The Ping Rapture Driver

The Ping Rapture Driver is a 460cc driver featuring a visible, web-shaped titanium crown injected with lightweight composite. By utilizing the composite in the low stress areas of the crown, PING engineers re-positioned 20 grams of mass inside the club for higher launch and lower spin. The Ping Rapture Driver has a  fully-machined variable thickness face which increases ball speed for a hotter club face response

Initial Tour response has been very positive. Several players worldwide, including two of the game's longest drivers—Bubba Watson and Angel Cabrera—have added the Ping Rapture Driver to their arsenals. At the British Open, eight drivers were in play. The new driver secured its first win at the Nationwide Tour's Price Cutter Charity Championship. At the Women's British Open, 15 Ping Rapture drivers were used.

A team of PING engineers relied on computer optimization models driven by a Cray Supercomputer to analyze the crown to ensure structural integrity and performance. Acoustical engineering was also heavily employed to produce a solid, powerful sound.

"The driver exceeds our performance expectations, but we're just as excited about the sound," said John K. Solheim, PING's Vice President of Engineering who oversaw development of the Rapture Series. "Our research indicated a general dissatisfaction with the sound of existing composite drivers, so we made it a high priority in our design criteria. Using finite element analysis (FEA), we've tuned the club's frequencies to produce a powerful sound that we believe will turn heads on the tee box."

A complex manufacturing process wherein the composite material is inserted into the web-shape crown using a bladder mold creates the unique, eye-catching crown design. The bladder enters the club head through the skirt—which is also filled with composite—and is molded into position to ensure a strong, durable bond to the titanium head.