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

[Hedgehog]

1 hour ago, GolfTurkey said:

 

I wonder if it is a fundamental internal geometry change on the Max, or whether they have factory-added hotmelt like with the i525 irons, time will tell...

 

My logical thinking goes like this:

 

They tuned the G400 sound with internal support arches to stop the sound from bouncing inside the structure:

 

Then added the movable weight for the G410+ and to archive the needed CG movement and MOI they needed to let go of the sound dampening arches.

 

 

For the G425 Max they managed to make the body and parts lighter to add the G400 internal sound dampening back into the head but the elongated shape (to have G400 Max levels of MOI) and maybe the more durable face (G410 had very many cracked faces) the sound just wasn't the same as in the G400. Also the moveable weight at the back of the head was one of the heavies ever in a driver.

 

 

And now for G430 Max maybe they used machine learning and other stuff to mute it more but still keep the adjustability and MOI 🙂

Edited October 4, 2022 by Hedgehog

[Luckydutch]

Don’t care for the colour scheme as much this time around but bet it’s a beast of a driver.

[sneaky_pete]

5 hours ago, junior79 said:

Learned long ago to ignore the looks of ping drivers.

 

I'd never considered Ping anything in the past but got fitted into a Ping G LST, moved to a standard G and then G400 Max (still gaming).  Never liked the look of them and I can take or leave the sound but the results off the tee have been there.  If the G430 Max outperforms my G400 Max I'll likely upgrade.

[getair23]

In this picture from Jason Day's WITB (thanks @pga43, Greg) The LST looks great at address.  Visually this checks a lot of boxes.  

 

[Catrick_Pantlay]

I may be in the minority but I think it looks great, both max and LST. I have the 425 LST and it sounds fine. I actually prefer it to the very muted sounds of the t-made and tsr. 

[Davethegolfer]

32 minutes ago, getair23 said:

In this picture from Jason Day's WITB (thanks @pga43, Greg) The LST looks great at address.  Visually this checks a lot of boxes.  

 

Each to their own .... my boxes are very different 😆 I'm sure it will be very functional but you would think at some point Ping will realise that they miss out on a great number of sales through their pig headed commitment to function

[capifico22]

48 minutes ago, getair23 said:

In this picture from Jason Day's WITB (thanks @pga43, Greg) The LST looks great at address.  Visually this checks a lot of boxes.  

 

I would give this a test for sure

[ShortSticks]

14 hours ago, beluga99 said:

All I can see is the lobster...

 

Great, now I can't un-see that just like the motorcycle rider on the Craz-E

[radiman]

14 hours ago, beluga99 said:

All I can see is the lobster...

 

Damn it lol. 

[MattM97]

19 hours ago, Ca3l said:

Is it just me, or is that fairway aggressively shallow? Either way I’m digging the fwy, but gonna walk back my earlier driver comment a little bit as that is quite busy

 

Pretty sure that has a deeper face than the G400 or G410 fairway. 

[Konklifer]

The fairways are a must try for me.

[Ghostwedge]

35 minutes ago, Davethegolfer said:

Each to their own .... my boxes are very different 😆 I'm sure it will be very functional but you would think at some point Ping will realise that they miss out on a great number of sales through their pig headed commitment to function

I'll take "function" as in longer and straighter over "pretty" every single time I tee it up as long as im breathing. 

✅✔that box all day.

[radiman]

2 minutes ago, Ghostwedge said:

I'll take "function" as in longer and straighter over "pretty" every single time I tee it up as long as im breathing. 

✅✔that box all day.

Couldn't it be both though?  I guess from my perspective, the 425 line didn't stand out in any way.  I had the Max and the LST and both were easily dispatched by longer equally straight drivers from other brands.  I don't want to beat a dead horse here.  But, the max sounded terrible on top of that.  

 

I am not going to sit here and say that my experience with their clubs will translate across the spectrum and no one will fit into them.  I know that's not the case.  But, I think Ping could do themselves a favor and clean up the little things a bit.  

[donsun]

The change in crown material alone probably has a decent change in sound already. I'd be surprised if it didn't sound a bit more muted than the 425 line. Excited to compare my LTDx to this when it's available for demo. I lean toward high balance point shafts (e.g. AV Orange) and Ping usually seems to offer them as stock options. 

[Red4282]

This is your semi annual reminder of how these new releases all work-

 

1)- pictures leaked “its hideous, ill pass”

2)- people start hitting them and claiming huge gains

3)- sells like hotcakes even though its no better (or worse) than last years model or other oems.

 

In all seriousness though, people really decide not to buy something because of some tiny lime/volt accents on the bottom of the club….really? But dont mind an obnoxious red face? Hmm.

[boggyman]

7 hours ago, CynicalFly27 said:

Yikes.. I will stick to my G425s... 

Me too….

[getair23]

1 hour ago, Davethegolfer said:

Each to their own .... my boxes are very different 😆 I'm sure it will be very functional but you would think at some point Ping will realise that they miss out on a great number of sales through their pig headed commitment to function

Haha!  All I said was it checked boxes 🙃, not specifically which ones!  I could easily play this driver though.  

 

I can agree that Ping releases have been in line with function over fashion for a while now.   The introduction of carbon on the LST seems to be a shift away from heavier heads to get ball speeds up for this target market, while likely staying in the heavy heads and high MOI lane with the other 2 heads. 

[boggyman]

The fairway wood reminds me of my W/S FG Tour f5 woods, maybe a tad bigger looking but very similar looking. I’ll stick to my 425s for now,especially since I’ve only had them a short stint. 

[Vlade15]

1 hour ago, Red4282 said:

This is your semi annual reminder of how these new releases all work-

 

1)- pictures leaked “its hideous, ill pass”

2)- people start hitting them and claiming huge gains

3)- sells like hotcakes even though its no better (or worse) than last years model or other oems.

 

In all seriousness though, people really decide not to buy something because of some tiny lime/volt accents on the bottom of the club….really? But dont mind an obnoxious red face? Hmm.

One of the better posts I have read in a while.

Of all of the different driver releases I have witnessed, but accent colors chosen here are definitely not overly egregious.  Pretty subtle compared to some of the past releases.  Certainly a red/blue/green/yellow driver face.

Three consistent complaints over the last 4 driver releases from Ping has been the following:
1) Turbulators being ugly
2) Sound
3) No Carbon

Ping literally appears to have fixed 2 of the 3 and now people are complaining about a tiny yellow accent. 

[radiman]

4 minutes ago, Vlade15 said:

One of the better posts I have read in a while.

Of all of the different driver releases I have witnessed, but accent colors chosen here are definitely not overly egregious.  Pretty subtle compared to some of the past releases.  Certainly a red/blue/green/yellow driver face.

Three consistent complaints over the last 4 driver releases from Ping has been the following:
1) Turbulators being ugly
2) Sound
3) No Carbon

Ping literally appears to have fixed 2 of the 3 and now people are complaining about a tiny yellow accent. 

I like the turbulators so number one is fine with me haha.  The carbon is a nice add and I have high hopes it gets them caught up a bit in terms of speed.  But, I will hold out on #2 until I hear it first hand.  

[lionXheart]

19 minutes ago, Vlade15 said:

One of the better posts I have read in a while.

Of all of the different driver releases I have witnessed, but accent colors chosen here are definitely not overly egregious.  Pretty subtle compared to some of the past releases.  Certainly a red/blue/green/yellow driver face.

Three consistent complaints over the last 4 driver releases from Ping has been the following:
1) Turbulators being ugly
2) Sound
3) No Carbon

Ping literally appears to have fixed 2 of the 3 and now people are complaining about a tiny yellow accent. 

Two of the better post that I have read. 

[halfsumo]

Headed to Japan in November so hopefully these will be out. If they are I might try to pick a couple up and ship them back. Will have to see the price and yen/usd conversion rate at the time, clubs are often more expensive over there. 

[elwhippy]

I like them all at address. More toys for the Winter testing program.

[mosesgolf]

Did Ping hire someone from Cobra who was part of the RadSpeed design team?

As a big time Ping fan the G430MAX will be a must try but most likely won't be much better than the G425 MAX if at all.

[KParks]

34 minutes ago, halfsumo said:

Headed to Japan in November so hopefully these will be out. If they are I might try to pick a couple up and ship them back. Will have to see the price and yen/usd conversion rate at the time, clubs are often more expensive over there. 

 

You should make bank on the conversion rate right now though. Also wonder if you can get VAT back if you are travelling and take them with you out of the country. 

[animalgolfs]

Almost a week MIA

 

I'm back - what'd I miss? 

[capifico22]

Are Asian market Ping drivers lighter?

[DLBTide7]

12 hours ago, Hedgehog said:

 

That's great to hear a proper performance gain, seems like Titleist had a massive performance gain this year also so we expect others to gain also. Any idea about the shape bias? How did he hit it?

He hit it beautifully… really likes it. 3 wood as well 

[hwturner17]

On 10/3/2022 at 1:56 PM, RacineBoxer said:

The million dollar question we're all waiting for is whether or not these drivers sound better. 

I was told by our rep that the sound was a priority for everyone, but specifically the owner of Ping. Thought that was funny. Said the sound is much better

[puttnforthe8]

6 hours ago, Red4282 said:

This is your semi annual reminder of how these new releases all work-

 

1)- pictures leaked “its hideous, ill pass”

2)- people start hitting them and claiming huge gains

3)- sells like hotcakes even though its no better (or worse) than last years model or other oems.

 

In all seriousness though, people really decide not to buy something because of some tiny lime/volt accents on the bottom of the club….really? But dont mind an obnoxious red face? Hmm.

 

It doesn't look as bad in person as the pics make it.  

 

I am hitting the ball about ~220 yards longer than before I got this driver, so a big jump.