Ping Karsten Irons Review – Still Good & Forgiving for High Handicappers?

Ping Karsten Irons Review – Still Good & Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The Ping Karsten irons came out during a time when major golf club manufacturers seemed to have been enamored with hybrid sets.”

The Nike CPR irons come to mind. Both the Ping Karsten and Nike CPR iron sets were in fact, hybrid sets.

They both include hybrids that were designed to work in conjunction with the actual irons and to replace the longer irons in the set.

And to be honest, it’s kind of a genius approach. In fact, I wonder why we don’t see more of it these days.

It’s a smart approach because many golfers (especially high handicappers) are going to buy hybrids anyway.

But many of them buy hybrids that present gapping issues with their irons. But is there a specific reason why we don’t see these kinds of sets anymore?

Are the Ping Karsten irons so outdated that they are of no use to today’s high handicappers? I tested them to find out.

Are Ping Karsten Irons Still Good?

“The Ping Karsten irons don’t have a lot of fancy features but they are still Ping irons.”

And Ping has always made really good irons. The Ping Karsten set in particular features three hybrids: a 3H, 4H and 5H.

You still get a 5-iron in the set which is lofted slightly stronger than the 5H so perhaps one of the clubs in this set will go ignored – you may gravitate toward the 5H and completely neglect the 5-iron or vice versa.

But other than that, it’s really nice to see a hybrid iron set that addresses tricky gapping issues.

The hybrids in this set are beefy but hide their heft pretty well. They have a matte gray crown with a matching gray face that somehow makes them look slimmer at address.

But make no mistake about it, these are chunky, forgiving hybrids.

The hybrids also feature heel/toe weighting for more stability on mis-hits. The irons are proportionally chunky.

They sport wide soles, wide top lines and plenty of offset. They are deep cavity back irons with a sizable undercut and weight placement in the bottom of the head.

Translation: they launch stupid-high. The 9-iron checks in at 40° so you can’t really loft down with these irons.

As a low handicapper, that last part probably made you cringe. But as a high handicapper, it was probably music to your ears.

Speaking of high handicappers…

Are the Ping Karsten Irons  Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“Absolutely. The Ping Karsten irons were made for forgiveness and distance and they deliver on both fronts.”

One of the first things I noticed about the Ping Karsten irons was that it was nearly impossible to take a heavy swing with them.

From the hybrids to the short irons, they all have fat soles which, ironically, prevents fat shots.

Digging was a non-issue. Even on thin shots, I was still punching the ball high in the air.

So you have two common high handicap issues covered already: smooth turf interaction and the ability to get the ball in the air.

There are a couple of other aspects I want to discuss: consistency and dispersion. Lots of high handicappers struggle to keep the ball in play with their long irons.

But I found that the hybrids, 5-iron and 6-iron played straight 99% of the time.

At one point during testing, I got intentionally sloppy with my swing just to see what would happen.

I was nowhere near the sweet spot on some swings and I was still landing within 8 yards of the target. So the dispersion box was certainly ticked.

Finally, I loved the fact that I knew what I was going to get out of each club. I didn’t experience the dreaded distance gap shrinking that you get with some sets.

Every club played 8-12 yards longer than the preceding one. And while I was a bit bummed that the flight couldn’t be worked down, each club in this set produced towering, straight launch.

Again, as a high handicapper, this is something that will likely appeal to you.