Shantzman
New member
I went this morning to one of my local indoor ranges that was holding a Ping Demo Day. Being March here in Calgary, the courses and outdoor ranges don't open up until early to mid April, so for me it was an opportunity to hit my new set of G25 woods and Irons.
a couple of things before I describe my experience. At the moment I'm around a 25 handicap and have been as low as ten in my more frequent days. That being said, I'm generally straight with my fairway woods and irons and absolute garbage off the tee with a driver, normally hitting a slice so bad it travels to the next fAirway. In addition I've never been able to hit a hybrid at all, regardless of brand.
I will be taking lessons this spring, but I'm usually curious to see what is out there and tend to gravitate toward Ping so it was a fun day for me.
What I hit:
1. I25 10.5. Driver
2. G25 10.5 Driver
3. Ping Rapture 13 degree 3 wood
4. Ping Rapture Driving Iron
5. I25 22 degree hybrid.
With the Ping Rep's help, I started with the I25 and G25 and alternated between them. I have a pretty high swing speed and a clear flaw in my driver swing where I push the ball to the right that I need to have fixed, which remained pretty obvious when I was hitting the I25. It felt nice, but it didn't do anything to alleviate the problem, which again was likely me and not the club. When I was using the G25 however, no matter how ugly it felt coming off the tee, with one exception, I was either hitting them laser straight, or the small to mid fade I seem to get when stroking clubs not fitted for me. I have to say it was impressed, but it still felt ugly to me whenever I swung it. Again that's likely me, but it is clearly a forgiving driver.
after those two, I tried out the Ping Rapture 3 wood. I was excited for this because I usuAlly hit a 3 wood off the tee and had been using an R9 13 degree 3 wood. I hit this off the deck because they didn't have a low tee setup like I normally use, but I was impressed, I swung it well, a consistent fade that could be corrected with lessons, but certainly better than the drivers. It just felt good. I think part of this is because I'm finding that a driver at address just looks and feels awkward and the smaller headed replacement provides a better look and more confidence vs the general unwieldy feeling I have with a driver.
I'm going to try out the Rapture again when the ranges open, but if I'm getting sufficient length for what it claims to be I may be making a purchase.
My next club was the I25 hybrid, and for the first time in my life, I was hitting a hybrid straight withy virtually no effort. Previously I could get shanks, duck hooks and massive slices, but I'd never ever hit one straight where I had aimed. Now I hit long irons fairly well, and I have to see if there is a gap of any kind between my 5w and 4i, and complete some of my lessons, but I could see this hybrid in my bag.
The last of the clubs tried out was the Rapture Driving Iron. Given that I play mostly in Alberta and British Columbia, I'm often faced with two different types of challenges. Massive wind in Alberta and forest courses in BC, the former requiring low drives, the latter requiring laser straight and because of the foliage, on off centre shots, the lower the better.
After hitting this one, again I found myself impressed. I hit it with a small fade, which is accounted for by my swing flaw, and this was a black dot standard and I use a white dot +1 xstiff, but the arc was very low and straight, as it is supposed to. I didn't have any low stingers or shanks, and despite it being a low lofted iron, it was quite easy to get off the ground. It was definitely an enjoyable club to use, but certainly a niche club. It's going to take some thought and a fitting, but I can see having this in the bag as an alternate driving option for many of the days I play.
so that was my experience. I hope you enjoy reading this and I didn't bore you all to tears.
Just as an aside, does anyone else ever have the feeling that their driving is just too big?
a couple of things before I describe my experience. At the moment I'm around a 25 handicap and have been as low as ten in my more frequent days. That being said, I'm generally straight with my fairway woods and irons and absolute garbage off the tee with a driver, normally hitting a slice so bad it travels to the next fAirway. In addition I've never been able to hit a hybrid at all, regardless of brand.
I will be taking lessons this spring, but I'm usually curious to see what is out there and tend to gravitate toward Ping so it was a fun day for me.
What I hit:
1. I25 10.5. Driver
2. G25 10.5 Driver
3. Ping Rapture 13 degree 3 wood
4. Ping Rapture Driving Iron
5. I25 22 degree hybrid.
With the Ping Rep's help, I started with the I25 and G25 and alternated between them. I have a pretty high swing speed and a clear flaw in my driver swing where I push the ball to the right that I need to have fixed, which remained pretty obvious when I was hitting the I25. It felt nice, but it didn't do anything to alleviate the problem, which again was likely me and not the club. When I was using the G25 however, no matter how ugly it felt coming off the tee, with one exception, I was either hitting them laser straight, or the small to mid fade I seem to get when stroking clubs not fitted for me. I have to say it was impressed, but it still felt ugly to me whenever I swung it. Again that's likely me, but it is clearly a forgiving driver.
after those two, I tried out the Ping Rapture 3 wood. I was excited for this because I usuAlly hit a 3 wood off the tee and had been using an R9 13 degree 3 wood. I hit this off the deck because they didn't have a low tee setup like I normally use, but I was impressed, I swung it well, a consistent fade that could be corrected with lessons, but certainly better than the drivers. It just felt good. I think part of this is because I'm finding that a driver at address just looks and feels awkward and the smaller headed replacement provides a better look and more confidence vs the general unwieldy feeling I have with a driver.
I'm going to try out the Rapture again when the ranges open, but if I'm getting sufficient length for what it claims to be I may be making a purchase.
My next club was the I25 hybrid, and for the first time in my life, I was hitting a hybrid straight withy virtually no effort. Previously I could get shanks, duck hooks and massive slices, but I'd never ever hit one straight where I had aimed. Now I hit long irons fairly well, and I have to see if there is a gap of any kind between my 5w and 4i, and complete some of my lessons, but I could see this hybrid in my bag.
The last of the clubs tried out was the Rapture Driving Iron. Given that I play mostly in Alberta and British Columbia, I'm often faced with two different types of challenges. Massive wind in Alberta and forest courses in BC, the former requiring low drives, the latter requiring laser straight and because of the foliage, on off centre shots, the lower the better.
After hitting this one, again I found myself impressed. I hit it with a small fade, which is accounted for by my swing flaw, and this was a black dot standard and I use a white dot +1 xstiff, but the arc was very low and straight, as it is supposed to. I didn't have any low stingers or shanks, and despite it being a low lofted iron, it was quite easy to get off the ground. It was definitely an enjoyable club to use, but certainly a niche club. It's going to take some thought and a fitting, but I can see having this in the bag as an alternate driving option for many of the days I play.
so that was my experience. I hope you enjoy reading this and I didn't bore you all to tears.
Just as an aside, does anyone else ever have the feeling that their driving is just too big?
