This video features Austin Eckroat, a two-time PGA Tour winner who plays PING Golf Clubs. Eckroat has had PING golf clubs in the bag for many years dating back to his days as a junior golfer. Even today while playing at the highest level, Eckroat games a full set of 14 PING golf clubs.
In this video, 2nd Swing’s Drew Mahowald chats with Austin Eckroat about why he has played PING Golf clubs for so long, what he loves about working with PING, and the current setup of PING Golf clubs he’s using for the 2025 season.
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Hey golfers, I’m Drew Mahold, second Swing Golf, joined by twotime PJ Tour winner Austin Ecro here. Uh Austin, thank you for the time today first of all. Um we appreciate you. Um it’s awesome to get to talk to you as somebody that’s playing on tour and uh we wanted to dive into a little bit on the equipment side as a second swing of course uh very equipment focused and so just wanted to get uh my I guess my first question for you is obviously you’re on the Ping staff. Uh, so what has that like working with Ping? And you’ve been, my understanding is you’ve played Ping for a long time. So, what’s that process been like? Um, working with Ping, getting Ping in the bag, and then also making that transition to really as a professional. Yeah, so I um I started working with the Ping Junior program when I was about 13 years old. Okay. And um, see, I’ve been playing now 14 Ping clubs since I was 13. So, what is that now? 13 years. Wow. So, half my life I’ve been playing all 14 ping clubs. And um you know it’s just from from my personal experience it’s you know no one does better work and you know I trust their equipment and just all that stuff. So it’s just been a very very good experience for me and um you know they make 14 good clubs and they have been for a long time. So I I got to ask too because you know we’ve made a couple stops on the the tour truck and some been working you know heard a few things about how some of the players um negotiate their equipment. How frequently are you changing stuff out in your bag? Are you a picky player or are you more of like a I’ll I’ll play what they give me type? What what kind of is your mindset with that? I think it kind of varies throughout the bag. You know, when it comes to my 60°ree, I’m very I switch that all the time. I mean, it’s the same exact 60°ree, but I’m fresh grooves. Anytime we have firm conditions, I’m always getting new a new face. And um so I mean, I probably play three tournaments max with a with one 60°ree and then sometimes it’s more frequent than that. But then when it comes to the irons, I’ll play the same set of irons for the next, you know, 15, 18 months. And then I’ll get a fresh set just because the grooves are getting worn down. And then, um, drivers, if I’m always accepting, you know, them to come and try to get me into something longer, straighter, just cuz it’s, you know, so important. And then when it comes to a putter, I’ve got about 10 that I just rotate in and out. Yeah. When I start putting bad, I I blame it on the putter and I, of course, that’s what anybody does, right? I think because the fascinating thing about that is I think some players I’ve heard you know are are super particular and we’ve and you know on the other side I’ve heard the opposite where some players I think I was even talking about Cory Connors was so he’ll get a driver and he’ll play it as long as he possibly can. Right. So um just fascinating to hear that side of things. But also one thing I’m curious about as as we’re out here and there’s some am behind us right now um is is maybe any advice you have for amateurs when it comes to equipment. You know you’re you’re playing all these proams all the time. I’m sure you’ve played a ton with ams. What do you see as maybe a mistake that they will make frequently that they could fix to help their game? Right. We see it a lot in the programs that we play in. Equipment has gotten a lot better over the over the years and you see a lot of old equipment and it’s not helping in any way. You know, it’s time to move on. Um, and the other thing is you see guys playing too stiff of shafts. You see guys playing irons that are too hard to hit. There’s a lot of things that go into it that, you know, there’s just I think it’s important for guys to go get fit and understand that it, you know, it is going to improve your game no matter what level you are. And then um obviously when it comes to just golf itself, focusing on the simple things, alignment, ball position, trying to keep that consistent. Yeah. And um you know, about every single amter I play with aims up 50 yards, right? And then they come straight over the top trying to get it, you know, there’s just so many little things that you know, I think I could help a guy out pretty quickly just by getting on the driving range with them. So, right. Yeah. That’s uh I think the you know, there’s a lot of people listening right now that probably are going to take some of those things that you said uh with them. So, all right. Now, I get we get to the fun part here, at least for me, cuz I wanted to go through the clubs in your bag and kind of why you play them. So, um I think if it makes sense for you, you we could start at the top and just go from driver down to putter. So, let’s let’s go let’s go through the bag. Looks like we got a a G40 head cover there. So, let’s go with that. Ping G440 here. Um I switched to this on the Wednesday before I won my first PJ tour. Um it was a different head. It was the G Ping G430. Yeah. because this hadn’t come out yet, but the same exact shaft. And uh I play a 70 gram hazardous TX 6.5. I think it’s tipped an inch. Um I don’t know what anything else what that means. And then uh I actually put my grip on. It’s a ribbed align and it’s if you can see it, it’s at an angle. Trying to get to where the camera could see it. So the face is here to where the align’s here. It helps me hit draws with with the driver. So you kind of have it as almost a little bit off. It’s off. Yeah. So they set it on stand or big minus and then they rotate they put it on straight and then they rotate it to little minus cuz that was on accident. I adjusted it myself. They had put the grip on straight and I loved it. So I only do that with the driver though. Fascinating. So and then the setting looked like it was the little minus that you Yeah. So 9° head little minus and you know I just love this driver. It’s been really good for me. Yeah. Yeah. Clearly like you said you know you were able to put one in the bag right away. Right away. Yeah. And I haven’t switched since outside of the the new head. Yeah. Yeah. The G4 I mean and and our fitters have said only great things so far about G440 and the drivers there. So yeah, the the look and I think the feel is better than the G430. Sure. Sure. Okay. Let’s now move in down a a size the head cover if you will. Yeah. Let’s go to the furry wood here. What what do we got? It’s a little deceiving here on the head cover. Uh it’s a Ping G430 still. Um I do love the new one, but this one, you know, they say once you find a 3-wood Oh, yeah. It’s just it’s so hard to switch because there it’s the in my opinion the hardest club to hit in the golf bag. Yeah. And um this thing’s just been so good for me. I’m going to hit it until the face cracks. And then I’ve got a uh graphite design DI8 um obviously a extra stiff shaft and same grip button straight this time. So that’s fascinating that you only do that with the with the driver. Driver. Interesting. Funny. Yeah. And then I think you’re you’re spot on. It seems like that’s a pretty common thing among pros is like you find a fairywood that you like. It’s one of those categories of clubs that you stick with. It’s just Yeah, it’s just hard to get rid of one that you really like. I’m actually playing a G425 LST. I don’t know if I’m going to be changing that one for a while for the same reason. It’s just hard to switch when it comes to threewoods, right? Yeah. So, I see a couple different iron sets in the bag. So, let’s go. Let’s go there. It looks like we have a different three iron versus the rest of the set here. Yeah. So, I have the uh blueprint S on my three iron and I’ve got same as the rest of the irons. I’ve got the Project X 6.5. Okay. Um, I don’t know if this is actually a black dot. It says it’s standard, but I think it’s a degree half a degree flat. Um, just with the rest of my other irons. And, um, I switched the blueprint S. I was playing the blueprint T and the two iron and I went for this for a little bit more forgiving. You were playing the Blueprint T. Well, it was actually I switched when it was playing the Blueprint. So, it was the Blueprint playing the two iron and um, I realized I was kind of stupid. I should get a little bit of forgiveness. So, that’s been This has been a great addition. This is one of my favorite clubs in the bag. Is that that’s something you use off the tea frequently? And in the greens I a lot of versatility. I can hit a high low. Okay. You know, great workability. It’s just a fantastic club. Sure. Yeah. And I mean these things these are the blueprint TE’s are just basically just blades. Yeah. They’re the best looking iron on the market I think right now. I mean they did such a good job. Such a clean back. Mhm. You know, the blueprint original was great as well, but I think this is just overall it looks better, feels very similar, and you know, I think it’s a little bit more forgiving. Did you play the original blueprint before getting into this one? Yeah. So, I played those from 2019 until these came out. Okay. So, I’ve been playing those for a while. Cuz those original blueprints were I think even a little smaller. They were smaller. Yeah. Yeah. These are still teeny, but they’re small. Yeah, they’re small, but they’re the other ones are even smaller. Hard to believe. So, well, that’s yeah, that’s I mean that’s classic traditional set of irons really. I think you know the one addition of a blueprint S in there just for some forgiveness on that longer iron that that seems like a you know pretty solid build right there. Yeah, very I like it a lot. I’ll think I’ll be playing these ones for a while. So, in the wedges, we you hinted at that 60° a little bit earlier. So, let’s go through these wedges here and then talk to me about kind of the grinds on those as well. Yeah. So, this is I pitching wedge I I play with the the blueprint tea still. So, s same as my iron set, I’ve tinkered with the 46° stuff, but I just like the feel, the look of the iron on that. And then gap gap wedge or 50°, 54 degree, and 60 is my wedge setup. Um, I mostly chip with 60 degrees. So, 54 degree I like from the fairway. Yeah. And then, um, I just love these are great wedges. I’ve played these for a long time. They’re, uh, I don’t even know what year they came out. Glide Forge Pros. Oh, yeah. For a few years, yeah, a few years. uh with the uh X100s and the shafts and a lot of guys play S400s. Oh, sure. Um I’ve tried it. I just don’t like it as much. So, I play the X100s which is I think unique among tour players and um I think it’s just got like them from the fairway so much. And then uh those are just standard grinds. Actually, it’s standard grind across the board, too. But I play the the T in this, which is a six degree bounce. But I I mean with this wedge, I can lay it I mean dead flat. Yeah. I think when it opens, it’s got one of the lowest bounces across the board. And you’re you’re trying to be very, you know, you manipulate that club face quite a bit around the green. That’s kind of your I think there’s there’s two types of players out there. There’s players that will use all their wedges for anything say inside 60 70 yards. And then there’s players like I think I would put myself in your category where give me the highest lofted wedge and let me just work anywhere near the green. I’m very comfortable throwing this way back in my stance, hitting it, you know, inches off the ground. And I’m also very comfortable throwing it up in the air. And yeah, I feel like I can hit any shot with the the 60°ree that I could with the 54 degree or 50. Yeah. Yeah. W That’s that’s cool. Yeah. I mean, it’s cool to get the the insight on exactly, you know, the grinds and stuff, too. Um, you know, it speaks to I think a lot of players to hear that from you as you know, you’re pretty playing relatively standard grinds in your other club. This is this is a just the off the rack how a ping T. Yeah. 60 degree would be from the Glide Forge Pros. Yeah. You’re not making the tour truck. No, I’m not making the tour guys, you know, grind them out too much. So, um, okay. Lastly, we got to talk about the flat stick we working with on the greens. Yeah. This is an old school and I got this when I was 13 years old. So, still using the same one. Well, this is a I guess this is that’s not true entirely. This is a a new version. It’s the exact same one, just a The old one turned silver after Got it. nine years of using it. Fair enough. So, this one I got maybe whenever I was in college or right after college. It’s the exact same Ping D66 Redwood. Um, I don’t know. I just think that it’s a little bit firmer feel than the than some of the other stuff out there and I like the feedback. Um, I’ve switched to, like I said, I putters are in and out of the rotation for me, but this has been my gamer for the last 13 years really. And, um, so what does that look like for you? So, you say you’re testing stuff, hitting new putters. Like, is there a is there ever would there ever come a point where like, you know, what would that look like if something really you actually test it and you’re like, “Okay, wow. This could actually compete with my gamer play with it the next time.” What would it what would it take, do you think, to get there? Cuz I mean, to stick with the same model for 13 years, that’s pretty remarkable. Well, I mean, like, I’m not kidding. I I’ll putt with a a mallet one week and switch to a like a tow hang complete to hang blade the the following week. It’s I’m very That’s wild. Yeah, sometimes I just need a new look. But this is, like I said, this is the one that I always go back to. Once this I once I feel like I’m kind of losing it a little bit with this putter, losing confidence, I just switch and then uh I come back to it. But I got my first win with this putter and then um Sure. My second win I actually used it’s a similar PL version of this. It’s kind of a mix between this and the old ZB. Oh yeah. And so I think the name of it is technically the ZB3. And um I love that putter as well. It’s actually it’s here with me. It’s just not in the bag this year. Okay. Okay. Well, so I I think maybe I know the answer to this, but I was going to kind of wrap with one final question, and that was going to be what your favorite ping club of all time is that you’ve played. Maybe it’s the favorite pink, you know, obviously aside from this new stuff that you have in the bag now that’s helping you, you know, win tournaments and stuff, but is there something even going back to your junior days or your your your college days that you just have a nostalgic feeling to? Yeah. I mean, obviously I can’t This is definitely up there, but I remember the old uh I think it was the I25 3wood, the one with the racing stripes. Yep. Yep. I remember that one for some I think I hit it for so long the face had gotten so thin. Okay. It went so far and I remember I was like 16 years old just hitting it miles past. I was almost hitting it as far as my driver and I I still have it but you know it’s about to crack but I I haven’t played it in the last you know I’ve got like a regular shaft flexing it and so if you don’t mind I think what we’re going to do you know in our for our own content or I think we’re probably have to test then an I253 would against something new and see how it is. But it’s a good looking club. Yeah. Well Austin, thank you for the time today. Um, this has been great to kind of get some, you know, behind the scenes info from you on your on your game and and your equipment. Um, and I think I think all of us at Second Swing wish you the best of luck this week and beyond as well in your career. So, appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks. Enjoyed it. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
2 Comments
Yes test the i25! See if he can test it for you!
Go Austin!