Went to a Ping demo day today at the club HID works at. They had the new range of clubs including the K15 woods and irons, the S56's and the tour W and S wedges as well as I and G15 woods and irons.
I tried everything as is my way and these are my thoughts
S56 Irons. These are a wonderfully compact head and thin top line on a par with any of the Mizuno range. Although aimed at lower handicappers and pors, these were still pretty forgiving on mishit shots. They only had a stiff shaft and I di find them much heavier than my TP's but they produced a great penertrating flight. A great club if you are good enough but not a viable option for me
S56 wedge. Another classy shape and as usual a myriad of loft and bounce options available. I tried a 52 and 58 which match what I have in my own set up. Like the irons I found the wedges too heavy for my liking and on a par with the weight of Vokey of Cally X series. A lovely buttery soft feel though but again not a club I'd be consistant with.
Tour W wedge. A slightly lighter feeling club and one I felt more comfy with. A classic shape I could get the ball to check or run out with ease and as good if not better than my TP Z's.
I15 irons. As you know I've had my eyes on these for a while. A chunky club in comparison with the sleek S56 but no worse than the R9's or similar models. I was set for regular steel with no adjustment +/- in lie angle. I love this club. Very forgiving and in my opinion suitable for anyone from single figures through to mid-teen. I think even higher handicappers could potentially play it as it is very easy to hit and doesn't overly punish mis hits. Using trackman I was hitting the 7 iron 139 pitching distance in a wind blowing slightly into and left to right which is on a par with my TP's
K15 Driver. Designed by Ping to appeal to higher handicappers, this has to be the easiest driver to hit I've eaver used. You need to get over the look as the head seems massive behind the ball and it does make a tinny sound like the old Nike Sumo. Get past that and you're laughing. It was so easy to hit. Very light compared to Ping drivers of old and if you are struggling with the big dog you must try this out
K15 irons. Again looking to appeal to higher handicappers and those needing maximum forgiveness these are big chunky irons with a large cavity and the 4 and 5 irons are replaced by hybrids. I hit a standard 7 iron and like the K15 driver was so easy to hit. The ball flight was way too high for me but again if you need a club to get the ball up and with maximum playability these are for you.
I15 Driver. I was given a 9.5 regular to try on the Trackman. I was a tad nervous as I rarely use anything other than 10.5. It has a very compact head which sits behind the ball beautifully. It is also surprsingly easy to hit. I was hitting 229 on the pitch according to Trackman and hit them very well with a good dispersion. As time was tight (I sneaked on between appointments) I couldn't twak the set up to find the optimum for me but I'll definitely be looking to hit it again. Again in my opinion don't let the name (I series supposedly for the better player) put you off as this is a great driver that has a wide appeal.
G15 Driver. I really wanted this to be the one. It seems there is a huge G15 army on here. I was geting more distance than the I15 and was up to 235 on the bounce but I found it harder to control. Again it might be down to hitting just the standard model and needs tweaking but I actually found it harder to hit than the I15. It has a lovely look to it though and sits great at address. I think it is definitely worth persisting with as the good ones gave a great ball flight and the off centre hits still sailed out there.
G15 3/4 woods. Ping are starting to do 4 woods. The theory being that the gap between most 3 and 5 woods in loft is small (standard is 15 for a 3 and 18 or 19 for the 5) and so the 4 wood at 17 allows you to take extra clubs out and give you more versatility. I hit it like a dream both off the tee and the grass. It didn't seem to lose more than about 10 yards on my normal 3 wood and I was getting about the same further than my 5 wood would give me. Definitely an option worth considering. Like the G15 driver I struggled with the 3 wood in terms of control and accuracy. It might be I was getting tired (I'd already played a stableford and tried everything else) but I didn't get on with it. It does sit well behind the ball though and so if you are hunting for a 3 (or 4 wood) then it will be a sound investment for most golfers.
The only thing I didn't try were any of the hybrids in either the G, I or K series as I was getting tired and it was raining. It was huge fun trying them and certainly given me some food for thought. The Ping guy was top notch and if you ever get a chance to go to one of these demos then you should take it
I tried everything as is my way and these are my thoughts
S56 Irons. These are a wonderfully compact head and thin top line on a par with any of the Mizuno range. Although aimed at lower handicappers and pors, these were still pretty forgiving on mishit shots. They only had a stiff shaft and I di find them much heavier than my TP's but they produced a great penertrating flight. A great club if you are good enough but not a viable option for me
S56 wedge. Another classy shape and as usual a myriad of loft and bounce options available. I tried a 52 and 58 which match what I have in my own set up. Like the irons I found the wedges too heavy for my liking and on a par with the weight of Vokey of Cally X series. A lovely buttery soft feel though but again not a club I'd be consistant with.
Tour W wedge. A slightly lighter feeling club and one I felt more comfy with. A classic shape I could get the ball to check or run out with ease and as good if not better than my TP Z's.
I15 irons. As you know I've had my eyes on these for a while. A chunky club in comparison with the sleek S56 but no worse than the R9's or similar models. I was set for regular steel with no adjustment +/- in lie angle. I love this club. Very forgiving and in my opinion suitable for anyone from single figures through to mid-teen. I think even higher handicappers could potentially play it as it is very easy to hit and doesn't overly punish mis hits. Using trackman I was hitting the 7 iron 139 pitching distance in a wind blowing slightly into and left to right which is on a par with my TP's
K15 Driver. Designed by Ping to appeal to higher handicappers, this has to be the easiest driver to hit I've eaver used. You need to get over the look as the head seems massive behind the ball and it does make a tinny sound like the old Nike Sumo. Get past that and you're laughing. It was so easy to hit. Very light compared to Ping drivers of old and if you are struggling with the big dog you must try this out
K15 irons. Again looking to appeal to higher handicappers and those needing maximum forgiveness these are big chunky irons with a large cavity and the 4 and 5 irons are replaced by hybrids. I hit a standard 7 iron and like the K15 driver was so easy to hit. The ball flight was way too high for me but again if you need a club to get the ball up and with maximum playability these are for you.
I15 Driver. I was given a 9.5 regular to try on the Trackman. I was a tad nervous as I rarely use anything other than 10.5. It has a very compact head which sits behind the ball beautifully. It is also surprsingly easy to hit. I was hitting 229 on the pitch according to Trackman and hit them very well with a good dispersion. As time was tight (I sneaked on between appointments) I couldn't twak the set up to find the optimum for me but I'll definitely be looking to hit it again. Again in my opinion don't let the name (I series supposedly for the better player) put you off as this is a great driver that has a wide appeal.
G15 Driver. I really wanted this to be the one. It seems there is a huge G15 army on here. I was geting more distance than the I15 and was up to 235 on the bounce but I found it harder to control. Again it might be down to hitting just the standard model and needs tweaking but I actually found it harder to hit than the I15. It has a lovely look to it though and sits great at address. I think it is definitely worth persisting with as the good ones gave a great ball flight and the off centre hits still sailed out there.
G15 3/4 woods. Ping are starting to do 4 woods. The theory being that the gap between most 3 and 5 woods in loft is small (standard is 15 for a 3 and 18 or 19 for the 5) and so the 4 wood at 17 allows you to take extra clubs out and give you more versatility. I hit it like a dream both off the tee and the grass. It didn't seem to lose more than about 10 yards on my normal 3 wood and I was getting about the same further than my 5 wood would give me. Definitely an option worth considering. Like the G15 driver I struggled with the 3 wood in terms of control and accuracy. It might be I was getting tired (I'd already played a stableford and tried everything else) but I didn't get on with it. It does sit well behind the ball though and so if you are hunting for a 3 (or 4 wood) then it will be a sound investment for most golfers.
The only thing I didn't try were any of the hybrids in either the G, I or K series as I was getting tired and it was raining. It was huge fun trying them and certainly given me some food for thought. The Ping guy was top notch and if you ever get a chance to go to one of these demos then you should take it
. Was it Morgan who was the Ping rep? He is very good.
