May 14, 2013 – We visited it last March indoors, during the 2013 MadridGOLF Show, and then we enjoyed it in full sunshine in the latest Spanish Open at El Saler (Valencia). The Ping Golf truck, with the same black colour as the new G25 driver, travels across the European geography touring the golf courses of the Tour schedule, attending staff players equipped by Ping such as Lee Westwood, Alejandro Cañizares or Miguel Angel Jimenez.

For our visit to the truck, which is driven and directed by the clubmaker Steve Purdy, we were guided by Francisco J. Miralles, Workshop Manager of Ping Spain in Castellon. After climbing up the ladder there is a small lounge, and going right into the trailer the first thing you see is the star machine of the truck.

“This machine is the star of the truck, and emables you modify the lie and loft of the golf clubs”, said Francisco J. Miralles, who then gave us a demonstration. “This is the hole where you put the iron. It has a camera inside with a light that identifies the type of club you’re going to work on. It uses gyroscopes with which the machine does its calculations, and so it knows if you are working with a sandwedge, a 7 iron or whatever, and that is reflected on the computer screen.” 

The computer recognises all the Ping golf clubs models. You select the club you are going to change, you define the colour code you want to use, you can customize the length… Francisco placed a Ping Eye 2 standard length in the machine, and “if for example you want to change it to the Black colour code, when you switch on, the machine tells that you have to make the angle of the face ‘weaker’, that means open the loft”. Then you hold the club steady with a clamp that’s fixed on the table, and you beate it to the desired angle.

“But the Ping golf clubs aren’t forged!” I warned him before he started fitting the Eye2 clubhead, thinking that it might break. “The Ping golf clubs are not forged, but they have always been able to be changed like this. After they’ve been cast, we submit them to a heating process which means we change the molecular structure and we can vary the loft and lie angles“, Francisco corrected me. “And how many degrees can be changed?”… “3 or 4 degrees without breaking them, and they can be changed 2 or 3 times during the life of the club”, Francisco specified. “But we can’t go from the Brown to Maroon codes. There are too many degrees, and the tolerance of the metal is limited.”

In the Ping Spain headquarters, in Castellón, Francisco J. Miralles works with a machine like this. Its technical name is ‘Lie and Loft Measurer’. “Very simple,” says Francisco. “It’s actually a measurer, because the work is done by hand. When you modify the degrees with the hammer you can make a golf club more open or closed. This is what the Ping industry is all about”.

Behind this fantastic machine we found the typical measurer of lie and loft of any traditional workshop, which is probably used to do check-ups. We followed the route inside the Ping truck to discover the sophisticated gadgets and devices that Steve Purdyworks with in his traveller workshop for the Ping pros. Here, there are different measurers specifically for metalwoods, which are only available for players on the Tour.

(Photo) Then we found this other machine to measure the exact loft of the drivers. The Tour professionals require maximum accuracy in the loft, so unlike commercial drivers for amateurs (for example, we have four lofts to choose from in the new G25 driver: 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5° and 12th, and then we can adjust it in ±½ degree), professionals have the plus of the truck to tune the loft further. It isn’t usual, but that’s why we can see, on the PGA Tour, Bubba Watson‘s driver with 8.2° loft, or 9.9° in the case of Michael Thompson‘s driver.

And here is another machine that is used to modify the lie of woods and hybrids, another plus for Tour pros. Next to it are different grinding tools to sharpen the club ferules. And another machine is specifically for putters, which allows you to change both the lie and the loft. And below, multiple draws containing heads of drivers, woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putters… any amount of shafts and grips… in brief, all the components needed to assemble the golf clubs.

To remove a shaft there is a device that works as a heat gun. When heated the glue breaks, and it is easy to disassemble. On the wall there are resistance clamps which are used when changing a shaft of a player’s club during a tournament, to heat the glue and dry much faster. So the golfer can have the club ready in a couple of hours instead of 24h. And finally, there is the machine for putting on the grips. First the shaft is taped, and then, while the club is securely held, the grip is aligned with the head.

The accuracy of Ping, alike for pros and amateurs

“Although the pros have the truck at their service, Ping offers the same accuracy and tolerance for all players, both for amateur and professional players,” said Fernando Cambronero, General Manger of Ping Spain. “Frequently professionals and top players ask for specifications that amateurs usually don’t request: swingweight, weak or strong ¼ or ½ degree iron heads, special shafts, etc. and we do it for them. But this is also available for any player.”

When Ping does a fitting for us on a Demo Day for amateur golfers, the result is reflected in your fitting chart, with which you can go to order the golf clubs at your local retailer, and as with usual orders they send your specifications to be manufactured in England, where the European headquarters of Ping are.

Before leaving the Ping truck we came across several golf bags that Ping players use on the European Tour, and rummaging through the golf clubs we found a wedge labelled with the name Miguel Angel Jimenez. The Spanish player surely put it back in his bag for his reappearance during the Spanish Open in El Saler.

There’s no doubt that this visit to the Ping truck has been very instructive, and we hope this article satisfies your curiosity as much as being inside the truck did for us.

 

Por REDACCIÓN