Ping G400 Fairway Review
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At a glance
- TG Rating
- Owner Rating
- RRP £240.00
What we say...
The Ping G400 fairway wood has a new maraging steel face, smart grooves and a lower leading edge to help
Details: Lofts: #3-14.5°, #5-17.5°, #7-20.5°, #9-23.5°. Stock shaft: Ping Alta CB, Ping Tour. Adjustable hosel: Yes. How much loft change? +/-1°.
The Ping G400 launch is an entire family, from driver to irons, and like their bigger sibling the new fairways have some serious ball-speed-boosting tech, too.
The biggest change over the old models is a new maraging steel face, which Ping say is one of the world’s strongest and is regularly used in the landing gear of aircraft.
As a result, Ping say their G400 fairway wood can produce an increase in ball speed of 2mph, and with a lower leading edge and the addition of smart grooves, it will be a lot easier to launch in the air to create further distance.
Ping G400
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Ping G400 Irons Review
Ping G400 Hybrid Review
Ping G400 Crossover Review
To maximise distance in the fairway woods and hybrids, PING has employed C300 maraging steel as the face material for their Ping G400 Fairway. One of the strongest alloys in the world, maraging steel is commonly used in the aerospace industry, where strength and flexibility are necessities. It’s those properties that also make it an ideal face material to deliver more flexing for faster ball speeds that launch shots farther and higher.
“Our main goal in the G400 fairway woods and hybrids was to introduce significant distance gains while maintaining other performance benefits such as forgiveness and the ability to launch the ball easily,” said John A. Solheim.
“With maraging steel, we have a material that allows us to go extremely thin with the face to give us the faster ball-speed gains we’re seeking for more distance and higher launch. The results have been amazing as we’re seeing face flexing equal to the thickness of the face.”
Ping G400 Fairway Wood Video Review
Ping G400 Fairway Wood: You Should Know
The G400 has a new maraging steel face which Ping say is 20% stronger and 20% more flexible, alone they claim it delivers an extra 2mph of ball speed over the previous G model. 30% of the heads mass is located in the heads backweight (in the sole) which Ping reckon improves MOI and forgiveness by 25% – 44% over the competition.
Ping G400 Fairway Wood: We Say
Ping are like Audi cars when it comes to fairway woods, solid, dependable and they go the distance. Our data spells out a spot-on performance to support our thinking too. Ball speed was a 1mph quicker than the test average, back spin was 250 rpm less than the competition (on average) which added up to a carry distance 3 yards further than our test average.
The G400s lower but larger profile and stretched head looks great sat behind the ball, which is worth remembering if you’re not the most confident launching a fairway wood from the turf. Compared to the carbon clad models (Callaway Rogue, TaylorMade M3/M4 and Cobra F8) sound is a bit higher pitched, which Simon loved, as it gives a lively responsive impact sensation which isn’t there with all carbon crown models. We’re big fans of the array of loft options too, there’s enough to legitimately fill yardage gaps between a driver and set of irons, if you prefer fairway woods over hybrids.
Ping G400 Fairway Wood: Verdict
Ping have proven time and again their engineering brilliance and the G400 fairway is another triumph. It’s decent sized head is friendly to hit from the turf and tee box and thanks at an adjustable hosel it can be dialled in to fill specific yardage gaps within your own set.
5 things you need to know about the Ping G400 fairway woods
Ping G400 Fairway Woods Review: Smart Grooves
There’s no grooves in the centre of the face of the 3-wood as Ping say it’s most often hit from the tee or fairway. The higher lofts, though, have grooves to help dissipate more debris and moisture (when playing shots from the rough or longer grass) from the impact zone.
“Grooves matter a lot to your performance, predictability and consistency” says Ping’s director of product development Marty Jertson. “The 3-wood in the G400 family don’t have grooves in the middle of the face because you’re mostly using those off the tee and we want to maximize the ball speed.
“As we get in to the 5-wood, 7-wood, 9-wood, we start to add more grooves to the face as you are more likely to hit those out of the rough so they will help with consistency on those shots.”
Ping G400 Fairway Woods Review: Stretch and SF Tec options
If your game involves hitting a lot of 3-woods from the tee, a bigger-body Stretch (13°) G400 means you give up less distance against a driver. And because Ping think of everything,
SF Tec models are slightly lighter and higher-lofted to help launch shots off the deck more consistently. Stretch loft: #3-13°. SF Tec lofts: #3-16°, #5-19°, #7-22°.
Ping G400 Fairway Woods Review: Lower Leading Edge
Ping say that when they speak to players, one of the most common frustrations is usually that they want a fairway wood that sits low to the ground, enabling it to be easier to get the ball in to the air. With the Ping G400 Fairway, they are confident they have solved that problem.
“We’ve really studied the leading-edge design and bounce configuration so that the club sits really low to the ground in the address position. This helps us get the impact position on average higher on the face so it feels like it’s easier to get the club underneath the ball”
Ping G400 Fairway Woods Review: New Face Technology & Increased ball speed
The Ping G400 Fairway Woods have a brand-new type of face material called maraging steel, which Ping say will help produce a lot more ball speed for the golfer. The material is one of the strongest in the world, and with it Ping say they were able to reduce the thickness of the face to help create a better result at impact.
Marty Jertson says “We sought out the strongest material we could find called maraging C300. This is a material used in landing gear, fence blades and it has characteristics that make it both strong (20% more strength) and flexible at the same time.”
“As a result we were able to reduce the face thickness, and the face now flexes in the impact 30% more than the Ping G, and the end result is 2mph more ball speed”
Watch as Marty Jertson, Director of Product Development at Ping, explains everything you need to know about the Ping G400 Fairway Wood
Ping G400 Fairway Woods review: Hybrid-Style Lofts
Hybrids play a major role in filling gaps between woods and irons in most golfers’ bags, but Ping says there’s still a place for high-lofted fairways, as they’re more forgiving and higher spinning. So there’s a 23.5° G400 9-wood and a 22° G400 SF Tec 7-wood.
Ping G400 fairway woods in numbers
20% The new maraging steel face is 20% stronger than G, delivering 30% more flex too.
2mph Ping say even at average swing speeds golfers will gain 2mph of ball speed over a G fairway.
7 yards Ping’s testing has shown a gain of 7 yards of carry distance and a higher peak height over the equivalent G.
25%-44% The amount Ping reckon the G400’s MOI is higher than the competition.
5% The G400’s MOI (forgiveness) improvement over the G.
Tested: PING G vs Ping G400 Fairway Wood
We went to Ping’ in Phoenix, Arizona, and challenged their director of product development, Marty Jertson, to show us just how much better the Ping G400 fairway wood was compared to the Ping G.
Watch what happened below!
The Numbers:
G G400
Ball speed: 161 mph Ball speed: 167 mph
Launch angle: 6.9 deg Launch angle: 4.9 deg
Backspin: 4463 rpm Backspin: 4158 rpm
Carry distance: 249 yards Carry distance: 258 yards
Ping G400 Fairway Wood
Gained 6mph of ball speed, reduced spin by 300rpm and carried shots 9 yards further.
