Opinion on Ping?

[PEI_Golfer]

For years I didn't like their 'feel' and never gave them a second look.  Woods still feel firm to me and have had the G30/Lst, G Lst, G400 and have a G410+ in the back up bag currently.  I have never been a fair of the fairways and hybrids, just haven't worked for me vs. Titleist, and that is ok, I'll allow it...  Have been a fan of the I20s, I25s and currently have the I210's in the bag, which are fantastic.  

[PJE]

Ping makes really good gear. If you buy their stuff, you can be assured it will perform pretty well.

I'm not a fan of some of their design choices  e.g., most drivers are at 45.75 stock shaft length; limited custom shaft offerings in woods and irons; too much offset in their GI irons. I wish they had an iron line between the G and i series- little narrower soles, toplines, and offset. 

But overall, their stuff is great. 

I also think they make the best carry bags.

I disagree with some other poster's comments about their drivers. Their drivers are plenty long and easy to hit.

[Ghostwedge]

37 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

They make good putters..

 

 

 

Their irons have always been a turnoff. Their woods always had a distance problem...they were always shorter than competitors. Very straight, but sacrificed distance. Never really cared for the look of their woods either. They were also very late to the adjustable CoG game. 

 

A brand I'll likely never pay much attention to.

That's nonsense....

Read on here for years, Ping drivers are shorter than everything else.

There are easily within a few yds of everything else on the market or the guys who play for living wouldn't have them in their bags

[getitdaily]

1 minute ago, Ghostwedge said:

That's nonsense....

Read on here for years, Ping drivers are shorter than everything else.

There are easily within a few yds of everything else on the market or the guys who play for living wouldn't have them in their bags

I have hit them. Ballspeed is not an issue. Spin is. Even the lst in the g400 series was a bit higher spinning than the tm driver I was playing. 

 

With the g400 lst I had to go 9.0 loft to keep spin down and that produced a lower launch than the tm driver I was playing. Ping makes good stuff. But their stuff can be spinny for me. I just don't really ever give them much of a look. 

[monkeyboy]

Never been drawn to Ping for the reasons mentioned already.  The 425 (fairway) changed that for me.  Great ballspeeds / tech - looks superb...hope they continue this trend.

[Port and Starboard]

Loved the Eye 2's and Zings. The KT-M shafts on the Zings gave them a bad reputation  IMO.

 

Never cared much for the "S" and "G" series.  The G's were clunky and dead feeling.

 

The i210's are very nice irons..

[braincramp52]

3 hours ago, tbowles411 said:

PING is basically an engineering company, who happens to make golf gear.  They're now focusing more on marketing and styling, due to John K.'s grandson, but they just work.  They're not flashy and don't just put stuff out there because the calendar turns.  They just perform and that's pretty much all that matters.

This^. I've had at least one Ping club in my bag every year for the last 30 years. I can't say that about any other brand. 

[GeauxGolfLSU]

I never liked the look of PING irons or woods going back 25 years. Only thing I ever had from them was a couple putters.

 

Fast forward to 2021 and the PING G425 Max was the clear winner for me in my driver fitting. Since I put it in the bag less than 3 weeks ago, I've had 11 career long drives on 19 driver holes of the 27 holes I play regularly. I'd literally have to move up a set of tees with all my old drivers to even sniff where my drives are going now with the G425 Max.

 

Naturally, I decided to look into the fairway woods and hybrids, and now I have 4 PING clubs in the bag. Perfectly happy with my current irons, wedges and putter, so not looking to make any changes there. But you never know. If you told me at Christmas that I'd have 4 PING clubs in the bag 3 months later, I'd have called you crazy.

[Long_Left]

53 minutes ago, PJE said:

Ping makes really good gear. If you buy their stuff, you can be assured it will perform pretty well.

I'm not a fan of some of their design choices  e.g., most drivers are at 45.75 stock shaft length; limited custom shaft offerings in woods and irons; too much offset in their GI irons. I wish they had an iron line between the G and i series- little narrower soles, toplines, and offset. 

But overall, their stuff is great. 

I also think they make the best carry bags.

I disagree with some other poster's comments about their drivers. Their drivers are plenty long and easy to hit.

I play the i500s 2 degrees weak and they fit every criteria you mentioned for me as a "gateway" iron between the i and G series. I hit the i210s at the same fitting and just didn't get along with them, they felt great but the 4-7 irons in the i500s are almost magic for me, the 8-P are very solid performers but may be a shade too GI for a real stick.

[ShortSticks]

"PLAY YOUR BEST" says it all.

[MtlJeff]

They are one of the best companies to go with if you want a relatively consistent look from set to set over like 20 years. 

 

Their clubs all look very similar at address each itiration. That is important to a lot of people. There's a comfort level with Ping

 

I have used them a lot, but we are on a break now

[Guy In Lyon]

4 hours ago, LayupsAreForBasketball said:

Does anyone else have strong feelings either positive or negative about Ping?

Without a doubt, the best manufacturer's name in golf.

[RainShadow]

Never cared for their drivers until the G400 series. They always looked huge. FWIW I played an Anser driver for a bit.

I also played some S55 and i20 irons for a bit and both were great, but up until recently, they were the only decent looking irons they made.

They have had to use dampening devices to help with sound/feel.

They seem to have improved a bit the past few years in the iron dept, although to me they still lack the feel I like.

 

 

[AdamsAT]

One thing that often goes unnoticed is the quality of their stock shafts. I read somewhere that they acquired top-notch equipment to evaluate their stock shafts, which they co-engineer with shaft manufacturers like Nippon.  This allows them to optimize their stock shafts to really work well with their club heads.  I've gamed the AWT 2.0 and Alta CBs and they've played great. Just shows their dedication to delivering the best clubs for their customers

Edited March 17, 2021 by AdamsAT

[DE-ILLINI]

I like Ping clubs and they are always on my list when I am looking for new clubs.  I do not have a complete bag of Ping clubs, but could easily game one if I could only choose one OEM.  Their stuff might not be the most visually appealing, but it flat out works.

[Thrummyfox]

Would never use another brand of irons. Been using them for 30 years. Customer service unparalleled. 
 

Eye2s were revolutionary in my improvement as a golfer (still have them) and I’m still using mS56 now, with a G driver, G400 fairways, G15 hybrids and a ZBS putter.

 

Even other manufacturers admire their designs, just look at how many have copied the Anser blueprint, and charge significantly more for the privilege!

[jwb10]

5 hours ago, Striker Ace said:

Ping certainly has their occult following.

in the nether world ?

[Striker Ace]

9 minutes ago, jwb10 said:

in the nether world ?

In the Masonic world

[LeoLeo99]

3 minutes ago, Striker Ace said:

In the Masonic world

Official golf equipment of Wiccans.  

[Bob M]

Ping fan here....I played i5s for years and now have G710s. Echoing others, the clubs work and it is a family owned business!

[OttoVonBizMarkie]

Been a fan of Ping irons and woods since I started playing as a kid. Got out of the game after for awhile then got back into it last year. When I put together a new bag, I ended up going almost all Ping as they gave the best forgiveness for almost everything I was looking for (and you know, I'm obviously a fanboy). Always have great customer service and I can buy a set off the BST, send them to get bent by Ping and get them back in a week. As someone who also likes to try out different clubs too, they hold their value well.

[getitdaily]

2 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

They are one of the best companies to go with if you want a relatively consistent look from set to set over like 20 years. 

 

Their clubs all look very similar at address each itiration. That is important to a lot of people. There's a comfort level with Ping

 

I have used them a lot, but we are on a break now

Basically why I'm with mizuno going on 20 years for irons.

[LeoLeo99]

I've liked Ping clubs since the early days or rather wanted to like them.  Liked their putters.  Bought an Anser in 1980 and still have it.  Wanted to play Eye 2 irons when they were all the rage.  Especially when I saw them in the bags of the local sharpies.  I just couldn't get past their looks and stayed with my Wilson Staff blades.  I was an early adopter of the metal woods due to durability issues with wooden woods.  A few neck hit with my WRX swing speed back in the day was causing problems to the real wood.  Ping was late to the metal wood game and I didn't ho back then.  Had my Pittsburgh Persimmons for a long time.  I play G400 irons now and love them.  Went back to see a set a Eye2 irons at my local Play It Again store figuring a year with G400 irons in my bag and maybe the Eye2 irons wouldn't look so bad.  Nope.  Still can't get past their looks and can't get past the looks of the Zings, etc all the up to I15 irons. Although I'm softening and think I could play I5 or I10 irons.  Ping has really hit their stride lately since they did away with I series of woods and just have the G series now.  

[uglande]

My favorite Ping clubs by decade: 

 

1980s -- Ping Eye 2 irons (especially that sand wedge)

1990s -- Ping isi irons (beryllium copper or nickel) 

2000s -- Ping Craz-E putter (especially the Japanese one with the black insert)

2010s -- Ping S55 irons (still a classic and in demand)

2020s -- Ping G400/G410 series drivers (they just work)

[realmfg]

Huge fan of Ping! The i210s have been the best irons I've ever owned.  Just snagged a set of blueprints hoping to bag the 8-pw (best looking iron made imho).  The G425 hybrid is my favorite hybrid I've ever owned.  If Ping could get the Driver and fairway woods to sound like the hybrid, I would go full bag of Ping.  

[WarEagleGolf]

I pretty much only look at ping now.  I wait until something they have comes out. If it beats what I've got, then I'll buy it.  If it replaces a worn out, or 2+ yr old club I got my money's worth.  Imo of course. 

 

Haven't gotten down with the wedges yet...I found something special there but one day...

[TiScape]

6 hours ago, ShortSticks said:

"PLAY YOUR BEST" says it all.

My teams slogan Is “JUST WIN BABY”. Haven’t been to the SB in 37yrs. 😂

[TiScape]

Hit the G410 Max. The sound was atrocious  🥴 I like the irons better since they started using ferrules. i210s are really nice. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by TiScape

[Greenie]

2 hours ago, uglande said:

My favorite Ping clubs by decade: 

 

1980s -- Ping Eye 2 irons (especially that sand wedge)

1990s -- Ping isi irons (beryllium copper or nickel) 

2000s -- Ping Craz-E putter (especially the Japanese one with the black insert)

2010s -- Ping S55 irons (still a classic and in demand)

2020s -- Ping G400/G410 series drivers (they just work)

I'm still playing mine with black insert. I have three of them with the black insert. (different grips). It's the oldest club in my bag. 

[ChipNRun]

10 hours ago, LayupsAreForBasketball said:

Does anyone else have strong feelings either positive or negative about Ping?

 

For the most part, I have played a mix of Callaway and Tour Edge for the past 10 years.

 

But, except for 18 months around 2018, I have played a Ping putter of some sort ever since 2007. Also, the Ping i15 and G25 irons made my short list for iron replacement.

 

To their credit, Ping developed perimeter weighting for irons and made them easier to hit. Also, Ping was the first mainline club company to custom fit irons, and then other clubs, for everyday golfers.

 

If you don't like the looks of their clubs, whatever... Many of us are more worried about performance than cosmetics.