Gear: 3-Wood Ping G430 LST
Price: $650 with a PING Alta CB Black shaft, Mitsubishi Kai’Li White shaft or Project X HZRDUS smoke red RDX and Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet Grips
Specifications: Volume 169 cc with titanium face and chassis. Carbon fiber crown. 15-degrees only.
Who it’s for: Golfers looking for a low-spin 3-wood with distance-oriented technology.
The skinny: Ping took the technologies from its G430LST driver, and added weight to the bottom to create a golf club that fast-swinging players can use as an alternative driver off the tee or a powerful club for attacking long par 5s on the fairway.
The Deep Dive While Ping’s G430 family of fairway woods was released to North America in January, it was made available separately to PGA Tour professionals this spring. It is the most advanced fairway wooden the Phoenix-based company ever designed.
Most fairway timbers are made of stainless steel because it’s strong. But in recent seasons, some brands experimented with multilateral designs, which are usually associated with drivers. The G430 LST 3 wood falls into this category.
Ping was able to reduce the center of gravity by adding a massive sole weight made from tungsten using titanium and carbon fiber. (Ping)
The G430 3-wood is also available only in 15-degree versions. It has a carbon fibre crown that wraps around the sides of club to reduce the weight at the top. The carbon fiber crown saves 5.5 grams compared to the stainless steel crown.
The G430 LST 3 wood also has a Ti 8-1-1 and Ti 2041 Beta Titanium body. Titanium is typically reserved for drivers and is lighter than stainless steel which is used to make fairway woods. It can also flex better at impact and help golfers get more distance and speed.
The 80-gram tungsten weight at the bottom of the shaft is the result of this weight saving. The weight is positioned to lower and move the center of gravity backwards, resulting in higher-flying balls with less spin.
The adjustable hosel allows the player and fitter to adjust the loft up to 1.5 degrees. This 3-wood could have a loft as low as 13.5 or as high as 16.5 degrees.
