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What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Hannah Holden brings you the low down on the Ping G430 Max 10k Driver
Ping usually religiously sticks to a two-year cycle when it comes to new driver launches, so when we see something pop up in between, we can guess it’s going to be pretty good. So what is G430 Max 10k, and will it contend for the most forgiving driver of 2024?
This is going to be another hit driver from Ping. Just when we thought they couldn’t offer more forgiveness, they have upped the bar for 2024.
This driver allows bad shots to look good, which is something we all need more of.
Importantly, this driver doesn’t just deliver forgiveness. I also got great club head and ball speed data, making this a real all-around package.
PROS
CONS
Visually, this is Ping’s largest profile driver ever. That doesn’t mean the volume of the driver has increased, but rather, the shaping has been stretched for more forgiveness. Ping are probably the best on the market at producing a club that looks confidence-inspiring behind the ball, and this model is no different. It sits great, and I really like the two-toned look of the new Carbonfly Wrap Crown.
The club face is also shallower and slightly thinner than we saw in the Ping G430 Max, which gives it a bit more flexibility to help boost your ball speed.
The 10k name in this driver is all about the forgiveness story. It refers to something called the MOI of the driver, which has come in at over 10,000g-cm². Basically, this is a measurement of how forgiving the club head is. MOI stands for moment of inertia, and it is all about how much the club head twists when you hit the ball out of the toe or the heel.
Ping has added a heavier back weight (28 grams) and a lighter Carbonfly Wrap Crown, which allows more weight on the back and perimeter of the club to drive up that MOI and give you more forgiveness.
Below is my initial first hit data from the GC3 indoor simulator at Worksop Indoor Golf Centre. I was really impressed by the consistency of the distance across a variety of strikes and also how far this driver went. All the tech talk had been about forgiveness but this driver still really stands up in terms of carry distance.
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Next, I took it out on the golf course, and I couldn’t believe how easy this was to launch. If you need extra height on your shots, this will easily help you out!
I hit some pretty bad strikes out on the course, and I didn’t miss the fairway once, which was incredibly consistent.
So, how does this compare to last year’s Ping G430 Max?
Visually, they don’t look massively different, and there is a clear continuation of the family in the design. The 10k is slightly more elongated and has the two-toned carbon crown, which we don’t see in the Max.
Given the slightly larger profile, I expected my club head speed to slow down with the 10k model. As it turns out, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. My club head speed went up nearly 2mph on average, and I saw a 1mph ball speed increase.
My average carry went up five yards, which is pretty impressive for essentially the same model of driver.
The Ping G430 10k flew 6 ft higher on average than the Max and, on my best strikes, got up to 81 ft. The ball flight felt super stable and held up well in the wind, which is extremely important in the UK. I also had a much more consistent shot shape with the 10k.
The real difference, though, is with the off-centre strikes. I actually felt I struck the ball worse with the 10k model, but still managed to get better data, which is definitely a win.
Below is the aftermath of my second shot with the 10k which I hit significantly out of the toe. You can see from the data that while I did lose some distance from this strike, the ball remained remarkably straight and landed in the middle of the fairway. It’s not often you get that follow-through position and such a straight-shot tracer!
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Overall, both of these are great drivers, but you can see I am definitely making some gains with the 10k model and probably hitting the fairway on some shots that I shouldn’t!!
The Ping G430 Max 10k will be another hit driver from Ping. Just when we thought they couldn’t offer more forgiveness, they have upped the bar for 2024. This driver allows bad shots to look good, which is something we all need more of.
At the end of the day, those bad strikes that miss the fairway and end up in bad positions are the ones that cost us doubles and triples. So if we can straighten them out, we should play better golf.
Importantly, this driver doesn’t just deliver forgiveness. I also got great club head and ball speed data, giving this a real all-around package. Definitely a club for amateur golfers to give a try this season!
Available: Now
RRP: £599 / $599.99
Shafts: PING Alta CB (counter-balanced) Black 55 (SR, R, S), PING Alta Quick 35/45 (HL build only)
Optional Stock Shafts: PING Tour 2.0 Chrome 65 (R, S, X), PING Tour 2.0 Black 65 (S, X), Mitsubishi Kai’Li White 60 (S, X), PRJX HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 50 (5.5, 6.0), PRJX HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 60 (5.5, 6.0, 6.5)
Grip: Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet in six sizes (Blue -1/16”, Red -1/32”, Aqua -1/64”, White-Std, Gold +1/32”, Orange +1/16”)
Lofts: 9°, 10.5° & 12°
More information: Ping Website
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