Ping Beryllium Copper Irons

[DavidFehertysBike]

I saw a guy using a set of these over the weekend. He wasnt in my group I just saw in them in his bag walking between holes. They looked pretty old, but in good condition. Anyone know about these things or used them? Im not thinking of getting a set, im just very curious.

[tyko]

When I played junior golf back in the day, these were very prevalent. I had a set of the Ping ISI Nickels. A lot of players played the copper ones too. My college golf coach (who played the Hooters tour for a couple years) played the coppers until about two years ago; the grooves were toast.

I know that Ping stopped selling for some weird reason, but I can't remember what it was. Anyway, the aim, I believe, was to make a soft feeling cast clubhead to appeal to better players without getting into the forging game. They are soft, but not like forged in my opinion.

[glebert]

I know that Ping stopped selling for some weird reason, but I can't remember what it was.

I think it might have something to do with beryllium being carcinogenic. I had an old boss who had brain cancer in his 30s, he had worked in some sort of foundry shovelling the stuff.

You can still get beryllium copper, but it is kinda scarce. I saw a WITB for one of the tour players who is still using BeCu wedges and says you can still get them from Ping, but only as a replacement club.

[DavidFehertysBike]

So theres no special difference in feel or ballfight from a traditional casted iron? When I was looking at them i was thinking those were clubs that you hit certain types of shots with that were different from shots played with traditional materials.

[chingali]

I used a set of Beryllium Copper Eye 2's for a few years back in the mid eighties. They had a slightly softer feel than the usual Eye 2's (or maybe I was told they did and believed it), plus they looked good. If I remember rightly these were the Eye 2's to have the now infamous "U" grooves, a lot of good players used just the SW and Lob Wedge from the series as they really did stop quicker than anything else we had available.

After all of the hooh hah about the U grooves took place I think Ping modified the grooves to have a chamfer on the edges thus reducing a little bit of the spin. I am pretty sure that Ping made the U groove model in their normal cast stainless as well, but it was the Beryllium Copper version that caught everyone's attention as it was the one being mostly used on the tour.

For a while there other manufacturers (some of them were the bigger brands too) introduced Beryllium Copper models, keep your eye out on ebay and you will see them pop up from time to time.

As for why did they stop making them? From memory I remember reading or hearing somewhere that during the manufacturing process there were potential health issues surrounding Beryllium Copper, and that is why Ping ceased using it.