Question

1.48K viewsApril 6, 2017

Claus Moeller April 6, 2017 0 Comments

I Recently was so lucky to purchase an old set of PINK K1’s on Ebay and all I had to do was to change the grips to new ones..

As you can see on the picture, the irons are virtually unused, with no scratches whatsover on the soles..

I already have a set of original EYS’s and EYE 2’s and when I tried to compare the 3 different 7 irons and wedges they were very similar in performance.. Actually it seemed like the older design of the K1’s felt better than the two other PINGS..

I was very surprised, as I only bought the K1’s for fun, and because they were brand new (or at least unused).. I also have a set of Maltby Logic Tradition True Forged M-05, and compared to the other 7 irons the Maltby seemed to launch way higher..

Anyway.. -My question is this : even if the K1’s are almost 45-50 years old in design, can they compare to newer irons ?

Did these irons just fit me better, since they feel better, or is it really that good a design to still be able to compete with brand new designs ? -even the brand new ones from PING and other popular brands (also Maltby ofcause) ?

The MPF’s for the irons mentioned here are: (just for comparison)

K1’s : 826 (1972 Design) -First ping K1’s are from 1969 accordng to PING

EYE : 821 (1981 Design)

EYE 2 : 724 (1983 Design)

Maltby M05 : 716 (2003 Design)

Thanks for reading, and btw the PING K1’s are now a serious competitor to my Maltby’s for going in the bag.. -But I guess I could mix and match a set with both PING and Maltby irons ..

1 Answer

Answer 1 · 2017-04-10T00:05:07+00:00

What a great find. I’m jealous. When looking at the playability of the clubs, the MPF looks solely at the mass and dimensional characteristics. Based on the numbers, you can absolutely say that the K1’s are as playable or more playable then the later models. That being said, Ralph states that it is very difficult for most players to notice a true difference in playability when the clubs are within about 100-150 points of each other. So all the Pings you have listed would be very forgiving and playable and it may be difficult to notice a big difference. A couple of things the MPF does not take into consideration. The first would be the sole design, or the bounce of the club. Most of the Pings are similar, but be conscious of the sole angle differences that may be in the sets your comparing. Second is the grooves. None of the three sets you list would have conforming grooves due to the USGA rule change back in 2010. Assuming the shafts are the same type, the only reason you might hit the M-05 irons higher is because it has less offset. Lofts are similar on the #5 irons, so the only reason(s) might be a shaft difference or the offset.

Britt Lindsey

Thanks for your very informative reply :-)

It’s interesting that -when looking at the numbers that the K1’s are competitive amongst much newer and brand new designs..

About the groove rule, I was under the beleif that it only concerned PING irons produced after 1982 ?

The K1’s are produced from 1972 – 1975.
All that aside, as you stated it’s a great find and I’ve already had several fellow golfers ask ‘are these the newest 2017 PING’s in your bag??

Naaaah – not really, you see these are about 45 years old…