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A Review of the Ping G10 Driver
presented by Shopperosity.com
I had the opportunity to participate in a Ping demo day last week (March 10, 2008) and got a chance to hit a half a bucket of balls with the new Ping G10 driver.
In a word, this driver is fantastic. In case you don't know what a demo day is, it is where the manufacturer sends a representative with a trailer full of clubs to a golf course and lets people try out all their different clubs. It is a great way to get to try some of the latest technology and see how it feels. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to find demo days. That's why I decided to write my impressions of the Ping G10 driver here so you could use the information to help you decide if the G10 is right for you.
I have always been a fan of Ping for their putters and irons. In fact I have a Ping putter in my bag right now. But I've never really seriously considered Ping as a leading force in golf driver technology. That is, until now.
The Ping G10 Driver Is Explosive
The first couple of drives I hit with the G10 were nothing short of phenomenal. It felt so fluid and allowed me to clear through the ball easily. And the ball absolutely exploded off the face. Now mind you, I'm a decent golfer and I normally play a Nike SQ Sumo Squared which I purchased last year. I hit my Sumo about 260 yards on the fly with a total of about 280 yards per drive when you consider the roll (I hit it high, so I don't get tons of roll). With the Ping G10, I was flying the ball 275 yards and it was consistently running out to 300 yards. Wow! That's incredible for me. And with the same swing! The bottom line is this: I hit the Ping G10 at least 15 yards farther than my SQ Sumo Square, and it even went straighter!
The Ping G10 Driver Is Accurate and Forgiving
Where to Buy A New Ping G10 Driver |
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The first thing I noticed about the
 Ping G10 Driver was that the ball took off at a much lower, more boring trajectory than my Nike. That's why I got the extra roll afterwards. But the ball also carried farther in the air, which surprised me. But the biggest surprise was that I was hitting the G10 dead straight or with a little draw. With my Nike driver, I almost always fade the ball and can't seem to draw the ball at all. So the shot making capabilities are certainly there with the G10 and it was actually straighter than the Sumo 2 (that's its big drawing point since Nike touts the Sumo 2 as having the highest MOI in golf -- MOI being the thing that keeps the club from twisting and thus producing more forgiveness on mis-hits). The Ping G10 Driver Is Incredibly Consistent
I thought maybe I had just got lucky with those first few drives, so I grabbed about 20 more balls and proceeded to hit 16 pretty much dead straight (what I was trying to do) while 3 had a nice little draw. I did have one bad drive that was a more dramatic hook that would have been in the rough, but I'm confident all the rest would have been in the fairway or at the very least in the first cut. Needless to say, those percentages would translate very well on the course, and with 290-300 yards per drive, I began thinking my decision to buy a Sumo 2 last year was a mistake. The thing is, it wasn't like I was in some awesome swing zone. I checked the face of the club after each hit to see where I hit it and many times the ball marks were a good half inch off center, and sometimes a little high on the face. But I couldn't tell from the feel. Every shot I hit with the
Ping G10 Driver felt buttery smooth and you couldn't really tell much by the flight path either - they all tended to be long and straight. It was kind of eerie (a GOOD eerie, mind you).
Choose the Right Shaft and Loft For Your G10 Driver
I should mention that the Nike driver I use has a premium stiff graphite shaft and the clubhead has a 9 degree loft. At the Ping demo day, I sought out a driver with those same specs so that I could compare apples to apples. The
Ping G10 Driver also comes in a 7.5 degree loft. I wouldn't suggest it unless you have an incredibly high swing speed. For most golfers, the 10-12 degree is a better choice, and a regular flex shaft can help you if you have a slower swing speed (driver that carries less than 230 yards). Essentially, you should order more flex and more loft the slower your swing speed. Senior golfers who hit the driver less than 200 yards need to get a 12 degree driver with a senior flex, while average male golfers who hit their driver between 200-250 would do well with a regular flex shaft and the 10.5 degree model. If you tend to slice the ball pretty badly, there is also a Ping G10 Draw model which has a slightly closed face and will help straighten out that slice. And yes, it does work.
The Benefits of the Ping G10 Driver Come at a Price
The biggest problem with the
Ping G10 Driver is the price. Like other name-brand clubs,much of the high price tag comes from advertising costs, PGA Tour player endorsement fees and research & development costs. The clubs themselves are relatively inexpensive to mass produce once they get a foundry set up with the specs. The G10 is not as expensive as the newer
 Callaway Clubs, but is comparable to other high-end clubs in its class like the Nike SQ Sumo, the Adams Insight, the Cleveland Hi Bore, the Cobra Speed LD, and the Wilson Spine, etc.
Lower Cost Alternatives to the Ping G10 Driver The G10 is $299 and in my mind, worth every penny. Unfortunately, many of us do not have that kind of money in our golfing budgets. If the $299 price tag is too steep for you, please see our review of Ping G10 clones that perform almost as well and will save you a couple hundred dollars! (one of these clones is what I ended up buying and I love it!) Whatever you do, don't just go buy a driver off the rack at a discount store. They will not help your game!
If you have the money to buy a real
Ping G10 Driver, I suggest you buy it online through one of the many authorized dealers. You can get the G10 at places like Austad's,
GolfSmith, The Golf Warehouse (TGW), or Golf Galaxy. All of these stores are highly reputable and have excellent return policies. For new model year clubs like the Ping G10, you aren't going to find anyplace offering discounts. Club manufacturers usually don't allow their authorized dealers to discount clubs until that model is at least one year old. But you can find a difference in shipping costs. Most of these stores have a flat shipping rate although some will give free shipping for orders over a certain amount -- anywhere from $75-$200. Another thing to check is sales taxes. If the online store has a physical presence in your state you will have to pay sales tax. Stores that only have an online presence in your state don't have to charge sales tax, so that can save you $10-$20 by purchasing online from the right company. So when you are buying your new
Ping G10 Driver, you should compare from several of these places before making your final purchase (buying locally or at a pro shop will not save you on the sales tax) All of these online stores do have periodic sales where you get a percentage off your entire order, so it's worth checking a couple places out to see if you can find a 10% or 15% off sale. A final thing to check is the Used Club section at GolfSmith. They had some excellent condition
 used Ping G10 clubs selling for around $249, so you would save about $50.
I know you will like the new
Ping G10 Driver as much as I did. Whether you buy a Ping G10 clone or the real deal, I think you will find that you hit the ball a lot farther and straighter. And that, of course, makes the game a lot more fun!
***Added by the author Since Publication***
When I first wrote this article, I had no idea what others were saying about the G10. After finishing the article, but before publication, we found out that the G10 was a Gold Finalist in the Golf Digest 2008 Hot List for Drivers. But just this past week, we received the May issue of GOLF Magazine which features their ClubTest 2008. In the category of Game Improvement Driver, the Ping G10 won top honors for best new driver for 2008 and was best of class in Accuracy, Control and Distance, and tied for first in Forgiveness. Pretty impressive -- almost a clean sweep. The great thing was, it was given high marks by all testers, from 36 handicappers all the way down to scratch golfers. There isn't much to dislike about this driver! This is THE club to get if you are looking for a new driver!
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