Equipment

PING Anser Driver, Fairway Wood and Hybrid: Story, Videos, and Pictures

Published

12 years ago

Jul 25, 2012

For the complete write up on GolfWRX’s trip to PING HQ, click here.

…As we entered the conference room, in front of us was an array of clubs. With a full set leaning against the wall and examples cut in half (showing the inner workings) on the table. I immediately went for the driver, the Anser. All I could think of was PING, the foremost OEM yet to offer an adjustable driver, has now gone adjustable.

Of course a popular question is why has PING taken so long to bring an adjustable head to market. The answer is simple – John Solheim, PING’s Chairman and CEO – wasn’t ready to do so until the engineers could get to a point where there was no performance loss. You see, when you modify the head to allow for interchangeable shafts and tweaking of loft, lie, and face angle, there is additional weight allocated to the heel/hosel area that is no longer available for use in the rest of the head. PING is now at a point where that is not an issue.

The Anser driver, which performs tremendously well, is a real looker. The Anser fills a void between the popular G20 and i20, giving the best of both worlds. It has been optimized to give the best of all types of performance – forgiveness, distance, workability – in a manner that trumps anything out there. While the words cannon, beast, rocket launcher, etc. often get thrown around whenever a new driver comes to market, the Anser is truly deserving of these titles. The Anser will be available in 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, and 12 degrees of loft. There are four standard shaft options, PING’s TFC proprietary, Aldila RIP Phenom, Fujikura Blur, and Mitsubishi Rayon ‘ahina – all shafts are the real deal, with none of the ‘Made For’ nonsense that ruffles many feathers here. No upcharge either! The adjustability gives players the ability to change loft (which is main point of the adjustability) +/- .5 degrees of loft. This allows launch conditions to be optimized for wet or firm conditions when a player may want to carry the ball a little farther or have the ability for the ball to run a little more once on the ground. With these stock options, every level of player can find something that fits their swing. To top it off, PING has introduced a 360º round grip, their first non-ribbed grip in forever, for a consistent set up no matter how the club is tweaked. Clean headcover too!

After going through the fitting process, I got put into an 8.5º head with an ‘ahina 70x shaft (very similar to my current setup, just bumping up from 60x to 70x). Keep posted to this thread to see how it’s treating me. Now I’m not quite ‘Bubba Long’, but I get it out there a good ways (not everyone on the internet lies). This driver is the real deal. I know my game quite well and am pretty analytical when it comes to launch monitor numbers, and these are the best launch conditions I’ve ever had. See below for a picture of my launch monitor numbers (click the picture as the numbers are larger when the photo is expanded).

In the fairway wood, PING uses the same adjustability as in the driver. Again this new Anser fairway bridges the gap between G20 and i20, giving a launch and trajectory many players will enjoy. Great club that I thoroughly enjoyed hitting as it reminds me of my i20 3 wood that I like a lot. It has slightly less forgiveness than G20 but retains the penetrating trajectory of i20

In the hybrid, it acts as it should, a hybrid between fairway wood and iron – that said, it is not adjustable. It’s a great club that, again, reminds me of my i20. Solid, solid, solid.

I only had limited range time and did not have any other drivers, fairways, or hybrids to compare. With numbers like I was getting, everyone who has given thought to this club really, really needs to give it a whirl! I hope you enjoyed my write up and please fire away any comments or questions you may have.

I hope that was enough text for y’all. That said, I will let the videos and pictures do the rest of the talking!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING IN THE GOLFWRX FORUMS.

[youtube id=”28xecGji2pQ” width=”600″ height=”350″]

[youtube id=”F9kEEABhosI” width=”600″ height=”350″]

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Related Topics:drivers fairway woods hybrids Ping

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Ben Jackson

Ben is the Sales and Marketing Manager for GolfWRX and is based out of Silicon Valley, California. Outside of golf his hobbies include cars, technology, and music.

9 Comments

sam

Oct 6, 2012 at 3:14 am

i might be buying the ping hybrid and i have the burner superfast 2.0 so the new ones and i am carrying the superfast hybrids now 140 and the ping answer average carry was 148 and im only thirteen and hoping it will help with my golf

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Chris

Sep 25, 2012 at 10:15 pm

I tried the new Ping Anser driver at golf galaxy the 10.5 degree with three of the new shafts all being stiff which I used. I then tried my Ping G20 10.5 and found that I could hit the G20 a little further than the new Ping Anser. You want me to spend $400 for what? I don’t get anymore yardage actually less. One sell they didn’t make and I was very excited about getting the newest Ping Club. Buyer beware and compare with your current club. Unless there is a difference why buy it.

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adam

Aug 27, 2012 at 11:34 pm

I am testing out hybrids, with all the talk about the adams xtd I thought that would be the best bet. I was wrong, i get exactly the same numbers with this hybrid, and it looks better and feels better! Awesome hybrid, SOLD

Reply Report comment
Adam

Aug 19, 2012 at 12:49 am

.5* of adjustability is not even worth looking at. Call me when it’s 2*.

Reply Report comment
- JEFF
  
  Feb 8, 2013 at 12:38 am
  
  WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO ADJUST YOUR DRIVER BY 2*?????
  
  Reply Report comment
Dave

Aug 18, 2012 at 12:05 pm

They’re in stores, Bought mine yesterday.

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Me2

Jul 31, 2012 at 11:38 pm

Awesome numbers dude!

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Timfrk

Jul 26, 2012 at 9:37 am

as Francis answered I am stunned that a mom can profit $8197 in one month on the computer. did you look at this web site (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/M98oR

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kevin

Jul 25, 2012 at 7:16 pm

When do they go on sale? Is there a new ping Anser Bag as well?

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Equipment

Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage

Published

18 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.

It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.

When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”

“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”

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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.

Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:

“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.

“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.

“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.

“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.

“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”

So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.

His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.

See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here

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Equipment

Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron

Published

19 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Brian Knudson

It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.

We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.

From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.

“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.

TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°

TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

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Whats in the Bag

Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)

Published

20 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos Collin Morikawa’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)