Ping Faith Irons Review – Specs, Lofts & What Handicap Are They For?

Ping Faith Irons Review – Specs, Lofts & What Handicap Are They For?

“Ping is known for making amazing game improvement clubs for men. But their clubs for women often get overlooked.”

Does that mean their ladies sets aren’t up to par with their men’s GI sets? To find out, I tested the Ping Faith irons for ladies.

Of course, as a man, I am not the target market for these irons. So for this round of testing, I brought along a female tester to give me some perspective. However, I did put the Ping Faith irons through their paces myself to get a firsthand feel for these clubs.

The first thing you have to know about the Ping Faith irons is that this is a hybrid set. The 5 and 6 irons have been replaced by a 5H and 6H. The 4-iron has been done away with altogether. The hybrid nature of this set should tip you off to the fact that this is a set designed for higher handicap golfers.

Key Features of the Ping Faith Irons

Perimeter Weighting

Additional weights have been placed in the toe and the heels of these irons. Perimeter weighting is a pretty basic feature but it is incredibly common because it simply works. By having more mass in the extreme perimeter of the face, these vulnerable sections become a lot more stable. So when you make contact near the heel and toe (which is something high handicappers do a lot), the ball doesn’t spin so much and the face doesn’t warp so much. This gives you a much better chance at a playable lie when you miss the sweet spot.

Custom Tuning Port

The faces of the Ping Faith irons and hybrids have been milled to be very thin. The reason manufacturers aim for thin faces is to increase flexion. The more the face is able to flex, the faster your ball speed will be. The only problem is that increased flex usually leads to increased spin and flight instability. The Custom Tuning Port is basically an impact pad placed behind the sweet spot. It helps stabilize the face so that the increased flex doesn’t lead to unstable flight.

Lightweight Design

The Ping Faith irons were made for lady golfers with slower swing speeds. My testing partner has an average swing speed of 77.9 MPH. When she tested the Ping Faith irons, that average was moved up to 78.3 MPH. Not a dramatic increase but still one of note. The hybrids have a C5 swing weight, irons 7-9 have a C4 swing weight and the wedges have a C6 swing weight. Overall, these irons felt really light and speedy on my back and downswing.

Shaping

The Ping Faith irons sport a really clean cavity back design. Even with a wide sole and a long  blade length, they still look really pleasing at address. The Ping Faith irons are generally oversized. The soles are wide which helps prevent digging on the fairway or in the rough. However, the top lines are surprisingly thin. They aren’t sharp as razor blades or anything but just a bit disproportionate considering the width of the soles.

Sound and Feel

The Ping Faith sport steel faces which, again, have been milled to be very thin. The feedback is clean and crisp. But I wouldn’t describe the overall feel of these irons as soft. In fact, you get a bit of a jolt on extreme mis-hits. There is nothing luxurious about the feel but it is reasonable as long as you stay within the generous confines of the sweet spot.

Stock Shaft

At the time of this set’s release, it came stock with Ping ULT 200 graphite shafts. This is a soft-torque shaft with a low kick point.

Are the Ping Faith Irons Forgiving?

“My testing partner noted that the sweet spot felt like it went on forever left and right.”

In order to increase lateral forgiveness, it seems that Ping conceded a bit of up-and-down forgiveness. That doesn’t mean that the Ping Faith irons have shallow face profiles per se; but I’ve definitely seen deeper faces on GI irons.

But the lateral forgiveness was amazing. We were both able to hit straight-as-arrow shots down the fairway with very little effort. Even when I opened up my swing a bit and went hard, I was still landing within 8 yards of my target.

Ping Faith Loft & Lie

Club	Loft (degrees)	Lie (degrees)
5H	26	62
6H	30	62.75
7-iron	32	62.25
8-iron	36	63
9-iron	40	63.75

The Ping Faith Irons Overall

“The Ping Faith irons offer speed and forgiveness.”

The feel is a bit lacking but these irons make up for that with accuracy. And based on our testing, you are likely to pick up a bit of swing speed from these irons as well. There’s almost no end to the sweet spot from heel to toe and the perimeter weighting keeps dispersion nice and tight.