Ping Crossover vs. long iron on-course test

Our Ping Crossover vs. long iron on-course test took place on the International Course at Champions Gate in Florida.

We had already filmed a comparison video in the Shack at Moor Allerton but really wanted to see how these performed head-to-head on the course.

Ping Crossover vs. long iron – The Methodology

This was a job for our American anonymous big hitter Randy who plays the Ping i irons.

We took his custom-fitted 4-iron and a custom-fitted 4 crossover and picked out three specific on-course tests.

For each test Randy hit two shots with each club.

The first was a 220-yard par-3 where he had the opportunity to tee the ball up. Secondly we dropped balls into the rough at the side of a fairway 215 yards from the pin.

Finally we placed balls in the middle of the fairway with perfect lies to a pin which was 210-yards away, slightly uphill and into a slight breeze.

We we looking for how each club performed in the different situations to see if there was any difference in control and dispersion.

Ping Crossover vs. long iron – The results

On the par-3 challenge we saw four very good shots.

But it was the 4-iron which just came out on top for dispersion. Both shots were pretty much pin-high and each left a 12-15ft putt.

The dispersion on the Crossover was a bit wider but both shots were still on the green.

We would expect the 4-iron to have a bit more backspin and grab on the green a bit better than the Crossover.

Next up, we put the balls into some quite chewy rough and saw improved performance with the Crossover.

With the 4-iron, the first shot seemed to fly off the face a bit hot – Randy seemed to think he got a bit of a flier.

The second shot came up about 20ft shot of the green.

Both shots with the Crossover just missed the green front right but were within a few feet  of each other and about 15ft from the flag.

From the middle of the fairway the 4-iron seemed to be working really well. Randy is a good player and seems happy hitting long irons from 200+.

Both shots with the Crossover were right down the flag but both ended up running 50 or 60 feet past the flag.

Both 4-iron shots had actually missed front left of the green but were pin-high and again very close to each other.

The Crossover didn’t seem to grab on the green in the same way the 4-iron would have.

Ping Crossover vs. long iron – NCG Verdict

As we expect, the 4-iron worked better for Randy when he was teed it up and when he was in the middle of the fairway.

The Crossover did perform better out of the rough as it’s wider sole was able to come through the thicker grass a bit more easily.

Good players like Randy need to have confidence in their numbers and we feel the Crossover may have a tendency to fly a few yards further if it comes hot off the face.

Also, it doesn’t seem to grab as much on the green.

We feel the Crossover is an excellent option for off the tee on a shot par-4 and out of the rough. It’s a versatile club and we think most handicap golfers will have more consisting with it – and use it more often – than a 3 or 4-iron.

Randy gets a bit more control with his 4-iron but he is able to find the middle with a bit more consistency than most.

We feel the Crossover will perform better on off-centre strikes than a long iron will for the vast majority of players.

More information is on the Ping website.