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Ping aims to make golf “more fun” with its new G400 irons

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“We want to help every golfer hit it like Bubba,” Ping says. “We want them to hit it high and stop it near the pin.”

For golfers not named Bubba Watson, hitting high-flying iron shots that go at the target isn’t an everyday thing. That’s why Ping aims to create the highest-launching, easiest-hit-irons that it possibly can for golfers who may not hit the center of the club face on every shot.

Ping says these aren’t “game-improvement” irons, but rather game-enjoyment irons. So with its new G400 irons, compared to its G predecessors, Ping has increased launch, raised MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of forgiveness), added ball speed, and changed the looks, feel and sound to “make the game more enjoyable” for golfers.

Fair enough. But what exactly has changed?

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For its G400 irons, which are made from Hyper 17-4 stainless steel, Ping says it has “enhanced the entire back cavity,” and it has also added an undercut behind the top rail for more face flex at impact. The top rail works by “relaxing” at impact, which helps to “catapult” the ball higher in the air. To support the flex of the face, Ping’s back cavity has its COR-Eye technology, identified by the circular structure at the center of the club head. The performance enhancements lead to a 4 percent higher launch, a 4 percent increase in MOI and 5 yards of more total distance.

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You’ll also notice a large badge on the back cavity that overlays the COR-eye technology. The badging is made from elastomer and aluminum, a combination that Ping says will dampen the sound and enhance the feel quality.

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At address, the club heads will also look a bit more compact, according to Ping. That’s because the flange has been smoothed out, and there’s a sharper face radius. This will also help to conceal the offset of the club. Ping says the iron may “look slimmer even though it’s a larger iron.”

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For the first time in a G-Series iron, Ping has made the finish of the these irons out of HydroPearl Chrome, which you may recognize from its Glide 2.0 wedges and the G400 Crossover. This finish is said to increase face friction and better repel water to reduce fliers and produce a more consistent ball flight in a variety of turf conditions.

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The stock shaft in the Ping G400 irons (4-PW, UW, SW, LW) is an Alta CB graphite shaft powered by Ping’s AWT (ascending weight technology). The shafts range from 85 grams in the short irons to 68 grams in the long irons — the lighter long irons will help golfer create speed, height and distance, while the heavier short irons will help maximize control. Other available shafts include Nippon Pro Modus3, True Temper XP95, Ping AWT 2.0, KBS, Project X and Dynamic Gold shafts.

For more distance, a lower trajectory or both, Ping will also offer its familiar Power Spec option, which means the lofts are bent strong; between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees depending on the loft (higher-lofted irons have less bend compared to the standard lofts).

Ping’s G400 irons will sell for $125 apiece with steel shafts, and $137.50 with graphite.

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Discussion: See what GolfWRX members are saying about Ping’s G400 irons

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

15 Comments

15 Comments

  1. Frank Peterson

    Oct 28, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    After 3 months of trying new clubs I have ordered a complete set of ping G400 clubs that have been custom fitted to me. In testing other brands including Calaway, Titleist, Cobra and TM, I settled on Ping G400 as they surpassed all of the other brands as far as feel, workability(for game improvement irons) sound and appearance. What a giant improvement over past Ping clubs and I have owned most of them. I find no one has the quality of fitting and ease of finding a fitter than Ping. Also their understanding of metallurgy is only equaled by Mizuno.

  2. Scott

    Aug 4, 2017 at 11:03 am

    As a seasoned club fitter I must insist, stronger lofts don’t always equal more distance. Loft is just a number to gauge the angle of the club face. Stronger lofts would always equal more distance ONLY if every club were made the same, out of the same material(s).
    Trajectory, not distance, should be closely examined when looking at lofts. If you have two irons, (both 8 irons for example) and one is 2 degrees stronger than the other, but both are flying the same height and trajectory, is loft really a factor?
    example: 43 degree wedge flying higher than a 45 degree wedge and going 5 yards less. Shouldn’t the 43 fly lower and go 5 yards farther than the 45 degree wedge? Yes, ONLY if they are the same make, model, style, material etc etc etc.

    It happens ALL the time.

    The way clubs are made- what they are made of, how they are weighted and designed- help to determine the “loft” club companies must produce clubs with. Nowadays, club companies have to make them “stronger” (than standard) because if they didn’t, the ball flight would be much too high. Way higher than optimal.

    Try this for yourself. Test a blade at your local golf shop on a monitor. Then try a newer game improvement iron (same iron ie. 8 iron to 8 iron) with a “stronger” loft. Try to keep the shaft flex and weight similar as well.
    I guarantee the “stronger” lofted club goes higher.

  3. Power Fade

    Jul 15, 2017 at 8:03 pm

    I recently had a club fitting and tried out the G400’s against Cobra F7’s and Mizuno JPX 900s. I did research in advance to understand their lofts, lengths and lie compared to my current Mizuno 825 Pros which are already +1″ and +2deg UP (I’m 6’6).
    I wasn’t surprised by the lower lofts of each brand as they compete to say their clubs hit longer and straighter than other brands. If people fall for the gimmick, I feel sorry that they don’t do their research.
    I was hitting the g400 slightly better than the other 2, I liked the sound and feel as well as the frosted look because it wasn’t glaring at me on the hot sunny day as was the case with the F7s.
    I probably would have been happy with any of the 3 though. Aesthetically, the g400’s are a little “fatter” than the other brands I tried as well as my current set, but I can overlook that as it’s on the bottom of the club which I don’t see while hitting the ball. I decided to go with the G400’s as I also plan to get the new driver which I was hitting farther and straighter (see my name) than other drivers I’ve tried (Cobra F7, JPX-900 and 2017 M2 driver) and I like less club brands in my bag. I also like Bubba.
    The other nice thing about their lofts being lower (and I’m one to tell people what degree loft I hit as opposed to a club number when they ask) is that I need to buy less clubs. My old set is 4-GW…8 irons. In the G400’s I only need 6-UW….2 clubs less and less money spent.
    Appreciate everyone’s thoughts and comments on these. Buy em if you like em, avoid em if you don’t.

  4. Rich Douglas

    Jul 15, 2017 at 8:37 am

    You want your irons to go 10 yards farther you say? No problem. Just paint new numbers on them. Now a 9I becomes an 8I and flies 10 yards farther than a 9I. See how simple that was?

    Absurd, you might say? That’s EXACTLY what’s going on with irons. Stronger lofts and longer lengths are what define the next iron up in a set.

    The higher COR brought about by slots (pioneered by TM, copied by a lot of others, including Ping now) add distance irrespective of changes in loft and length, certainly. But the rest is a con. Be sure you’re not being taken in by claims of longer lengths if the increase is due (in part or in full) to lengthening the shaft and/or strengthening the loft.

    Oh, and if you DO go for longer lengths, be sure to get fit. Your lie angle just changed and you’re going to need flatter lies than usual. But I suspect most people suckered in by this stuff just grab ’em off the rack and go. (Ironic, since Ping pioneered the idea of pre-fit lie angles with their dot system).

    These Ping G-400 look like great clubs and are a technical advancement over the Ping G. But if you already play the Ping G, don’t expect much (if any) real improvement. The distinctions do not necessarily add up to a real difference.

  5. Dave R

    Jul 10, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    Really like the look finally a club that looks better than the last bunch they produced.

  6. The Drop Zone

    Jul 10, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    g400max please

  7. Rich Douglas

    Jul 10, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    Nice to see Ping decided to sell Taylormade PSi irons. Ho hum.

    Higher launch angles mitigated by stronger lofts with higher COR. So they go a little farther, in part by fudging the specs so the 8 is really a 7, the 5 is really a 4, etc. The other part is the everyone-is-doing-it speed slots to increase COR.

    None of this is bad. But none of it is new. Except for Ping, that is.

    Still the 17-4 steel. Better get the dot color right, ’cause you ain’t bending them much.

    Having a set add 5 yards, especially when part of those come from jacked-up lofts and longer graphite shafts, is a distinction without a difference. Your game won’t improve a bit with these compared to the previous G series.

    There have been very few real leaps in irons over the past 5 decades:

    — Cast irons (cheap)–Spaulding
    — Cavity backs (forgiving)–Ping
    — U grooves (spin, then banned, but really never left)–Ping
    — Cavity backs with forged steel (forgiving and soft)–Hogan Edge
    — Slots (higher MOI and COR)–Taylormade
    — Single-length irons that actually work–Wishon, Cleveland, et al

    That’s the list, I think. These new irons by Ping are a few years late.

    • JThunder

      Jul 10, 2017 at 9:26 pm

      And the point made is what? That every new iron release should have new, groundbreaking tech? Completely, absolutely literally impossible. That new irons should only be released when new tech has been developed? In modern capitalism, essentially impossible. Like every other golf company, they feel pressure to “introduce” new products once or twice every year, replacing their entire lineup more or less every two. If they don’t, they will be the easiest target in the world for competitors’ marketing; Ping has been left behind, Ping is standing still; Don’t play with 5 year old technology… And they would likely lose their tour presence.

      The solution would be to dial back capitalism and increase education; smarter consumers with less hyaenas trying to tear all the money out of their pockets at every turn. Both of those goals would be moving further away currently – at least for the USA.

      On the other hand – golf is a luxury to begin with, so it’s not the first place to show grave concern with hyped marketing and phantom tech. In this arena, there isn’t a shortage of choices, including an eBay full of enough clubs to last eternity, and last year’s models with significant discounts.

      • Rich Douglas

        Jul 11, 2017 at 12:25 am

        You’re looking at it from Ping’s perspective. I was commenting from a player’s perspective. And from that player’s perspective, this release offers nothing new. This is just Karsten catching up.

  8. Guia

    Jul 10, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    Nice write up, a few more changes than I expected. I will check them on a launch monitor and compare them to the last model. I will purchase or not dependent upon the outcome.

  9. Dat

    Jul 10, 2017 at 11:28 am

    5 yards more distance? Love to see a breakdown of that claim.

    • joro

      Jul 10, 2017 at 11:47 am

      Break it down this way, make you wedge 44 degrees instead of 47, simple. oh, and add a half inch while you are at it. Wow, is this Wedge long. As PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute. But, PING is also is and has made the best clubs, they are just cheating to sell em.

      • Cory

        Jul 10, 2017 at 12:47 pm

        loft is always relative to the geometry of the head, tuning the trajectory. Old lofts would create a ballooning effect. PING uses a progressive length chance where the long irons a +1/2 – +1/4 longer and it transitions to the “old” standard in the control clubs like a 9, PW, etc. If you like the old lofts, PING is 100% custom and will accomodate!

  10. Ted Thompson

    Jul 10, 2017 at 11:20 am

    These look like anyone with a 10+ hdcp would do well by giving them a try. No gimmicks like slots or cage bars. I tend to gravitate towards a shiny metal rather than the frost that these have. Ping will sell a lot of these if the distance is really there

  11. Clubber Lover

    Jul 10, 2017 at 10:21 am

    I love the look of these new improved G400s. I particularly love the HydroPearl Chrome finish. I don’t want my clubs reflecting glare at address cause it’s too annoying. These are lovely awesome clubs and will find a place in my bag soon. Good job Ping.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (3/28/24): L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick putter with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft.

From the seller: (@hibcam): “L.A.B. GOLF Mezz.1 Max Broomstick- LA Golf Paige Spiranac Shaft- 44″/79.5. Brand new, never used brown leather cover. The head was professionally anodized from Orange to Blue (Orange looked bad with the Pink shaft so I had it changed). Only a few rounds on this combo. Please see last pic- slight ding on back corner. 8.5-10 condition. THE SHAFT COST $475/ THE PUTTER $625. $799 shipped in the US. ONLY $699 SHIPPED.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Spotted: Tony Finau’s driver shaft change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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Tony Finau has always been known as one of the longest players on the PGA Tour, but he has recently been working on adding a little more distance. Last year, Finau averaged 118.3 mph club head speed and 178.08 mph ball speed, all while playing a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX driver shaft. This year, he has increased his club head speed to 123.93 mph and his ball speed to 183.32 mph.

However, Finau’s overall distance has decreased by two yards in that time. From a fitting perspective, something was amiss. We asked Tony about the shaft change at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open.

“[I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin. My driver’s been a little high spin for me over the last month or so, and so I just figured it was time to probably check out the equipment,” Finau said. “And it definitely showed me that I was using a shaft that’s maybe a little too tip-stiff for me, the way I load the club now. [I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin.”

Finau switched from the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX into the Diamana GT 70 TX. The newer Diamana GT has a slightly different profile than the D+ Limited with the stiffest handle section in the Diamana lineup. The mid sections between the two are similar stiffness but the tip is just slightly stiffer in the Diamana GT. Both shafts are within one gram of each other in the 70 TX. The torque rating on the GT is 0.1 higher than the D+Limited’s 2.7 measurement.

Mitsubishi lists the Diamana GT as a shaft between the mid-launching Diamana TB and the new low-launch Diamana WB shafts. For most players, it would be considered a mid/low launch and low-spin shaft option. Mitsubishi’s Xlink Tech Resin System makes sure the maximum carbon fiber content is there for smooth feel without reducing the strength of the shaft. MR70 carbon fiber is used for reinforcing the shaft and boron is used in the tip for its high strength and compression properties.

Finau is still using his trusty Ping G430 LST driver in 9 degrees and has the adjustable hosel set to -1 degree of loft (standard lie angle). Finau’s long-time favorite Lamkin UTX Green grip is installed. He definitely has a few extra wraps of tape under that grip as you can see the bulge down where the grip meets the shaft.

One final note: Per Ping’s PGA Tour rep Kenton Oates, Finau’s driver is also adjusted to play with an additional degree of loft to help dial in his desired launch.

We’ll see how he fares with the new setup this week in Houston!

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