While some of Canada’s top golfers have climbed different ladders on their way to the biggest stage in the sport, one thing has been constant – their relationship with Ping.

Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, and Brooke Henderson have all relied on Ping for a number of years – nearly a decade in most cases. Henderson even swung the old Ping i3 irons belonging to her older sister (who is now her caddie) Brittany as a 12-year-old.

Henderson became an official Ping ambassador in December 2014, while Hughes was signed to the brand the year prior. Conners, meanwhile, was not far behind.

Hughes and Conners have both trusted Ping clubs for both of their PGA Tour wins (The RSM Classic in 2016 and the Valero Texas Open in 2019, respectively), while Henderson has used Ping for all of her nine LPGA Tour wins – making her the winningest Canadian of all time at just 22 years old.

BROOKE HENDERSON WINS WITH PING

Starting with Henderson, the most interesting part of her bag’s set-up is her driver. Currently gaming a Ping G400, Henderson’s big stick measures 48-inches long. For comparison, Hughes’ Ping G400 LST is only 44.75 inches, while Conners’ Ping G400 LST is 45.25 inches.

Henderson has one of the most iconic driver swings in golf – male or female – and her extra-long driver hasn’t failed her yet. In 2019 she was 10th on the LPGA Tour in driving distance.

“It’s her swing DNA,” Scott Wolpa, Ping’s LPGA Tour representative, told SCOREGolf.com in 2017. “It works.”

Henderson’s 3-wood, also a Ping G400, is extra long. It measures 44.5 inches, which, as mentioned above, is about the same length as the men’s drivers.

Her big swing came from trying to imitate her older sister Brittany’s action when the pair were youngsters.

“I found power and I knew how to get it out there just as far as her,” Henderson told theScore.com in 2018.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a decision where I said, ‘No, don’t hit driver’ when she wanted to,” said Brittany Henderson. “We pretty much reach the decision together, but it’s usually ‘yes’ with the driver.”

The rest of Henderson’s bag reads like this: Ping G400 5-wood and Ping G400 hybrid, Ping i210 irons (5-9), and two Ping Glide 2.0 wedges.

PING AND PROVEN PGA TOUR WINNERS

Mackenzie Hughes, Canadian PGA Tour Player

Corey Connors, Canadian PGA Tour Player

Over on the men’s side, both Conners and Hughes have had similar bag set-ups since their maiden PGA Tour victories.

Conners’ win in 2019 saw him earn the final spot in the Masters field, as the Texas event was the last one on the schedule prior to the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Augusta National. In fact, most of Conners’ 2020 bag reflects what he rocked in 2019, too.

His driver is a Ping G400 LST. He’s got a Ping G400 fairway wood at 14.5 degrees and another fairway wood – the Ping G410 – at 20.5 degrees. Conners’ irons are the same as a year ago – the Ping iBlade. Conners has a four-wedge setup, two of the Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth and one Ping Glide Forged, while his pitching wedge is the Ping iBlade as well. His putter is the Ping PLD Answer 2 – which, at the time of his victory, was just a prototype.

Hughes, meanwhile, has a newer driver: the Ping G410 plus. He has two fairway woods, the Ping G410 at 14.5 degrees and 20.5 degrees. An interesting addition to Hughes’ bag is his split iron set-up – he swings the Ping i210 in his four through six irons, but his 7-iron through pitching wedge are the S55’s.

He has three Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges, and a Scottsdale TR Piper putter – which gets a centre sight line added to it.

Ping, founded in 1959 by Karsten Solheim in his garage, has been an undeniable part of the golf-equipment landscape for six decades now. But it’s been a solid part of lots of Canadian success on the biggest stage in the sport too.

Written and intended to the GlobalGolf.ca audience by Adam Stanley