WE TRIED IT! PING GOLF

By Michael Cooney

WOW golfers, this month we have a terrific product review. 

Sometimes I wonder how companies keep engineering and producing brilliant products for golfers, but with PING we shouldn’t be surprised. They are an engineering company in golf. 

Without a doubt, they are leaders in the industry. I think PING needs to be known as the golf engineering company. I was blown away by the fitting facility PING has in Victoria. 

The brilliant historic entrance, with a look to how PING Golf started many moons ago, will make any golf nerd like myself get excited. It really made me think, if they were pushing the envelope when PING Golf first started then how good will their products be now with all the information available and their expert engineers in charge? 

Let’s explore the PING G430 woods and irons and begin with the G430 irons. 

Firstly, a massive shout out to PING fitter Matt Austin and the team for inviting me to the fitting centre. I couldn’t be more impressed with knowledge and expertise in their products and fitting. 

Anytime I go into a fitting, or get given a product to review, I go in with very little knowledge and expectations so I can get the full experience of the products. 

And the iron PING has produced is a killer … all the way from the performance to the way the iron has been constructed by the engineers. It’s just amazing. 

The aesthetics of the irons are schmick. The irons are covered with what seems to be a chrome finish that is called hydropearl 2.0 which allows for consistency from wet or dry grass. 

The more compact shape provides a clean look but the shorter hosel helps lower the CG, which can lead to an increased ball speed and ensure solid impact.  

Now let’s dive into more of the technology behind the design. An innovative new badge with seven flex zones allows for more free bending to increase ball speed across the face for longer results. In combination with a lower CG, the badge contributes to the solid feel and pleasing impact sound. 

If you can’t tell already these irons are so well engineered it was outrageous how far my miss-hits were going, but back to the irons. PING has a proprietary heat-treating process that creates Hyper 17-4 stainless steel and strengthens the face, allowing for more flexing, generating faster ball speed and a higher max height to hold shots on the green. 

Now to the set make up. The stronger lofted irons across the set resulted in the addition of a 41° PW to ensure proper gapping options and allowed for standard lofts in the traditional scoring wedges (45.5°, 50°, 54°, 58°). So, when you get fitted for these ‘beauties’ make sure you have the appropriate number of wedges meaning you’re not missing out on anything. 

In summary, I doubt you will find a more forgiving club on the market. From its design, and the way the club has been engineered to its real aesthetic appeal, the PING G430 irons are amazing.

Now to the drivers and woods.

Again, like the irons, I go in without trying to know anything however being on social media and working in the golf industry all I hear is amazing things about the woods and hopefully now I can do them justice. 

I started off with the PING G430 LST which with my club delivery characteristics would be the club for me. The driver head is slightly smaller, only being 440cc in head size but I love that. 

By design it has been created for golfers who want more penetration in trajectory … with accelerating ball speed and reducing spin. One of the key aspects of the driver that I was impressed with was the Carbonfly Wrap.

The next question is: What is Carbonfly Wrap and how does it help golfers? 

Exclusive to the LST is Carbonfly Wrap, an ultra-lightweight composite crown that wraps into the heel and toe sections of the skirt. Weight savings are reallocated to lower the CG and increase ball speed and MOI (forgiveness). 

The composite also plays a role in the pleasing sound. 

How does it help? When trying the G430 LST head, the good shots I hit were really good but my miss-hits, where I tend to get them out of the heel, came out with very similar numbers which is incredible. 

Having the knowledge that my miss-hits are far better and closer to my good hits is a confidence builder and pressure relieving knowing I don’t always need to flush each tee shot. 

Now to the G430 SFT driver head. 

The SFT driver head is for those with If you have a right-miss tendency off the tee (RH golfers), a CG-shifting backweight that’s moveable into Draw and Draw+ settings provide up to 20 yards of right-to-left shot, correction to steer drives back into the fairway. 

Advanced acoustics provide a more pleasing impact experience. This driver won’t help my game because I tend to over draw the ball. However, even though the club has been designed for a golfer looking to correct that slice, the head looks great. 

When putting the head down on the ground I actually thought that Matt gave me the wrong head considering what I was about to try. 

Normally, a club with these characteristics are not the best to look at, but this club looks brilliant. It is available in a 10.5° loft. 

The lightweight, 8-position hosel enables adjustments for loft (±1.5°) and lie (up to 3° flatter than standard) to further dial in your ball flight for the best results.

The last model I tried was G430 Max. 

When thinking about what I was going to write I kept thinking that this club and the whole G430 PING have produced the most forgiving clubs on the market but this driver takes the cake. 

I just can’t fathom how awesome this driver is.

PING has taken this to the game’s most forgiving driver (that also ranks as one of the longest) and made it even longer while producing a more pleasing sound. 

A new face-design optimisation leads to increased flexing for a big distance gain, and a 25-gram moveable backweight positions the CG to influence shot shape. Available in 9°, 10.5° and 12°. 

Now it’s my turn to hit it. 

I could easily put this club in the bag straight away. In fact, an order to PING is on the cards. I hit some really good shots and I noticed that the sound was brilliant. As golfers, we all know when we hit great shots. The justification in feel is cool, but the sound really matters as well.

In summary the PING G430 range is by far the best and most forgiving range in golf. The design and technology behind the clubs will help our experience on the course. 

Readers, I can’t express how awesome these clubs are. You need to really consider these clubs next time you’re in the market. Do yourself a favour and go and see the guys at PING and experience what I did otherwise you will miss out! 

American Golf Supplies: (02) 9524 8233

Michael Cooney is a teaching professional at the PGA Centre for Learning and Performance at the Sandhurst Golf Club in Melbourne and is always on the hunt for the latest and greatest in golf products.