GT2 versus G440 LST Driver Reviews?

[JMB3]

After messing around with demos at our local shop, I think the only driver that could challenge my GT2 is the G440 LST.  But our shop has ancient simulators that do not show spin numbers.  Anyone compare these two heads on a reliable LM?

 

For the YT reviews, it seems GT2 is always compared to the G440 Max, and GT3 is always compared to G440 LST.  But given the GT2’s lower spin for its category, and the LST’s higher spin for its category, I am curious if the GT2 and G440 LST are more similar than one would expect.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[DNice26]

I actually own both right now.  For the time being I plan to keep both.  I only just got the 440 a few weeks ago.  I’ve owned the GT2 since end of last season and played a hand full of rounds with it.  I live in Ny so no on course stuff yet.  
I have hit both on Trakman a few times now and have been to the range a few as well.  
Tbh, I think I really enjoy both of them.  The ping head is quite heavy stock, so you may want to carefully consider what shaft and length you’d like to play it at, as you may then need a lighter weight.  Mine currently has a 21g in it which gets the head weight close to my GT2 stock.  Around 196g if I recall.  
Given it’s the start of the season, I think that’s the best I can share thus far.  I’m actually excited for both of them based on really a really positive, solid range session this past week.  I have a GC3 so plan to dial each in and perhaps make a final decision in the coming month.  

[JMB3]

1 hour ago, DNice26 said:

I actually own both right now.  For the time being I plan to keep both.  I only just got the 440 a few weeks ago.  I’ve owned the GT2 since end of last season and played a hand full of rounds with it.  I live in Ny so no on course stuff yet.  
I have hit both on Trakman a few times now and have been to the range a few as well.  
Tbh, I think I really enjoy both of them.  The ping head is quite heavy stock, so you may want to carefully consider what shaft and length you’d like to play it at, as you may then need a lighter weight.  Mine currently has a 21g in it which gets the head weight close to my GT2 stock.  Around 196g if I recall.  
Given it’s the start of the season, I think that’s the best I can share thus far.  I’m actually excited for both of them based on really a really positive, solid range session this past week.  I have a GC3 so plan to dial each in and perhaps make a final decision in the coming month.  

Great call on the weight.  LST demo felt like a hammer, and Iooking at Ping’s site, the SW was likely D6.

 

I look forward to hearing about your experience as your season gets underway.  

[Aces-6]

I just got the 440 LST yesterday and have been playing GT2 and GT3 this season (mostly GT3). I didn't have time yesterday and won't have time today to get them on Trackman but maybe this evening. I'll be sure to report back when I have some some numbers for you. The test won't be quite apples to apples since the 440 LST has a Tensei Black 65 and the GT2 will have a TR Black. 

 

 

[DNice26]

1 hour ago, JMB3 said:

Great call on the weight.  LST demo felt like a hammer, and Iooking at Ping’s site, the SW was likely D6.

 

I look forward to hearing about your experience as your season gets underway.  

Yeah, if you are a guy that likes driver at 45” or less, the 440 LST might be great because the head is pretty hefty.  If you go longer, that’s fine too, you will just need to invest in lighter weight(s) to test.  Or if you love high balance shafts, the LST could be great there too.  Being able to adjust flight bias with the 440 is a nice bonus too. I have shafts with All-fit adapters, so I’m testing both heads with the same shafts…which is nice.
If I had to say right now, I’d guess the forgiveness of both is surprisingly close.  
I like the sound/feel of the GT2 a bit more…but the 440 is good.  
If I had to play an important round tomorrow, I’d take the GT2…but that’s mostly just because I know it better at this stage.  
When I tested them both in Trakman, the LST actually gave me better numbers and dispersion by a reasonable amount.  
Two fun ones here IMHO

Edited March 16 by DNice26

[Witt80]

 

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Edited May 8 by Witt80
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[tim583]

Are you suggesting that the sweet spots are toe side? Curious what the image represents. 

[mktrout]

13 minutes ago, tim583 said:

Are you suggesting that the sweet spots are toe side? Curious what the image represents. 

they are on pretty much every driver

[drvrwdge]

1 hour ago, Witt80 said:

So by this heat map the 440 LST is more forgiving than the GT2?

[tim583]

26 minutes ago, mktrout said:

they are on pretty much every driver

That kind of blows my mind. Thanks for explaining. 

[Wardonation]

following

[DNice26]

3 hours ago, Witt80 said:

That prob explains why I like these drivers.  My miss is toe side.  
I’ve also seen the MOI numbers for both drivers and the Ping 440 LST is actually higher…which is pretty wild.  If I had to say based on my experience so far (limited with LST), I would actually give the slight edge to the 440 LST.  

Edited March 16 by DNice26

[Dmartica]

I've hit both and with the same shaft. The g440 was a spinning machine compared to the gt2, granted my miss is more on the heel side. I ended up with the gt2 and really like it. 

[Witt80]

9 minutes ago, tim583 said:

That kind of blows my mind. Thanks for explaining. 

 

6 minutes ago, DNice26 said:

That prob explains why I like these drivers.  I miss is toe side.  
I’ve also seem the MOI numbers for both drivers and the Ping 440 LST is actually higher…which is pretty wild.  If I had to say based on my experience so far (limited with LST), I would actually give the slight edge to the 440 LST.  

 

Drivers are designed with more loft higher on the face , they also produce less spin higher on the face ( due to gear effect ). Unless you have a very odd club delivery pretty much all drivers will see maximum distance from higher on the face. Club face closure rate also means the toe of the club actually has more club head speed than the middle. On a driver the face is so wide it can add up to several MPH , there comes a point though where the "flex" of the face drops off and distance goes back down even if youre getting more MPH.

Edited March 16 by Witt80
Clarity

[Witt80]

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[PNW]

35 minutes ago, Witt80 said:

So this will probably get me roasted , but MOI has very little to do with distance forgiveness , it can help massively with people who struggle to keep the face square through impact. 

Genuinely curious to hear more on how and why

[Witt80]

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Edited May 8 by Witt80
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[NZ315]

Got the GT2 love it not even looking at anything. IMO it has everything looks, sound, feel, forgiveness. Find the right shaft and it can’t be beat

[benz5521]

I did a driver fitting and they were the top 2 for me. Went GT2 because prefer the look and mishits seemed better but either are solid and comparable with spin and stuff from what I saw. 

[JMB3]

6 hours ago, DNice26 said:

Yeah, if you are a guy that likes driver at 45” or less, the 440 LST might be great because the head is pretty hefty.  If you go longer, that’s fine too, you will just need to invest in lighter weight(s) to test.  Or if you love high balance shafts, the LST could be great there too.  Being able to adjust flight bias with the 440 is a nice bonus too. I have shafts with All-fit adapters, so I’m testing both heads with the same shafts…which is nice.
If I had to say right now, I’d guess the forgiveness of both is surprisingly close.  
I like the sound/feel of the GT2 a bit more…but the 440 is good.  
If I had to play an important round tomorrow, I’d take the GT2…but that’s mostly just because I know it better at this stage.  
When I tested them both in Trakman, the LST actually gave me better numbers and dispersion by a reasonable amount.  
Two fun ones here IMHO

Funny you mention shaft length.  I’ve played 45.5 for years, but I have been contemplating cutting my GT2 down to 45, hoping to improve my strikes.  I stopped by the shop today to do just that.  I think I need to hit them side by side with the same or similar shaft at 45”.  I’m intrigued 

[benz5521]

17 minutes ago, JMB3 said:

Funny you mention shaft length.  I’ve played 45.5 for years, but I have been contemplating cutting my GT2 down to 45, hoping to improve my strikes.  I stopped by the shop today to do just that.  I think I need to hit them side by side with the same or similar shaft at 45”.  I’m intrigued 

I’m doing this exact thing with my GT2. Ordering another shaft at 45” playing length with an adapter to try. 

[halfsumo]

440 LST was excellent for me. No complaints. Nit-picks: I don't love the shallower face and it is heavy. Sound/Feel is good, but not as good as Titleist IMO. I think my setup was probably pushing D6 with just a normal 65 gram shaft. I do prefer the look sound and feel of my Gt3 and my GT3 setup consistently a few mph more ballspeed. I'm sure the LST could get there, but would take some tinkering and I didn't love it enough to put that extra work in. I was fit for GT3 and not for LST for what it's worth. I think for MOI and spin profiles the 440 LST is closer to core Qi35 and core Elyte than anything else. GT2 is under 8000 whereas these other 3 are all right around 9000

[Kmac]

I also just got a GT2 with Ventus Blue Velacore+ and it was a bomber yesterday. It came Saturday during my round so Sunday was first time on the range and the course. I was super nervous I had made a mistake after hitting a few on the range. All over the place but I wasnt sure if my eyes were broken because the balls seemed to be hitting half way up the net and bouncing backwards into the range. Thats not crazy far for big hitters but my Ai Smoke TDM never did that. Sundays round was like a first date, feeling each other out and learning each other. I was right with the guys who used to be 10-20 past me and hit spots on a couple holes where Id never been before. Super impressed with the GT2

[runningblind11]

On 3/16/2025 at 8:00 AM, Witt80 said:

That is quite interesting because I took this screenshot from his initial review video

 

[KonaV821]

Following this thread. I gamed a GT3 last year and recently obtained a GT2 head and played it the last couple of rounds and love it. Curiosity got the better of me and got a G440 lst.  I didn't get a long with it well with the stock tensei black shaft. I currenlty have a ventus black + on my GT2 and going to throw in a GD VF in the G440 LST, will report back after some testing. 

[Witt80]

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[runningblind11]

4 minutes ago, Witt80 said:

That is the Efficiency map, that measure raw ball speed, and because drivers have less loft low down they increase ball speed, the one i posted is the Distance factor map , which was also shown in the video right after this one. 

As Jay says during it the EFF is nice to see to show how large ball speed retention is on newer drivers, but if they spin and launch profiles are wrong ball speed != more distance. that's why we produce the Distance factor map as the real guide to driver distance consistency.

Interesting, I did not know that.  Thanks.

[Aces-6]

Just finished up testing the GT2 against 440 LST and I was somewhat surprised by the results. 

 

For reference, I've been playing the GT2 on and off since it's release so I'm quite comfortable with it at this point. Driver was fit by Titleist on an outdoor range using Pro V1's and Trackman. The result of the fitting was a GT2 9* head set at A2 with a Ventus TR Black 6-stiff playing at 45.25" and D4 swing weight. The 440 LST was an impulse buy off the BST last week and is completely stock at 9* with a Tensei Black 65 stiff at 45.5" and D6 swing weight.

 

After I warmed up for a bit this morning I put these two (along with my GT3) up against one another. The ball I used was a brand new out of the sleeve '23 Pro V1. I hit five balls with each driver and here are the average results:

 

GT2 9* TR Black 6-stiff:

carry distance-288.7

total distance-312.2

club speed-108.5

ball speed-161.5

smash-1.49

spin-2262

height-112'2"

 

G440 LST Tensei Black 65 stiff:

carry distance-283.7

total distance-309.4

club speed-109.5

ball speed-161.6

smash-1.48

spin-2286

height-99'

 

I really feel like with a TR Black 6-stiff at 45.25" and D4 swing weight the 440 LST may tighten the gap or even squeak ahead of the GT2. I was a little surprised my club head speed was 1 mph faster with the 440 at D6 sw.

Edited March 31 by Aces-6

[Witt80]

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Edited May 8 by Witt80
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[Aces-6]

GT2 launch angle was 14.4 and G440 LST was 13.0. You were almost spot on with the 1.5 degrees prediction!