Drivers Added to Conforming List

Ping and Wilson drivers have recently appeared on the USGA’s list, suggesting they will soon be available at retail

Some additions to the USGA’s list of conforming drivers have attracted golfers’ attention over the last week or so.
This time last week, Ping’s G450 family of drivers – G450 MAX, G450 LST, and G450 SFT appeared along with the MiniMax. You’ll recall we mentioned at the end of October that Ping’s ‘Prototype’ mini-driver was added to the list in January, and that it had been seen in some PGA Tour players’ bags. Well, it appears the club is now being made ready for its consumer release.

The G450 obviously follows on from the highly successful G440 that was released in January 2025, and it’s probably safe to assume it will hit retail in January 2027 (can we also assume that a G450 K will be introduced at the start of 2028?). If so, the MAX will be available in three lofts – 9, 10.5, and 12 degrees- while 7.5-, 9, and 10.5-degree versions will be available for the LST. The SFT, meanwhile, will come with 9 or 10.5 degrees, and the MiniMax will have 13 degrees of loft.

The LST (Low-Spin Technology) will, of course, be the low-spin driver, designed for better players with faster swings. Of the nine G450 drivers in play at the weekend’s Worldwide Technology Championship in Mexico, seven were LSTs (Tyrrell Hatton also had an LST in his bag in Abu Dhabi).
The two others were MAX – the model that will most likely fit the highest number of golfers.
The SFT (Straight-Flight Technology) is surely designed to correct a slice – at least, reduce it.

A list of Identification Markings accompanies each club on the USGA’s website, indicating what technologies we can expect. Besides ‘Ping’, ‘G450’, and the club model, the words ‘CARBONFLY WRAP’, ‘FADE’, ‘FASTFLEX’, and ‘DRAW’ appear (though ‘FADE’ is replaced by ‘DRAW +’ on the SFT).

‘Carbonfly Wrap’, ‘FADE’, and ‘DRAW’ are easy to explain. The Carbonfly Wrap is Ping’s carbon-fiber crown, which first appeared on 2023’s G430 drivers and was used again on the G440. It allows discretionary weight (about 4 grams) to be positioned low in the head, which lowers the Center of Gravity, making it easier to launch the ball and the club more forgiving. ‘FADE’ and ‘DRAW’ suggest there will be a movable weight or track that enables you to impart fade or draw spin. ‘FASTFLEX’ is new, however, and appears to involve a sole slot probably designed to let the lower part of the clubface flex more, which will retain ball speed on below-center strikes.

The other manufacturer with new drivers on the conforming list is Wilson, whose DYNAPWR Carbon and DYNAPWR LS were recently added. Both clubs were listed with lofts of 8, 9, and 10.5 degrees. Though the back/rear weights are in different positions (BACK on the Carbon; rear of the sole on the LS), both models are listed as having front and back/rear weight ports.

Also, ‘CARBON CORE’ and ‘PKR-360’ can be seen in images of both models. It’s not clear yet what ‘CARBON CORE’ means – just a carbon crown, or a carbon crown with a carbon section on the sole? (Both the 2025 DYNAPWR Carbon and DYNAPWR LS had carbon crowns and carbon sole sections, but neither had a ‘CARBON CORE’ marking).

‘PKR-360’ stands for Peak Kinetic Response, which, Wilson says, broadens the sweet spot.