the Tour bags lining the edge of the putting surface become resting places for fallen flatsticks that never made the cut.

So let’s take a look at some of the best we’ve seen out on Tour this year that never made it to the competition. (You may notice none of Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Scotty Cameron putters made this list. There are too many.)

Let’s start with this custom Damascus Milled Odyssey Rossie made for Ryo Hisatsune. Featuring a single line and the short-slant hossel, we’ve seen plenty of Number 7 and jailbird heads featuring the Damascus Milled insert, but this is the first and only one we’ve spotted in a Rossie. Hisatsune primarily putts with an Odyssey Black Series iX #9, but we have seen him recently with a TaylorMade TP Collection SOTO, so there could be potential that the Damascus Milled Rossie could end up in the bag.

Everyone wants to be Cameron Young right now. We’ve had Justin Thomas and Tom Hoge both game the Scotty Cameron 9.5R prototype. Well, for the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka nearly joined that list after requesting the same style of putter, with the full-length alignment line. But the Scotty Cameron reps took the request a step further and made one specially for Koepka with a Teryllium insert, similar to one in his previous Newport 2 gamers. The reason why this one didn’t go into play, though? Because it was too heavy.

Harry Hall was the third-best putter on Tour last year, so when Bettinardi made him a custom proto, you know it was going to be good. The custom BB28 blade features VDF face milling, a custom-welded single-bend shaft, and the owner’s initials – HH – on the sole of the putter. Hall, who usually games an Odyssey O-Works #7 W, has dabbled with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X already this year. Maybe there’s a chance this Bettinardi might make his bag.

Honestly, this one doesn’t need a description. It’s Kieth Mitchell’s custom Scotty Cameron Napa. One Scotty Cameron face stamp, two Scotty Dogs, two Scotty Cameron 7-Point Crowns and one Circle T. That is all. Oh, except for the Cashmere Cameron headcover.

Finally, and just for fun, how about we pour one out for this TaylorMade Spider Tour X made for Scottie Scheffler in its new torched finish. It’s unlikely we’ll see a putter change anytime soon from the best golfer in the world. In fact, he hit just two putts with it on the Harbour Town practice before going back to his trusty gamer.

Whats in the Bag

Patrick Reed WITB 2026 (May)

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 130 M.S.I. 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 Tour Rack (52-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-08M), SM11 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Rat 1.5 Tour Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

See more photos of Patrick Reed’s clubs here.

Equipment

Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing their favorite major winning irons used by Tiger Woods. WRXer ‘golferdude54’ kicks off the thread saying:

“Mizuno MP 14/29. Titleist 681T. Nike Forged Blades. TaylorMade P7TW.

Among these irons that helped Tiger win 15 majors, which is your favorite in terms of looks?”

And our members have been naming their favorites and why in response.

Here are a couple of posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

SwingBlade: “I prefer the early blades he played and the more recent TM TW’s especially because after Tiger had his major behavioral setbacks, part of Nikes support payback was making Tiger play a Nike putter and cease using his beloved uniquely customized Scotty putter.”
ProjectX: “This (Nike Forged Blades) and there’s not even a close second.”

Entire Thread: “Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss”