The new PING G Le3 line of golf clubs is many things. But the item at the top of the list is also the simplest.
It’s just plain good business.
The PING G Le3 lineup, you see, is a full line of custom-fit and custom-built clubs engineered specifically for women. And in case you hadn’t noticed, more women are playing golf today than ever before.
The National Golf Foundation’s most recent statistics show the number of women golfers in the US alone has grown 15 percent since 2019. Overall, women now make up 25 percent of all on-course golfers.
And for a company such as PING with a long history of supporting women’s golf (you’ve heard, perhaps of the Solheim Cup?), it’s a smart move to potentially capture a large share of a growing demographic.
And this isn’t a watered-down, “shrink it and pink it” boxed set, either. It’s a full line of premium gear with all of PING’s most current technology.
PING G Le3 For Women
PING Executive Vice President Stacey Pauweis is Karsten and Louise Solheim’s granddaughter. And the new lineup is her baby.
“The new PING G Le3 family offers a full set of performance-engineered, custom-made clubs that deliver added distance, unmatched forgiveness, a confidence-inspiring look and a pleasing sound,” she said in a prepared statement.
The set includes a driver, fairways woods, hybrids, irons and putters. These aren’t your standard PING products with lightweight shafts in them, either. PING says the entire line has been engineered specifically engineered from grip to tip for 80 mph and lower swing speeds.
G Le3 Driver and Fairways
PING is using its best technology in the new G Le3 series. The high-MOI driver features lightweight shafts and grips to help get the ball up in the air and fly generally straight. The titanium head features a forged face and a fixed, high-density weight in the rear for a low, back and slightly heel-ward center of gravity. That’s a recipe for faster ball speeds and higher launch.
Oddly, the G Le3 driver also features crown turbulators and a Vortex cavity. Presumably, that’s for an aerodynamic advantage, but even PING has told us that aerodynamic advantages start to peter out as swing speeds go down. But heck, here we are.
The PING G Le3 fairways come in four flavors: the 3-, 5-, 7-, and 9-woods, and are also adjustable. Those heads are stainless steel with a maraging steel face wrap to optimize face flex while reducing spin.
Irons, Wedges and Hybrids
While not even remotely a box set, the PING G Le3 line is designed to be a set. Specifically, the irons and wedges are meant to be blended. The irons are classic game improvement with a low CG and high-density heel and toe weights for better perimeter weighting. Iron lofts are par for the game-improvement course, ranging from a 25-degree 6-iron to a 41-degree 9-iron. They also include PING’s multi-material PurFlex cavity badge, which allows for maximum face deflection while at the same time dampening sound and vibration.
With any combo set featuring hybrids, the transition to hybrids is always a little hinky and can leave a large gap between your longest iron and your shortest hybrid. To smooth that transition, PING is making each hybrid ¼ inch longer than the one before it. That, says PING, should provide more consistent gapping.
PING G Le3 Putters
PING rounds out the G Le3 lineup with four classic designs gussied up with a white, two-piece elastomer insert called Pebax. It features a soft front piece with PLD-inspired shallow grooves, and a firmer back piece to ensure feel, forgiveness and distance control.
The four new putter models include the G Le3 version of the Anser, along with fellow classics the Fetch and the Ketsch. The fourth putter is a new design called the Louise, named after Karsten’s wife, business partner and confidant.
All four feature a new G Le3 specific pistol style grip.
PING G Le3: Final Thoughts, Price and Availability
Lightweight is officially a thing now for mainstream golf OEMs. It used to be the sole domain for the likes of XXIO, which designs lightweight clubs for all lower-swing speed players, regardless of gender. Previously, women’s offerings were most often the same head with more feminine graphics and coloring, maybe some lighter adjustable weights, and a light shaft.
A cynic may say that’s exactly what PING is doing, but that’s generally not PING’s way. The company is going to great lengths to make sure customers know G Le3 is an organic design exclusively for women, with a heavy emphasis on custom-fitting, just like the traditional men’s product lines.
And the PING G Le3 Anser, Louise and Fetch are $250, while the Ketsch G is $325.
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