Had s great day with the SF-Tec today. Hitting absolute bombs with it!
definitely made the right choice for my game when I picked this up.
definitely made the right choice for my game when I picked this up.
PING G30 SF Tec Driver - THP Review Thread
Hit the SF Tec and the standard G30 at a demo day this weekend - was extremely impressed with both of them, but the SF Tec definitely does what it's advertised to do - keeps the right side out of play. The forgiveness across the face on the G30 series is impressive. But I think my favorite thing about this line is that no matter which one you're hitting - standard, SF Tec, LS Tec, they look exactly the same at address. You're getting draw bias without a closed face or offset, and fitting becomes a matter of performance, taking looks out of the equation.
Got out Saturday and had quite a day. 10 of 13 FIR. Got home in 2 on the par 5 18th after a 290 (wind aided!) bomb off the tee. Ball flight is straight to baby draw and consistently long. Could not be happier.
gc-spurs
New member
Ordered one of these during a demo day - received it at the end of March. Since then the handicap has dropped 3, just from how right this was for me vs how wrong my old one was, which was something I had just picked up on the fly when I broke my previous driver. Not too well versed on the various options, but basically got the 10* with the SR flex and cut down a little bit to fit my lady size. My bad shots with this go about as far as my great shots with what I was using before, and whenever the old slice kicks in it isn't nearly as far right, and still gets a solid amount of distance so I've rarely been completely screwed after a bad tee shot. Have been able to pound the good shots to around 220 metres on an Autumn fairway, which is 40-50m further than what I was hitting a just over a month ago with the driver I had. More than anything, it's been a good lesson for me in not just going for ladies clubs, and getting fitted for the right option.
I had an up and down day yesterday. My swing is way off, just playing terrible. On the range I kept catching it on the bottom groove...obviously an Indian problem. On the course, I made a point of teeing it about 1/2 a ball higher than usual and that seemed to help. I had also lofted up to 11* after the range session Sunday. In reviewing the scorecard today things turned out better than they felt at the time. 6/10 fairways hit. 2 of the misses were good drives but just ended up in the first cut left, completely playable. One miss was straight, but I caught it really low and hit a 100 yard worm burner. The last miss was a poorly struck ball that didn't quite cut the corner for the lost ball penalty. I lasered one ball back to the tee at 235, which is about 10 yards less than normal carry on good strikes.
In order to avoid sounding too much like an internet golfer, I'm going to start with the negative. I struggled with the driver early today. I hit block right into a hazard, smother hook into a lake, smother hook into the trees and normal hook into the 1st cut/obstructed by a tree limb on holes, 2, 4, 5 and 6. But starting on #8 I made an adjustment and magic happened. One after another - long, high, beautiful controlled draws.
#8, a 377 yard par 4 dog leg right. I was left with 60 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 292 yards.
#10, a 494 yard par 5 dog leg right. I was left with 205 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 270 yards.
#11, a 397 yard par 4. I was left with 110 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 276 yards.
#12, a 426 yard par 4 dog leg left. I was left with 75 yards to the pin. I lasered it back to the tee box at 288 yards.
#17, a 353 yard par 4 dog leg right. I was left with 30 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 270 yards.
I hit it out on the toe on number #13, a 504 yard dog leg right par 5. I was left with 244 yards to the pin from the middle of the fairway. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 260 yards. I'll take 260 yard 'misses' any day of the week.
To be clear, the fairways were firm and there was roll - I don't hit the ball 290+ yards. But the G30 performance turned driver into a weapon and allowed me to attack the course to have scoring chances I don't normally see. I played from the blue tees at this course for the first time ever (i.e., didn't always know the lines) and was reaching parts of the course I've never reached before from the white tees. #G30awesomeness
#8, a 377 yard par 4 dog leg right. I was left with 60 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 292 yards.
#10, a 494 yard par 5 dog leg right. I was left with 205 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 270 yards.
#11, a 397 yard par 4. I was left with 110 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 276 yards.
#12, a 426 yard par 4 dog leg left. I was left with 75 yards to the pin. I lasered it back to the tee box at 288 yards.
#17, a 353 yard par 4 dog leg right. I was left with 30 yards to the pin. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 270 yards.
I hit it out on the toe on number #13, a 504 yard dog leg right par 5. I was left with 244 yards to the pin from the middle of the fairway. After coming home I Google Earth estimate the drive at 260 yards. I'll take 260 yard 'misses' any day of the week.
To be clear, the fairways were firm and there was roll - I don't hit the ball 290+ yards. But the G30 performance turned driver into a weapon and allowed me to attack the course to have scoring chances I don't normally see. I played from the blue tees at this course for the first time ever (i.e., didn't always know the lines) and was reaching parts of the course I've never reached before from the white tees. #G30awesomeness
Nice Frank, solid distances! Keep up the solid shooting
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Cleanup my setup, slow down the tempo, swing to 3rd base.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I got fitted for a g30 sf tec the end of last season. Whether it's the few lessons I took over the winter, the driver or combination of both....but I've gone from hitting 29% fairways and the majority of misses to the right.....to now hitting 54% fairways and misses are 27% to the left and 19% to the right.
bobgeorge
Kentucky Wildcat Fan!
What do you mean swing to 3rd base?
erock9174
Well-known member
Swing to the left. Out to in path if you are a right hander.
I'm assuming he meant 1st base or right field to try and hit a draw. Unless he plays a cut. Then 3rd base would be appropriate
bobgeorge
Kentucky Wildcat Fan!
I had heard swing out to 2nd base or to right field....but never swing to 3rd base for a right-hander.
That's because I am apparently on my way to being dyslexic...I meant to say swing to first base / right field
Got to hit this club this weekend so I thought I'd drop a quick thought in here. I only hit it once, but it was a good swing. The ball went dead straight for me, but I think the spin was too much for me and it definitely ballooned some, which cost me some distance. I have a negative AOA, so I think creates an issue for me with this one.
If you need more spin though I would definitely give the SF Tec a legit shot. I played with Zeroputt, who could probably benefit from more spin, and he hit this thing fantastically. He was hitting fairways every time he swung it.
If you need more spin though I would definitely give the SF Tec a legit shot. I played with Zeroputt, who could probably benefit from more spin, and he hit this thing fantastically. He was hitting fairways every time he swung it.
Were you playing it with the stock shaft?
If I remember correctly it was the TFC 419D in soft regular flex, which is a stock shaft. It was also the 12° model I believe. So those two things could definitely have contributed to my ballooned shot.
erock9174
Well-known member
That's the issue. Last year before I bought mine I went to a demo day that Ping was hosting. At the time I was playing a g25 12* with stock TFC S flex that I launched around 19*. Yeah. 19*. It was great for 200 yd towering approach shots lol. I demod the SF Tec 12* and even with the Tour shaft it launched higher than my g25 did.
I went with the SF Tec 10* with Tour 65 S and it's the lowest launching driver I have ever gamed.
Matter of fact I just got in a Tour 65 R and it's a much better fit to my low 90's swing. Launch improved and also helped with my usual low snap hook. Now I no longer feel like I need to muscle it.
I get a nice mid flight with good carry + roll. Seeing normal distances of 220-225 with the occasional 240-260 on firm days.
zeroputt
New member
Yes, it was 12 degrees. I checked the Ping web site when I got home to see if the shaft was senior flex, but the only shaft they have listed that could correspond to the "SR" designation that was on the shaft we played is "soft regular" flex.
erock9174
Well-known member
Soft regular is Ping A flex or Senior flex. Falls between R and L. Just a more polite way of saying Senior or Lite I guess, lol.
zeroputt
New member
That's cool.
A couple years ago I was at a Cleveland demo day and found out that 'senior' flex had been changed to 'mature' flex. Call me what you want, I'm still swinging....
A couple years ago I was at a Cleveland demo day and found out that 'senior' flex had been changed to 'mature' flex. Call me what you want, I'm still swinging....
Song Dog
Well-known member
I love mine and the more I play it, the more I love it.
erock9174
Well-known member
I'm not knocking it. I play all R flex gear and to this day the best 5w I ever owned was a K15 with a TFC SR flex shaft. Whatever works.
I am still really enjoying this driver. I have pretty consistently been seeing drives in the 245-260 range, which is long for me and better than what I got out of my old gamer. This opens up new areas of the course for me. As an example, my home course lengthened a brutally hard par 4 and changed it to a par 5. I loved the change because it should mean I always lay up instead of being forced into a hard second shot over water. Except that I'm in better positions with the g30 from the blue tees than I was with my prior gamer from the white tees, so I'm "forced" to go for it anyways. It's a fun problem to have. In addition to the extra distance I'm finding a lot of fairways, too. All in all, this has been a great addition to the bag.
Last edited:
CAA_Beat
Active member
That's some really good distance Frsnk.
I I still may try this before the year is out. Although with two driver purchases already this year(all be it at ridiculous proses for each) I probably should be satisfied.