Could the Ping Blueprint Forged irons be coming to retail?

In recent months, Bubba Watson, Tony Finau and Louis Oosthuizen have popularized Ping “Blueprint Forged” prototype irons, which are made with compact profiles, thin toplines and thin soles. Oosthuizen, for his part, won the 2018 South Africa Open using the new forged irons. Many thought the TOUR prototype irons were hollow-bodied due to a screw in the toe, however, PGATOUR.COM since learned that the screw is simply to add additional weight.

The Blueprint Forged irons, as of now, are a TOUR-only offering, meaning they are not available at retail. While Ping still has not confirmed that the irons coming to retail, a new iron spotted at the 2019 Honda Classic on Monday could suggest they may be available to the public sometime in the future.

Seamus Power, who most recently was using a set of Ping iBlades, showed up on Monday of the Honda Classic with Ping Blueprint Forged irons that have a red dot on the back cavities. These differ from the dot-less irons that Watson, Oosthuizen and Finau have used in PGA TOUR competition. A Ping representative confirmed they are different heads than the previously seen prototypes.

The red dots on Power’s irons suggest these iron heads are being made under the dot system, which uses different color dots to identify different lie angles on retail products. Power confirmed his irons are 1-degree flat.