Equipment

Ping Rapture V2 Hybrid – Review

Published

15 years ago

Nov 16, 2008

It is very difficult to replace a club in my bag that has been ever so faithful to me for the past two plus years. I know that my hybrid never looked at another golfer with envy. I know that I have eyeballed many a possible new hybrid to replace my faithful until the end, Callaway 3H. I find it amazing that I stuck with her for as long as I did.

You know, I grew tired of her steel core and lusted for a newer, sleeker and avant-garde looking babe to idle away the hours on many a golf course. Being the fickle golfer that I am, I looked at many a new girl, or hybrid. For the time being, I settled on the new Ping Rapture V2 20 degree hybrid. I swear I’ll never date that 3 iron girl again. She just could never be counted upon when you really needed her to take care of your needs. On to my newest love affair, enter the Ping Rapture V2 hybrid. Not only a looker, but a pure performer as well.

According to Ping Golf, they wanted “to ensure forgiving and higher launching results so their engineers relied on the density of a tungsten sole plate in the design of the Rapture V2 Hybrid Series.”

The design features a “sloped crown design and the 112 gram tungsten sole–which represents 48% of the club head’s mass–allows the center of gravity (CG) to be positioned lower and farther back from the face.” The Rapture V2 hybrid’s “larger head profile and longer face increase the moment-of-inertia for improved accuracy and confidence.” All golfers need a lot of both. And me? I’ll take all that I can get. I thought about the Ping G10 hybrid as well, but the Rapture V2 is the one that really caught my eye.

One small thing that I was concerned about was replacing the accuracy of my Callaway Uniflex steel golf shaft. These shafts have always been top- notch performers for a ‘tweener (not regular, yet not stiff) such as myself. No matter how good these steel shafts are, I am always searching for a graphite shaft that I can live with for fairway wood and hybrid shots. Although I really liked the bright green fading into black Ping TFC 939D graphite shaft, I was more worried about what type of ball flight characteristics this Ping graphite shaft would offer me. This Ping shaft offers a very straight and piercing ball flight that really seems to take off and surpasses any expectations that I had for it prior to purchasing it.

I don’t miss my Callaway 3H one tiny bit, not at all. This change is very surprising to me. Why is that? That Callaway hybrid had been in my golf bag for well over two years. This is a lifetime for a club in my bag! It is now relegated to light duty in my back up golf bag. Compared to the Callaway, the ball really takes off with authority when the V2 hybrid comes into contact with the ball. This is quite pleasing, so much so that I ordered the V2 Rapture 3 wood to replace my Cobra Speed LD-F 3 wood, but I digress, that review is in your future. Because this hybrid is 20 degrees (my old hybrid was 21 degrees) I feel like I can ditch my 19 degree Cobra LD-F 5 wood (and not miss out) and add a wedge if I so desire. In the few rounds that I have played with it, it has become my “go to” club and that says a lot. There is nothing more satisfying than reaching for a club without any doubt. If you are in search of a high performing hybrid, why not check out the new Ping Rapture V2 series, you just might be impressed.

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Equipment

TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper: Leveraging 90s nostalgia

Published

3 hours ago

Apr 5, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

TaylorMade is leaning in even further to the retro vibes with the 2024 edition of its BRNR Mini Driver.

Patterned after the Carlsbad-based company’s iconic late 1990s Burner driver design, the 2024 BRNR Mini features similar copper styling and a retro version of the TaylorMade logo.

Featuring the same technology as its 2023 BRNR Mini Driver, the 2024 edition continues to play the hits that saw the unique club land in the bag of tour pros, such as Tommy Fleetwood and Jake Knapp.

Check out details on the technology in our 2023 BRNR launch story.

Why play a mini driver?

In general, TaylorMade finds two types of golfers gravitate toward a mini driver. In the first case, it’s an addition to a standard driver: Players looking for a “fairway finder” driver without giving up too much distance that can also be hit off the deck. Second, TaylorMade recommends giving a mini a go to golfers who struggle to hit 460 cc drivers, particularly choppers. It’s a better alternative than a 3-wood off the tee.

Tommy Fleetwood’s endorsement of playing a mini driver

“For me, if I HAD to hit a fairway, I’m more comfortable hitting a driver than a 3-wood. I would tee the driver down, and I would hit a little cut, or a neck-y cut in the fairway. The 3-wood isn’t for that. The 3-wood, generally, is a pretty hot club that I’ll hit from 270 or 280 in the fairway on a par 5. You get some courses where a 3-wood is not always necessary. [With the BRNR] you put a normal swing on it, and I’m more comfortable hitting it straight. It’s a replacement for a 3-wood, basically.”

Pricing, specs, availability

TaylorMade’s new BRNR Mini Driver Copper clubs will sell for $449.99 in 11.5 (RH/LH) and 13.5 (RH) degree options, and they will be available for custom orders.

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/5/24): I think I ‘Blacked Out’ trying to love these irons

Published

5 hours ago

Apr 5, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

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 set of blacked out P770 irons

From the seller: (@hammertime1515): “Just one single iron set up for grabs today. Got these right before they quote selling them at the end of February. Only played 3 full rounds with them and a couple short range sessions. 7 iron shows the most wear and 8 iron has a sandy mark on the toe (ball striking out of winter wasn’t the strong suit) Just not right for me no matter how much I wanted them to be. Price is shipped and OBO……

P770 Black Out irons. 4-PW. —New Tour Velvet Align Midsize Grips —1/2” over TM standard —2 degrees upright —Standard Lofts —Dynamic Gold 105 X100 shafts —PW has never been hit, most of them have been hit sparingly. Tried to capture the wear on the 7 iron and the toe mark on the 8 iron the best I could. Soles have virtually no scratching from use and no bag chatter. -If more pics are needed just ask ——PRICE: $1000 OBO” & Shipped

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Blacked out P770 irons

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