Equipment
Neal Shipley discusses his unique “mini driver”
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from a piece that was originally published on PGATour.com by our Andrew Tursky as part of our ongoing content partnership. In the larger piece, we hear from Neal Shipley about the unique elements of his WITB. Head over there for the full article.
Neal Shipley, the 2024 U.S. Amateur runner-up and “Full Swing” star who’s playing this week’s Valspar Championship, has his own take on the trend, creating his version with some unique modifications to a Ping driver. The “mini-driver” that Shipley is testing at Innisbrook Resort isn’t really a mini-driver at all. In fact, it’s a Ping G440 Max driver with more loft (12 degrees) and less length (43 inches) than a standard driver. Shipley called it a “situational club” that is closer in length to a 3-wood than a driver, giving him more control.
“One thing with the mini driver is that they’re a smaller head and less forgiving,” Shipley said. “But with this Max head, it has a really big head that’s on a really short shaft, so you can kind of feel really confident on it. I feel like it’s really straight. … I don’t know if it’ll go in the bag this week, but it’s certainly a club we might use this year on the Korn Ferry Tour, because there’s a lot of courses where you don’t need to hit it 300; 280 in the air is better. It would be a lot more forgiving than a 3-wood.”
With the Korn Ferry Tour on a scheduled hiatus this week, Shipley, the low amateur in the 2024 Masters and U.S. Open, is making a cameo on the PGA TOUR. He is 43rd on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List with two top-15 finishes in six starts.
Shipley said he’s not necessarily looking for an option off the deck, or to work the ball more than a driver, but rather, it’s intended to be a fairway finder on holes where the landing area gets tighter around 280-300 yards.
Head over there for the full article.
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Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Chuck
Mar 20, 2025 at 12:13 pm
He’s such a good dude. I met him at the B1G championship at Scioto. Really hoping he breaks through on Tour. He seems really comfortable playing at the highest levels.