Ping Golf is known for its innovations that became industry standards like club fitting, perimeter, and investment casting in the manufacturing of golf clubs. One area where you can see its commitment to club making is in its metal woods category, with the development of the Ping i15 driver. The i15 driver is Ping’s latest driver aimed at the competitive golfer who likes to shape their shots off the tee.
Look and Feel
The i15 driver has a very traditional pear shaped 460cc body made of Titanium that features a fade-biased design, that has internal weighting and hosel position farther away from the face of the club for workability, better flight trajectory, and less spin. The crown of the i15 features a prominent alignment stripe and what Ping calls a Bulge Crown Design, meaning that the crown is very high and round like a dome. The bulge crown design is meant to help with better crown and face interaction that lead to higher ball speeds. The titanium carbon finish and burgundy accents on the sole of the i15 make the club look very stealthy and svelte. The 199g head weight and 45.75″ 60g Ping TFC 700D Graphite shaft make the i15 driver very lightweight and easy to swing. The i15 has a really nice traditional setup that any golfer would appreciate and feel very confident on the tee with this driver.
Performance
The Ping i15 driver is designed for the golfer who wants to shape their shots off the tee and want a medium-high trajectory ball flight. Shaping your shots can be a little tricky with the i15, since the face has a fade-biased designed. Hitting a fade or straight shot couldn’t be easier with the i15, thanks in part to the hosel positioned farther from the face of the club. To hit a draw with the i15, I found it took a little more practice with closing the face of the driver more at impact than I’m used too. Once you figure this out, the i15 driver is very easy shape your shots.
The i15 doesn’t use any perimeter weighting for reducing spin or high MOI, instead Ping uses internal weighting to reduce the amount of spin on your shots. What I noticed from playing the i15 is that my shots were very easy to control and produced the tour-preferred medium-high trajectory.
One thing I did notice the minute I started hitting the Ping i15 was how hot the ball was off the face of the club. The ball explodes off the deep face of the i15 driver which has been engineered to have a thin face for increased responsiveness and linger drives. By removing weight on the face of the i15 driver, Ping was able to create a driver that produces a lot of ball speed that will deliver longer drives of 4-5 yards or better on average in my tests with additional carry.
At the same time by removing the weight from the face of the driver, Ping was also able reposition the weight for an optimized center of gravity to produce that tour-preferred trajectory. The bulge crown design also helps with achieving faster balls speeds, by allowing for better crown and face interaction, and delivering that trademarked “ping” sound associated with Ping golf clubs.
The TFC 700D shaft by Ping is very lightweight weighing at 60g and provides the proper amount of torque and flex to produce the optimal ball flight and help you get that increased club head speed for maximum distance and control off the tee.
In terms of forgiveness, I found the i15 driver to do a good job on my off center hits. Is it the most forgiving driver on the market, no. But the caliber of golfer the i15 is designed for will be just fine. If you need a more forgiving driver, Ping has other models like the G15 or Rapture V2 that can help.
Overall, I was really impressed with the Ping i15 driver and how easy it is to produce medium-high trajectory drives that went long and straight. The i15 driver is a great club for a player who wants workability and distance off the tee.
Ping i15 Driver $349
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Have you had a chance to try out the G15 driver? I have the G10 Draw and am wondering if it is a big enough improvement to warrant an upgrade!
Hi Nick,
I haven’t tried the G15 or the G10, so I can’t give you a comparison of both clubs. I’ll give the the G15 a spin at the demo day the PGA Show in a couple of weeks and let you know how it goes.
Thanks
Rob
if you have the draw model dont switch to the i15 model, everything about it is draw reducing which means you better hope your fade can carry alot!! i switched from i15 carrying 276 yards to the ZL carrying 284 yards.
I have an 8 degree Ping i15 with a UST AXIVcore Tour Red stiif 69 Shaft. I have used it for three rounds and it is a truly amazing driver. I tried every major manufacturer’s drivers at a recent dealer day – and I kept coming back to the Ping i15. This is a club that is designed for a golfer who can turn the wrists and ball “over” and for someone whose average swing speed is at least 105-108. The club is actually far more workable than the G15 and other 460cc drivers. I am able to dial in a draw without trying too hard in spite of the fade bias of the club. Since Ping began the G series they have tweaked their drivers a bit every year and now we are the beneficiaries of their detail and technological skill. The sound and feel of the club is superb and a mid-low handicap player could probably hit the 9 degree (or higher) effectively as well. I will be playing this driver this year as I have significant distance increase and more workability than my previous drivers. This driver is as good as any I have ever used.
I have an 8 degree Ping i15 with a UST AXIVcore Tour Red stiff 69 Shaft. I have used it for three rounds and it is a truly amazing driver. I tried every major manufacturer’s drivers at a recent dealer day – and I kept coming back to the Ping i15. This is a club that is designed for a golfer who can turn the wrists and ball “over” and for someone whose average swing speed is at least 105-108. The club is actually far more workable than the G15 and other 460cc drivers. I am able to dial in a draw without trying too hard in spite of the fade bias of the club. Since Ping began the G series they have tweaked their drivers a bit every year and now we are the beneficiaries of their detail and technological skill. The sound and feel of the club is superb and a mid-low handicap player could probably hit the 9 degree (or higher) effectively as well. I will be playing this driver this year as I have significant distance increase and more workability than my previous drivers. This driver is as good as any I have ever used.
I have had my I15 driver for several weeks now and I believe that it is the best Ping driver to date. I foolishly traded my Rapture V2 for the new G15 and was disappointed because I seemed to lose distance. I went to the PGA Superstore in Myrtle Beach and tried several other drivers. The pro their handed me the I15 and immediately I was hitting it longer and with less back spin. Chuck P said that it was made for those players with swing speeds over 100 mph, but I can tell you that I only swing 90-95 mph and it works for me. I am 58 years old with a 7 handicap. I also have the UST Mamiya AXIV shaft, but in regular flex. Give this one a try and you might find that it works for you also.