Ping has debuted their latest irons, the S55’s at the FedEx Cup’s first playoff event at Liberty National Golf Course, the Barclays Championship. Ping Touring staff have received their first look and test of these new irons on Monday, and do they look nice! Looks like the S55 irons have taken from the Anser line of irons and are designed to be a bit cleaner and minimalistic. They’re made of multi-metal materials, with a tungsten toe for added forgiveness, 17-4 stainless steel body and tour-style blade design. The face is thinner on the S55 than the previous model, the S56, with a larger Custom Tuning Port. There are also two stabilization bars behind the face; the bar behind the long irons are smaller to keep the Center of Gravity (CG) down, whereas it’s larger in the short irons to raise the CG which should help to flight shots lower for more control on approach shots.
Bubba Watson added his input on the development of these irons through it’s development and Hunter Mahan has been testing these irons out as well. Mahan is supposedly hitting the ball longer and higher, and was quoted as saying “the S55 feels softer.” The softness is due to the stabilization bar and also the weight that is inserted behind the face is softer than in the S55. The weight is a new thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) insert which is a more flexible material and “gives slightly” to absorb more vibration at impact, versus the thermoplastic urethane (TPU) insert used in the S56’s. The lofts will be a little stronger than the S55’s as well, increasing about 1 degree from the S56’s. The S55’s will be available from 3 iron to PW and will be in stores staring November 1, 2013.
