A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

Sam De'Ath, a former tour pro who now plays of +3.5, has high demands when it comes to the performance of his irons. How did he find his Ping fitting experience?

As a +3-handicapper who writes about golf equipment and how golfers would benefit from using custom-fit clubs, I guess you could say I was being slightly hypocritical. Despite being relatively new, my current Mizuno Pro 243 irons were not fitted - I had simply chosen a spec close to the shafts I used a few years back when playing professionally and prior to a serious shoulder injury.

So I was eager to head up to Ping's European Fitting Centre in Lincolnshire, where I would be able to check out all the new Ping irons that I hadn’t yet had the chance to see in person, as well as be fitted under the watchful eye of Ping master fitter, Adam Wainwright. I was blown away by the detail, yet simplicity, of the fitting. We took measurements to work out the appropriate lie angle for me, which happened to be 1° upright rather than the standard lie I was used to.

After swiping a few, Adam knew straight away which model was going to suit me and presented me with the Blueprint T iron. These bladed heads looked superb, although I feared I would struggle with my strike in the longer irons. We had a play around with the Blueprint S, another excellent-looking forged iron, but because the ball flight was similar and we were splitting hairs between the two when it came to distance, I stuck with the Blueprint T as I preferred its looks and feel.