Ping G5i

The Ping G5i is a whole line of putters with many different head sizes and design choices. It comes in a mallet, traditional heel-toe weighted design, blade, and belly putter variety.

The Ping G5i has a strategically positioned sole cavity that will increase momentum on the moment of inertia. Sounds complex but what it means in plain English is that you'll enjoy more forgiveness because the sole moves faster at the bottom of your putting stroke. That's a big positive. On top of the putter, they have a ball-shaped rail with greatly helps during alignment. One major fault of many putters is the difficulty of alignment. Imagine all of the effort that goes into creating a solid and consistent swing. Yet not nearly as much attention is placed on making sure your ball is going in the right direction from the first second. It's another important aspect of this putter.

You'll immediately notice the blue insert in the putter face. This is a polyurethane face insert designed to provide a beautiful sound and feel when you hit the ball with the putter head. Over the years, Ping has experimented with various putter inserts and my personal opinion is that they fall behind in this category. When Odyssey came out with the white insert which was essentially the same material as a golf ball, Ping had some sort of clear plastic insert that felt terrible. This one is a bit more rubbery and I can say that it's an improvement.