Ping

What it does: The to-do list for fairway woods could ruin any Saturday morning. The G430 tackles this challenge in several ways. Need help launching it higher? How about a wraparound carbon-composite crown to lower the centre of gravity (CG). Need a faster face? How about stretching it into the crown and sole for more spring on off-centre strikes. Need more launch on thin hits low on the face? How about less curve on the bottom half of the face for more consistency. The G430 responds, “Tick, tick and tick.”

Why we like it: Ping’s primary mission since forever has been
increasing forgiveness. That’s how you win a loyal fan base of average golfers. Forgiveness is generally improved by increasing a club’s moment of inertia (resistance to twisting). It often comes from repositioning weight to the perimeter to stabilise the head. But these fairway woods, including the high-launching, slice-fighting SFT model, maintain a steady MOI in favour of a lower CG. A low CG that lines up with the fastest part of the face yields more overall consistency in distance and dispersion. Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like forgiveness. Old dog, meet new tricks.

Lofts 15, 18, 21, 24 (max); 16, 19, 22 (SFT)