Ping G430 Max Fairway Review

The problem with a fairway wood off the deck is not ball speed, it is what happens when you catch it a groove low, because the loft delivered goes up, the spin climbs and the ball goes nowhere. Ping's answer is a face whose curvature varies across the hitting area so that the effective loft on a low strike stays closer to the intended number, and it works: the low face hit still climbs and still carries, which is why this is the wood a mid handicapper hits best from a fairway.

The carbon crown frees grams for a tungsten weight low and back, launch is high, and the head is large without looking clumsy behind the ball. Turf interaction is excellent, the sole rounded enough to slide through a slightly heavy strike. Sound is a soft low thud, quieter than the Callaway and TaylorMade woods of the same year. The hosel adjusts a degree and a half either way. At $385 it is the most expensive of the big three and the most reliable.