Tour Ping G430 LST and Max drivers, G430 Max fairway wood & G430 hybrid – 2022 Shriners Children's Open

[Strategery]

6 minutes ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

LOL calling Tony Finau's success (3 wins in last 7, 4 wins in last 30) with G425 an "exception." G425 is in tons of bags, has won tons of tournaments, was MGS most wanted driver, and on and on. G425 quality and success much more the general case than the exception. 

 

It's not that the pros aren't making it work, it's that, IMO, the driver release was a total dud to the general public. I've only seen 1 G425 Max and 0 LST in a bag in 2 years FWIW, and the staff at the local big golf store said G425 driver sales were very poor. I realize that's just anecdotal.

[Chopper Dave]

1 hour ago, Strategery said:

 

It's not that the pros aren't making it work, it's that, IMO, the driver release was a total dud to the general public. I've only seen 1 G425 Max and 0 LST in a bag in 2 years FWIW, and the staff at the local big golf store said G425 driver sales were very poor. I realize that's just anecdotal.

 

"I've only seen".....Centre of the golfing universe right here. Do you know what you haven't seen? Do you know what that could fill? No no no nope,hmm hell no you don't 

[CoSi]

The 425 wasn’t a dud. I don’t own it, I still have the 410 LST, and I think the 425 improved the weight track in the back vs the 410 version. The one problem with the 425 was the sound (like hitting a ball with a frying pan), which the pros never would worry about with the tour trucks and hot melt. The bigger problem was the supply chain problem which meant getting a custom 425 was unbearably long. Unless you were buying off the rack with a CB Alta, you were waiting a long time. These combined to tell the narrative that it was a dud, which it is not. The pros have had mostly switched to the 425, didn’t have to wait 3 months for it to show up, and tuned the acoustics to their liking. 

[shoreline9]

8 hours ago, jerryo said:

Does that include the Alta CB line? Different manufacturer than last year for Alta?

Alta CB slate and Tour Chrome (G425) was manufactured by UST. AWT 2.0 iron shafts were manufactured by Nippon. The new Alta CB Black (G430) and Tour Black 2.0 is by Fujikura. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by shoreline9

[golferjohn13]

Glad they fixed the sound! (124 mph avg driver swing speed here) All the ping drivers I've used (especially the Anser, g410 lst, and g425 lst) had to be hot melted to save my ears from ringing during/after range sessions. After seeing this in person, it looks like that won't be the case anymore and gives me hope that ping will keep "sound awareness" as a check box in future designs.

[Brooks_Cupcake]

9 minutes ago, golferjohn13 said:

Glad they fixed the sound! (124 mph avg driver swing speed here) All the ping drivers I've used (especially the Anser, g410 lst, and g425 lst) had to be hot melted to save my ears from ringing during/after range sessions. After seeing this in person, it looks like that won't be the case anymore and gives me hope that ping will keep "sound awareness" as a check box in future designs.

welcome to the forums, John from Ping!

[Strategery]

31 minutes ago, shoreline9 said:

Alta CB slate and Tour Chrome (G425) was manufactured by UST. AWT 2.0 iron shafts were manufactured by Nippon. The new Alta CB Black (G430) and Tour Black 2.0 is by Fujikura. 

 

There was no Ping Tour Chrome for the G425. It was the Ping Tour 65.

 

Are you saying the new (for G430) Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome 65 is made by UST and the Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65 is made by Fujikura?

[golferjohn13]

17 minutes ago, Brooks_Cupcake said:

welcome to the forums, John from Ping!

Glad to be here! 😉

[jerryo]

1 hour ago, shoreline9 said:

Alta CB slate and Tour Chrome (G425) was manufactured by UST. AWT 2.0 iron shafts were manufactured by Nippon. The new Alta CB Black (G430) and Tour Black 2.0 is by Fujikura. 

Thank you for that info. I will test the new Alta but the slate fits me great. Hopefully I can get the Alta cb slate with the g430, assuming the combo works for me.

[shoreline9]

1 hour ago, Strategery said:

 

There was no Ping Tour Chrome for the G425. It was the Ping Tour 65.

 

Are you saying the new (for G430) Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome 65 is made by UST and the Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65 is made by Fujikura?

65 simply designates weight. I only said chrome for clarity. 
 

I am not sure who will continue to make the tour chrome shaft, but there will be no performance difference between the 1.0 and 2.0 chrome shaft. I am only “suggesting” that a certain playing profile/feel can be ascertained by understanding the manufacturer of the 2.0 black shaft. 

[StillCantPutt]

Does anyone know the retail of the LST model will be when it comes out?

[meh]

Anyone know the head size of the 3 wood?

[Anser3]

6 hours ago, Strategery said:

 

It's not that the pros aren't making it work, it's that, IMO, the driver release was a total dud to the general public. I've only seen 1 G425 Max and 0 LST in a bag in 2 years FWIW, and the staff at the local big golf store said G425 driver sales were very poor. I realize that's just anecdotal.

 

 

Then people are missing out.  Ping has two things going against it:

1.)  They will not deviate from forgiveness.  That is not a bad thing.  It's jut their philosophy.  All golf clubs have trade offs.  Going with extreme MOI means Ping driver's won't be the longest (though they are arguably consistently longer on mishits).  Most folks get fixated on the distance only.  They may hit 10 drives with driver A and send 8 of those shots Oscar Bravo.  The ninth is a low mishit that doesn't overwhelm.  The 10th shot is absolutely drilled.  They only remember the one they smashed.    Meanwhile, they try driver B and get 6 shots in the fairway but they all end up 2-10 yards shorter than the one they smashed with driver A.  They send 2 low mishits that actually go 5 yards further than the mishit with driver A.  They hit another one shot Oscar Bravo and then smash the last one.  But the last shot ends up 1.5 yards shorter than the longest with driver A.  They buy driver A.

 

2.)  Ping does not market as well as TM and Callaway.  Ping tends to be a "bland" company.  They are first and foremost an engineering company.  They are not about flash.  Neither philosophy is bad but the flashy advertising will win with consumers most of the time.   Reason 2A is Ping stuff isn't as readily available as Callaway and certainly not as available as TM.

[Anser3]

2 hours ago, golferjohn13 said:

Glad they fixed the sound! (124 mph avg driver swing speed here) All the ping drivers I've used (especially the Anser, g410 lst, and g425 lst) had to be hot melted to save my ears from ringing during/after range sessions. After seeing this in person, it looks like that won't be the case anymore and gives me hope that ping will keep "sound awareness" as a check box in future designs.

 

 

The funny thing is Ping has done "acoustical testing" for years.  I remember a Fried Eggs Golf video where Randy talks about it.  Supposedly, they were able to "predict" how a club would sound before manufacture.  That said, many people do not like the sound of Ping drivers.  I never minded it.

[animalgolfs]

1 hour ago, StillCantPutt said:

Does anyone know the retail of the LST model will be when it comes out?

$649 I think $599 Max

[iNeedMoreGolf]

7 hours ago, bobbyclampett!! said:

LOL calling Tony Finau's success (3 wins in last 7, 4 wins in last 30) with G425 an "exception." G425 is in tons of bags, has won tons of tournaments, was MGS most wanted driver, and on and on. G425 quality and success much more the general case than the exception. 

I mean to be fair these guys are so good they can make a fisher price set look fantastic lol but.. they do play what seems to preform best and most stuff today is great from almost any brand.

[golferjohn13]

23 minutes ago, Anser3 said:

 

 

The funny thing is Ping has done "acoustical testing" for years.  I remember a Fried Eggs Golf video where Randy talks about it.  Supposedly, they were able to "predict" how a club would sound before manufacture.  That said, many people do not like the sound of Ping drivers.  I never minded it.

I was just implying that ping knows now (after much feedback from tour/minitour/am/recreational players) people are looking for a muted sound in the wood lineup, especially with swing speeds reaching new heights. Though to add, I think most major brands have a way to acoustically test prototypes or use sound engineering/imaging to "predict" how sound waves reflect within a given space pertaining to different metal makeup/composites. Ping just "predicted" a better sound with this lineup. 

[pgatw]

1 hour ago, meh said:

Anyone know the head size of the 3 wood?

according to pingG430.com the max head is 176cc.

[pgatw]

8 hours ago, Strategery said:

t's not that the pros aren't making it work, it's that, IMO, the driver release was a total dud to the general public. I've only seen 1 G425 Max and 0 LST in a bag in 2 years FWIW, and the staff at the local big golf store said G425 driver sales were very poor. I realize that's just anecdotal.

Big box golf stores are not much of an indication of Ping sales. With the floor space purchasing power of some of the major oems combined with sales spiffs offered by those companies it's pretty much a given what the box store person will push.

I remember the box store in my area when the white driver launched. When you walked in the store that was all you saw was a sea of white product. 

[Davethegolfer]

Shaft options in the hybrids are very disappointing. You are already looking at one if the most expensive hybrids on the market and then you'll have to pay a shaft upgrade if you want anything above 75 grams. That's a bit of a fail really 

[Chopper Dave]

My pro shop received my driver yesterday. Got a chance to hit a handful of balls at the range, quite happy with results, especially since the shop did me an amazing deal with the price. 

[Ghostwedge]

8 hours ago, Chopper Dave said:

My pro shop received my driver yesterday. Got a chance to hit a handful of balls at the range, quite happy with results, especially since the shop did me an amazing deal with the price. 

Chopper Dave and his new for 23' straight up rocket launcher.....

Well played.

 

[StillCantPutt]

8 hours ago, Chopper Dave said:

My pro shop received my driver yesterday. Got a chance to hit a handful of balls at the range, quite happy with results, especially since the shop did me an amazing deal with the price. 

How did you get it so early? I thought they weren’t coming out until after the new year?

[beluga99]

10 hours ago, StillCantPutt said:

How did you get it so early? I thought they weren’t coming out until after the new year?

Going to hazard a guess that @Chopper Dave is located in the Antipodes (Australia/NZ), given the earlier release in these two countries, the glorious sunshine in the background, and the fact he has Bad Boy Bubby (a classic Aussie black comedy) as his avatar.  Looking forward to more feedback. 

[Davethegolfer]

3 hours ago, beluga99 said:

Going to hazard a guess that @Chopper Dave is located in the Antipodes (Australia/NZ), given the earlier release in these two countries, the glorious sunshine in the background, and the fact he has Bad Boy Bubby (a classic Aussie black comedy) as his avatar.  Looking forward to more feedback. 

He's probably related to Ron Chopper. For those of not in the know his YouTube stuff is well worth a laugh

 

 

[StillCantPutt]

13 hours ago, beluga99 said:

Going to hazard a guess that @Chopper Dave is located in the Antipodes (Australia/NZ), given the earlier release in these two countries, the glorious sunshine in the background, and the fact he has Bad Boy Bubby (a classic Aussie black comedy) as his avatar.  Looking forward to more feedback. 

Got it - when is the N America release? You know, where Ping is actually headquartered?

[Catrick_Pantlay]

31 minutes ago, StillCantPutt said:

Got it - when is the N America release? You know, where Ping is actually headquartered?

Pretty obvious but it's their summer now, why wouldn't they take advantage of selling golf clubs in peak golf season?

[GSS ONLY]

Copped off eBay. S/O my Japanese brothers. February 1st too far away

[boggyman]

The more I see it the more it looks like the 425 had a baby with a Callaway per the top from address 🤣🤣…  I’m out at $649 too! I’ll hold on to my 425…. 

[StillCantPutt]

2 hours ago, Bbunty said:

Pretty obvious but it's their summer now, why wouldn't they take advantage of selling golf clubs in peak golf season?

I’m in Florida. It’s always golf season.