Great review, it is good to see a comparison of old and new. Ping Eye 2s do feel really nice when hit well and the ball flight has a beautiful rising ark. Just for information, they are not persimmon woods, they are laminate woods. There seems to be a push of late to refer to all wood woods to call them persimmon. Persimmon woods are carved from a solid piece of wood. Manufactures used to make woods laminated or persimmon. I can't say one was better than the other, but I can recall most golfers preferred persimmon construction.
I used the Ping Eye2 in the early to mid 90's. I'm now 52 years old and still have a full set of the Ping Eye2 woods and irons. In my prime I could easily carry a Top Flight Ball 225-250 yards. I now play the last Ping LST with a regular shaft. Often on the range I'll break out the old Eye2 driver and give her a few swings. I still love the oldies.
One thing I really love about your channel is you are a regular guy who hits shots like the rest of us and are not afraid to talk about it. It makes your gear reviews much more realistic for the regular golfer. The club pro who is hitting 311 yard drives with a 115mph clubhead speed is fun to watch but in no way is experiencing a club like I am with my measly 100-105mph swing.
You and every other golfer on the planet. My point is, you are giving us reviews that are relevant to the rest of us. There aren't many who can fly a 290 yard drive so doing that in a test is very hard for me to relate to. Hitting a 265 yard drive is something I live with every day.
Great stuff, I played with a guy who couldn't hit a driver off a tee and hit a fairway save his life. I noticed he had that old ping in his bag and asked him about it. We got talking and I suggested he hit it just for fun since he couldn't do any worse. He killed it down the middle and then started using it for the back nine and improved hugely. Seemed strange but it really was the best club in his bag.
Still the best driver i used, brilliant off the deck too! Loved it as a kid growing up.....and the eye 2 irons, best ever made and I'm still using them today!
Fascinating watching this comparison of the Ping Eye 2 driver & the modern G400 Max. I was a junior when the Ping Eye 2 woods came out & always wanted one but never managed to get one. Unbelievably, when my father passed away, I discovered he had a set of them! I've been hitting them for fun at the range & yes, you have to find the sweet spot but it feels amazing when you do. Perfect proof that Ping have been making top quality equipment for decades!
I used to have an old set of those a couple years ago, I hit em ok. You really got to swing down on them. I'm going to be making a bag that's all 70's and all 80"s and playing them next year. Should be fun. Great vid! I subbed!
I have my dad's set of Ping Eye 2's (driver, 2-9), and I will say there is no more satisfying feeling than hitting the driver clean. You don't feel it, it's just this incredible sound, and the ball springs off immediately. And then on the next hole, you split the red and wood section and the ball goes a fairway and a half right. So much fun
i switched to a full set of these 1,3,5,7 for about 2 years after buying and slicing SLDR's . they really helped dial me in to hitting the sweet spot the feel you get is awesome , now play g400s 1.3.5,7
This video made me smile. I own and still use the Ping eye 2, 3 wood and 5 wood. I have a Ping Anser 9.5 driver and hardly take it out of the bag. My "go to" club is the Ping 3 wood. I average about 260+ with it and can hit over 300 with it. Thanks for the review.
This video is great. Funny, I just switched back to my Eye2 after struggling with the new age drivers for the past few years. When you nut it, it goes and that sound is so sweet! Nice thing is when you do miss it it doesn't go as deep into the rough lol... Played the other night with a bunch of young big hitters and kept up with them for the most part. Don't carry it as long as them but the roll out with the Ping made up for it, averaged 250 yds. I haven't hit it for years or more and now you are gonna have to offer me a shyte tonne of money to give it up. The sweet spot is small but I think it improves swings, just gotta bear down a bit more and swing smooth...
The modern drivers get u in more trouble. The 340 tight par 4 was no prob for the persimmon driver. A no go for the modern driver. The other side of the coin is even an average golfer like me can deal with a par 4 over 400 yards. Gimme a classic 6000 yard muni with traditional equipment any day
I put a vintage set together this spring (Wilson Staff tour block Driver, Powerbilt 3, 5 woods and Walter Hagen Ultradyne irons from 1972) there is a 25-30 yard difference between these and what I usually play with but I find a good shot so much more rewarding. I also don't find golf significantly more difficult with the old clubs as I actually hit them straighter
I had a set of those irons in the early 80’s. The woods that I had was a set of Johnny Miller Signature 1, 3 ,5 made by Wilson. I had to practice and play allot to get proficient but, very rewarding.
Justin Leonard was the last PGA pro to use a persimmon wood in competition. When he changed he said he might have to reconsider some of his friends on tour who encouraged him to stick with persimmon.
I used to play the Ping Eye 2 woods. I found a set of 1-7 woods for like $50 back in the late 90s. The 7 wood was my best club - hit that thing in the middle and it was a consistent 190-200 yds on the dot every time.
I have watched a few of these comparisons new v old, some people still feel very nostalgic for the old persimmon woods. One of my playing partners used a persimmon driver for along time before changing and have to say give me new technology any day. A fun challenge James
All I can say is that I’ve had a ping eye 2 - 5 wood in my bag since the turn of the millennium and I wouldn’t trade it for ANYTHING! I also have a 3 wood but oddly I can not hit it for the life of me so it doesn’t have a place in my bag. But, my 5 wood was nicknamed old trusty by my best golfing buddy because of how well my striking ratios are with it. I can crank it 230-240 off of the fairway with a good solid strike. Sometimes I can get some good loft with it and sometimes I hit it like a flat line bullet. There’s something special about the way it feels to hit the sweet spot and I always enjoy any chance to crack one with old trusty. There’s a certain forgiveness that it offers which I just don’t get from any other club. The finish has been slowly peeling from the front of the toe up around to the top for some years now and I sometimes think about repairing it. Maybe one day, but I love my ping eye II 5 wood. Thanks for the review on the drivers.
82 Camino I also have a Ping Eye 2 black dot 5-wood that I wouldn’t trade anything for! Whenever I need to hit a fairway I can always count on that club to come through! Most trusted club in my bag!
I have a full set of Persimmon woods 1-3 in the house my dad's old clubs. After watching this I'm going to take them out for a laugh see what I can do. Great videos keep it up
James, this video brings back memories. When I started playing golf, the laminated maple headed drivers were commonly used and steel headed drivers such as the TM burners were new to the market. Besides the heads, the shafts were steel -- much shorter and heavier than the modern day graphite shafts. As a beginner, those drivers were far to difficult for me to hit so I used to tee off with a Ping Eye 2 2-iron.
Great James, I am a high handicapper who still uses a full set of wooden woods. From driver, 3, 4 and 5. They don't improve my game but they wonderful to use.
Your channel is brilliant. The woods are a joy to use . Ha ha I am a bit sad to some people as I still use bladed irons too. I find the smaller heads on both the woods and the irons help me focus on my set up and the ball doesn't get lost in front of the big faces of the more modern clubs.
I too have the 1,3,5 and 7 LH Eye 2 woods, which is how i ended up on this video. I'm not a regular golfer but these woods always fly straight for me and I like that i get similar distance with near silent club face contact noise, compared to the crack of my friends modern clubs. Wish I could try the irons too.
Richard Goodall .....until Tiger Woods came along. He won majors using a 6.5 degree extra stiff Titleist driver. Love to see any of ‘the greats’ hit that. Tiger’s an athlete - the others weren’t. He could beat anyone in his prime from any era - the greatest player to ever play the game, sadly we’ll never see his like again.
I remember when they first came out, they looked so different when compared to my Prosimmon one at the time, after seeing this video I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, I might take mine out to the range and just see how it performs, one thing about persimmon drivers they always sounded and felt great when you hit them, and yeah they were'nt very forgiving, but they were fun to hit off the deck Great video, thanks James
Well done once again James. I could watch old vs new all day everyday. Would love to see you do the same comparison with irons. Greetings from New York City. Mich
I had the whole set Driver 3 wood and 5 wood I was in my 30’s and played to a 4 handicap then I thought they were huge compared to the other wood heads. Strange thing is I remember the old swing monitors then had me swinging at a 104 mph swing speed back then and now at age 66 and my new Ping G 400 max my avg. swing speed is still 104 only now a 12 handicap. I did putt and make a 2 on a par 4 though for the first time last week modern technology to the rescue.
The lighter clubs with longer shafts makes a huge difference ed. A longer lever produces much more speed. But harder to control, hence the bigger heads!!! Thanks for sharing! Cool story!
These were great drivers and woods! The finish holds up like iron. However, as I recall few pros used the woods. Yes the irons were massively popular for the pro and the putter but if memory serves me I can’t recall any pro using the driver. I do, still do and I have the old irons too and I am not changing!
I would like to see a true comparison with both heads using the same length and weight shaft. I use both persimmon and ti. My persimmon has a modern shaft and is the same distance as my ti. However i am a median swing speed, around 100, and that is not enough to activate ti spring face tech. My ti, contrary to what I always hear, is not as accurate as my persimmon. My ti can get me way into the woods on off center hits. Off center persimmon is short but in the fairway.. Love the sound of wood. Ti sounds like you've dropped a frying pan on cement.
great video James fun to watch .......when I first started to play I had persimmon woods and blades it was damn hard but if you hit out of the middle or on the screws it was cool love the sound of a persimmon wood
enjoyed your comparison. I personally never hit the Ping as a persimmon purist, because it's a laminate. I would love to a similar composition with a Ben Hogan Speed Slot 1 or Jack Nicholas signature McGregor and any modern beach ball driver
A few things. -Just tells you why Jack Nicklaus is the G.O.A.T. -My Senior Year in High School was 1980-1981. That fall golf season I averaged 285 off the tee with a Rawlings oil hardened persimmon. - I now average the same at the age of 55. Technology has definitely changed the game. I shouldn't be able to do that. -If I was in my 20's now, I'd think the game is boring. There is no shaping shots, strategy or course management these days. It is just bang it out there golf.
Nice to see a bit of honesty about how far you drive the ball James. There is guy out there on youtubeland claiming he knocks the ball out 400yards. Why he is spending his time on youtube teaching amateurs how to play when he could be giving lessons to deChambeau is a bit hard to fathom. Mind you, if someone asks me about my handicap I tell them what it was 30 years ago.
I bought a Karsten 1 Ping Driver in 1975. It was very expensive at £24 but it went like a rocket even with the old balalta Titleist tour 90 and 100 balls.
Great video James. Would love to see a real world example. Say take 3 holes and tee off with each and play the hole out. Would be interesting to see how well you could score 😃
You have the serial number on the Ping Eye 2, try and contact Ping's HQ, they normally have all the data saved. But don't know how many years back they have ir though.
New to this channel, one thing I gotta say I love about your reviews. It's your enthusiasm. Absolutely outstanding. I am also very bias towards the English accent even on a dude. Love the women though!!!!!!
Hi James, Persimmon 👁 driver. Nope. Laminated. You remind me of a junior I met once. Hadn’t played golf for a decade when I took it up again in about 2000. On the first tee, I pulled out a five persimmon wood - to be fair, I had a metal driver and three wood. A kid saw the wood and said - “wow, that must be the latest, I’ve never seen nothin’ like it before.”
Put a lightweight graphite shaft in that persimmon head and the difference would be negligible. In my experience, persimmon has less back spin for a give loft than modern drivers and more roll out. IMO, technological improvements in clubs are more marketing than actuality. Hey, golf club manufacturers are in the business of selling clubs, but I insert an eye roll during nearly every golf club or golf ball commercial.
I agree. I bought into the metal hype in the late 1990s and I could never hit the ball with any consistency. I switched back to the woods last year and my drives improved.
James you review a lot of clubs, I was wondering if fairway woods can still be bought new with steel shafts? I have not seen any. I miss the steel shaft red driver and fairway woods I used to have. I hit them much higher and much more confident with them.
Im starting to learn to play golf. My startong set of golf clubs is the ping eye 2's. Woods, irons and wedges. I have no idea what im in store for. Folks say ping eye2 are good.
Friggin right the old woods were hard to hit. The older PGA players were excellent ball strikers. Wasn't power but control back then. I used to use Ram persimmon 3 wood off the tee with lead tape weighting. Could smash that sucker 235 plus.
I still have my Eye 2 woods. I need to get them out to the range to hit them again. I loved them when I played them. I have no idea how they will get along with the current generation of golf balls - with the old wound balls of the era a center hit was sweeeeeeet. BTW, they aren't persimmon - they are laminated maple. And the correct height to tee the ball with them is the same - half a ball above the top of the club.
Quite a bit slower clubhead speed with the one wood, must be a lot heavier. How the heck did Snead and Hogan hit 280 yard drives with that beast and the balls they used?
The longest ball in a PGA game was over 500yds,by a 65 year old player using a wood driver,as many have said you needed to hit the ball in the center of the head to get the max results.Just give you an idea how good the older players where to use this equipment,the primary focus was on position,followed by distance.I watched a game not long a go where these guy hit the ball that far that all they require for their second shot on many occasion is wedge,and good on them.Maybe it about time ,they looked at reducing the number of clubs these guys carry,in my mind 4 should be enough,a driver, a mid iron ,a wedge and a putter.
I have or had the Ping Eye 2 driver. I know I still have the 3 -5 wood as well plus I had the irons in a black dot. They were state of the art back then. Oh, they are not Persimmon.
Should pick up one of those soulink modern day persimmon drivers from louisville golf i think its called. Either way a company in the US still making wooden clubs and test one of those against a modern metal. Thats something I would be keen to see
I still use my 3 and 5 woods. They make these giant metal drivers to make it easier for people to hit the ball. Just like baseball bats. Nothing sounds like a wooden wood. I would like to see a 460c.c driver made out of persimmon
I am still playing with the ping eye 2 driver 1,3 and 5 wood and 1970's Wilson signature blades. The figure sound about right although... I do hit the one in the screws and will drive as far as my son who absolutely kills his F7 Cobra.... He hates it though. 😁
The modern club shaft is probably an inch or 2 longer than the Ping Eye 2, which explains the yardage difference. Since you prefer the feeling of hitting the wooden driver, so why not put a longer shaft on it, and throw the Ping G400 in the garbage bin?
Ping never made a persimmon wood, they were all of a laminate construction. The laminates are made in layers and glued together under pressure. You only have to look at the club face and you can see the layers. As someone commented, the best persimmon woods were made in the 50'/60's when there was adequate stock of naturally seasoned persimmon wood. Later, in the 70's manufacturers used kiln dried wood which wasn't naturally dried and it absorbed moisture and split very easily. If you played in the rain, when you finished, you removed the headcovers (moisture) and let them dry. Any moisture getting into the head would cause the wood to swell and eventually split. This never happened with a laminate head. Back in the days, the professionals shop would recondition your woods, put a coat of varnish on them and rewhip the neck. A skill that has now vanished, but some of us can still do. The art of club making has gone. No longer do the pros have to reshaft clubs, re stain them etc. Today it push, twist and click.
The forgiveness of todays drivers has made focusing on face impact non-existent. 30 years ago, you worked on center face impact so everyone was better at it than today. If people still focused on face impact, they would hit it another 10-15 yards further. The type of equipment dictates what you practice on. 30 years ago, you never worked on hitting a draw or a fade, you just wanted to hit the middle of the club. New club don't actually allow you to hit it that much further for a center hit, they just do allow your miss hits to put you OB
I have one of those Ping eye2 1 woods, that exact driver, I carry it around 254. I love hitting it every now and then when I play 18 with my 1978 Wilson staff tour blades, BUT the mis-hits are TERRIBLE!!!! Great video.
A bit late to this. Just popped up in my list. The new driver is worth about 20 yards. The new ball over a ballata is worth another 20 yards. Which means Jack Nicklaus hitting 290+ with an old club and ball in the 60's put's him as long if not longer than DJ etc. Is he better than Tiger? You bet.
Golf courses were much shorter which helped and they didn't water fairways as much so at least you got some roll. Now everyone wants green green courses so if you don't carry the ball in the air doesn't matter if ur using modern equipment. The average golf handicap in the last 50 years has not dropped dramatically. Look at the 2018 British open. The firm conditions helped out the shorter hitters and mid with the amount of roll.
Yeah. We used to call it a one wood. It had been common to use a 2 wood as driver - about 12 degrees of loft. I had a purple patch at one stage of club golf when I could actually hit a one wood. Now everything between 8 and 16 degrees can be called a driver. 3, 4, 5, 7, etc are still called woods, although there is not much wood in them. Tradition I suppose.
I feel like a clown hitting the new drivers, feel like I should have those large red clown shoes and a red clown nose when I tee up with a modern driver. The heads are so ridiculously big compared to wood woods...
Ping wooden drivers were accuracy machines. Shaft label colour should signify R or S flex. Try a slightly higher tee. And btw the wooden head is laminated, not persimmon.
I think you need to tee the ball up like a modern driver...half the ball above the crown and half below. I think you would have gotten better numbers with the Ping Eye 2.
Couldn't hit a driver or 1 wood, I used to have a pinseeker 3 wood, made of wood. Wow, it used to go. All this technology is a little disappointing but its now and not then.
Great review, it is good to see a comparison of old and new. Ping Eye 2s do feel really nice when hit well and the ball flight has a beautiful rising ark. Just for information, they are not persimmon woods, they are laminate woods. There seems to be a push of late to refer to all wood woods to call them persimmon. Persimmon woods are carved from a solid piece of wood. Manufactures used to make woods laminated or persimmon. I can't say one was better than the other, but I can recall most golfers preferred persimmon construction.
I used the Ping Eye2 in the early to mid 90's.
I'm now 52 years old and still have a full set of the Ping Eye2 woods and irons.
In my prime I could easily carry a Top Flight Ball 225-250 yards.
I now play the last Ping LST with a regular shaft. Often on the range I'll break out the old Eye2 driver and give her a few swings. I still love the oldies.
It's so much fun isn't it?
One thing I really love about your channel is you are a regular guy who hits shots like the rest of us and are not afraid to talk about it. It makes your gear reviews much more realistic for the regular golfer. The club pro who is hitting 311 yard drives with a 115mph clubhead speed is fun to watch but in no way is experiencing a club like I am with my measly 100-105mph swing.
I wish I was better! But unfortunately it fortunately it seems... I’m not! 😂😂😂
You and every other golfer on the planet. My point is, you are giving us reviews that are relevant to the rest of us. There aren't many who can fly a 290 yard drive so doing that in a test is very hard for me to relate to. Hitting a 265 yard drive is something I live with every day.
Nothing sounds as good as a wooden driver .Especially when your on a tree line hole .The echo back off one .Heaven .
Great stuff, I played with a guy who couldn't hit a driver off a tee and hit a fairway save his life. I noticed he had that old ping in his bag and asked him about it. We got talking and I suggested he hit it just for fun since he couldn't do any worse. He killed it down the middle and then started using it for the back nine and improved hugely. Seemed strange but it really was the best club in his bag.
Still the best driver i used, brilliant off the deck too! Loved it as a kid growing up.....and the eye 2 irons, best ever made and I'm still using them today!
Nick Deakin, still using Ping Eye 2 I bought when I was 18. 1985. Tried others. Still the best. Playing to a 5 with them.
Fascinating watching this comparison of the Ping Eye 2 driver & the modern G400 Max. I was a junior when the Ping Eye 2 woods came out & always wanted one but never managed to get one. Unbelievably, when my father passed away, I discovered he had a set of them! I've been hitting them for fun at the range & yes, you have to find the sweet spot but it feels amazing when you do. Perfect proof that Ping have been making top quality equipment for decades!
I used to have an old set of those a couple years ago, I hit em ok. You really got to swing down on them. I'm going to be making a bag that's all 70's and all 80"s and playing them next year. Should be fun. Great vid! I subbed!
Really enjoyed watching this video,it took me back to when I started playing golf in 1990 after watching Sir Nick Faldo when the masters in 89 and 90
I have my dad's set of Ping Eye 2's (driver, 2-9), and I will say there is no more satisfying feeling than hitting the driver clean. You don't feel it, it's just this incredible sound, and the ball springs off immediately.
And then on the next hole, you split the red and wood section and the ball goes a fairway and a half right.
So much fun
I've got a set of these woods in my bag today! They're what my father used and if I'm not gonna make The Tour, I might as well hit a club I enjoy!
i switched to a full set of these 1,3,5,7 for about 2 years after buying and slicing SLDR's . they really helped dial me in to hitting the sweet spot the feel you get is awesome , now play g400s 1.3.5,7
This video made me smile. I own and still use the Ping eye 2, 3 wood and 5 wood. I have a Ping Anser 9.5 driver and hardly take it out of the bag. My "go to" club is the Ping 3 wood. I average about 260+ with it and can hit over 300 with it. Thanks for the review.
This video is great. Funny, I just switched back to my Eye2 after struggling with the new age drivers for the past few years. When you nut it, it goes and that sound is so sweet! Nice thing is when you do miss it it doesn't go as deep into the rough lol... Played the other night with a bunch of young big hitters and kept up with them for the most part. Don't carry it as long as them but the roll out with the Ping made up for it, averaged 250 yds. I haven't hit it for years or more and now you are gonna have to offer me a shyte tonne of money to give it up. The sweet spot is small but I think it improves swings, just gotta bear down a bit more and swing smooth...
The modern drivers get u in more trouble. The 340 tight par 4 was no prob for the persimmon driver. A no go for the modern driver. The other side of the coin is even an average golfer like me can deal with a par 4 over 400 yards. Gimme a classic 6000 yard muni with traditional equipment any day
I put a vintage set together this spring (Wilson Staff tour block Driver, Powerbilt 3, 5 woods and Walter Hagen Ultradyne irons from 1972) there is a 25-30 yard difference between these and what I usually play with but I find a good shot so much more rewarding. I also don't find golf significantly more difficult with the old clubs as I actually hit them straighter
I had a set of those irons in the early 80’s. The woods that I had was a set of Johnny Miller Signature 1, 3 ,5 made by Wilson. I had to practice and play allot to get proficient but, very rewarding.
Less balls ob back in the day
Justin Leonard was the last PGA pro to use a persimmon wood in competition. When he changed he said he might have to reconsider some of his friends on tour who encouraged him to stick with persimmon.
I used to play the Ping Eye 2 woods. I found a set of 1-7 woods for like $50 back in the late 90s. The 7 wood was my best club - hit that thing in the middle and it was a consistent 190-200 yds on the dot every time.
I have watched a few of these comparisons new v old, some people still feel very nostalgic for the old persimmon woods. One of my playing partners used a persimmon driver for along time before changing and have to say give me new technology any day. A fun challenge James
I would say that if your going out for “fun” then it’s a fantastic way to play even today with the modern tech making it easier
All I can say is that I’ve had a ping eye 2 - 5 wood in my bag since the turn of the millennium and I wouldn’t trade it for ANYTHING! I also have a 3 wood but oddly I can not hit it for the life of me so it doesn’t have a place in my bag. But, my 5 wood was nicknamed old trusty by my best golfing buddy because of how well my striking ratios are with it. I can crank it 230-240 off of the fairway with a good solid strike. Sometimes I can get some good loft with it and sometimes I hit it like a flat line bullet. There’s something special about the way it feels to hit the sweet spot and I always enjoy any chance to crack one with old trusty. There’s a certain forgiveness that it offers which I just don’t get from any other club. The finish has been slowly peeling from the front of the toe up around to the top for some years now and I sometimes think about repairing it. Maybe one day, but I love my ping eye II 5 wood. Thanks for the review on the drivers.
82 Camino I also have a Ping Eye 2 black dot 5-wood that I wouldn’t trade anything for! Whenever I need to hit a fairway I can always count on that club to come through! Most trusted club in my bag!
I have a full set of Persimmon woods 1-3 in the house my dad's old clubs. After watching this I'm going to take them out for a laugh see what I can do. Great videos keep it up
James, this video brings back memories. When I started playing golf, the laminated maple headed drivers were commonly used and steel headed drivers such as the TM burners were new to the market. Besides the heads, the shafts were steel -- much shorter and heavier than the modern day graphite shafts. As a beginner, those drivers were far to difficult for me to hit so I used to tee off with a Ping Eye 2 2-iron.
I'm 43, played the Ping Eye 2 woods in high school. The ball definitely went a long ways when you hit it perfect.
Great James,
I am a high handicapper who still uses a full set of wooden woods. From driver, 3, 4 and 5. They don't improve my game but they wonderful to use.
Cheers Paul! Glad you enjoyed the video hope your liking my channel. They are a joy to hit aren’t they!
Your channel is brilliant. The woods are a joy to use . Ha ha I am a bit sad to some people as I still use bladed irons too. I find the smaller heads on both the woods and the irons help me focus on my set up and the ball doesn't get lost in front of the big faces of the more modern clubs.
I too have the 1,3,5 and 7 LH Eye 2 woods, which is how i ended up on this video. I'm not a regular golfer but these woods always fly straight for me and I like that i get similar distance with near silent club face contact noise, compared to the crack of my friends modern clubs. Wish I could try the irons too.
This just show why Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and all the other greats where the very best in the game.
Yep! Hard to disagree with that point! Got a hickory one coming up! Wow! Old Tom Morris must have been some player too!
Richard Goodall .....until Tiger Woods came along. He won majors using a 6.5 degree extra stiff Titleist driver. Love to see any of ‘the greats’ hit that. Tiger’s an athlete - the others weren’t. He could beat anyone in his prime from any era - the greatest player to ever play the game, sadly we’ll never see his like again.
Martin Davis isn’t it great being able to make claims that no one will ever be able to prove?
I remember when they first came out, they looked so different when compared to my Prosimmon one at the time, after seeing this video I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, I might take mine out to the range and just see how it performs, one thing about persimmon drivers they always sounded and felt great when you hit them, and yeah they were'nt very forgiving, but they were fun to hit off the deck
Great video, thanks James
I still have this driver I learned swinging with it !
I have these Ping woods in 1, 2, 3 and 4😁
Well done once again James. I could watch old vs new all day everyday. Would love to see you do the same comparison with irons. Greetings from New York City. Mich
Thanks so much Mich! Glad your enjoying it!
Another fun video mate! The first wood I ever hit as a kid was pre 2nd world war! We still used to hit well over 100m
Thanks Rob!! Wow that sounds amazing! I’ve got a hickory one to test soon 😍
I had the whole set Driver 3 wood and 5 wood I was in my 30’s and played to a 4 handicap then I thought they were huge compared to the other wood heads. Strange thing is I remember the old swing monitors then had me swinging at a 104 mph swing speed back then and now at age 66 and my new Ping G 400 max my avg. swing speed is still 104 only now a 12 handicap. I did putt and make a 2 on a par 4 though for the first time last week modern technology to the rescue.
The lighter clubs with longer shafts makes a huge difference ed. A longer lever produces much more speed. But harder to control, hence the bigger heads!!! Thanks for sharing! Cool story!
These were great drivers and woods! The finish holds up like iron. However, as I recall few pros used the woods. Yes the irons were massively popular for the pro and the putter but if memory serves me I can’t recall any pro using the driver. I do, still do and I have the old irons too and I am not changing!
I would like to see a true comparison with both heads using the same length and weight shaft. I use both persimmon and ti. My persimmon has a modern shaft and is the same distance as my ti. However i am a median swing speed, around 100, and that is not enough to activate ti spring face tech. My ti, contrary to what I always hear, is not as accurate as my persimmon. My ti can get me way into the woods on off center hits. Off center persimmon is short but in the fairway.. Love the sound of wood. Ti sounds like you've dropped a frying pan on cement.
Yes I feel old. I was a caddie when that club came out.
Me too.
great video James fun to watch .......when I first started to play I had persimmon woods and blades it was damn hard but if you hit out of the middle or on the screws it was cool love the sound of a persimmon wood
enjoyed your comparison. I personally never hit the Ping as a persimmon purist, because it's a laminate. I would love to a similar composition with a Ben Hogan Speed Slot 1 or Jack Nicholas signature McGregor and any modern beach ball driver
"Never felt anything like this on the golf course... ON THE GOLF COURSE" LOL!
A few things.
-Just tells you why Jack Nicklaus is the G.O.A.T.
-My Senior Year in High School was 1980-1981. That fall golf season I averaged 285 off the tee with a Rawlings oil hardened persimmon.
- I now average the same at the age of 55. Technology has definitely changed the game. I shouldn't be able to do that.
-If I was in my 20's now, I'd think the game is boring. There is no shaping shots, strategy or course management these days. It is just bang it out there golf.
Yeah. The art of shot shaping is a dying skill. Now because of the solid core balls and 460cc drivers, it is all bomb and gouge.
I still use a ping eye 3 wood every weekend, keeps the ball much straighter for me and it's the reliable club in the bag.
Nice to see a bit of honesty about how far you drive the ball James. There is guy out there on youtubeland claiming he knocks the ball out 400yards. Why he is spending his time on youtube teaching amateurs how to play when he could be giving lessons to deChambeau is a bit hard to fathom. Mind you, if someone asks me about my handicap I tell them what it was 30 years ago.
I bought a Karsten 1 Ping Driver in 1975. It was very expensive at £24 but it went like a rocket even with the old balalta Titleist tour 90 and 100 balls.
Great video James. Would love to see a real world example. Say take 3 holes and tee off with each and play the hole out. Would be interesting to see how well you could score 😃
Leave it with me Paul! Thanks for watching! And the lovely comment. Appreciate it!
I still have that same 1 wood and the matching three wood, I tee it up low. And yes I still get more distance with the real woods than i do my G25
Thing of beauty eh Ryan!
Driver
great test! u should try a hickory one against the ping eye, i think u find the same difference between them as u found in the test today!
AWESOME IDEA
You have the serial number on the Ping Eye 2, try and contact Ping's HQ, they normally have all the data saved. But don't know how many years back they have ir though.
New to this channel, one thing I gotta say I love about your reviews. It's your enthusiasm. Absolutely outstanding. I am also very bias towards the English accent even on a dude. Love the women though!!!!!!
Women are way better looking than myself! But thanks so much for commenting. 😂😂😂🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼
Hi James,
Persimmon 👁 driver. Nope. Laminated.
You remind me of a junior I met once. Hadn’t played golf for a decade when I took it up again in about 2000. On the first tee, I pulled out a five persimmon wood - to be fair, I had a metal driver and three wood. A kid saw the wood and said - “wow, that must be the latest, I’ve never seen nothin’ like it before.”
Put a lightweight graphite shaft in that persimmon head and the difference would be negligible. In my experience, persimmon has less back spin for a give loft than modern drivers and more roll out. IMO, technological improvements in clubs are more marketing than actuality. Hey, golf club manufacturers are in the business of selling clubs, but I insert an eye roll during nearly every golf club or golf ball commercial.
I agree. I bought into the metal hype in the late 1990s and I could never hit the ball with any consistency. I switched back to the woods last year and my drives improved.
I have the 3 wood and I love it
James you review a lot of clubs, I was wondering if fairway woods can still be bought new with steel shafts? I have not seen any. I miss the steel shaft red driver and fairway woods I used to have. I hit them much higher and much more confident with them.
cool vid, bit late but enjoyed!
Im starting to learn to play golf. My startong set of golf clubs is the ping eye 2's. Woods, irons and wedges. I have no idea what im in store for. Folks say ping eye2 are good.
I played with the eye 2 woods but they weren’t persimmon they were laminated maple. We used them until the tm Pittsburgh persimmon came along.🤓
Didn’t know that Jeff! Cheers
Yeah you’re right there I’ve had my fare share of them looking for new driver myself tried M4 will try G4 max
I have that driver with a graphite shaft. With that shaft I average 245 yards. I also have the 3 and 5 fairway woods. They in my old school section.
Friggin right the old woods were hard to hit. The older PGA players were excellent ball strikers. Wasn't power but control back then. I used to use Ram persimmon 3 wood off the tee with lead tape weighting. Could smash that sucker 235 plus.
Yeah it defo took more skill back then!!!
James that is a laminated driver not a persimmon. I have a full set of Ping eye2 woods and irons.
I’d love to see you do a course vlogs and just show you playing 18 holes and some commentary on your game and the course!
I’ve got some from my trip to Portugal. Check them out!
They are not persimmon Woods ping woods were laminated maple
love Ping
I still have my Eye 2 woods. I need to get them out to the range to hit them again. I loved them when I played them. I have no idea how they will get along with the current generation of golf balls - with the old wound balls of the era a center hit was sweeeeeeet. BTW, they aren't persimmon - they are laminated maple. And the correct height to tee the ball with them is the same - half a ball above the top of the club.
I have three sets of the ping eye two . 1 wood, 3 wood, a 4 wood, 5 wood and a 6 wood. Love to collect them.
The ping is laminate ?
Quite a bit slower clubhead speed with the one wood, must be a lot heavier. How the heck did Snead and Hogan hit 280 yard drives with that beast and the balls they used?
The longest ball in a PGA game was over 500yds,by a 65 year old player using a wood driver,as many have said you needed to hit the ball in the center of the head to get the max results.Just give you an idea how good the older players where to use this equipment,the primary focus was on position,followed by distance.I watched a game not long a go where these guy hit the ball that far that all they require for their second shot on many occasion is wedge,and good on them.Maybe it about time ,they looked at reducing the number of clubs these guys carry,in my mind 4 should be enough,a driver, a mid iron ,a wedge and a putter.
I tried the new one at golf town. I hated it likely due to the regular shaft.
Now James try playing with a set of hickory clubs. It will change your life forever and a day.
I have or had the Ping Eye 2 driver. I know I still have the 3 -5 wood as well plus I had the irons in a black dot. They were state of the art back then. Oh, they are not Persimmon.
Should pick up one of those soulink modern day persimmon drivers from louisville golf i think its called. Either way a company in the US still making wooden clubs and test one of those against a modern metal. Thats something I would be keen to see
Your tee height needs to stay the same for both.
I still use my 3 and 5 woods. They make these giant metal drivers to make it easier for people to hit the ball. Just like baseball bats. Nothing sounds like a wooden wood. I would like to see a 460c.c driver made out of persimmon
I am still playing with the ping eye 2 driver 1,3 and 5 wood and 1970's Wilson signature blades. The figure sound about right although... I do hit the one in the screws and will drive as far as my son who absolutely kills his F7 Cobra.... He hates it though. 😁
I’ve still got the 1-3-5!in my bag . Can’t hit the driver but the 3-5 go miles
The modern club shaft is probably an inch or 2 longer than the Ping Eye 2, which explains the yardage difference. Since you prefer the feeling of hitting the wooden driver, so why not put a longer shaft on it, and throw the Ping G400 in the garbage bin?
Ping never made a persimmon wood, they were all of a laminate construction. The laminates are made in layers and glued together under pressure. You only have to look at the club face and you can see the layers.
As someone commented, the best persimmon woods were made in the 50'/60's when there was adequate stock of naturally seasoned persimmon wood. Later, in the 70's manufacturers used kiln dried wood which wasn't naturally dried and it absorbed moisture and split very easily. If you played in the rain, when you finished, you removed the headcovers (moisture) and let them dry. Any moisture getting into the head would cause the wood to swell and eventually split. This never happened with a laminate head. Back in the days, the professionals shop would recondition your woods, put a coat of varnish on them and rewhip the neck. A skill that has now vanished, but some of us can still do. The art of club making has gone. No longer do the pros have to reshaft clubs, re stain them etc. Today it push, twist and click.
The forgiveness of todays drivers has made focusing on face impact non-existent. 30 years ago, you worked on center face impact so everyone was better at it than today. If people still focused on face impact, they would hit it another 10-15 yards further. The type of equipment dictates what you practice on. 30 years ago, you never worked on hitting a draw or a fade, you just wanted to hit the middle of the club.
New club don't actually allow you to hit it that much further for a center hit, they just do allow your miss hits to put you OB
Couldn’t agree more Shane! Well put mate! Thanks for watching and taking the time out to comment
I have one of those Ping eye2 1 woods, that exact driver, I carry it around 254. I love hitting it every now and then when I play 18 with my 1978 Wilson staff tour blades, BUT the mis-hits are TERRIBLE!!!! Great video.
A bit late to this. Just popped up in my list. The new driver is worth about 20 yards. The new ball over a ballata is worth another 20 yards. Which means Jack Nicklaus hitting 290+ with an old club and ball in the 60's put's him as long if not longer than DJ etc. Is he better than Tiger? You bet.
Golf courses were much shorter which helped and they didn't water fairways as much so at least you got some roll. Now everyone wants green green courses so if you don't carry the ball in the air doesn't matter if ur using modern equipment. The average golf handicap in the last 50 years has not dropped dramatically. Look at the 2018 British open. The firm conditions helped out the shorter hitters and mid with the amount of roll.
I have the PING Eye 3 wood, not the eye 2 but the eye, the OG
I have blond Woods in my bag. I hit them well and everyone comments on how they love and miss the sound of the shots
Great video, BUT…. I believe that is a laminated Maple head not a Persimmon head
Can you do a review on ping eye 2 irons
Will try and track some down Cam!
I have a set of both bio copper and stainless steel both amazing just interested in how they will perform to modern ping clubs
I had to laugh at your description of the Ping Eye 2 as a "one wood." Believe it or not, it was called a "driver" back then.
Yeah. We used to call it a one wood. It had been common to use a 2 wood as driver - about 12 degrees of loft. I had a purple patch at one stage of club golf when I could actually hit a one wood. Now everything between 8 and 16 degrees can be called a driver. 3, 4, 5, 7, etc are still called woods, although there is not much wood in them. Tradition I suppose.
It's not persimmon, they're maple laminate.
No wonder you were disappointed with G400 max distance with a backspin of 4676 no way you’ll get any distance with that spin
Tell me about it Wayne. Was disappointed not to find a stiff shaft. But hey. No days perfect right? 😂😂
I feel like a clown hitting the new drivers, feel like I should have those large red clown shoes and a red clown nose when I tee up with a modern driver. The heads are so ridiculously big compared to wood woods...
The Ping club was not Persimmon... It was a Laminated head....
Sorry to pull you up but the ping driver was laminated not persimmon .
Exactly! I am over 60 and the old game was more fun. 'Easier' is for betas (just like electric golf carts).
Ping wooden drivers were accuracy machines. Shaft label colour should signify R or S flex. Try a slightly higher tee. And btw the wooden head is laminated, not persimmon.
I want that 1 wood in my bag.
I have one new... Serbia
I think you need to tee the ball up like a modern driver...half the ball above the crown and half below. I think you would have gotten better numbers with the Ping Eye 2.
4 years and besides golf clubs changing, looks like your diet has changed too.
Your are teeing the (laminated)pingeye 2 driver abit low..
It's not a persimmon it's a laminate. Persimmon were hand carved by clubmakers like me. Laminate were machine produced and bought golf to the masses
Correction ping is laminated...
James ping woods were made out of laminated maple not persimmon
Couldn't hit a driver or 1 wood, I used to have a pinseeker 3 wood, made of wood. Wow, it used to go. All this technology is a little disappointing but its now and not then.
Pro gave me his ping Laminated 3 🪵…… could make it talk 🏌🏼♀️
Not persimmon, it is laminated