Inspired by its ongoing commitment to introduce more juniors to golf, Ping offers the score-lowering technologies of its adult line in its next generation of its custom-fit, custom-built Prodi G junior clubs.
WebFit Junior, an app that recommends club specifications and set makeup based on the answers to a two-minute survey about the junior golfer, helps fit kids to a custom-engineered 10-club set ($575) that includes any combination of a 15-degree titanium driver, 22-degree fairway wood, 28-degree hybrid, perimeter-weighted irons (6-PW), specialty wedges (54-S and 58-H) and two putter options (Anser and Tyne H).
Two sizes of the Hoofer Prodi G carry bags (34-inch, 4.3 pounds and 30-inch, 4 pounds) can be purchased separately ($195).
“Focusing on the needs of junior golfers and utilizing the technology of our adult product lines, we’ve advanced the performance of the new Prodi G family to deliver more distance while launching the ball higher to help ensure juniors experience consistently good shots and have fun on the course,” said John K. Solheim, Ping CEO and president. “We’ve also expanded the build range of the entire set, allowing us to better fit a wider height range of players using the new junior fitting app. With junior golf growing at a very high rate, we’re excited to bring all this to parents who want to get their kids started with a premium, high-performance set of clubs, custom fit and custom built just for them.”
Technologies applied to the new Prodi G include thinner, more flexible faces to increase ball speed in the metal woods, and irons engineered with lower center of gravity for more distance and higher launch. The irons’ custom tuning port allows for precise swing weighting during the custom-building process. Two lightweight graphite shafts are optimized for length, weight and balance to match junior swing speeds. The two putter options offer a traditional blade or more contemporary mallet style.
WebFit Junior incorporates the junior’s skill level, age, height, wrist-to-floor and average driver distance into the recommendations. Among the outputs from the data is a gapping-analysis feature that allows users to experiment with the set makeup by adding or removing clubs to see the effect on distance gaps.
Ping also announced the continuation of its “Get Golf Growing” program, a junior golf equipment initiative that offers custom-fit and custom-built junior clubs that include a one-time, no-cost adjustment to sets of five clubs or more. The program helps address an all-too-common occurrence that results in a lot of junior golfers playing clubs not suited to their games. Allowable adjustments are re-shafting, lengthening, re-weighting and re-gripping.
“One of the biggest barriers parents of junior golfers face is investing in a set of clubs that their kids will outgrow in a short time,” Solheim said. “Our ‘Get Golf Growing’ program is designed to be an affordable way to get juniors into high-performance, custom-fit clubs while bringing more boys and girls to the sport. The Prodi G clubs grow with the golfer. It’s basically two sets for the cost of one. We believe if juniors are exposed to better equipment, they’ll enjoy golf more, which will continue to grow the game as they fall in love with golf and play it for a lifetime.”
PHOTOs COURTESY ping