Are Ping G20 Fairway Woods Still Good? Are They Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The Ping G20 fairway woods debuted in 2011. Just like nearly all G series woods from Ping, they instantly endeared themselves to golfers thanks to their generous forgiveness.”

In fact, forgiveness is more or less what the G series is known for. When you pick up a Ping G series club, you know it’s going to look and, more importantly, be forgiving.

The trick is striking that elusive balance of forgiveness and performance.

When it came time for us to test the Ping G20 fairway woods, we weren’t as much concerned about how effective they would be for high handicappers.

If we’ve learned anything from our years of testing Ping woods, it’s that they can be counted on to be forgiving.

What we were really curious about was how well they stood up to modern GI woods and whether they offer anything besides forgiveness. What we discovered may surprise you…

Are the Ping G20 Fairway Woods Still Good?

“The Ping G20 woods honestly look a bit old-fashioned.”

You don’t really see a lot of fairway woods decked out with reflective, metallic soles these days. But the cosmetics were one of the few gripes we had about these clubs.

As expected, the Ping G20 looks    big and beefy. It sports a 165cc head and looks very assuring behind the ball.

The crown looks much better than the sole. It’s got a shiny black finish with a crescent-shaped alignment marker that was common for Ping woods at the time.

The Ping G20 is definitely still a good fairway wood if you’re struggling to get the ball up in the air.

And while it isn’t the longest fairway wood (especially by today’s standards) most high handicappers will likely find it long enough for their needs.

Are there newer, longer fairway woods to choose from? Absolutely. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a modern fairway wood as forgiving and as affordable as the Ping G20.

Are the Ping G20’s Good for High Handicappers?

“The Ping G20’s are only good for high handicappers.”

That may seem a little derogatory but the fact that the Ping G20 is exclusively beneficial for high and mid handicappers is a good thing.

It’s a testament to how good Ping was and still is at designing clubs that make the game easier.

The Ping G20 produces a neutral ball flight that is hard to deviate from. Yes, that means virtually no workability; but it also means straighter shots for high handicappers.

During our testing, we were seeing very tight dispersion. We never say off-line divergence greater than 11 yards.

The high spin rates will also give higher handicap players the confidence to aggressively attack the pin. Besides the aesthetics, one knock we have against the Ping G20 is the turf interaction.

As long as you’re on the fairway, you can expect smooth feel and clean contact. But the leading edge doesn’t exactly cut through the rough.

That’s not ideal for high handicappers but in all honesty, we didn’t hit many shots into the rough anyway.

The entire expanse of the large face is forgiving. Straight shots were easy to achieve from the tee or the fairway.

Ping G20 3 Wood Review

The Ping G20 3-wood wants to fly straight.

It gives a satisfying metallic click at impact from the tee that isn’t ear-piercing loud. It’s very accurate and gives adequate distance.

Ping G20 5 Wood Review

We were a little bummed that the 5-wood didn’t help much from the rough.

Still, it  launched very high, very easily from almost every other kind of lie.

Ping G20 7 Wood Review

We were really impressed that almost all of us were able to make consistent contact with the Ping G20 7-wood.

Full swings were anything but intimidating after just a few swings.