Titleist 917D3 v Ping G400

Has anyone hit these two drivers and compared them, getting one of the two and interested in hearing some opinions.

Edit: I meant g400 lst

Titleist is fine but the G400 is night and day in forgiveness.

I actually think the 917 range aren't any different to 915 at all. Very harsh feeling but perform as expected, not the longest for me but quite accurate.

The G400 range is great. I found the Max a little spinny but LST was awesome and not fade biased for me.

I found the G400 LST to be more forgiving especially on the more than occasional heel shots. With the right shaft the distance differences were negligible.

Agree. I have a 917D3 and G400 LST. The LST is the one that is in my bag. I hit it longer, straighter, and it feels much better off the face.

I had a 917D3 and think it was a great driver. In a head to head with Epic SZ, M1, F7+, it was the straightest and longest. Great feel, great sound, accurate and long ... for me. However, I have since moved on to the 400 LST. It is probably not any longer for me, but I am more consistent with it and have fewer big misses. Definitely more forgiving. Loses less on off-center hits. Both are great, but LST is in the bag and will be for a while. Haven't really looked at drivers since putting it in play.

Went out and tried them both a month ago. Distances were very similar between the two, feel was about the same but when i look for a driver i look for dispersion. the g400 gave me the best dispersion on the course and thats the one i went with.

Surprised to hear you all talk about the LST being more forgiving.... I played the 917 D3 and the regular G400 and found them to be almost identical in all aspects. I actually ditched the G400 and gamed the 917 D3 instead.... Titleist did a great job with the 917 D3, by far the most forgiving D3 head yet IMO and ball speeds matched what the G400 gave me which were higher than anything else I tried at the time. I dont think you can go wrong with either one honestly, but I am waiting for the new Titleist drivers instead of going back to the 917.

Surprised to hear you all talk about the LST being more forgiving.... I played the 917 D3 and the regular G400 and found them to be almost identical in all aspects. I actually ditched the G400 and gamed the 917 D3 instead.... Titleist did a great job with the 917 D3, by far the most forgiving D3 head yet IMO and ball speeds matched what the G400 gave me which were higher than anything else I tried at the time. I dont think you can go wrong with either one honestly, but I am waiting for the new Titleist drivers instead of going back to the 917.

Agree with all of this, but I found the LST to keep ball speed across the face unlike any driver I have tried. My smash factor was ~1.50 on nearly every strike and I don't hit the center every time.

I was fitted into the 917D3 last year and enjoyed it very much. Then, I had the opportunity to demo the G400 LST and it kicked the Titleist driver out of the bag for good. The PING G400 LST is the real deal. It's staying in the bag for a LONG time!

Appreciate everyone’s input, I went and tried them both out today, found the Titleist surprisingly 10 yards longer and on average straighter. Completely not what I was expecting the real problem I had with the ping was that it seemed to be too spinny for me at around 2900-3000, vs the Titleist at 2500-2600. Being in Texas that makes all the difference...

Now I just need to update my sig w the D3

Surprised to hear you all talk about the LST being more forgiving.... I played the 917 D3 and the regular G400 and found them to be almost identical in all aspects. I actually ditched the G400 and gamed the 917 D3 instead.... Titleist did a great job with the 917 D3, by far the most forgiving D3 head yet IMO and ball speeds matched what the G400 gave me which were higher than anything else I tried at the time. I dont think you can go wrong with either one honestly, but I am waiting for the new Titleist drivers instead of going back to the 917.

Yeah reason I’m not waiting is I heard the new ones will be 500-600 dollars and I may or may not have seen the TS2 in person (don’t tell anyone) :) and I don’t like the way it looks it’s probably just me...

I’ve hit them both on track man. I was able to easily achieve optimal launch numbers with both. Distance was the same as was forgiveness.

I prefer the look of the crown and the shape of the Titleist over the g400. That crown is just too busy for me.

Both are forgiving and both can be long. Get the one that sounds and looks the best to you.

Surprised to hear you all talk about the LST being more forgiving.... I played the 917 D3 and the regular G400 and found them to be almost identical in all aspects. I actually ditched the G400 and gamed the 917 D3 instead.... Titleist did a great job with the 917 D3, by far the most forgiving D3 head yet IMO and ball speeds matched what the G400 gave me which were higher than anything else I tried at the time. I dont think you can go wrong with either one honestly, but I am waiting for the new Titleist drivers instead of going back to the 917.

 

Yeah reason I'm not waiting is I heard the new ones will be 500-600 dollars and I may or may not have seen the TS2 in person (don't tell anyone) :) and I don't like the way it looks it's probably just me...

The only reason I am considering it is because I have a ridiculous amount of store credit.... even still, at that price it will be tough to pull the trigger. What didn't you like about it?

I’ve played pretty much every driver out there, and one of my buddies who just picked up an M4 said I was an idiot when I suggested I may have to try one. He says he’s never seen me hit the ball as well as I have hit the 917 D3 the last two years.

The 917 D3 is the best performing driver I’ve ever played across the board - distance, control, looks, and feel.

No need to look elsewhere.

The Ping G and G400 perform about the same, the only difference is sound. The Ping G sounds horrible and the G400 sounds good. I went from a Ping G to a 917D2 and I like it better. It seems more forgiving with better dispersion and the gives me the same distance. I've hit about every driver in the store and the 917D2 works the best for me. Distance wise they were all about the same.

Surprised to hear you all talk about the LST being more forgiving.... I played the 917 D3 and the regular G400 and found them to be almost identical in all aspects. I actually ditched the G400 and gamed the 917 D3 instead.... Titleist did a great job with the 917 D3, by far the most forgiving D3 head yet IMO and ball speeds matched what the G400 gave me which were higher than anything else I tried at the time. I dont think you can go wrong with either one honestly, but I am waiting for the new Titleist drivers instead of going back to the 917.

 

Yeah reason I'm not waiting is I heard the new ones will be 500-600 dollars and I may or may not have seen the TS2 in person (don't tell anyone) :) and I don't like the way it looks it's probably just me...

 

The only reason I am considering it is because I have a ridiculous amount of store credit.... even still, at that price it will be tough to pull the trigger. What didn't you like about it?

well for starters they flipped the arrow on the crown... again, I prefer it the way it is now surprisingly. Also in my opinion the graphics try to make a kind of plain looking design pop, and it didn't work for me. I dont know to be honest its like I didnt like it but i dont know why haha.

I’ve played pretty much every driver out there, and one of my buddies who just picked up an M4 said I was an idiot when I suggested I may have to try one. He says he’s never seen me hit the ball as well as I have hit the 917 D3 the last two years.

 

The 917 D3 is the best performing driver I’ve ever played across the board - distance, control, looks, and feel.

 

No need to look elsewhere.

It was unbelievably consistent when I hit it, within 30 min of messing around with it after getting fitted I could easily estimate how far off line and the total distance without looking at the ball flight after contact.

I had a G400 and found it to be a very good driver. DIdn't like the stock shaft, and didn't want to experiment. Main reason I moved on from it was the sound. Everyone was saying it was muted, but I found it far from muted. Definitely way too metallic for me. In about an hour, I'll be able to report on the 917D3, which I'll be gaming for the first time.

Appreciate everyones input, I went and tried them both out today, found the Titleist surprisingly 10 yards longer and on average straighter. Completely not what I was expecting the real problem I had with the ping was that it seemed to be too spinny for me at around 2900-3000, vs the Titleist at 2500-2600. Being in Texas that makes all the difference...

 

Now I just need to update my sig w the D3

You must have hit a defective 917 D3 Head. Everyone on WRX with a -7 AoA will tell you Titleist heads don’t spin below 3500 rpms.

I recently demoed the g400lst and g400 max, both with hzrdus yellow 6.5, and all I can say is that they perform really well...I find look to be terrible, and the max is too big from address, but the lst has a nice shape..

Flight was quite the same, the max went a little longer but the lst game me more confidence, surely closer to a titleist head...

I had a G400 and found it to be a very good driver. DIdn't like the stock shaft, and didn't want to experiment. Main reason I moved on from it was the sound. Everyone was saying it was muted, but I found it far from muted. Definitely way too metallic for me. In about an hour, I'll be able to report on the 917D3, which I'll be gaming for the first time.

Well, back from my first round with the 917D3. Keep in mind, I wasn't fitted, and I didn't demo this driver prior to. The G400 I replaced was primarily a back-up driver, and the 917 will be in that role as well. My gamer is a Bridgestone J715, and I don't believe anything could possibly unseat it.

Anyway, the first drive with this was perfect. I was so impressed with everything about the driver at that point. Unfortunately, I spent the rest of my round trying to duplicate my first drive of the day. I'm sure I just got too keyed up and started coming out of my normal rhythm. I'll need a couple of more rounds, and maybe another shaft, but I was impressed. Since the OP's thread is about a comparison to the G400, I would say the 917 is much better in every way except one. Definitely not as directionally forgiving. If you come across it, it's going right. Way right. This driver demands a good swing. Much better sound and feel than the G400. Distance was about the same, but I think the 917 at the right setting and shaft choice would be longer indeed.

I also had a reduced taper grip on it. Not sure why I wanted to try it, and more not sure what it's suppose to do, but I took it off already, and put a standard grip on, just to minimize the variables.

Appreciate everyone’s input, I went and tried them both out today, found the Titleist surprisingly 10 yards longer and on average straighter. Completely not what I was expecting the real problem I had with the ping was that it seemed to be too spinny for me at around 2900-3000, vs the Titleist at 2500-2600. Being in Texas that makes all the difference...

 

Now I just need to update my sig w the D3

 

You must have hit a defective 917 D3 Head. Everyone on WRX with a -7 AoA will tell you Titleist heads don’t spin below 3500 rpms.

This...is so accurate its not even funny... :)

I was reading some WRX forum reviews, and they all talked about how the head was too spinny,

From what I saw... its a 440cc head if you nut it, its not very spinny. That being said hit it low and it spins more than most drivers for sure. The only problem with this forum is sometimes people can make sweeping generalizations about clubs because they didn't work for them, you could make the argument that with today's adjust ability and shaft availability on a robot you could make every similarly sized and lofted driver head from Ping, Callaway, Titleist and Taylormade preform close to if not the same.

I had a G400 and found it to be a very good driver. DIdn't like the stock shaft, and didn't want to experiment. Main reason I moved on from it was the sound. Everyone was saying it was muted, but I found it far from muted. Definitely way too metallic for me. In about an hour, I'll be able to report on the 917D3, which I'll be gaming for the first time.

 

Well, back from my first round with the 917D3. Keep in mind, I wasn't fitted, and I didn't demo this driver prior to. The G400 I replaced was primarily a back-up driver, and the 917 will be in that role as well. My gamer is a Bridgestone J715, and I don't believe anything could possibly unseat it.

 

Anyway, the first drive with this was perfect. I was so impressed with everything about the driver at that point. Unfortunately, I spent the rest of my round trying to duplicate my first drive of the day. I'm sure I just got too keyed up and started coming out of my normal rhythm. I'll need a couple of more rounds, and maybe another shaft, but I was impressed. Since the OP's thread is about a comparison to the G400, I would say the 917 is much better in every way except one. Definitely not as directionally forgiving. If you come across it, it's going right. Way right. This driver demands a good swing. Much better sound and feel than the G400. Distance was about the same, but I think the 917 at the right setting and shaft choice would be longer indeed.

 

I also had a reduced taper grip on it. Not sure why I wanted to try it, and more not sure what it's suppose to do, but I took it off already, and put a standard grip on, just to minimize the variables.

Reduced taper supposed to help quiet overactive right hand. I use them because it gives my right hand more feel and I don’t flip it left as much.

I believe the d3 is also .5 degrees open too.

I had a G400 and found it to be a very good driver. DIdn't like the stock shaft, and didn't want to experiment. Main reason I moved on from it was the sound. Everyone was saying it was muted, but I found it far from muted. Definitely way too metallic for me. In about an hour, I'll be able to report on the 917D3, which I'll be gaming for the first time.

 

Well, back from my first round with the 917D3. Keep in mind, I wasn't fitted, and I didn't demo this driver prior to. The G400 I replaced was primarily a back-up driver, and the 917 will be in that role as well. My gamer is a Bridgestone J715, and I don't believe anything could possibly unseat it.

 

Anyway, the first drive with this was perfect. I was so impressed with everything about the driver at that point. Unfortunately, I spent the rest of my round trying to duplicate my first drive of the day. I'm sure I just got too keyed up and started coming out of my normal rhythm. I'll need a couple of more rounds, and maybe another shaft, but I was impressed. Since the OP's thread is about a comparison to the G400, I would say the 917 is much better in every way except one. Definitely not as directionally forgiving. If you come across it, it's going right. Way right. This driver demands a good swing. Much better sound and feel than the G400. Distance was about the same, but I think the 917 at the right setting and shaft choice would be longer indeed.

 

I also had a reduced taper grip on it. Not sure why I wanted to try it, and more not sure what it's suppose to do, but I took it off already, and put a standard grip on, just to minimize the variables.

 

Reduced taper supposed to help quiet overactive right hand. I use them because it gives my right hand more feel and I don't flip it left as much.

 

I believe the d3 is also .5 degrees open too.

Didnt know the D3 was open that explains why i was hitting the G400 on average a few yards more left vs the D3 was more down the line.

I had a G400 and found it to be a very good driver. DIdn't like the stock shaft, and didn't want to experiment. Main reason I moved on from it was the sound. Everyone was saying it was muted, but I found it far from muted. Definitely way too metallic for me. In about an hour, I'll be able to report on the 917D3, which I'll be gaming for the first time.

 

Well, back from my first round with the 917D3. Keep in mind, I wasn't fitted, and I didn't demo this driver prior to. The G400 I replaced was primarily a back-up driver, and the 917 will be in that role as well. My gamer is a Bridgestone J715, and I don't believe anything could possibly unseat it.

 

Anyway, the first drive with this was perfect. I was so impressed with everything about the driver at that point. Unfortunately, I spent the rest of my round trying to duplicate my first drive of the day. I'm sure I just got too keyed up and started coming out of my normal rhythm. I'll need a couple of more rounds, and maybe another shaft, but I was impressed. Since the OP's thread is about a comparison to the G400, I would say the 917 is much better in every way except one. Definitely not as directionally forgiving. If you come across it, it's going right. Way right. This driver demands a good swing. Much better sound and feel than the G400. Distance was about the same, but I think the 917 at the right setting and shaft choice would be longer indeed.

 

I also had a reduced taper grip on it. Not sure why I wanted to try it, and more not sure what it's suppose to do, but I took it off already, and put a standard grip on, just to minimize the variables.

 

Reduced taper supposed to help quiet overactive right hand. I use them because it gives my right hand more feel and I don't flip it left as much.

 

I believe the d3 is also .5 degrees open too.

I've never heard that spec? No idea that it was .5 open. Certainly looks square, but since I prefer the look of an upright driver, that's where I set up the adapter. I didn't feel that the driver was going right because it was open. When I hit it right, I felt that I swung badly. We'll see what happens after a couple of more rounds.

Previous 913 and 915 were both .5 open in A1 setting. Assuming that is true with 917.

Cathi, Titleist Club Concierge

Carlsbad, CA

0 Posts

August 18, 2015 at 09:06 PM

Hi, If I understand you correctly, you are asking it the third row - A2, B2, A1, B1 is .5° open. The answer is yes. .5° open is our standard neutral setting for face angle on all our metalwoods (drivers, fairways, and hybrids) and that includes all 4 settings for the third row.

Appreciate everyone’s input, I went and tried them both out today, found the Titleist surprisingly 10 yards longer and on average straighter. Completely not what I was expecting the real problem I had with the ping was that it seemed to be too spinny for me at around 2900-3000, vs the Titleist at 2500-2600. Being in Texas that makes all the difference...

 

Now I just need to update my sig w the D3

 

You must have hit a defective 917 D3 Head. Everyone on WRX with a -7 AoA will tell you Titleist heads don’t spin below 3500 rpms.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but every Trackman fitting I've seen the 917 D3 has given the lowest spin. I have the M3, G400 LST, and the 917 D3 and the D3 outperforms all of them easily. Especially in the spin department. I want to keep my LST but the D3 (same KK XT shaft) blows past it everytime. I find it weird you think this head wont spin below 3500rpms honestly.

I just picked up a 917 D3 9.5* stiff.

First of all the Diamana Blue shaft feels like butter. Just such a smooth kick.

The feel of the entire driver is the best i've had. It definitely requires a centered strike for decent ball speed. But it almost teaches you to find the middle. Miss-hits are really easy to feel. The feel is harsher and harsher as you move away from the middle. I like this compared to my Ping G, which felt like a big empty shoebox. Very light feeling head.

It seems like there is more roll and bulge on the D3.

I always hit Pings straighter and Titleist D3's a tad longer. Every generation has been like that.

These were the two best drivers I hit in a recent driver fitting. They were actually the only two clubs that were working for me. No problems launching either.

I couldn't tell much difference in side dispersion between the two, but when it came to distance GC2 was showing more consistent spin and ball speed with the LST.

With the D3 the bombs were great, but less frequent for me. I saw shorter and spinny more often with the D3. I can imagine that for a more consistent striker it could be a real weapon, but the LST was friendlier for me. I got more juice out of 'meh' strikes.