Equipment
PING Anser Driver, Fairway Wood and Hybrid: Story, Videos, and Pictures
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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Whats in the Bag
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
- Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9)
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour
Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
Spotted: Nate Lashley’s Ping PLD “Wolverine” putter
Ping PLD putters have been a very common site on profesional tours. Pros seem to gravitate toward the PLD line’s custom options and precision milling. We have seen the PLD line expanded over the years, but we haven’t seen too many, if any, large mallets.
This week we spotted a PLD putter in Nate Lashley’s bag that has a similar look to the old Ping Wolverine head shape. This putter is a large mallet with the famous “claws” on the outside and oval center that housed the alignment aid.
Nick’s putter has the PLD logo on the back but also looks like it might have an insert installed on the face. It is hard to tell but at the address picture, it looks like the face is a lighter material than the rest of the putters. The putter is center-shafted and should be face-balanced with a high MOI for stability and forgiveness on mishits. The sole is completely milled and has no markings of name or technologies that might be present in the head. A single white site line is on the top of the putter for alignment.
Nick’s putter is finished off with a chrome steel shaft and a Super Stroke Zenergy Flatso 2.0 grip in black and white.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
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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
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.
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
Adam
Aug 19, 2012 at 12:49 am
.5* of adjustability is not even worth looking at. Call me when it’s 2*.
JEFF
Feb 8, 2013 at 12:38 am
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO ADJUST YOUR DRIVER BY 2*?????
Dave
Aug 18, 2012 at 12:05 pm
They’re in stores, Bought mine yesterday.
Me2
Jul 31, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Awesome numbers dude!
Timfrk
Jul 26, 2012 at 9:37 am
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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?