Equipment
What's your priority off the tee?
When you step onto any given tee with your driver in-hand, how are you feeling? Are you ready to rip one far and straight into prime fairway position, or does the finely cut grass look rather narrow among the rough, shrubbery, and hazards that line it on either side?
Are you thinking tactically of where you want to set up your second shot or are you just happy if your drive makes it to the fairway? We’re all golfers of different abilities, but even the very best of us have had wobbly moments standing over our first drives of the day.
The fact is, landing your ball on the fairway has a direct outcome on how well you’ll play the rest of the hole. Let’s walk you through the facts…
Why making the fairway matters
Let’s start by talking about greens. Having consulted trusted Shot Scope data, GolfMonthly.com found that Tour pros regularly hit 12 out of 18 greens while mid-teen handicap players only find 4 out of 18 greens on their approach shots. Clearly, the more skilled you are, the more greens you land on your approach shots, setting you up for better putting opportunities.
Landing the green is therefore paramount if you want to score well. It’s not hard to conceive that one good shot best leads to another, and the data is also there to support the notion that landing the fairway on your tee shot puts you in a better position to land the green on your following approach shot.
Mygolfspy.com similarly studied Shot Scope data, pulling statistics from handicaps across the board, they found that players were more likely to go on to make a green in regulation if they first made a fairway in regulation.
Today we want to help you consider what you think of most when you’re walking onto the tee, and pair you with a PING driver that would best help you reach more GIR.
Accuracy
If your tee shots can go any number of different ways, you might have your fingers crossed you find the fairway when set your ball down on your tee. Finding the fairway off the tee is not only sets you up for a better second shot but gives you a confidence boost when you’re walking off the tee having played your shot.
We want you finding the fairway more often, and PING’s range of G440 drivers will help you get there. The G440 K serves as the club in the range built for accuracy above all else.
The G440 K features a large 32g adjustable back weight that increases the clubhead’s perimeter weighting, giving you exceptional stability on your strikes. The weight is adjustable and allows players to maximise their MOI, meaning you’ll get superb accuracy on your tee shots. PING has also gone out of their way to finely tune the acoustics to ensure the club produces a solid, endearing sound on every strike.
Distance
Everybody wants to hit the ball long and far, and if you’re a skilled player there’s a good chance this is regularly how you fire one off the tee. Low handicap players can generally strike the ball just how they want to, and therefore need a club that can keep up with their desire to shape their tee shots. If this sounds like you, you’ll want the G440 LST in your bag.
If you’re a skilled player with a fast swing speed and you want to get the most out of your tee shots, you’ll feel at home with the PING G440 LST golf driver or fairway wood. PING’s ‘Low Spin Technology’ model naturally provides lower spin and more control on where you place your shot thanks to the three-position backweight. Weight has also been relocated within the clubhead to offer a better launch and consistently straight drives.
Forgiveness
For some novice players who aren’t used to the game, we completely understand how standing on the tee in front of other players can feel very daunting. Like most things in life, the more practice you put in with your driver, the more confidence you’ll feel each time you play golf.
If you’re a high handicap player, you’ll want to be paired with a driver that’s packed with forgiveness, enter the G440 Max and SFT drivers.
If you have a naturally slower swing speed and you’d like to swing faster through the ball, the G440 Max driver will feel great in your hands. This club has a longer shaft and an overall lighter construction that allows you to gain faster ball speeds on your strikes for more distance down the fairway.
Plenty of golfers suffer from a slice, hitting the ball far to the right of the fairway. This can result in feeling the need to drastically try to compensate by setting up to the ball aiming far to the left. If this sounds like you, the PING G440 SFT golf driver or fairway wood will be just the tool for you. SFT stands for ‘Straight Flight Technology’ and besides being light and wieldy, this club has an adjustable backweight to give you draw correction, helping take the severity out of your slice.
Whatever your ability, we can all agree that it’s an amazing feeling when you make great connection with the ball. If you’re interested in strengthening your game off the tee, you can always find us in the pro shop ready to help you.
