Gear: Ping G440 hybrids

Price: $325 with Alta CG Blue, Ping Tour 2.0, Project X Denali Red or Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip.

Specs: Maraging stainless steel face with 17-4 stainless steel chassis, carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel.

Available: Jan. 30

Who They're For: Golfers who want more height and stopping power on the greens than a traditional long iron delivers, along with versatility and distance.

What You Should Know: Each of the G440 hybrids was designed to hit the ball higher than a corresponding long iron, and they offer more forgiveness. Each club also was designed to encourage a slightly different trajectory based on the type of player who would probably use it.

The Deep Dive: For many players, even low-handicap golfers, the idea of pulling a 4-iron out of the bag, teeing up a ball and hitting a high-flying shot on a long par 3 is intimidating. Instead of carrying a 3-iron, they carry hybrids. Other golfers get that same feeling with a 4-iron or a 5-iron.

With the release of the Ping G440 hybrid, the Phoenix, Arizona-based equipment maker has created a family of hybrids that share common technologies but that are designed slightly differently to accommodate the needs of different hybrid players.

Available in a range of lofts to replace clubs from a 2-iron (17 degrees) to a 7-iron (34 degrees), every G440 hybrid was designed with Ping’s new Free Hosel system. The eight-position hosel remains adjustable and allows players and fitters to change the loft and lie angle, and Ping removed material from the hosel inside the head to reduce weight near the top of the club.

Ping also made the G440 hybrids with CarbonFly Wrap, which is a carbon fiber top piece that extends around the top of the club and into the toe and heel areas. Like the updated hosel, it reduces weight on the top of the club.

Working together, the Free Hosel and CarbonFly Wrap help Ping lower the center of gravity in the G440 hybrids, which encourages higher-launching shots that land more vertically and stop faster on a green.

To enhance distance, Ping gave the G440 hybrids a maraging steel face that wraps under the leading edge. It enlarges the sweet spot and does an especially good job of protecting ball speed on thin shots.

Then hitting area was also designed with Spinsistency, a Ping face enhancement that promotes more consistent spin on shots hit either high or low in the face, which should result in more consistent trajectories.

The 2-hybrid was designed with a slight fade bias because the type of golfer who would likely play this club does not want to miss left and typically hits a green-grabbing cut shot with a long iron or long-iron replacement. The 3- and 4-hybrid have a neutral shot bias, and the 5-iron has a slight draw bias. The 6- and 7-hybrids have a strong draw bias.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Ping releases G440 hybrids for 2025