Indoor Golf: First Look – PING G400 Fairways and Hybrids

You’ve likely already seen PING's G400 Drivers. And you know how it goes… where there’s a driver there’s a fairway, and usually a hybrid too. So rather than waste more words, let’s take a closer look at the smaller woods in the G400 lineup.

Design Objectives

We often combine fairways and hybrids, and in this case, it makes sense. For both categories, PING had similar design objectives.

Make the face hotter
Deliver a higher trajectory
Create tighter dispersion
Focus on providing the golfer with an ideal fit within each family

G400 Fairway Woods

The G400 fairway lineup offers PING’s thinnest, most flexible face to date. Finer points aside, that’s where the bulk of the new distance comes from.

To facilitate the thinner face, PING moved from the 455 stainless steel it had used in previous models to maraging steel. Maraging steel is both stronger and more flexible than 455, which also means it can be made thinner.

While this is the first time the material has found its way into a PING fairway wood, I’d be remiss (and bombarded with emails) if I didn’t note that Wilson, Srixon, Bobby Jones and plenty of others have previously used the material in their fairway woods.

Club for club, the G400’s face is 28% thinner and 18% lighter than G’s. As it almost always does, the weight savings allowed PING push mass deeper into the head to achieve the desired launch conditions and boost the MOI. There’s your higher launch and tighter dispersion.

PING claims the sum total of the performance improvements works out to 2 MPH of additional ball speed and 7 yards of additional carry with greater height and a steeper landing angle. The latter should help you hold more greens with the higher lofted fairways.

Keep in mind, those gains are for a player who carries his 3-wood about 230 yards, so for most golfers the distance gains won’t be quite as significant.

Like the drivers, the fairways feature an enhanced backweight design that boosts heel/toe MOI by 5% on average (over G).

A More Forgiving Stretch

Perhaps the single most intriguing model from the previous G Fairway lineup is the Stretch. A strong lofted 3-wood, it’s ideal for play off the tee, or when you need something a bit longer off the fairway. It’s a club that can help you strrrrretch out a few more yards.

With the G400, PING saw an opportunity to not only add distance, but also to make even greater improvements in forgiveness. Leveraging the weight savings from the maraging steel face, and by moving the sole weight from a neutral (centered) position to the rear, PING boosted high/low MOI by just over 20% and increased heel/toe MOI by 8%.

PING has made its bones by being the leader in forgiveness, and that certainly hasn’t changed with the G400 line. The difference here is that you don’t have to compromise distance for best in class forgiveness.

Loft Dependent Grooves

One interesting feature of PING’s fairway woods that might go unnoticed is that they feature loft-dependent grooves. 3-Wood models, including the Stretch, don’t have any grooves in the center of the face. By eliminating the grooves, PING is able to make the face thinner for better performance off the tee and from the fairway.

In the higher lofted models (5-Wood and above), PING adds center face grooves, which provide greater spin consistency from the rough and in wet conditions

More Options

In an effort to provide more diverse fitting options, PING has added a 9-wood to the standard line and a 7-wood to the SFT. While they’ll likely appeal to slower swing golfers, the philosophy is that, as PING’s flagship line, the G(400) series needs to offer a complete complement of models and lofts. Call it something for everyone.

Specs and Pricing

Lofts (adjustable up to +-1⁰): 3W (14.5⁰), 5W (17.5⁰), 7W (20.5⁰), 9W (23.5⁰), 3 SFT (16⁰), 5 SFT (19⁰), 7 SFT (22⁰), Stretch 3W (13⁰)
Head Sizes: 3W (181cc), 5W (169cc), 7W (155cc), 9W (152cc), 3 SFT (187cc), 5 SFT (178cc), 7 SFT (171cc), Stretch 3W (193cc)
Standard Lengths: 3W (43"), 5W (42 1/2"), 7W (42"), 9W (41 1/2"), 3 SFT (43"), 5 SFT (42 1/2"), 7 SFT (42"), Stretch 3W (43")
Standard Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 six sizes (Blue -1/16", Red -1/32", Aqua -1/64", White Std., Gold +1/32", Orange +1/16")
Shaft Options: PING Alta CB (counter-balanced) 65 (SR, R, S, X), PING Tour 75 (upcharge) (R, S, X)
Aftermarket Shaft Options (MSRP: $75 upcharge): Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 60, 70 (R, S, X), Project X HZRDUS Yellow 75 (5.5, 6.0, 6.5), Aldila X-Torsion Copper (50R, 60S, 70X)

MSRP: $287.50 per club

G400 Hybrids

Keeping in mind those design goals I mentioned at the start, the G400 hybrid also leverages maraging steel to create a face that’s 11% thinner and 10% lighter than its predecessors. According to PING, this gives the new hybrid an even greater relative face flex advantage than the G400 fairway. That extra bit of responsiveness means that even if you don’t carry 3-woods 230 yards you are still seeing an average of 2 MPH more ball speed over the G Hybrid.

As with the fairway woods, PING isn’t just reporting higher ball speeds. It’s also promising higher launch without added spin, and because of the steeper landing angle, more green stopping power on long approach shots.

As you’d expect from PING, the weight savings from the face, along with the more efficient backweight design, have provided a boost in forgiveness. High/Low MOI is up 6%, while heel/toe MOI has been improved by 3%.

Eliminating the Hook

There’s more to the G400 hybrid story than just distance and forgiveness.

Many golfers I know, and no doubt many of you reading this, fight the occasional big left miss with the hybrid. With the G400, PING sought to eliminate, or at least reduce the hook.

To remedy the issue, PING has implemented what it calls a tuned CG approach. In the 2 and 3 hybrids; models often played by higher swing speed players, the CG has been pushed out to the toe. As lofts increase, the CG transitions towards the heel such that in the 5 and 6 hybrids – models generally played by lower swing speed players – the CG is actually heel-biased.

If everybody plays the expected lofts, the G400 hybrid offers hook prevention for those that need it, without introducing fade bias where it isn’t desirable.

Bendability is Back

Once upon a time we used to be able to bend the lie angles on our hybrids. As adjustable clubs have taken over, the kind of adjustability that requires a bending bar has fallen out of favor, but with the G400 hybrids, PING is bringing it back.

The new models can be bent +/- 2 degrees. By looking at your iron specs, PING can make a determination as to whether or not you’re a good candidate for an upright or flat hybrid.

.370 Hosel Bore

Hosel diameter? I’d wager most of you have never given it a moment’s thought for your hybrids, but if you’re a fitter, a guy who gets fit, or an obsessive shaft junkie (guilty!), it’s a critical point.

Previous PING hybrids were designed to take .355 Taper Tip shafts. That’s typical for most irons on the market today, but it didn’t do much for the guy who wants to put an aftermarket shaft in his PING hybrid. The majority of the rest of the industry designs their hybrids to take a .370 parallel tip shaft because that’s how aftermarket hybrid shafts are designed.

With the G400 Hybrid, PING is falling in line with the rest of the industry, and that greatly increases the options fitters (and DIYers) have at their disposal.

If you want to put a .355 taper tip shaft in a G400 hybrid, PING has a custom shim for that, but I imagine that those of you who care about your hybrid shaft will stick with .370.

Specs and Pricing

Lofts: 2H (17⁰), 3H (19⁰), 4H (22⁰), 5H (26⁰), 6H (30⁰) - Lie Angles available +-2⁰ from standard
Standard Lengths: 2H (40 3/4"), 3H (40 1/4"), 4H (39 3/4"), 5H (39 1/4"), 6H (38 3/4")
Standard Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet in six sizes (Blue -1/16", Red -1/32", Aqua -1/64", White Std., Gold +1/32", Orange +1/16")
Shaft Options: PING Alta CB (counter-balanced) 70 (SR, R, S, X), PING Tour 85 (upcharge) (R, S, X)

MSRP: $247.50 per club