First hit: Ping G30 driver, fairways, hybrids and irons

5 When all the talking and technical detail ends, it’s time to hit the product and see how it looks and performs.

And when a range is as compelling as the new G30s appear then there is a lot to live up to.

But I’m as confident as I can be after an hour on the range that Ping have done a great job on their new flagship clubs.

Let’s start, inevitably, with the driver – or should that be drivers.

I’ll admit now that I didn’t get on especially well with the G25 driver. The Anser and i25 models both suited me better in terms of looks, sound and performance. I think lots of golfers will get a genuine yardage boost with the Turbulators but I was more struck by the improvement in acoustics and head shape. Factor in the stunning new Tour shaft and you have a driver with massive appeal.

We all knew the G25 was forgiving – to me the G30 is the same but longer, looks better, sounds better and spins a little less. Quite a combo.

As for the SF Tec, this genuinely happened: a colleague hitting next to me complained that all drives were suddenly heading 10 yards left with the new driver. The realisation came five minutes later, following discussion with a Ping fitter, that the driver in question was an SF Tec. You can’t really get a stronger recommendation than that.
"The G30 driver is longer, looks better, sounds better and spins a little less than the G25." I was lucky enough to play with Ping’s chief engineer Marty Jertson and watch him pummel his new G30 fairway wood. Marty is a pro who has played in two PGA Championships in the States as well as missing out on a place in the Open in a final qualifying play-off. Enough said.

Still, the way he pured the G30 fairway, both from the tee and off the fairway, would suggest it is a real winner. The flight was powerful and the sound was just so.

There is a wide range of choice in G30 hybrid lofts – from 17˚ to 30˚ – so you really should be able to find one that suits you. It seems as though Ping have accepted that looks are important in this category and once you’ve added in high forgiveness levels then you are in business.

Visually, the G30 irons are probably the product line that looks most like their predecessors. But here, too, there are small but significant improvements. Better players might turn their nose up at the wedge, but further up the set is a look that only purists could grumble at.

The rest of us, high and low handicappers alike, will be more than happy to take the tangible performance benefits. These are a set of irons that will, as Ping’s mantra goes, help you to ‘play your best’.
Driver