Is the Ping K15 Driver Still Good? Is it Forgiving for High Handicappers?

Is the Ping K15 Driver Still Good? Is it Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“The Ping K15 driver came out in 2010. It was designed to help higher handicap players launch the ball straighter and longer.”

It’s always interesting to see how different companies go about distance. Some companies (I’m looking at you, Cobra) are known for making their clubs as light as possible so players can increase their swing speed and gain distance that way.

Other companies are known for making big, weighted drivers to put more power behind your swing. And some companies subscribe to the belief that you can instantly increase your drive distance if you’re simply able to hit the ball straighter.

In 2010, Ping took that last approach. The Ping K15 was designed to minimize spin which is what can send your ball veering wide left or right of the target…usually right. But is the Ping K15 a driver you should still be using in 2023? Let’s talk about it.

Is the Ping K15 Driver Still Good?

“In my experience, drivers are the clubs that look the most alike from company to company and model to model.”

The variance of aesthetics is much narrower than in irons or even hybrids. But when I looked down at the Ping K15 behind the ball, it was unlike any driver I have seen in a long time. This thing looks big from heel to toe. That’s usually something I have to say about irons. But the Ping K15 has an elongated shape and a wider face than most game improvement drivers.

But somehow it doesn’t look gaudy or ugly. It has a 460cc head volume but everything is kept proportional.

The Ping K15 has draw bias weighting in the heel. According to Ping, they were able to save 10% of the total weight of the driver head by thinning out the crown. They moved that weight to the heel.

The Ping K15 also has a large titanium face. During testing, I noticed that the Ping K15 produced a very low-volume click at impact. For a while I thought I was missing the sweet spot consistently; but it was just that the Ping K15 just isn’t very loud even on pure striked.

I also found that the right side of the fairway was completely eliminated. I usually hit a draw anyway but my draws with the Ping K15 were effortless. Even my mi-hits were producing near-perfect draws.

The dispersion wasn’t as tight as I was expecting. In fact, the dispersion was very perplexing to me because I was registering spin rates in the low 2000 RPM range. Even now, I can’t figure out why my divergence varied so much between 9 and 15 yards.

In any case, my distance was pretty average for me. When my testing was completed, I carried an average of 261.7 yards.

Is the Ping K15 Forgiving for High Handicappers?

“Again, even on my mis-hits I was hitting a nice draw with a divergence no wider than 15 yards.”

I complained in the last section about how I was expecting tighter dispersion but at the end of the day a 9-15 divergence range is still solid. So if you’re anything like me and your mis-hits produce a 15 yard divergence, the Ping K15 is very forgiving.

The sweet spot is very wide and I felt that I simply couldn’t miss with this driver. In fact, I tried to miss and I couldn’t. Some golfers may need a bit of time to get used to the size of the Ping K15.

At first, the Ping K15 felt a bit clunky and awkward to me. But even in those first few swings, I was getting good distance and tight dispersion. So overall, the Ping K15 is definitely a forgiving driver and I would have no qualms recommending it to any high handicapper. My only caveat would be that if you’re seeking a considerable distance boost, this probably isn’t the driver for you.

Ping K15 Vs Ping G15 Driver

“The Ping G15 driver has a more compact shape than the Ping K15 and has no offset.”

The G15 was also very forgiving though. It launched a bit higher than the Ping K15 as well. Overall though, I would recommend the Ping K15 over the G15 to high handicap players. The Ping K15 is more helpful in correcting the dreaded slice.