Equipment
Ping G25 Driver, Fairways and Hybrids
G25 Driver
Ping’s new G25 driver will help golfers do what the pros do to get more distance – launch the ball higher and faster with less spin.
Marty Jertson, senior design engineer for Ping, said that engineers moved the center of gravity (CG) substantially lower and further back than the company’s previous model, the G20.
Moving the CG lower and further back helps a golfer in two ways: it increases perimeter weighting, which adds forgiveness to shots hit off-center, and it works to deliver the club at impact with more dynamic loft, creating a higher launch angle.
As a result, most testers went down in loft and saw a 1-mph increase in ball speed with the new model, Jertson said.
Ping’s decision to move the CG lower and further back on the G25 driver is different than the approach of TaylorMade, which has touted moving CG lower and more forward for faster ball speeds and reduced spin.
“The negative of [moving CG] forward is that now your movement of inertia, which is so important in a driver, starts to go down,” Jertson said. “Any time you can pull CG away from the face you’re getting a lot more perimeter weighting.”
Jertson said that the face of the G25 is 2 percent larger than the G20, and has a 10 percent higher heel-to-toe inertia and a 17 percent higher top-to-bottom inertia than its predecessor, making it more forgiving. The G25 will come stock with Ping’s 45.75-inch TFC 189D shaft, a high-balance point model that has allowed engineers to add 1 gram of weight to the head and still maintain the company’s desired swing weight of D3. Jertson used the example of two car crashes to explain why a driver with more head weight can be a good thing for distance.
Charcoal, non-glare matte finish helps with alignment and inspires confidence
“If you got hit by a big truck that’s going 60 mph, it’s going to do a lot more damage than a little car going 62 mph,” he said. “It’s basically the same thing with a driver. We’re trying to maximize momentum, even if it means sacrificing a minor amount of speed.”
Trajectory Tuning allows golfers to add or subtract ½ degree of loft beyond the standard setting
The slightly heavier driver head will be good for golfers who prefer aftermarket shafts as well. Most golfers prefer to have their aftermarket-installed shafts trimmed to a length between 45 and 45.25 inches, which means the increased head weight of the G25 will help them maintain a swing weight closer to D3 with shorter shafts.
Variable-thickness face design delivers a powerful energy transfer for faster ball speeds and greater distances
The G25 drivers will be available in 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12-degree lofts, and are adjustable by 0.5 degrees up or down through the company’s adjustable hosel, which is the same weight and size as the company’s fixed hosels.
Above: Comparison photos of the 2013 Ping G25 Driver and the 2011 Ping G20 Driver.
Above: Comparison photos of the 2013 Ping G25 Driver and the 2011 Ping G20 Driver.
The TFC 189D stock shafts will be offered in Soft R, R, S, Tour Stiff and Tour X-Stiff flexes. The MSRP will be $385. The G25 Driver and the rest of the G25 lineup will hit shelves Feb. 14, with pre-ordering starting today.
Above: Comparison photos of the 2013 Ping G25 Driver and the 2011 Ping G20 Driver.
G25 Fairway Woods
For the Ping’s newest fairway wood, the G25, the company wanted to create a club with a higher launch, higher ball speed and more forgiveness than the G20.
To do this, engineers removed weight from the perimeter of the faces, creating a higher-rebound area that results in faster ball speeds on all hits. The trimmed weight was then moved low and deep in the head, increasing launch angle and providing more forgiveness, especially on shots hit low on the face where most mishits with fairway woods occur.
The new fairway woods will offer a similar amount of spin as the G20 fairway woods, keeping the clubs playable from a variety of surfaces. Jertson said golfers upgrading to the new model should expect to see between 0.5 and 1 mph of increased ball speed.
Comparison photos of the 2013 Ping G25 fw and the 2011 Ping G20 fw
Comparison photos of the 2013 Ping G25 fw and the 2011 Ping G20 fw
G25 fairway woods will be available in 3 (15 degrees), 4 (16.5 degrees), 5 (18 degrees) and 7 (21 degrees) with Ping’s TFC 189F stock shaft. Unlike the 189D shaft in the G25 driver, the 189F shaft has a standard balance point. It will come in Soft R, R, S, Tour-Stiff and Tour X-Stiff flexes). The MSRP is $255. Additional specs are available below:
G25 Hybrids
Above: The G25 hybrids have a traditional hybrid look that is much more on trend in the market place than the G20, which looked more like a driving iron.
Each of the new hybrids, which are available is 17, 20, 23, 27 and 31 degrees, was engineered to have a specific center of gravity that helps to create the ideal ball flight. In the low-lofted hybrids, the CG is positioned low and deep to help golfers launch the ball higher and with more spin than their iron equivalents, resulting in more playability and a greater carry distances.
But Ping’s higher-lofted hybrids (23 degrees or more) had a tendency to spin too much for most players in the past, leading to shorter carry distances and less control in windy conditions. That’s why the CG of the 23, 27 and 30-degree hybrids creep forward to help golfers reduce spin.
The G25 hybrids also feature a generous amount of camber and sole relief for playability from different surfaces. They’re available with Ping’s TFC 189H stock shaft in Soft R, R, S, Tour-Stiff and Tour X-Stiff flexes. The MSRP is $220.
Additional specs are available below:
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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Ping Tool
Sep 23, 2016 at 1:31 am
It’s a ?ity you ?on’t have a donate ?utt?n! ?’d certainly donate to this fantastic bl?g!
I gguess f?r now i’ll settle foor book-marking and ade?ng your RS? feed to
my Google account. I look forward to fresh ?pdates and will
share ths site with mmy Facebook group. Talk soon!
gbyrd12
Jun 17, 2013 at 8:24 pm
I just recently completed a “driver fitting”. Going in I had no particular brand name as a preference. I tried all of the top brands and even some of the lesser known brands. During the process of elimination I kept coming back to the Ping G25. The G25 felt good, looked great, and performed amazingly! I almost had to try to hit a bad drive. The balance of the driver (stiff shaft option) was just perfect. I could “feel” the head of the club throughout the swing. The lower portion of the shaft and the club head felt like butter going through the ball. I increased my club head speed by 2-5mph because I was able to go at the ball without fear of missing (my normal miss is a hook, which is what brought me to the driver fitting).
To confirm my choice I asked my fitting instructor to let me borrow the driver for a round of golf I had planned for the next day. I took the driver out on the course and was more impressed. I was hitting the ball straight with a mid trajectory and plenty of carry. I reached one par 5 in two and had a putt for eagle, on a hole that I would previously never hit a driver because it is so narrow. I can’t wait until my driver comes in next week! BTW – I am replacing the Callaway XHOT.
My last experience with any of the PING products was many years ago when they had the various colored dots on their irons. I couldn’t hit any of the dots and as a result never looked at their products again. I am really glad I tried PING this time.
Garry…
Frank Garrett
Nov 4, 2013 at 8:43 pm
Yea playin those front tees really help to reach in two also what helps is when you don’t count the penalty strokes and play don’t count till you like it
metrybill
Jun 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Hybrids:
I play and love the earlier model Adams Idea Pro hybrids, Aldila blue ByYou Proto S shafts. Looking to upgrade but not “bound and determined.” Looking at the two new Adams hybrids (9031 and DHY(not sure of the model name)) and the Ping Anser and G25. I like the iron-hybrid, low to none-offset style. Any suggestions or comparisons?
Thanks, metrybill
karl
May 15, 2013 at 1:56 pm
The biggest change that I noticed for ping’s g25 series is a reduction in shaft choices.
In the g25 the standard shaft is a # 189 in a stiff flex it is 4.8* torque and 58 grams. The only optional “stock” shaft is a #80 for ladies and seniors.
In the g20 series the stock shaft was a #169 4.9* torque in stiff flex and 52 grams of weight. But, there was also the “stock” no extra cost # 169 tour shaft with only 3.9* of torque in a stiff flex and weight of 63 grams.
I have been quite happy with a g20 Driver, 4 wood and 7 wood in the 169 tour regular flex shaft. The 4.6* of torque in my regular flex driver is les than the torque of a stiff flex g25.
randyeagle
May 24, 2014 at 9:16 am
So I purchased the g25 driver, with a stock x-stiff shaft(I have a 112mph C.H. speed on my driver). I have about 10 games played and already broke 2 shafts, I have never broken a shaft before. I am a 4 hdc, and do not take a divot with my driver lol. Has anybody else had this problem. I ordered a Aldila shaft and can’t wait to see If I got a good match. Any suggestions on shaft specs for it?
qpaovpkabcve
Mar 28, 2013 at 7:19 pm
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rahrah
Jan 28, 2013 at 11:39 pm
I’m so tired of all these ” Adjustable lie” Adjustable face angle ” blah blah blah,,,Just practice , practice,practice, get a couple lessons and use a “normal ” driver!!!!! works for me>>>>>
Frank Garrett
Nov 4, 2013 at 8:46 pm
It’s funny that you’re sick of it but yet you still seek it out by looking at this stuff when YOU should be practicing practicing practicing
Larry testa
Aug 25, 2014 at 12:33 pm
Frank, why the negativity? You need a hug dude.
GolfDose
Jan 15, 2013 at 8:25 am
The G25s are going to be quite something in 2013. I really want to compare the driver to my RBZ Tour.
FCM
Jan 13, 2013 at 5:51 pm
It looks sweet! I have the Anser and I can’t wait to compare the two. Good observation on the face angle Joe G. I was wondering the same thing when I saw some online videos and nobody commented on it. I have to assume it will be same as the Anser.
Enno
Jan 9, 2013 at 8:03 am
Decreasing loft => opens face and vice versa. See the G25 driver video where that is stated by the presenter.
dj
Jan 4, 2013 at 11:45 am
I’ve been a TM guy for 10 years and for the first time, I’m more interested in another OEM driver setup. I buy into the technical explanations by the engineers at PING and can’t wait to have this compete for a spot in my golf bag. And let me add that this driver looks great.
Johnny D
Jan 3, 2013 at 3:11 pm
I’m looking forward to seeing and swinging this new G25 line. I liked the G20 but prefered the I20 over the G series. That said there might be enough change between the G20 and the G25 to make a real difference.
Joe Golfer
Jan 2, 2013 at 11:49 pm
I like the counterbalanced shaft, as I’ve used a Harmon Tour Design counterbalanced shaft in driver and liked it. Ping’s stock shafts are often better than some of those aftermarket shafts that say “designed exclusively for ‘fill in brandname here'”. Also, making the new hosel about the same weight as standard is a big plus, as earlier adjustable hosels on other brands are much heavier, causing problems.
The loft adjustability is minimal, as one can change it only 1/2 degree up or down. And no statement as to how this affects the face angle, closed or open when a change is made.
I’ve seen other photos than these, and the crown seems to slope downwards from front to back much more than the prior model, so I’m guessing you’re likely to get a higher ball flight than you’d expect.
Troy
Jan 2, 2013 at 10:13 am
Wow, the woods look awesome! Clean looks, not too deep a face. I wonder how hte ball flight is?