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Review: Ping i25 Driver

Racing Down the Fairway
There is nothing better than seeing your tee ball racing down the fairway.  Hitting a towering drive that bounces and bounds down the middle is as pleasing as it gets in golf.  There are many different phrases people use to describe their driver and it’s flight, but  something that carries a long ways and then races forward after it hits is ideal.  Sometimes conditions have an impact on this, but a well fit driver is typically going to advance down the fairway even in softer conditions.  The driver just like the Ping i25 irons, is in the i-series heritage with low spin, tungsten rear weighting and solid muted sound.  The i25 adds some adjustbility, forgiveness and racing stripes.   This driver really causes tee shots to race down the fairway.
The crown racing stripes are going to be the talk about this driver.  It is not the first driver to have crown graphics, but I think in true Ping form, the stripes are done in a subtle but obvious way.  They are not purely aesthetic so that the TV viewers can see which driver a pro is playing, but they serve as alignment aids.  Point those stripes at the fairway and swing away.  If you just hold the driver head up in the air it almost doesn’t look like they are symmetrical on the head, but when you put it behind the ball you can see that they point straight through the ball at the sweet spot of the face.

 

The one aspect of the i series drivers that really makes them special in my book is the feel.  The i20 driver was the best feeling driver from a couple seasons ago and the i25 is just as good if not better.  Those tungsten weights in the back of the head just feel like they push through the ball with a solid thwack.  The sound is that perfect mix between crack and muted metal.  While the G25 driver has solid feel it is more hollow felling than the i25.  While I haven’t hit every driver yet in 2014, the i25 is clearly and early favorite for best feeling.

The great feel is also paired with greater forgiveness.  While this driver is an i-series driver, it is much more forgiving than one might expect.  You can miss the center of the face a little and there is little ball speed, distance or accuracy lost.  It isn’t quite G25 forgiveness, but yet easy to hit straight.

The on course performance is mirroring what I’ve seen on my Flightscope launch monitor.  Mid launch, low spin and long.  I was so fortunate to have Ping ship the i25 driver right to my hotel room in Palm Springs CA so I could use it on course while I was on a golf trip there.  I unwrapped the club and headed straight to the course.  No warm ups and bam right down the left side of the fairway and long.  I was really excited to see it go right where I aimed the stripes.  Over the next 6 rounds I found many, many fairways with great length.  I even shot -1 on 9 holes during my vacation.  I hit 7 out of 7 fairways with the driver.

The new stock shaft series is an improvement for Ping.  Their stock shafts, while proprietary, have typically been better than most, but the new mix of weights, spins and flexes really allow more golfers to fit into stock shafts.  I found the PWR 75 Tour Stiff to be a perfect fit.  Lower launch with low spin and very tight dispersion.  Ping also offers a 55 gram and 65 gram shaft that will still balance out properly with the head.  That is a total of 9 different stock shaft options.  Then you can also adjust the head +-  1/2* for an exact fit and look for your swing.

The Ping i25 driver will send your ball racing down the fairway.  While much of the talk is about the racing stripes on the crown, the real benefits of this driver are the perfect feel and excellent performance which includes long distance, low spin and strong trajectory.  It is a blend of many of the previous Ping drivers, the low spin of the Anser, forgiveness close to the G25 and feel like the i25.  Once you get it on the course, you are going to love seeing your golf ball racing down the fairway.

Check the price online here

For more information: www.ping.com

Quick Hits
+Incredible Feel
+Low Spin
+Good Forgiveness
+Tight Dispersion
+Lots of Fitting options
+Aim the racing stripes down the fairway.

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