Ping K15 vs. G15 driver

[Robert Brown]

Question for those who know both...

I did not do the K15 driver thing when it came out...stuck with the G15 & Like it....QUESTION; Other than the right to left aspect of the K15, what other differences will I see if the loft, shaft, etc. is the same? Thanks.....

[bluedot]

All other things equal, the K15 will launch very slightly higher than the G15, but this is not going to be significant.

But I've got to tell you that the idea that the K15 is draw-biased is just not true. Ping has made clubs for years that they label as "draw"; the K15 is not one of them, and that is significant.

I play a draw anyway, and the K15 doesn't draw a bit more for me than any of the other Pings. I find it very easy to hit a fade with the K, as easy as any other Ping driver (and I've used them all!) What is different about the K15 to me is that it is even more forgiving than the other Pings, and when I DO try to hit a cut (rarely!) it doesn't get away from me. IMO, the K15 is the most underrated and misunderstood club on the market today; it is by far the straightest driver I've ever owned.

[jeffrey r]

I seem to recall a good amount of people getting lower spin with the K15 as well. I have a G15 Draw 10.5* with TFC R flex shaft, and I have two 10.5* K15's, one with the TFC R flex and one reshafted with a Blueboard from a different Ping driver. Both my G15 Draw and K15 sit mostly square, so compared to your non-Draw G15, a K15 should sit similarly. Ping generally does their "draw" bias through weighting not by closing the head, as in the K15 and G15 Draw. I appreciate the extra help getting the head square, and the K15 just has a knack of hitting the ball straight.

I could play either one happily, but I love the K15 and it is still my primary driver. Bottom line, the K15's, especially used, have really come down in price--give it a shot. Coming from the G15, if hitting it long and straight is your goal, the K15 is one of the few drivers out there that I'd say would have the edge on the G15.

[LBlack14]

The "Draw" drivers from PING I've seen and had (G10) were offset.

[Foodnap]

The G20 stock tour shaft is surprisingly not that bad. I'm considering going with it and saving some money on the upgrade.

[bjrapper]

The K15 is draw biased. There is extra heel weighting, which Ping says is to square the clubface. For anyone that already squares the clubface that extra weighting can definitely cause a strong draw/hook. For someone that has trouble squaring the clubface the club absolutely helps. Really nice solid club but from my experience, draw biased. Just look at the sole compared to G15 and there is a larger weight pad in the heel. From Ping's website:
PING's innovative Straight Flight Technology (SF Tec) places approximately 10% of head mass toward the heel to help square the face for splitting fairways.

[Robert Brown]

very helpful...thank you!

[bluedot]

With all due respect, you are mistaken. The K15 is NOT draw-biased, and does NOT "cause a strong draw/hook." I play a draw, and the K15 is LESS prone to snap hooks than other Ping drivers I've played, and I've pretty much played them all except for the G20. It is THE straightest driver that I have ever hit, bar none. It is VERY easy to hit a cut with as well, a shot that I have always struggled with.

The quote that you reference from the Ping website is from a company that has been making draw-biased clubs for years, and labeling them as such. The K15 is not one of those.

I've been using the K15 for 2 years now after being fit into it by one of Ping's top fitters in the SE at an outdoor fitting center with Trackman. The K15 gave me better launch conditions, lower spin rates, more distance (both carry and overall) along with significantly tighter dispersion than I got with the same shaft and loft in the G15. The club has been absolute money for me in the 2 years since, and I'm a 5 handicap not really looking for a GI driver.

I know that every player is different, but I'll say it again: the K15 is the most underrated and most misunderstood driver on the market today.

[quote name='bjrapper' timestamp='1328467000' post='4218717']
The K15 is draw biased. There is extra heel weighting, which Ping says is to square the clubface. For anyone that already squares the clubface that extra weighting can definitely cause a strong draw/hook. For someone that has trouble squaring the clubface the club absolutely helps. Really nice solid club but from my experience, draw biased. Just look at the sole compared to G15 and there is a larger weight pad in the heel. From Ping's website:
PING's innovative Straight Flight Technology (SF Tec) places approximately 10% of head mass toward the heel to help square the face for splitting fairways.
[/quote]

[MattMo]

I'll also add that the K15 has a 5% larger hitting area than the G15, as well as a more elongated profile from face to back. When I compared the two, the K15 looked a tad larger at address.

I've hit both and I was getting about 5 more yards with the K15 vs the G15. That and the fact my misses are high fades made it a no brainer for me to keep the K15 in my bag. Don't get me wrong, I still have my fair share of miss-hits and often still find myself in the right rough, but the club helps compensate for my errors. Currently in the process of finding the perfect shaft to compliment my K15.

[WVP]

 I've also been thinking about going the K15 route sometime this year, as for me the goal is to just get in the fairway and move on to my second shot. Figure if I spend some time with my fitter to get the right shaft, my launch and spin will be optimized and I might actually gain distance as well.

I guess I have the same concern as others though, as I don't struggle with a slice. 

[1970.gpp]

[quote name='bluedot' timestamp='1328487799' post='4220551']With all due respect, you are mistaken. The K15 is NOT draw-biased, and does NOT "cause a strong draw/hook."[/quote]

In my experience, the K15 did cause a draw/hook. I have played a fade forever with the driver. Not a slice, a fade. With the K15, my very trustworthy fade morphed into an exaggerated draw. It got so bad that I couldn't trust the club and sold it. I guess the point is that people will have different experiences and all should be considered valid...

[orangebang]

[quote name='14max' timestamp='1328551195' post='4223565']
[quote name='bluedot' timestamp='1328487799' post='4220551']With all due respect, you are mistaken. The K15 is NOT draw-biased, and does NOT "cause a strong draw/hook."[/quote]

In my experience, the K15 did cause a draw/hook. I have played a fade forever with the driver. Not a slice, a fade. With the K15, my very trustworthy fade morphed into an exaggerated draw. It got so bad that I couldn't trust the club and sold it. I guess the point is that people will have different experiences and all should be considered valid...
[/quote]

The K15 has been nothing but reliable for me. I also have played a fade my whole life, and continue to play a fade with my K15, although when I get aggressive with my swing, it goes dead straight. The only difference between this and the G15 and G20? I can draw the ball more easily.

[bjrapper]

[quote name='bluedot' timestamp='1328487799' post='4220551']
With all due respect, you are mistaken. The K15 is NOT draw-biased, and does NOT "cause a strong draw/hook." I play a draw, and the K15 is LESS prone to snap hooks than other Ping drivers I've played, and I've pretty much played them all except for the G20. It is THE straightest driver that I have ever hit, bar none. It is VERY easy to hit a cut with as well, a shot that I have always struggled with.

The quote that you reference from the Ping website is from a company that has been making draw-biased clubs for years, and labeling them as such. The K15 is not one of those.

I've been using the K15 for 2 years now after being fit into it by one of Ping's top fitters in the SE at an outdoor fitting center with Trackman. The K15 gave me better launch conditions, lower spin rates, more distance (both carry and overall) along with significantly tighter dispersion than I got with the same shaft and loft in the G15. The club has been absolute money for me in the 2 years since, and I'm a 5 handicap not really looking for a GI driver.

I know that every player is different, but I'll say it again: the K15 is the most underrated and most misunderstood driver on the market today.

[quote name='bjrapper' timestamp='1328467000' post='4218717']
The K15 is draw biased. There is extra heel weighting, which Ping says is to square the clubface. For anyone that already squares the clubface that extra weighting can definitely cause a strong draw/hook. For someone that has trouble squaring the clubface the club absolutely helps. Really nice solid club but from my experience, draw biased. Just look at the sole compared to G15 and there is a larger weight pad in the heel. From Ping's website:
PING's innovative Straight Flight Technology (SF Tec) places approximately 10% of head mass toward the heel to help square the face for splitting fairways.
[/quote]
[/quote]
With all due respect, you are mistaken. As I stated, the extra heel weight "[u][b]can[/b][/u] definitely cause a strong draw/hook". I have personal experience with this as I have owned two of these clubs with a variety of different shafts and it definitely caused me to hook the ball. It might be the straightest for you, but it is not the straightest for everyone. I'm not arguing that it isn't a great club for some, but it is draw biased. Heel weighting makes a club draw biased-it's that simple. All one has to do is look at any moveable weight technology driver and see what placing more weight in the heel does to ballflight, just as offset and closed face characteristics also promote a draw. Once a clubhead starts squaring it continues to close; it does not remain square and a face that is closed will cause a draw/hook in most cases. Any club that actively promotes this squaring by additional weighting can lead to a draw/hook.

From personal experience, I tend to fade many larger i.e. 460cc drivers, but play a draw with every other club. With the K15, my ballflight was a draw that all too frequently turned into a hook, hence my previous statement that the K15 [b]CAN[/b] cause a strong draw/hook. It did for me. Of course, YMMV but to suggest I am mistaken flies in the face of the facts of my personal experience. For me, the g20 and i20 are much straighter clubs.

[bluedot]

[quote name='bjrapper' timestamp='1328619715' post='4229529']
[quote name='bluedot' timestamp='1328487799' post='4220551']
With all due respect, you are mistaken. The K15 is NOT draw-biased, and does NOT "cause a strong draw/hook." I play a draw, and the K15 is LESS prone to snap hooks than other Ping drivers I've played, and I've pretty much played them all except for the G20. It is THE straightest driver that I have ever hit, bar none. It is VERY easy to hit a cut with as well, a shot that I have always struggled with.

The quote that you reference from the Ping website is from a company that has been making draw-biased clubs for years, and labeling them as such. The K15 is not one of those.

I've been using the K15 for 2 years now after being fit into it by one of Ping's top fitters in the SE at an outdoor fitting center with Trackman. The K15 gave me better launch conditions, lower spin rates, more distance (both carry and overall) along with significantly tighter dispersion than I got with the same shaft and loft in the G15. The club has been absolute money for me in the 2 years since, and I'm a 5 handicap not really looking for a GI driver.

I know that every player is different, but I'll say it again: the K15 is the most underrated and most misunderstood driver on the market today.

[quote name='bjrapper' timestamp='1328467000' post='4218717']
The K15 is draw biased. There is extra heel weighting, which Ping says is to square the clubface. For anyone that already squares the clubface that extra weighting can definitely cause a strong draw/hook. For someone that has trouble squaring the clubface the club absolutely helps. Really nice solid club but from my experience, draw biased. Just look at the sole compared to G15 and there is a larger weight pad in the heel. From Ping's website:
PING's innovative Straight Flight Technology (SF Tec) places approximately 10% of head mass toward the heel to help square the face for splitting fairways.
[/quote]
[/quote]
With all due respect, you are mistaken. As I stated, the extra heel weight "[u][b]can[/b][/u] definitely cause a strong draw/hook". I have personal experience with this as I have owned two of these clubs with a variety of different shafts and it definitely caused me to hook the ball. It might be the straightest for you, but it is not the straightest for everyone. I'm not arguing that it isn't a great club for some, but it is draw biased. Heel weighting makes a club draw biased-it's that simple. All one has to do is look at any moveable weight technology driver and see what placing more weight in the heel does to ballflight, just as offset and closed face characteristics also promote a draw. Once a clubhead starts squaring it continues to close; it does not remain square and a face that is closed will cause a draw/hook in most cases. Any club that actively promotes this squaring by additional weighting can lead to a draw/hook.

From personal experience, I tend to fade many larger i.e. 460cc drivers, but play a draw with every other club. With the K15, my ballflight was a draw that all too frequently turned into a hook, hence my previous statement that the K15 [b]CAN[/b] cause a strong draw/hook. It did for me. Of course, YMMV but to suggest I am mistaken flies in the face of the facts of my personal experience. For me, the g20 and i20 are much straighter clubs.
[/quote]

I'm sorry that the K15 didn't work for you. I've never seen you hit a golf ball, so I have no idea why you might fade other drivers but hook the K15. My experience has been the opposite; I play a draw with everything in the bag, and my default miss has been a hard hook for 35 yrs. now. With the K15, I can not only hit a nice reliable fade, but I just don't ever hit a hard hook. One of my regular partners (a 4 hdcp. and former senior club champion at a very strong club) in the Sat am game at my club plays the K15 and hits a perfect 5 yd. cut on EVERY tee shot.

Ping moved weight to the heel of the K15; that is of course true. Your statement that moving weight to the heel "makes a club draw-biased" is not true, though. There are too many other variables, such as where that weight came FROM. In the case of the K15, that weight was from the crown of the club, not the toe; THIS IS CRITICAL! The point of the technology was to "optimize the center of gravity" (Ping's words) and help square the face, NOT to make it "draw-biased". Ping makes such clubs; the K15 is just simply not one of them.

Moving the weights in the adjustable drivers is not a valid comparison to the K15; that is moving weight directly from the toe to the heel, or vice versa. That's not what Ping did here, and it is the critical distinction.

[bassman_444]

Not a PING fan necessarily, but I tried both out in Palm Springs last month.

K15 seemed to launch higher for me, not very much roll. Very similar ball flight to my 910 D2 which I set up closed.

G15 launched quite a bit lower, with a lot less spin. This resulted in a line drive ball flight that ran for ever. Not a huge fan of that kind of flight if I needed to get up over a ridge or carry some bunkers, so I ended up sticking with the 910.

I was gaining 10 yards per drive with the G15, but only when the fairway allowed. I'd rather have a higher ball flight then the 10 yards. I'd assume I could have fixed it by playing with loft / shaft combos, but it wasn't worth it imo.

[alfie]

I got a K15 and a G20 and must sadly say that I need to stick with the K15 (spray the G20 too much!)

[Spankapotamus]

I'm a fader. Have always played with a fade. I hit a fade with the K15. If it's supposed to have a draw bias, well it ain't working!

I tried to like the G15. Everyone was raving about how awesome they were. I've hit quite a few with different setups and just didn't like it. The K15 has been money from day one. Maybe it's confidence in the driver, maybe it's technology. Don't know, but driving is no longer the problem with my game.

And personally, I'm hoping no one figures out how good this thing is. More cheap ones for me on eBay!

[spike1212]

My misses are fade to slice....usually just bad swings

I bought the G15 because a buddy had it and he crushed it. I opted to buy the draw version and liked it but a bad swing would still result in a faded ball flight.
One day I snapped the shaft, and ended up playing a G15 non draw version for a while....basically could not tell the difference between the two: when I hit it well it was a low, boring ball flight; when I hit it poorly, it went right.

Fast forward a couple of months....I had a flirtation with an R11 and realizing that was totally not the club for me, ended up picking up the K15 on a whim. It was a eureka moment....have never hit a driver so straight and so consistently...and longer.

That was a 10.5* head and this year I have gone to a 12* head and a shorter shaft; the shorter shaft is taking some time to get used to, but I am bombing the ball when I get it and the flight has become somewhat of a draw (this is still a stock shaft).

So, yeah. I've hit them, and the K15 is really good.....for me.

[dusadus]

I just picked up a used K15, and am really enjoying it. It really is a very straight hitting driver. I will say that if you hit a snap hook w/ the K15, you'll hit a snap hook w/ any other driver. The main difference I've observed is that it makes those misses to the right a LOT more playable, ie playing out of the next fairway vs. playing from the rough on the correct fairway.

[titleistfan14]

i was fighting a high fade (slice) on bad swings switched to the k15 with whiteboard helped lower the flight. straight as an arrow never felt so confident on the tee as i do now

[596]

I've never had a driver that you could swing as hard and still hit the ball well. The K15 allows you to swing as hard as you like, work the ball anyway you like and play from the fairway all day long. I've upped my swing speed from 95 to 100 over the last year and the K15 12* just keeps getting better and better.

It's alot of fun actually standing on the tee, looking back at your buddies and calling your shot. This shot will start straight at the lone juniper tree in the distance and fade back over the trap and just around the corner.........step up.....and swing away.....perfect!!! By now I'm laughing so hard I can't stand it!

Missing a fairway???? What's that?????

[LBlack14]

Just put a VS Proto 70s in a 9* G15 to give a whirl.

[TCMP]

I did not find the K15 to be draw biased with my swing. It flew the same as the G20. Both are forgiving but I will give the nod to the K15 for the most repeatable ballflight. Can't go wrong with either. I like the Tour shaft in the G20 better than the TFC in the K15 though.

[dajo]

Recently picked up a k15, and as advertised it is very straight and forgiving, noticeably more so than my g15. My only problem is that although both the k15 and g15 carry about the same distance, the k15 flies much higher with almost no roll while the g15 flies lower and rolls out about 15 yards. Both are 10.5 degrees with stock stiff shafts. Has anyone else notice this too? If I wanted more roll out on the k15, should I try a 9.5 or would a lower spinning shaft work better?

[TheFlyingWASP]

Love the K15. I either hit it straight or w/ a nice little baby draw. Most consistent driver I've ever owned. W/ G15, it s a bit longer, but w/ a less than perfect swing, I'll hit a cut (not a slice) which is still ok & in play, but several yards shorter than the same contact w/ the K15. Honestly, rating ping drivers, I'd say 1. K15, 2. Rapture V2, 3. G15. All three are great. I play 9 / 9.5 in all, by the way. G&K I play TFC Stiff & Rapture, the stiff Blue Board. K15 is higher, but not by much. It really is a very underrated stick.

[JoHowdy123]

I agree with above the K15 is one of the most misunderstood drivers on the current market.

[TheFlyingWASP]

Misunderstood is an even better description. When I first hit the K15, it was supposed to be Pings newest version of the V2. I had no preconceived notions. All I knew was "wow". I had 2 buddies w/ in the first month of me owning it both ask me about selling it to them, comment endlessly about how much longer I was w/ it, etc. It truly is the best driver I had ever owned. Fast forward a few months later & I started seeing old men @ my club gaming them. Didn't think much of it, but I just kept seeing more & more seniors playing it. Got on here to see what was up & damn.... EVERYONE was slamming the K15. Old man club, hack, closed (it's not), etc. I started to get a complex. What was I playing with? So, I put the G15 back in the bag (I sold my V2 to one of my buddies who really wanted my K15). The results were noticeably different. Still long & straight, but w/ that little cut, I was always first to hit out of the fairway, rathe than last & I noticed there were several par 5's where I was grabbing 5 iron to lay up out of the 2nd cut. It just wasn't doing it for me like the K15. So, like a chicken $**t, I actually put the K15 back in the bag, bu w/ the G15 cover on it. I'm hitting it long & straight again. Only this time I'm out of the closet w/ it. I've got that K15 headcover on & I'm loving' every minute of it. So, don't let other people get in your head. Before anyone had a chance to ruine it for me, the K15 was the greatest thing since twist off beer caps. I'm happy to say that it is again. It will take a really special club to knock it out of my bag this time.

[jeffrey r]

I see I posted above, but I am still going strong with my K15 with Blueboard. Just an incredible combination. I was out yesterday on a quiet day on my course, so I brought out my K15 with BB and Rapture V2 with BB. Still love that Rapture V2 with BB combo, but the K15 with BB is simply more forgiving. Hit on the screws, the Rapture V2 was longer, but I just love the consistency that the K15 gives me. I have a second K15 with the stock TFC shaft, and the BB makes a big difference--such a good shaft.

[MattMo]

When I posted in February, I was looking for the right shaft for my K15. Well, I think I've found it: Harrison Saga. This is my 4th shaft in this driver and for me, it's hands down the best one (previously tried YS-6, Harrison Eclipse, and TFC stiff), in terms of dispersion. I'm currently using a 10.5* head, but feel like I'm getting too much backspin, so I've been toying with a 9.5* Saga combo to see how that works.

[WVP]

Wonder how a 44" K15 with a Harrison Shotmaker installed would perform.