You ever find that you just don’t hit your 3 or 4 iron high and long enough to maximize it’s potential? You feel as though you have to really try get it up rather than just hitting it and letting the ball come out with a high launch angle on it’s own? You ask any experienced player or professional what the toughest club(s) to hit consistently in your bag are and they’ll all agree. Your long irons.
A bit like the crossovers in motor vehicles where manufacturers have taken a hatchback and then added 4 x 4 functionality for it to venture just about anywhere. Ping have created a new niche within the equipment market and whilst it still leans toward being a hybrid rather than an iron, it is supposed to be a crossover BETWEEN your long irons and hybrids.
Interesting to say the least, but is it going to appeal to you in particular? Sure, the professionals think it’s the business and works for them, but will you get that much out of it and will it help improve your confidence?
We reviewed the Ping G Crossover as part of our Best Golf Hybrids Review (see here).
Ping G Crossover
Our Assessment
Hats off to Ping here for founding the Crossover, strange it took so long for a manufacturer to implement though! Superb feel and provides an enhanced launch angle for particularly those players that struggle with swing speed and height.
This club will always be easier to hit than a long iron though so why NOT give it a go!? Great offering that is going to add distance and confidence to your game.
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Pros
Cons
Key Facts
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Launch RRP | From $230.00 |
Gender | Mens |
Handicap Range | Low to Mid |
Hand Availability | Right & Left Hand |
Lie | 58.51° – 60.38° |
Swing Weight | D0 |
Lofts | 18°, 21°, 24° |
Length | 38.50″ – 39.75″ |
Shaft Type and Name | Alta 70, Tour 90, AWT 2.0, TFC 80H |
Grip | Ping 5L or 5L Cord |
Manufacturer's Website |
Ping G Crossover Detailed Review
Design & Appearance
An interesting club to say the least. Ping are adamant that it is not a driving iron even though it looks like one in our opinion. An almost gun metal black look to the whole club with some attractive detail at the hosel.
When looking down at the club at address, it looks like a long iron, but with a meaty backside that sticks out from the top line.
It also has a wide sole that aids in playability. A fair bit of offset at address too, which is a consistent trend in Ping irons.
Image Credit: Official Ping Image
Build Quality
The Ping G has a hollow body construction with a cascading internal sole. What this does is distribute stress evenly so the entire face, sole, and top rail are engaged in flexing at impact to maximize ball speed and distance.
The CG is located fairly low in the club, which enables you to get the ball up in the air easily. What is a great feature is that Ping have expanded the perimeter weighting, which in effect increases the MOI of the G Crossover.
The Iron-Style Carpenter 455 Face also provides greater face flexing at impact helping you gain an extra few yards of carry.
Control & Feel
A really nice feel to the club at impact and the sound is even more pleasant. A meaty iron like click to it and to be honest it feels better than the G30 Hybrid in my opinion.
The G Crossover also gives you a few extra millimeters higher on the clubface to strike the golf ball.
This factor helps when in the first cut of rough or deep rough unlike a hybrid that you could be hitting it too high up on the clubface and it’s either slightly “sky’d” or just doesn’t travel well at all.
Image Credit: Official Ping Image
Performance
As mentioned in the introduction, if you struggle with your long irons and getting them up in the air, that is PRIMARILY caused by a lack of swing speed.
You just don’t have the speed in order to launch the ball higher and more powerfully so you start altering your swing, which subsequently has negative results.
The Ping G Crossover offers you the chance to get back to basics and merely hit it as though you were trying to hit your long irons (regardless of shot result), but providing a completely new launch angle, trajectory and result.
Ball speed is higher than your long irons and after we tested that, can definitely vouch for it being the truth. Probably the best aspect is the shot dispersion that is minimized completely if comparing it to your current 3, 4 or 5 iron.
On those rare, but brutal mis-hits you’re often punished by your ball veering off course, but the G Crossover is superb.
Surprisingly it also offers you the opportunity to still keep your ball flight low if necessary. You wouldn’t expect that when looking at the club from aerial view in particular, but it does.
If you’re a scratch player then opt for possibly just one and that being the 3 Crossover.
If you’re a mid-handicap player or even a high handicapper then put in as many as possible. At the end of the day, it will always be easier to hit than an iron of the same loft!
Image Credit: Official Ping Image
Value for Money
Got to hand it Ping here. If you prefer long irons to hybrids, but just never can quite strike them as well as you hope (even if your ball striking aint really that bad) then the Ping G Crossover is going to suit you down to the ground.
Forgiving enough, a higher launch angle than usual and added distance due to the increased ball speed off the clubface. I think it’s brilliant and my suggestion would be to ONLY have the Crossovers in your bag or hybrids and not both.
Reason being that you would then be having fairway woods, hybrids, crossovers and irons all in one set – you’d be confusing yourself in terms of how you actually want to hit and each and whether you should choose a hybrid or crossover!
Great job Ping, you have a winner right here!