Canfordhacker
Q-School Graduate
Apologies for the length of this post!
Firstly I should say I know just how lucky I was to be selected for this fantastic opportunity, and huge thanks go to Mike Harris for that. I must also extend my thanks to Julian and Liz at Ping who were superb and generous hosts for what must rank as a highlight of my golfing experiences.
I arrived at Ping’s European headquarters in Gainsborough soon after 11, knowing that I was to benefit from a fitting experience with top experts with the new I15 and G15 range for an article for the mag (November issue, out Sep 24 – ask Neil Tappin!!). I have been a Ping user for 15 years and love the gear.
After coffee and intro’s we headed into the fitting bays attached to the range, and it is just stuffed with gear. It’s a regular driving range with a 3 bay high tech building opening out at one side so you can hit out onto the range. 4 racks with about 400 clubs each in the centre of the room, with a workbench for adjusting clubs at the back. First up Liz took me to the putting area on one side, where there was a wall of about 80 putters. “What do want to try?â€. Spent about half an hour and eventually settled on an Anser shaped Redwood – beautiful. Needed to be an inch shorter than my own, and a couple of degrees more upright.
Next to the bay. Warmed up with my own 7 iron, with the radar and tracking gear recording everything. Liz asked me all about my game, shape of shot, what I wanted to improve, bad shot, etc. Then she moved me through multiple configurations of G15 7 irons, using a vice and hammer to adjust the lie (and checking with a high tech machine as she went!). Settled on needing something half an inch longer, slightly stiffer and a touch more upright than my own, with smaller grips to suit my hands. Then I tried the same configuration in the I15. I’d come thinking that I wanted the I15 (I have I5 currently), and it was a huge conflict between the head and the heart looking at the stats and the feel. I wasn’t pushed at all, but advice was hugely sensible. The G isn’t as good looking, but the stats showed tighter dispersion despite the good I shots being better. I went with the head, foregoing the vanity of the “lower handicap†club for the higher belief that it will help my game more. And it added 10 yards over my own 7 iron!
Drivers. I LOVE my G10, so had high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. I stayed with G, again slightly stiffer and longer, but with 12 degrees of loft. Club head speed about 98, ball speed 148, pushing the carry out 240 and more on the good ones with high flight and lower spin. But the kicker was when Liz handed me a new club. I was aiming at a spot knowing they always fade gently right. This one went bullet straight every time. When I looked at the bottom I saw it was a draw model – revelation! Repeated this process with the fairway woods and rescues, with excellent advice regarding filling the distance gaps I had in my own bag. I though I was done. “What about wedges – what does your game need?â€
We finished off with photos and the like, and I still couldn’t get the grin off my face. Then Julian says “oh – you’ll need a bag to put that lot in won’t you – which one do you fancy?â€.
So we must be done now at 14:45? No – quick lunch in the club house, and Steve (the other subject) and I were offered courtesy of the course and played nine holes!!
So here I am at home after 500 miles, hundreds of shots, tired, happy and very grateful.
Thanks an absolute million to GM and Ping.
PS – clubs are being assembled and arrive next week.
Firstly I should say I know just how lucky I was to be selected for this fantastic opportunity, and huge thanks go to Mike Harris for that. I must also extend my thanks to Julian and Liz at Ping who were superb and generous hosts for what must rank as a highlight of my golfing experiences.
I arrived at Ping’s European headquarters in Gainsborough soon after 11, knowing that I was to benefit from a fitting experience with top experts with the new I15 and G15 range for an article for the mag (November issue, out Sep 24 – ask Neil Tappin!!). I have been a Ping user for 15 years and love the gear.
After coffee and intro’s we headed into the fitting bays attached to the range, and it is just stuffed with gear. It’s a regular driving range with a 3 bay high tech building opening out at one side so you can hit out onto the range. 4 racks with about 400 clubs each in the centre of the room, with a workbench for adjusting clubs at the back. First up Liz took me to the putting area on one side, where there was a wall of about 80 putters. “What do want to try?â€. Spent about half an hour and eventually settled on an Anser shaped Redwood – beautiful. Needed to be an inch shorter than my own, and a couple of degrees more upright.
Next to the bay. Warmed up with my own 7 iron, with the radar and tracking gear recording everything. Liz asked me all about my game, shape of shot, what I wanted to improve, bad shot, etc. Then she moved me through multiple configurations of G15 7 irons, using a vice and hammer to adjust the lie (and checking with a high tech machine as she went!). Settled on needing something half an inch longer, slightly stiffer and a touch more upright than my own, with smaller grips to suit my hands. Then I tried the same configuration in the I15. I’d come thinking that I wanted the I15 (I have I5 currently), and it was a huge conflict between the head and the heart looking at the stats and the feel. I wasn’t pushed at all, but advice was hugely sensible. The G isn’t as good looking, but the stats showed tighter dispersion despite the good I shots being better. I went with the head, foregoing the vanity of the “lower handicap†club for the higher belief that it will help my game more. And it added 10 yards over my own 7 iron!
Drivers. I LOVE my G10, so had high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. I stayed with G, again slightly stiffer and longer, but with 12 degrees of loft. Club head speed about 98, ball speed 148, pushing the carry out 240 and more on the good ones with high flight and lower spin. But the kicker was when Liz handed me a new club. I was aiming at a spot knowing they always fade gently right. This one went bullet straight every time. When I looked at the bottom I saw it was a draw model – revelation! Repeated this process with the fairway woods and rescues, with excellent advice regarding filling the distance gaps I had in my own bag. I though I was done. “What about wedges – what does your game need?â€
We finished off with photos and the like, and I still couldn’t get the grin off my face. Then Julian says “oh – you’ll need a bag to put that lot in won’t you – which one do you fancy?â€.
So we must be done now at 14:45? No – quick lunch in the club house, and Steve (the other subject) and I were offered courtesy of the course and played nine holes!!
So here I am at home after 500 miles, hundreds of shots, tired, happy and very grateful.
Thanks an absolute million to GM and Ping.
PS – clubs are being assembled and arrive next week.
