PING G SF TEC Driver - THP Review Thread

ddec

I have many leather-bound books
Albatross 2024 Club
Staff member
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
97,054
Reaction score
26,413
Location
NY
Handicap
The Driver
EDIT:
THP Review can be found here.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/ping-g-sf-tec-driver-review/


Building upon the success of the G30 driver family, Ping has released the G Series driver in three different variants(LS TEC, G, SF TEC). Arriving in for review is the G SF TEC Driver. The Turbulators are back, and they have brought some extra friends to the party to help golfers pick up some swing speed and distance on their drives. The SF Tec driver is for those who tend to miss a bit to the right, and while this is the internet so we don’t want to admit it, it happens to quite a few of us.

From PING

Engineered for players whose shots typically end up right of the intended target. The G SF Tec (Straight-Flight Technology) has weight closer to the heel and a lighter swing weight to produce a right-to-left shot bend that helps steer the ball back into the fairway.

Inspired by an approach called biomimicry, PING engineers studied the dragonfly's complex wing pattern to design ultra-thin crown sections for extreme CG and maximized MOI in our longest, most forgiving driver ever. The lowest, deepest CG of any PING driver generates greater distance by increasing dynamic loft on both axes for maximizing forgiveness.

Vortec Technology on the back of the Ti 8-1-1 head minimizes turbulent wake during the downswing for faster clubhead speed with stability and forgiveness. Crown turbulators and Vortec Technology contribute to reduce drag 37% through the impact zone for sizeable distance gains from all swing speeds. The variable-thickness T9S face has a high strength-to-weight ratio, allowing for a thin face to further increase ball speed.

To fine-tune your launch conditions prior to a round, adjust the loft up to ±1° using Trajectory Tuning 2.0, which utilizes a lightweight, aerodynamically efficient and high-strength 7075 aluminum hosel sleeve.

Dragonfly Technology: The highly engineered thin crown pattern saves 8 grams, allowing for a low-back CG and high launch/low spin with extreme MOI for forgiveness. At impact, the Ti 8-1-1 body delivers a deep, powerful sound.
images


Vortec Velocity: Vortec Technology reduces turbulent wake during the downswing for faster clubhead speed with improved stability and forgiveness to help generate distance.

images


Variable-Thickness T9S Face: T9S has a high strength-to-weight ratio, allowing for a thin face to increase ball speed. Removing four grams from the face helps position the CG low/back for ideal launch conditions and extreme forgiveness.

images


Extreme Low/Back CG: The lowest, deepest CG of any PING driver generates greater distance by increasing dynamic loft and elevating MOI significantly on both axes for maximizing forgiveness.

images


Simple Adjustability: You can optimize launch conditions prior to a round by adjusting loft up to ±1° with five settings utilizing a lightweight, aerodynamic and high-strength 7075 aluminum hosel sleeve.

images


Less Drag: Turbulators and Vortec Technology contribute to reduce drag 37% through the impact zone, yielding greater clubhead speed and ball velocity for sizeable distance gains from all swing speeds.

images


In Hand Photos:

i-S3mVRMW-L.jpg


i-FP3jt58-L.jpg



i-k8sTbx3-L.jpg



i-qVnxPML-L.jpg



i-X428CSG-L.jpg



i-jP33Q8k-L.jpg



i-tBDB7sK-L.jpg



i-KXcpbpk-L.jpg



i-F6GW7Hn-L.jpg



i-VSd5jLQ-L.jpg



i-zSQWFP7-L.jpg



i-XBj3GDF-L.jpg



i-m4DwfBv-L.jpg


i-QrgF6pz-L.jpg



 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm still really happy with my G30 SF TEC...it'll be interesting to see if they wear really able to improve on that release.
 
Last edited:
I've never played a club that has slice fighting tendencies so I wouldn't know how something like this works, but the technology in that and the dragonfly crown is interesting.
 
That's a good looking driver. Love all the tech that's in it and how they explain it.
 
The Ping G30 SF Tec driver was pretty good when I hit it last year, I might search one of these out to hit.
 
I've never played a club that has slice fighting tendencies so I wouldn't know how something like this works, but the technology in that and the dragonfly crown is interesting.
It just helps you close the face at impact. It is still very possible to block/slice this one with a bad path...don't ask how I know :)
 
I'm still really happy with my G30 SF TEC...it'll be interesting to see if they wear really able to improve on that release.


Very happy with mine.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Staff
  • #9
cool I can check it out:alien:
 
I need to hit this one. It's practically made for me and my swing. Plus, other than the shinty sound, I enjoyed the g30 version.
 
I need to hit this one. It's practically made for me and my swing. Plus, other than the shinty sound, I enjoyed the g30 version.


G30 sound didn't bother me at all, the Knuth to me is much worse. I almost pulled the trigger on one twice. One of the most consistent (for me) drivers I've ever hit. I'm looking forward to the full on review for this one.
 
Had two range sessions over the weekend with this club. Saturday's I'm calling a get to know you session as my swing was just pure garbage. However yesterday's session was pretty fantastic. Got lot's of testing in and the swing felt great. Now on to some quick takeaway's from this club.

Sound - improved from last year's G30 line, which I think everyone who has been hitting these has been saying the same. Still a little louder and more tinny to me, but overall it's an improvement.

Ball flight - playing it at 10°, I was seeing launch numbers slightly elevated from my normal. Those who know me though, know that my LA #'s trend towards the high side anyway. At one stretch I had 4-5 very solid swings in a row where contact was almost identical in the middle of the face, and the flights were extremely similar.

Spin - here is where I thought this driver would be a bad option for me. I had the misnomer that the SF Tec would be a spin monster for me, and to my surprise it really wasn't. Majority of my spin rates were between 2200-2700 RPM's, for me that's pretty damn good. When contact was made low on the face(my new big miss), the spin numbers did jump over 3K, but that is to be expected. Also a note on the SF Tec, on good swings there was very little to no right spin on the ball, which is good. SF Tec however does not mean that one cannot miss right or slice this driver, because it is not a magical driver, but one in which the draw bias weight did seem to aid in keeping the right spin # down.

Appearance - I actually like setting up to the ball with it. I thought the turbulators on the previous generation did a good job of framing the golf ball. The dragonfly tech is not distracting to me. Even though I'm not a matte finish fan, I think that the finish helps keep those from being a total eyesore.
 
Had two range sessions over the weekend with this club. Saturday's I'm calling a get to know you session as my swing was just pure garbage. However yesterday's session was pretty fantastic. Got lot's of testing in and the swing felt great. Now on to some quick takeaway's from this club.

Sound - improved from last year's G30 line, which I think everyone who has been hitting these has been saying the same. Still a little louder and more tinny to me, but overall it's an improvement.

Ball flight - playing it at 10°, I was seeing launch numbers slightly elevated from my normal. Those who know me though, know that my LA #'s trend towards the high side anyway. At one stretch I had 4-5 very solid swings in a row where contact was almost identical in the middle of the face, and the flights were extremely similar.

Spin - here is where I thought this driver would be a bad option for me. I had the misnomer that the SF Tec would be a spin monster for me, and to my surprise it really wasn't. Majority of my spin rates were between 2200-2700 RPM's, for me that's pretty damn good. When contact was made low on the face(my new big miss), the spin numbers did jump over 3K, but that is to be expected. Also a note on the SF Tec, on good swings there was very little to no right spin on the ball, which is good. SF Tec however does not mean that one cannot miss right or slice this driver, because it is not a magical driver, but one in which the draw bias weight did seem to aid in keeping the right spin # down.

Appearance - I actually like setting up to the ball with it. I thought the turbulators on the previous generation did a good job of framing the golf ball. The dragonfly tech is not distracting to me. Even though I'm not a matte finish fan, I think that the finish helps keep those from being a total eyesore.

Very informative thoughts on this. Can you talk a little about the distance numbers you were seeing on center and off-center hits?
 
When contact was made low on the face(my new big miss), the spin numbers did jump over 3K, but that is to be expected.
Can you talk about this more? I might have thought increased spin on low impact would be a design feature because it could help give us trajectory. Is that incorrect, is it a common design intent that we should be getting low spin on those low impacts?
 
Had two range sessions over the weekend with this club. Saturday's I'm calling a get to know you session as my swing was just pure garbage. However yesterday's session was pretty fantastic. Got lot's of testing in and the swing felt great. Now on to some quick takeaway's from this club.

Sound - improved from last year's G30 line, which I think everyone who has been hitting these has been saying the same. Still a little louder and more tinny to me, but overall it's an improvement.

Ball flight - playing it at 10°, I was seeing launch numbers slightly elevated from my normal. Those who know me though, know that my LA #'s trend towards the high side anyway. At one stretch I had 4-5 very solid swings in a row where contact was almost identical in the middle of the face, and the flights were extremely similar.

Spin - here is where I thought this driver would be a bad option for me. I had the misnomer that the SF Tec would be a spin monster for me, and to my surprise it really wasn't. Majority of my spin rates were between 2200-2700 RPM's, for me that's pretty damn good. When contact was made low on the face(my new big miss), the spin numbers did jump over 3K, but that is to be expected. Also a note on the SF Tec, on good swings there was very little to no right spin on the ball, which is good. SF Tec however does not mean that one cannot miss right or slice this driver, because it is not a magical driver, but one in which the draw bias weight did seem to aid in keeping the right spin # down.

Appearance - I actually like setting up to the ball with it. I thought the turbulators on the previous generation did a good job of framing the golf ball. The dragonfly tech is not distracting to me. Even though I'm not a matte finish fan, I think that the finish helps keep those from being a total eyesore.

I was sure I was going to buy G SF TEC before reading the XXIO reviews on this forum. That led me to buying a used XXIO 8 that I am liking a lot right now. Since you have hit both, what are the differences you see between the two drivers?
 
Very informative thoughts on this. Can you talk a little about the distance numbers you were seeing on center and off-center hits?

distance numbers on miss hits where OK. I thought ball speed retention was better laterally than it was high/low. Spin really jumped on the low miss and distance loss was much more there than it was if I was out towards the toe are(not talking extreme toe).

Can you talk about this more? I might have thought increased spin on low impact would be a design feature because it could help give us trajectory. Is that incorrect, is it a common design intent that we should be getting low spin on those low impacts?

Just something I've noticed in a lot of drivers, esp with my swing. When I miss low on the face, the spin number jumps. I don't think it's anything special do with this driver in particular. Even going back to the SLDR, low on the face was spin-ier(hehe) result. So like I said, more spin on shots that I hit low on the face is something I would expect. It's not a negative, in fact it was just a passing note as I expected the head itself to produce more spin than my GC2 was registering.
 
Thanks. I was just curious about the design objective in general. That helps.
 
I was sure I was going to buy G SF TEC before reading the XXIO reviews on this forum. That led me to buying a used XXIO 8 that I am liking a lot right now. Since you have hit both, what are the differences you see between the two drivers?

good question, and thanks for following that other thread as well.

To me, XXIO looks better, sounds better, and produces better ball speeds from what I've seen so far, oh and tt's super forgiving. This might be up there with it in the forgiveness part, but I need more time to really figure that out. XXIO is lighter and feels more lively if that makes sense. Both do a good job of keeping the ball straight, which I certainly appreciate.
 
Love everything about this one. Still bummed I sold my K15 security blanket


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Will be heading down to Carls to hit this this week!
Hopefully I wont be inpressed.
 
My Ping G SF Tec in on the FEDEX truck en route for delivery today! Can't wait. Got an Oban Kiyoshi Gold waiting for it.
 
I wonder what this club would do with your lovely fade.

I wonder how many orders PING gets for the SF Tec w/ a Black Tie in it. I can't imagine a ton.
 
Well I received my G today but Ping sent me the 10.5 Standard head. I was glad though since I don't fade or slice the ball. I put a Oban Kiyoshi Gold in it and headed to the range. Hit mostly nice medium flight drives with a slight draw. Very nice club.
 
Back
Top