PING G440 Hybrid Review – Plugged In Golf
50 Words or Less
The PING G440 hybrid continues the Scottsdale stalwart’s excellence in the hybrid category. Clean and simple looks, reliable performance.
Introduction
Arguably, no OEM has developed and stuck with a brand identity as much as PING in the past decade or so. Golfers who have been paying attention know that PING clubs tend to carry a signature look, sound, feel, and performance. That’s certainly the case with this hybrid but that doesn’t mean it’s a carbon copy of what has come before. In fact, there’s several new pieces of tech that make the PING G440 hybrid one to pay attention to.
Looks
The PING G440 hybrid has that classic PING look. What does that entail? First, a matte finish with minimal flashiness. The crown is clean with a single dot alignment aid and a subtle carbon fiber pattern fading to solid black towards the face. The sole features a few minimal touches of blue to provide a bit of personality to the otherwise muted color palette. Visually, it doesn’t look all that dissimilar from the original G lineup from 2016. I appreciate that they aren’t trying to lure you in with flashy looks.
The clubhead is of moderate size, not oversized at all, but also not particularly compact. The face height is on the shorter side. It’s a great overall shape for a wide variety of players, and I appreciate a hybrid that doesn’t distract the eye with too much going on visually. To my eye, it sits just a touch closed at address.
Sound & Feel
PING clubs, to my ear, have a distinctive sound. Where the majority of OEMs tend to lean more metallic and high-pitched, PING metal woods and hybrids have a more flat, dull-though-still-resonant, and percussive, sound. While it’s not my preferred sound, it isn’t necessarily bad. The PING G440 hybrid stays true to form, producing a satisfying thump when struck well.
Turning to feel, there is not a ton of feedback through the hands. While you can definitely get an idea of how well you struck the ball from the feel of impact, that isn’t a defining characteristic of the club. Instead, enjoy the feeling of technology going to work for you, take the good result, and move on.
Performance
Another word OEMs sometimes use to describe hybrid clubs is “rescue.” While PING does not use this term, I think it fits with the G440 hybrid because of how it performs. While hybrids are regularly used to get onto the green on long par 3s or approaching long par 4s and short par 5s, often they just need to get you into a good spot for your next shot. Because of the forgiveness and consistency of this club, it excels at that. While we like to imagine sticking an approach close to the flag, it’s really this kind of consistency and reliability in less-than-ideal situations that results in better scoring.
While I wouldn’t necessarily call the PING G440 hybrid a bomber, it does have plenty of distance, giving me consistent carries between 200-205 yards, exactly what I need from this club. Spin rates and ball flights also stayed remarkably consistent, giving me a ton of confidence that this club could easily slot into my bag in that critical spot between my fairway wood and irons.
The PING G440 hybrid is designed with a shallow face to encourage contact higher on the face and thus launch it higher. Like most clubs in this category, PING has made the face thinner to boost ball speed.
One design feature that I haven’t seen before is loft-specific designs. This means that while the higher lofted hybrids (5, 6) are draw-biased, the 2 hybrid is fade-biased, and the 3 and 4 are intended to be neutral. To my eye, the 4 hybrid I tested does sit just the slightest bit closed but, in practice, I was able to produce one gentle fade after another, a sign that the club is a good fit for me. This is a really smart idea from the folks at PING because the player who is going to game a 2 hybrid is going to have a completely different game than someone who games a 5 hybrid.
PING has also added a High Launch (HL) category of hybrids, giving players with slower swing speeds a lighter back weight, shaft, and grip to help make the club easier to swing and add a bit of speed. I love this, considering many older golfers rely heavily on hybrids as long and mid-iron replacements.
Conclusion
Once again, PING has produced a hybrid that does it all. The PING G440 hybrid has classic PING looks, sound, and feel. It flies long and straight, has reliable ball speed, and offers elite forgiveness on strikes across the face. If you’re in the market for a new hybrid, this is one to strongly consider.
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Contributor at Plugged In Golf
Dylan Thaemert is a clinical mental health therapist living in the Twin Cities area. He is passionate about travel, the arts, and is always searching for ways to increase his knowledge of the game of golf.
