Ping G5i UG-LE putter

	Ping G5i UG-LE putter
Contact: www.pingeurope.co.uk Technology: Crescent-shaped top rail to aid alignment, dual durometer insert, head weight of 365 grams with parallel tip shaft and blue Winn pistol style, textured grip. Face-balanced with 34-inch standard length (centre) shaft and available in right and left-handed models. Price: £115

Face of the Ping G5i UG-LE Quite why Ping would wish to describe one of its latest putters as having a 'great design and look to it' then give it the name G5i UG-LE, is a mystery. Perhaps it has more to do with the subtle, Scandinavian-based sense of humour of the Solheim family who built their golf manufacturing dynasty back in the 1970s on encouraging a smile on the faces of golfers who hole more putts with their implements. And certainly the putter's fore-runners like the Craze-E, Get-in, and Go-win substantiate that descriptive approach. Well there was nothing ugly about my scorecard when I picked up one of these latest models for the first time. Its look produced an initial frown but once I'd quickly become accustomed to the weight and the feel of the unique head, it soon became my friend. A 34-inch shaft - fitted as standard and one inch shorter than the normal length for putters - helped my cause as well as the blue insert delivering a soft feel even to the firmer skin of Srixon UR-S and AD333 balls I was using at the time.

Back view of the Ping G5i UG-LE This 'dual durometer' clubface insert, says Ping, combines a soft perimeter with a firmer surface at impact to provide the feel and feedback most of us need for distance control. And I can't argue with the confidence it gave me to attack the hole with my approach putts. Needless to say the only three-putted I recall, was due to a weak first effort on a wicked downhill left-to-righter. The UG-LE also proved surprisingly versatile. Having driven wide of one fairway I found my ball tight against the trunk of a silver birch tree. The only shot I had was to take my stance left-handed, flip the putter round and, using the slightly curved back-weighting design as the clubface, clip the ball a full 25 yards back into play! I'm looking forward to trialling it on smoother and faster greens than the ones we traditionally find in the winter months but have every confidence my new, UG-LE pal will prove a friend, not necessarily for life but at least for the foreseeable future. The Golfmagic Verdict Rating: 9/10 Summary: The added texture of the blue pistol grip played a key part in the feel and feedback from the quarter-inch-thick clubface. I was never a fan of centre-shafted putters until this one started rolling in a succession of 10-footers... *Tell us about the clubs in your bag - as well as the balls, shoes, waterproofs - by submitting a user review And if you've got equipment to buy or sell second hand you can do that too, in our popular classified section.