Gear: Ping G430 hybrids
Price: $325 each with Ping Alta CB Black 70 shaft or Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX shaft and Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet grip
Specs: 17-4 stainless steel body with a maraging stainless steel face and carbon fiber crown with an adjustable hosel. Available in 2H (17 degrees), 3H (19 degrees), 4H (22 degrees), 5H (26 degrees), 6H (30 degrees) and 7H (34 degrees).
Available: Jan. 26
Who It’s For: Golfers who want more speed and consistency than long irons can provide.
The Skinny: Designed to compliment the G430 drivers and fairway woods, the Ping G430 hybrids feature distance-enhancing technologies and features to improve consistency.
The Deep Dive: Ping’s latest hybrid clubs were designed with several of the same technologies found in its newest drivers and fairway woods to help golfers who want more distance and consistency off the turf and from the tee.
The G430 hybrids have a clean look in the address position, with a matte black finish on the top that has a single white dot to help golfers align the ideal hitting area with the ball.
Looking closely, players will notice a woven pattern in the crown. It was made using carbon fiber instead of stainless steel. Ping’s Carbonfly Wrap, which wraps over the toe, back edge and heel area, saves a significant amount of weight compared with a similarly shaped stainless steel crown.
Combined with a tungsten weight in the back of the sole, the lighter crown helps drop the center of gravity, encouraging higher-flying shots. The extra weight in the rear also increases the moment of inertia and makes the G430 hybrids less prone to twisting on off-center hits.
The variable-thickness, maraging stainless steel face, which Ping calls Facewrap, also extends under the leading edge. It should allow the hitting area to flex efficiently on center strikes and low-struck shots.
The G430 hybrids have a shallow profile, and designers modified the face’s curvature so low-struck shots will not over-spin, and balls hit high in the hitting area spin a little more. Ping calls this Spinsistency, and it will increase the overall spin consistency across the hitting area and should improve distance control.
To help players and fitters find a club that produces the precise distance required to fill gaps, Ping made the G430 hybrids with an adjustable hosel that allows the loft to be increased or decreased by as many as 1.5 degrees, and the lie angle can be adjusted to as many as 3 degrees flatter.
