Ever look at a multiple-time major champion like Brooke Henderson and wonder what’s in her golf bag? She isn’t just playing stock clubs off the rack, her equipment is a customized, finely-tuned extension of her unique and powerful swing. This article will break down every club Brooke uses and, more importantly, explain the strategy behind her choices and what you, the everyday golfer, can learn from her setup.
Before we pull a single club, it's vital to understand a couple of things about how Brooke Henderson approaches the game. First, she is famous for her aggressive choke-down grip. On nearly every club in her bag, from driver to wedge, she grips down an inch or two. This gives her an incredible sense of control and allows her to manipulate the clubface with precision. Second, she pairs this with a driver shaft that is longer than what most TOUR pros use. These two elements create a signature style that is all her own, and her club choices reflect this perfectly.
As you'll see, her bag is a masterclass in blending power with precision and relying on equipment that builds confidence. She’s been a PING loyalist her entire professional career, and they work hand-in-hand to dial in her specs.
Here’s a detailed look at the tools of the trade for one of the LPGA Tour’s brightest stars.
Brooke’s most talked-about club is undoubtedly her driver. She plays a PING G430 MAX set to 9 degrees but has it paired with a 46-inch Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 5 S shaft. For context, the standard driver length for most men is 45.75 inches, and many Tour pros opt for shorter shafts (around 44.5 to 45 inches) for better control.
So, why go longer?
A longer shaft creates a wider arc and the potential for much higher clubhead speed. This is a huge source of Brooke's power, allowing her to be one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour. She offsets the potential lack of control from the longer shaft by choking down on the grip, which effectively shortens the club and brings her hands closer to the shaft's ideal balance point. It’s a remarkable combination of customized tech and feel.
Lesson for Amateurs: While it’s tempting to chase speed with a longer shaft, for most golfers this is a recipe for inconsistency. Without the hand-eye coordination of a world-class player, a longer shaft makes it incredibly difficult to find the center of the face. For you, the takeaway is in her choice of the G430 MAX head. The "MAX" model is PING's most forgiving option. Even the best players in the world want the safety net of a high-MOI (Moment of Inertia) driver that helps keep off-center hits in play. Don’t think you're too good for a "game improvement" or forgiving driver, the pros certainly don't.
Brooke carries two fairway woods, a 3-wood and a 5-sound, and like her driver, they’re the forgiving G430 MAX models. She uses these as versatile weapons, both off the tee on tight par-4s and for attacking long par-5s in two.
Using the MAX model here again emphasizes a key theme: consistency and predictable launch. Fairway woods can be some of the most difficult clubs to hit purely, especially off the deck. A forgiving head makes a massive difference. The large profile provides confidence at address, and the technology within helps get the ball airborne easily and maintain speed on strikes that aren't perfectly flush.
Lesson for Amateurs: Don’t underestimate the value of a trusted 5-wood. Many amateurs struggle with 3-woods off the fairway because they don't have enough clubhead speed to get the ideal launch from such a low loft. A 5-wood (or even a 7-wood) is often a much easier and more consistent club to hit. It can become your go-to for long approach shots where you need to carry a hazard and land the ball softly.
Replacing her long irons, Brooke carries a 26-degree PING G430 hybrid. This is effectively her 5-iron replacement. For a player with her speed and power, this might seem like a "weaker" club choice, but it’s an incredibly smart one.
Hybrids are designed to launch higher and land softer than their equivalent iron. This is a immense advantage when hitting into firm greens from long range. Where a long iron might come in hot and release to the back of the green, a hybrid allows her to fly the ball to the pin and have it stop more quickly. It's a strategic choice designed for scoring, not just for distance.
Lesson for Amateurs: This is perhaps the biggest lesson in Brooke’s entire bag. If one of the best ball strikers in the world sees the benefit of swapping a 5-iron for a hybrid, so should you. Most amateurs struggle to get enough height and spin with 4, 5, and even 6-irons. This leads to low, running shots that can't hold a green. Replacing those hard-to-hit long irons with more forgiving and higher-launching hybrids will almost immediately improve your long game.
Brooke’s iron set starts with a 5-iron and goes down to a pitching wedge. She plays the PING i230 models. This is considered a "player's" iron, but it's not a pure blade. The i230 is crafted for feel and workability, but it integrates a good amount of forgiveness through perimeter weighting and an elastomer insert that helps with feel on Pure'd shots and mishits.
This tells you something important about her priorities. She wants the ability to shape shots - to hit soft fades and drawing shots into pins - but she doesn’t want to be harshly punished if she misses the absolute center of the clubface. This iron model is the perfect blend, providing the feedback a top player needs without being overly demanding.
Once again, she chokes down on every iron, which gives her precise distance control. By varying how much she chokes down, she can take a little bit off a shot without changing her smooth, powerful tempo.
Lesson for Amateurs: The dream of playing blades is common, but the reality is that most golfers would score better with irons that offer more forgiveness. Look at what Brooke plays: a compact player's iron, yes, but one that is still packed with forgiveness technology. Be honest about your ball-striking. Unless you consistently find the sweet spot, playing "player's cavity back" irons like the i-series, or even more forgiving game-improvement irons, will give you much better results on your misses.
Brooke's scoring clubs are a tuned mix of PING models. She utilizes a systematic gapping to cover all of her "in-between" yardages.
Lesson for Amateurs: Pay attention to your wedge gaps! Many amateurs have a large gap - sometimes 6-8 degrees - between their pitching wedge and their sand wedge. This leaves an awkward yardage that you can't hit with a full swing. Adding a gap wedge (around 50-52 degrees) is one of the quickest ways to improve your scoring from 120 yards and in.
This is my favorite club in her bag because it tells you so much about what’s important in golf: confidence. The PING Cadence TR Ketsch C is an older model from 2015. While PING has released dozens of newer, advanced putters since then, Brooke sticks with what works.
She trusts this putter. She knows what it feels like, she knows how the ball comes off the face, and she has countless memories of making putts with it under pressure. That history and confidence are far more valuable than any new technology. She pairs it with an oversized PING grip which helps quiet her hands and promotes a more stable, shoulder-driven stroke.
Lesson for Amateurs: A three-foot putt is worth the same as a 300-yard drive. Find a putter that feels good in your hands and looks good to your eye and stick with it. Don’t fall into the trap of buying a new putter every season. Find a trusted friend and build a long-term relationship. Build confidence, and you will save strokes.
Brooke Henderson's bag is a fantastic study in self-awareness. It's built around her distinctive swing, maximizing her power with the long driver while prioritizing control and forgiveness with her choked-down grips and forgiving clubheads. It proves there's no single "right" way to build a set of clubs, the best setup is the one that gives you the confidence to play your best golf.
While most of us will never produce Brooke's clubhead speed, we can all learn to make smarter choices on the course. Deciding on the right club, picking the correct target, and managing tricky situations is where confidence truly shows. We designed Caddie AI to be that instant, trusted partner in your pocket. From getting a smart strategy on a challenging tee shot to analyzing a tricky lie, it offers the kind of expert guidance that allows you to commit to every swing and play with more confidence.
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