Two More Sigma G Models
Ping announced today that it will be adding two additional models to their Sigma G putter line: the Craz-E and the Tyne H. Normally, adding two models to a putter line that already includes sixteen other models would not be newsworthy, but the models PING is rolling out, and the reasons behind them warrant a more in-depth look.
Remember, the Sigma in Sigma G referred to the fact that this line-up of putters represented the sum (i.e., Sigma) of PING's accumulated putter knowledge gained through years of engineering and design. Two more models must then mean that PING has learned something new, and that's worth looking into.
Sigma G Refresher: Models for all players
Sixteen models is a whole bunch of putters. I can’t remember another putter launch that included as many different models as the Sigma G line. PING’s goal was to release a group of putters that contained enough diversity that literally anyone could be fitted into a Sigma G model. Players needing Straight, Slight-Arc, or Strong-Arc stroke paths were all covered, as were preferences for blade, mallet, or mid-mallet style heads. The putters also covered a broad range of head weights, ranging from a 340g Anser to a hulking 400g Doon CB.
Sigma G Refresher: Multi-Material Insert
The Sigma G insert is constructed of PEBAX elastomer and 6061 aerospace-grade aluminum. The idea behind the insert is that the elastomer promotes a “soft and responsive feel,” while the True Roll milling on the aluminum face improves "performance and touch on putts of every length.”
Normally, when these marketing claims come from manufacturers, consumers must just hope that the claims are true. PING is better than most in backing up new performance claims with data, but the good consumer should always approach press releases with a note of skepticism.
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Thankfully, MyGolfSpy is here to help. When you take a look at this year’s Most Wanted Blade and Most Wanted Mallet putter tests, you’ll see that PING’s claims are backed up with objective performance data. The PING Sigma G Anser ranked second overall for the blades. However, while PING’s True Roll face landed a 5th place finish for the PING Vault Bergen, but the Sigma G Tyne was relegated to 17th place, perhaps heralding the necessity for a new variation on the design.
The New Models and Why They Matter?
The Craz-E
The Craz-E relies on a ball-width center sight line, and significant heel-toe and back weighting to achieve a high MOI for maximizing stability and balance.
Although the initial PING Sigma G launch contained many of the PING staple styles, the Craz-E was a notable omission. This mallet has some serious consumer love, as well as a strong tour pedigree. There are currently seventy gold Craz-E putters in the PING vault, including three for Major victories. The design may be a bit Craz-E, but it’s also a classic PING putter head design, and it will be welcomed by many who bemoaned its absence back in January when the Sigma G line launched.
The Tyne H
The Tyne H is distinguished from the original Tyne by an Anser-style hosel to fit a slight-arc stroke and create offset, plus a top-rail sight line that is white on a Black Nickel finish for contrast and easy alignment.
PING is probably not all that excited that I brought up that the other version of the Tyne placed seventeenth in the Most Wanted mallet test. Seventeenth is not something to celebrate. I bring it up though so that you will see that this version of the Tyne has a few design differences from that Tyne. It's entirely possible that these design changes will make the Tyne H play differently, perhaps significantly, from the other Tyne.
The plumbers neck on the Tyne H not only firmly cements it as a Slight-Arc putter, but it also changes the way that the ball is framed at address. That little bit of enhanced offset can affect alignment and play (though only testing will show if this proves to be positive or negative in nature).
While shifting the sight line from the cavity to the topline may not seem significant, previous PING research has shown that extending the topline to the ball can enhance accuracy. PING has incorporated this alignment design on a number of models in recent years, including the Anser T, the Sigma G Wolverine T, and the perennial hole-destroying Ketsch models. Perhaps this too will improve the accuracy of the Tyne H.
The Tyne H is a Slight-Arc mallet putter, and it seems like 2017 will go down as the Year of the Slight Arc mallet. We’ve had the TaylorMade Tour Spiders, Odyssey’s slant-necked black and red #7s, and the new Jason Day-Made-Famous TaylorMade TP Collection Red Ardmore 2. Though PING has been making Slight-Arc mallets for years, the plumbers neck and fang shape of the Tyne H should make it a competitive option in a shop’s putter corral, though maybe not as much as if PING had made it red. Kidding about the red, of course.
Now Sigma Equals Eighteen
When PING unveiled the Sigma G models last January, I mentioned in the Club Report article that though Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, the new putter line contained only sixteen models. Now we are up to eighteen models, meshing perfectly with the Sigma name. Though this seems like the end of the Sigma G story, it does make me wonder if releasing sixteen putters with a name that means eighteen was PING’s way of hinting that another pair of models was forthcoming? Very sneaky there PING; very sneaky.
Regardless, the Sigma G Craz-E and Tyne H models should be bringing their 370g bodies to a shop near you very soon with an MSRP of $215. Find out more at the PING website.
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