Ping G30 (SFTec) Driver

Ping 

Ping is an illustrious golf company founded by the late Karsten Solheim and he gave us a great dimension in golf known as perimeter weighting first introduced in putters which Ping made the Anser putter that nobody wanted until Julius Boros won the PGA Tour's Phoenix Open in 1967. The "Anser" was actually meant to be the Answer but there isn't enough space on the putter so he took away the 'w' to save space on the advice of his wife. He so named the company from the sound the putter made on impact - "Ping". I like such history. He tells the story of human endeavours through the passage of time. He went on to create golf irons baed on the same principle of perimeter weighting and of course what were to follow in other equipment such a drivers, woods, hybrids, wedges and even more putters. Ping has a following of fans and has one of the best if not the best club-fitting systems in the world and they proceed to produce your irons after you have done your fitting. 

In Search Of...

Despite this, Ping clubs are not cheap and you never see them on sales nor do you see them advertising their products by bombarding your senses. In 2015, Ping introduced the G30 series and as usual you will see them touted as among the top products in golf by users as well as top magazines as among the best. This is even so more interesting considering their previous G25 were big winners. While TaylorMade sold the most drivers (all models), the Ping G30 is the best-selling driver model. In the golf consumer world, most drivers touted that they are the longest, some by giving you a lighter overall weight so you will naturally increase in swing speed, a long club for the same reason. Being long in distance is important as it gives a the chance to use a shorter club for your next shot which should technically be easier but do note that lighter clubs and longer shafts are not for all unless you are slow swingers. Of course, there are other things like having the right shaft.

The Most Forgiving Driver...

You have to remember that every shot hit on the screws on the sweet spot generates the best distance and in the event that you miss and veer more towards heel and toe hits, it must not punish you too much and still go a certain distance without losing much in direction as well. In other words, you want to achieve the best average distance with your shots finding the fairways most of the time. We are talking about a very stable and most forgiving club head. I am talking about the search for a most wanted most forgiving golf driver. (The last time I played with Ping - driver and irons, I hit the best score of my life!)

What do you look and wish for in a perfect driver if there is such a driver? Everyone wants to hit it far so how about one that still goes further even if  you miss the sweet spot? Don't you want to hit a driver by launching your shot high enough so that it could carry over water, trees and bunkers? Would you love it to go straight as an arrow. as straight as possible, straighter than other drivers even when you mishit it? One that does not punish you on your off day. Wouldn't you want it to look, sound and feel really good?

Ping G30

Ping G30 was built to be more forgiving and with lower spin than the already excellent G25 driver and that is saying a lot. The crown came with fin-like ''turbulators'' to reduce resistance and boost distance through greater club head speed. It has been technically proven that it works. This is the first thing that you will notice on the crown when you unsheathe it. Six small ridges are strategically placed on the crown. The basic concept is that they have made a 460cc driver with the aerodynamics of one that is 100cc smaller, literally translated gives 0.70 mph of average club head speed. Watch the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Tr7C26fog

It was made 150rpm lower spinning than its predecessor. Now think of cycling helmets and plane wings. They too have such designs to cut drag and improve aerodynamics but aerodynamic gains are exponential in nature. Think of cars with spoilers - they help cut drag coefficient but only true sports gain really much.  

I know some folks may possibly not like these turbulators but to me they are not intrusive. In fact, I found them interesting and a stand out from other drivers. Moreover, I found that they are actually a good alignment indicator as the centre-most two ridges appears to frame the ball rather nicely. I absolutely love the matt black crown as it definitely do not reflect bright sunlight into your eyes when you look down to address the ball. 

Sound is often equated to feel and this was reported to sound more robust than the G25 but I found it a wee bit muted though it is by no means quiet. It is not irritatingly loud and it feels very good in the hands as if you could feel the ball bouncing off the face in rapture. If you have it, flaunt it. I like.

All the dynamics and DNA are there for the potentially straightest and most forgiving driver out there. Is the longest out there? It is subjective. Every club hit pure gives the longest distance. 

You could add or subtract loft by 0.6 to 1 degree.

This big dog has large footprints and is quite loud and hot. It makes enough noise to let your flight mates know you have a good hit but not too loud to irritate others. The sensation on impact to me is one with a softness as if like the ball being sucked in before being propelled into rapture. Nothing obnoxious or traditional  but rather its own uniqueness and it is nice.

It comes with a new adjustable hosel allows for increased or decreased by as much as one degree or a minimum of 0.6 degree. 

I also like it that Ping brought back the bright blue accent at thr front end of its sole, the stock shaft and even the head cover.

Ping gained 4 grams of discretionary weight with their T9S, a new titanium face material that is not only lighter but stronger. Opposed to TaylorMade new low-spin forward CG drivers, Ping moved the CG lower and more rearward. Low/rearward CG (Centre of Gravity) increases MOI (Moment of Inertia) or simply put you won't lose much ball speed from of-centre hits. It also help a driver swing more upward on impact as a golf shot goes farthest after the trajectory reach an apex. It encourages a little more face closure at impact thus reducing slice or fade. 

Why are there no lines in the middle but some lines at the sides and bottom? Let me explain - lines are there to help golfers get the ball up and flying but you don't want too much spin on the sweet spot as it is a lower spin driver but when you connect more towards the toe/heel or bottom, these lines are there to aid your ball flying higher.  

I have owned and played with drivers that went further but none has been as forgiving. Any more forgiving then you have to ask God.

This as you see is the G30 SF Tec head. The same G30 but slightly different head in terms of its placement of weight with SF Tec short for ''Straight Flight Technology''. It is almost entirely identical except for the CG being slightly nearer to the heel which is meant to curb fades and slices. It has the lowest and furthest back CG of any Ping driver ever. When CG is pulled back from the club face, MOI increased significantly. 

This property reduces ''gear effect'' (the action of the club head that causes shots to curve) and less gear effect means more energy transferred to the ball on impact with less club face twisting and better smash factor. In simple terms more hits on the sweet spot, a prerequisite for straighter and longer shots.

The SFTec - Straight Flight Technology has a lighter swing weight and weight positioned slightly more towards the heel. 

The original club is fitted to Ping's 'counterbalanced' shaft that has a higher balance point due to its heavier than the standard head weight to achieve a certain swing weight. My experience told me that counterbalanced shaft is not for everyone. More on that later. 

Ping shafts are often of quality and some reports have even suggested they can be as good as after market shafts. Some how it did not worked for me. Maybe the counter-balanced shaft is not for me or the swing weight was not right. 

So I scrambled into after-market shafts and learned on whole new world of stuffs about golf shafts. More on that later.

Ping grips are typical. This one just have lines to let you know here you might want to place your thumb.

And a simple tool manual on how you may prefer to tune it with a wrench.

You need to take note that Bubba Watson increased ten yards with the G30 over the G25. Watch video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQOxZGGsYQs

However, do note again you are not going to be Bubba long as he is one of the longest hitters on Tour. These turbulators will not add much to most social golfers slower club head speed. In other words, you gain more if you have higher swing speed. If you are a high speed player than G30 gives you even lower spin. There were claims that this driver can give  you seven yards longer in distance. 

Even when you buy a new car sometimes you hear of people with a new car full of problems. Perhaps it is manufacturing defect out of a thousand pieces produced. I just could not hit a good shot with this thing in its original condition and this has never happened before. I am the kind of guy who takes any driver  and hit it the first time and it works. It destroyed my confidence when it is supposed to help build my game and turned to frustration and helplessness.

Of course I paid top dollar for a very good shaft in the form of Tour AD-DI shaft. One that Tiger Woods used. But it only became slightly better. It was perhaps too heavy, too stiff, wrong swing weight or just not compatible. I had the Tour AD-DI taken off soon after and put in the YS-Five Nano Reloaded and bingo! This is from the same company - Graphite Design who produced the Tour DI.

I shall tell you more about after market shafts at another time and in

a separate article. Nano Reloaded is built exactly in identical fashion, technology and design as the Tour DI except that they did not use a very expensive material in the Nano Reloaded thus shaving off more than $100 in price. 

If you are looking for a new or better driver, the Ping G30 should definitely be on the list. Ping clubs are unique and they have a following but is surely the performance that works that keep golfers coming back.

Conclusion

This could be the best driver this year in 2015 and even a year or two from now. At Golf WRX, they called the G30 "hands down the most forgiving driver in golf"! Golf Magazine called the SFTec "the top rated model in the test!" Some folks claimed that they hit the 30% more fairways with the G30 without losing too much distance on off centre hits. Some called it the best all round driver. Yet others claimed it is the 'most wanted' driver.

If golf drivers were work horses, then this is the leader in the pack, a stallion, no less. Good hits go straight and long, mishits become less glaring thus covers some of your flaws. It has serious hang time and with added rolls when the ball hits the turf. The six ridges look like the six-pack on a torso not one lump. It appears Gothic like a Batman equipment. Robin would say "Holy Toreador" followed by "Holy Smoke Batman!" Well, it is surely "Holy Turbulators". 

What do we look for in a driver?

One that goes far - checked.
It must go straight - checked.
Even when mishit (toe and heel hits) - checked.
We want it to have a certain look, sounds nice and feels good - checked.
Rearward CG increases MOI (Moment Of Inertia) which means less twisting and more stability, encourages upward swing on impact, thus off centre hits do not lose much n distance and direction - checked.

It ticks all the boxes. What do I want in a driver? Highly forgiving, consistent, stable, straight and long all day. There is nothing you will not like. If you are looking for a most forgiving driver more than anything else then you may just find it here. G30 is the "Forgivenator". When it comes to golf, I am a very demanding boss. Only those that perform admirably and consistently get to stay in my bag for long. I am saying for the first time - that this could. The putter is very important as you use it more often than any other club, the wedge is also your scoring club while the irons are bread and butter. 

However, the driver is to me the most important simply because you hit it first almost every hole and definitely with the first shot. It defines the game for the day. If you hit the sweet spot more often, you get solid contacts which translate into more distance, better consistency and greater accuracy. Only a most forgiving driver could do that. Forgive me please, I am bringing the 'Forgivenator' into play.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.