SWoods:On reading Jake's post on the misses being close
to the target with G10, would that not amount to the driver being more
forgiving? The club ratings don't seem to suggest that so am not sure
why that should be the case. I guess the R9 is not precise to start with
and a miss on top of the already not precise driver explains it but it
still seems puzzling. BTW, I have never had trouble with the R9 if I
ding or am close to the ding. Trouble is I am way off at times - like
4-5 mm. Is the G10 better on those occasions?
Precision
outweighs forgiveness everyday of the week. Just look at Rapture irons
compared to G10s. Raptures are extremely forgiving but often deviate
from intended line. The precision of the Ping Driver outweighs the half
dot of forgiveness TM has over it. Counter-intuitive but this is a
cold hard fact. That said, 4-5 pixel misses with Ping will likely find
the rough same as the TM. What I have found is that the Ping will stay
truer on 1-2 pix misses and almost always go where intended on dings.
The TM often deviates as much 10 yards for me on dings , just ask the
tree on BPB #2.
As for spin, any time you place any spin on a ball, mishits have a
greater likelihood to deviate more severely.
Done some
comparisons while playing against opponents Ping driver VS TM. With
tailwind Ping has often outdriven TM but usually very close. 10+
headwinds hurt the Ping a bit and usually finds itself about 10 yards
shorter than TM. All that said, my male ego often finds me teeing off
with the TM for those few extra yards but on average I would say that
they are truly within the 5yds difference they are rated.
BP
breakdown on Ping vs TM from my rudimentary observations
- If I had a tailwind every hole the Ping wins on accuracy and equal
distance every time. Unfortunately in some quick tracking I have had
roughly 30% more head winds than tails in last 10 rounds.
- Great on #2 to avoid left trees. Haven't had one deviate into
trees there yet.
- Great for finding fairway on #6 where TM often runs through right
side.
- Hurts on #7 with any wind that doesn't favor toward the hole often
making it unreachable in 2. If wind is even slightly towards the hole
it's no problem
- Even on #9 as it can carry bunker with 12+ tail same as TM.
Actually helps on the 20 tailwind because higher flight always carries
the trap where TM sometimes deviates of gets knocked down by extreme
winds.
- Disadvantage on #10 if 10-12 head wind as you will likely be
playing 3iron or more to back pin where TM will most likely leave a
4iron. 20 headwind is a wash as you will be playing hybrid (if you
carry one) or 3 wood will either driver. Tail wind advantage goes to
Ping for fairway accuracy.
- Great on #12 for keeping it in fairway with full BS. Drive
carries a long way and stops before running into right rough.
- Like Ping better on #13 because you can reach in 2 with same wind
that TM driver can get you into position. Also great for hitting
fairway and avoiding right tree.
- #15 ad goes to Ping for finding fairway. Same on #16 and #18.
All in all I have scored an average of 3 strokes better on BPB with
Ping than TM. I still play TM on every other course as I really like
making eagles and added distance (even 5 yds) is a big plus.