50 Words or Less
The PING G440 MAX fairway wood is long and consistent. A mini version of the G440 MAX driver with its tremendous forgiveness. Taller face makes it appealing to hit off the tee.
Introduction
There’s nothing better than pulling a club out of your bag with confidence. I’ve had that feeling about my driver at times, my irons often, and my putter pretty regularly, but a fairway wood? That’s a rare bird. The PING G440 MAX fairway wood, however, promises to give you that feeling more often. I tested it to see if it’s true.
Looks
I’ve reviewed a lot of fairway woods in 2025. When it comes to the look at address, the PING G440 MAX fairway wood might be the exact middle of the bell curve. The footprint is symmetrical and mostly round. It’s just long enough from front to back that the shape hints at triangular. From heel-to-toe, the G440 MAX is just a hair under average, and the face sits square in the neutral setting.
The one dimension that is not average is the face height. The PING G440 MAX fairway wood was designed with a taller face, which makes it much more appealing to hit off the tee. It also features PING’s trademark matte black crown which reveals the Carbonfly Wrap crown at the trailing edge.
In the bag, the sole looks more streamlined than the G430 MAX FW [review HERE]. I also like the slashes of blue, calling back to classic models like the G2 and G5. From all angles, this is a stately club that wants to get to work, not cry out for attention.
Sound & Feel
In keeping with the understated look, the PING G440 MAX fairway wood is quieter than average at impact. The sound is low pitched and unobtrusive. There is excellent audio feedback, however, as centered shots have an exciting whip crack sound and mishits are a less rewarding “thud.”
Your hands get a similar mix of sensations from this club. On center, there’s a noticeable poppy, almost explosive feel. When you miss the center, the club feels solid and stable, but there’s no sense of power or speed. There’s also excellent feedback on strike location – an unexpected bonus from a club this forgiving.
Performance
Regular readers know that I’ve always regarded myself as a below average fairway wood player. That’s improved a lot over the last couple years, but it’s still not a strength of my game. When I was testing the PING G440 MAX fairway wood, however, I started to wonder if I wasn’t giving myself enough credit. Then I realized I was just testing the miniature version of the G440 MAX driver [review HERE].
For me, the biggest concern with a fairway wood – particularly a 3W – is launch angle. The G440 MAX FW launched my best strikes on a medium trajectory that’s about as close to optimal as I’ve ever been. More importantly, there was minimal drop off when I struck the ball thin. This is thanks to the low CG that’s made by possible by the weight savings from the Carbonfly Wrap crown and PING’s new Free Hosel design.
On that theme of consistency, the ball speed from this club is extremely reliable. PING notes that the face has been “optimized in the heel and toe regions for more ball speed…on off-center strikes,” and that was evident in my testing. Like the G440 MAX driver, I only lost a few MPH of ball speed on a mishit – a drop off that might not be noticeable without a launch monitor.
Need help fighting a slice? Try the PING G440 SFT fairway wood HERE
The final performance piece is the dispersion which is similarly excellent. I wrote “No big curves” as I made some poor swings that pushed or pulled the ball but didn’t hook or slice it. After a stretch of “B” or better swings, I noted, “Everything goes straight.” Skilled players will certainly be able to coax fades and draws from the PING G440 MAX fairway wood, but it’s more than happy to simply send the ball straight down the fairway.
Turning to fitting options, something new for the PING G440 MAX fairway wood is the 4W loft of 17 degrees. This joins the four traditional options – 15, 19, 21, and 24 degrees – to give players more ways to get what they need in their long game. These clubs also feature PING’s adjustable hosel for tuning the loft up or down 1.5 degrees.
For lower spin, check out the PING G440 LST fairway wood HERE
For players who need more help getting the ball airborne, PING also offers the G440 High Launch build. This features an ultralight shaft and grip along with a lighter weight in the head. This all adds up to a club that has a lower swing weight and overall weight, which should lead to more swing speed, higher launch angles, and improved carry distance.
Finally, PING offers a great range of shaft options for their fairway woods. There are four excellent PING-specific options plus the Denali Red and Mitsubishi TENSEI 1K Black [review HERE]. I tested the G440 MAX FW with the TENSEI 1K Black. On paper, a low launching shaft may not be the obvious choice for a low launch, low spin player, but this is the shaft that gives me the most confidence which leads to the best contact and best results.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a long game club to give you a boost of confidence, the PING G440 MAX fairway wood is a great choice. This club has tremendous forgiveness and consistency, so you’ll feel great pulling it out of the bag to hit a tight fairway or take on a long approach shot.
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PING G440 MAX Fairway Wood Price & Specs
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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7 Comments
I can’t think of a time it was worth the money to upgrade a fairway wood to the brand’s very next generation, but I’m very strongly considering swapping my G430 Max 3W for a G440 Max. I just love the little tweaks they’ve made to the head shape this year. A slightly more cambered sole and a slightly deeper face address my only two minor complaints about the G430 line, and really do make this a more versatile club. I know the face is only a few millimeters deeper, but that’s all it needed to be.
Will you all be reviewing the G440 LST fairway wood? I hope to demo it as well, but as a lefty it’s been tough to find one anywhere to hit. If you do plan to review that one and it’s at all possible to hit them both on the same day so the data is comparable, I’d love to know how the launch and spin compare on the Max and LST models in your hands.
Eric,
Yes, Zack has a review of the LST fairway wood that will be up in late April.
Best,
Matt
I tested the 440max 3 wood against my 425 using the same shaft on both. There was no comparison. The 440 was longer, launched higher and was more forgiving.
Did you find that the club being slightly taller made it a bit hard to hit off the deck? Also though, I’m only a moderate swing speed guy so I’m wondering if that also might be working against me with this club when not off the tee.
Mike,
I had no issue elevating this club off the deck, and that’s not a strength of my game.
Best,
Matt
I bought the 21 Degree 7 wood and fell immediately in love. It is like a cheat code replaces about 3 clubs for me. Very straightforward to hit off the deck and from even bad lies.
I love that they’ve incrementally deepened the face height..Ping is so known for shallow faced woods/hybrids. I’d still say the 440 is on the shallow side. My 430 is a great performer but Pings just always scream “sky mark me” lol Other than that, the 430s look and feel great, and I actually really used that face pattern for easy alignment. As a tangent..I cannot believe Ping hasn’t come out with a mini driver yet, maybe call it DrivR, to go with their ChipR and BunkR. Maybe come up with a HybR and a FwR. Match it up with a PutR and we’d all just carry around 5 or 6 clubs and have a blast. :) Ping makes great stuff.