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Ping G20 Driver & Review Thread

SuperStroke
Great write up JB. I'm glad you took several top notch drivers with you to compare to. The info looks great. It also has me leaning towards getting the Razr Hawk......overall it seems like it was the best overall performer.

JB, at this point in your testing would you put the G20 or the Razr Hawk ahead based on overall performance?
 
T-BONE82 said:
JB, at this point in your testing would you put the G20 or the Razr Hawk ahead based on overall performance?
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Hard to say because the G20 has not seen the course yet, but I would put the RAZR Hawk ahead based solely on what I have done so far. Of course this is for my swing and everybody could be different.
 
JB said:
Hard to say because the G20 has not seen the course yet, but I would put the RAZR Hawk ahead based solely on what I have done so far. Of course this is for my swing and everybody could be different.
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Good to know. I will be looking forward to you on course testing.

I've currently got a Razr Hawk in the bag that i am Demo'ing from the local golf shop. I've only had one range session so far. It looked to perform fairly decent, but it's tough to tell because they didn't have an actual demo club so they gave me a new one and taped it up but i think the tape throws off the head weight and you don't get the same feel at impact because of it.

The next club i plan on taking out is the G20 so this thread really has me intrigued.
 
T-BONE82 said:
Good to know. I will be looking forward to you on course testing.

I've currently got a Razr Hawk in the bag that i am Demo'ing from the local golf shop. I've only had one range session so far. It looked to perform fairly decent, but it's tough to tell because they didn't have an actual demo club so they gave me a new one and taped it up but i think the tape throws off the head weight and you don't get the same feel at impact because of it.

The next club i plan on taking out is the G20 so this thread really has me intrigued.
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Dont let that get in your head. Spend time with some tour van guys and they will tell you that it is all mental. That tape on the head will do virtually nothing to the performance of the driver.
 
Again, not a huge Ping fan here, but I like the looks of this one too. And when something is Ellie approved, it's got to be good!
 
JB said:
Dont let that get in your head. Spend time with some tour van guys and they will tell you that it is all mental. That tape on the head will do virtually nothing to the performance of the driver.
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Even if it's duct tape and it's on the top edge, face, and complete underside?
 
T-BONE82 said:
Even if it's duct tape and it's on the top edge, face, and complete underside?
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Wow they used duct tape?

MattyCaulk Approved!
 
MattyKrack17 said:
Wow they used duct tape?

MattyCaulk Approved!
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Yeah i'm not too sure about that. I've seen painters tape, masking tape, but never duct tape. seems thicker than you'd like. Part of the deal of me using this club is that i pay for it then they refund me when i bring it back so i'm reluctant to take any of it off even if it's to replace it with something a little less substantial.
 
Now that is some serious testing numbers. The forgiveness is definitely something I need and the feeling I got from the G15 was much the same so my interest is peaked and I'd like to get out and give it a ride...

T-BONE82 said:
Even if it's duct tape and it's on the top edge, face, and complete underside?
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That sounds crazy to me. That'll make it all sticky when you remove the tape! Let alone duct tape being heavier than the masking tape. IMO I see that effecting things...
 
Thanks for the info JB, I like the info on the mishits... My misses are typically low and towards the heel, so the G20 could be a nice addition with the right shaft.
 
If you're in the market for a driver, you really should give this one a chance. Took a couple of swings with my buddy's G20 (TFC Tour) and it's a really sweet stick. Very easy to swing, great distance and forgiveness and kinda low spin. I don't like the feel as much as my 910D3, but that's a personal preference. One thing about it...it seems kinda short, but it may just be my imagination.
 
Joshzilla said:
If you're in the market for a driver, you really should give this one a chance. Took a couple of swings with my buddy's G20 (TFC Tour) and it's a really sweet stick. Very easy to swing, great distance and forgiveness and kinda low spin. I don't like the feel as much as my 910D3, but that's a personal preference. One thing about it...it seems kinda short, but it may just be my imagination.
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Short in terms of shaft length?


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
 
JB....how would this compare to the K-15?
 
Hanks said:
Short in terms of shaft length?


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^
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Yep, sorry about that. Long in distance...short in shaft length. Probably my imagination.
 
Great info on that range session JB, and I am sure it did take quite a while to gather all of that data. I know you said you would be changing the shaft after you were done with testing. Will you be posting some results after you have changed the shaft? Curious as to how much of a difference it will make for you.
 
yorkem said:
Great info on that range session JB, and I am sure it did take quite a while to gather all of that data. I know you said you would be changing the shaft after you were done with testing. Will you be posting some results after you have changed the shaft? Curious as to how much of a difference it will make for you.
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I'm curious about this as well. Since the average distance of the drivers was within 4 yards, do you think a shaft change could lower spin #'s a little and perhaps help the G20 put the ball out there a little farther?
 
I played a G15 this weekend with very nice results, so the results of this should be very interesting.
 
JB said:
Higher, but distance was still quite good.
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JB - did this driver have the Tour shaft? Do you notice anything different with the Ping higher balance point/counterbalanced shaft? I believe the head on this Ping is heavier than most other drivers out on the market now because of this, and I'm wondering if the Ping shaft works to make the driver head feel 'norma' compared to the others.
 
JB just saw this, but great idea on the tests. These real life tests are what I like to see much more than the LM numbers. Thanks for this and the G20 may have gotten a little more intriguing for some
 
I just switched over from a Burner Superfast 2.0 to a G20 driver. The weight was a big change but a welcome one. I felt a little more in control. No loss of swing speed and better ball flight. I have the standard stiff flex. I tried the tour stiff. Much lower launch. I think it's a pretty sweet looking club as well.
 
JB said:
Spent some time this morning on the range (practice hole par 5 at Grand Cypress) with G20 and a couple of other drivers. Had the R11, 910D2, Srixon Z-Star and Callaway RAZR Hawk. To be fair, all of these above had a Miyazaki Kusala Silver shaft in them and the Ping has its standard TFC shaft in it. However the results are quite intriguing.

Distance - 10 balls with each driver and kicked out the best and worst to get averages. All drivers were with in 4 yards of each other distance wise. Longest being RAZR Hawk and shortest being R11.

Spin - The Ping G20 (3760) was the highest spinning driver and the lowest was the 910D2 (2640).

Dispersion - Not a scientific test here, but marked each 10 balls with a different color dot for the driver. Z-Star had the best shot dispersion of closest to middle line. Followed very closely by G20 and Razr Hawk. 910D2 and R11 were behind these by a good 4-7 yards away from middle on average.

Forgiveness - This is where the G20 shined as it was definitely the most forgiving out of the bunch. Forgiveness was measured by distance loss + yards from middle. Here is a breakdown.

High on the club face - Surprisingly the R11 showed the most forgiveness high on the club face, followed by the Z-Star and Ping G20 then Titleist 910D2 and RAZR Hawk.

Miss on the Toe (approximately 1 inch away from center) - Razr Hawk was the most forgiving followed by Ping G20 and Z-Star. 910D2 and R11, absolutely punished this miss upwards of 30 yards in some cases.

Miss on Heel (approximately 1 inch away from center) - Ping G20 offered the most forgiveness here, followed very closely by Razr Hawk and Z-Star. Again, the 910D2 and R11 were pretty far behind in his area as far as distance goes.

I want to thank my new friend at Grand Cypress Jonathan that helped me with all of this and collected data from the fairway to write down. It seems like a small amount of data, but it takes some time gathering it.

None of this is scientific, but it was hard data and I hope it helps some people. There is a lot more information coming soon on this driver for testing.
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I'm not sure how I missed this post. I'm quite surprised with these results I must admit. The D2 seems forgiving to me. I hit the G15 last year and was skying it but damn was it forgiving. Might be time for me to "try out" a new driver. Thanks dude
 
Awesome info as always JB.

I've been hitting this club the last few weeks at Golfsmith and I have to admit it's growing on me more and more. We're going to have a Ping demo day over here in 2 weeks time and I can't wait to see it on the driving range. (I have a huge distrust towards the simulator they have at my golfsmith....I've seen a person take a random swipe with a club and had it register something like 110mph clubhead speed and like 220 down the middle ^_^)

One thing I do feel is some sort of distrust towards the shaft. While you said your test is somewhat rigged since all your other drivers are using premium shafts, do you have plans to try installing a Kusala into the G20 to try? Stock and all, I'd say it held it's own pretty good in your test.
 
I stopped by GolfSmith on my way home from work and was able to take a few swings with the G20. I hit the 9.5* with the "Tour" Stiff shaft. I really liked everything about the driver.

I could definitely feel the clubhead (which I don't get so much with the Powerbilt I am gaming right now), and feel that counterbalanced shaft did its job. I was able to swing from the inside with the G20 easier than with the other drivers I tried (Razr Tour and Cleveland 310). All of my swings with the G20 resulted in center clubface hits, and because of this the smash factor was way up there. Ball speeds ranged from 158 - 163, on par with the Razr Tour. The spin was similar too (2500 or so on average) with the Razr, but the accuracy was significantly better than with the Razr. I really liked the sound/feel - pretty solid. The Razr in comparison had a much different sound/feel - kind of like the crack of a wood baseball bat. I liked it too , but would probably prefer the G20.

As for the Cleveland, I always hit "fades" with it, so after a couple of swings I put it down.

I am definitely going to put this G20 on my radar. I don't think the Powerbilt has a long time remaining in my bag. I do enjoy my backup 9015d, but it is a little too difficult to hit at times and something more forgiving like the G20 might be the right fit for me.
 
jmingt said:
Awesome info as always JB.

I've been hitting this club the last few weeks at Golfsmith and I have to admit it's growing on me more and more. We're going to have a Ping demo day over here in 2 weeks time and I can't wait to see it on the driving range. (I have a huge distrust towards the simulator they have at my golfsmith....I've seen a person take a random swipe with a club and had it register something like 110mph clubhead speed and like 220 down the middle ^_^)

One thing I do feel is some sort of distrust towards the shaft. While you said your test is somewhat rigged since all your other drivers are using premium shafts, do you have plans to try installing a Kusala into the G20 to try? Stock and all, I'd say it held it's own pretty good in your test.
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Funny you mention the distrust with the Golfsmith simulator. I don't trust them either. However, I did see the tech calibrate the machine just before I took my swings, so I think it was somewhat accurate. At the least, it gave me a decent comparison between the G20 and the Razr Tour.
 
Nice write up JB, thanks for taking the time to do this. Lots of very good info. I look forward to your continued thoughts on this club.
 
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