Hippo golf???

So before I get to my question, here is a little background as to why I am asking about Hippo golf.

So I was playing a round last Saturday and driving well. Averaging about 290-300 yards with my adams speedline (which I love!), when all of a sudden the head snaps off the hosel at contact. Now before anybody says I hit it in the ground, my backswing and everything felt great. I squared the ball at contact and the ball went about 220 down the middle of the fairway. But in the process, the club head went flying off and I found it 70 yards down the fairway. I couldn't believe what happened, but I've read up a little bit about it and it seems that Adams has had a problem with this shaft (the prolaunch blue axis).

So being in college and not having a job, I can't afford a good shaft right now. I went looking around websites to find a good shaft for the buck, but nothing is really standing out. Then I stumbled accross a deal that rockbottomgolf is having, and they are selling the Hippo Hex-2 driver for $44. I'm thinking this would be a good value for the time being until I can get enough money to buy another shaft, but I was wondering what everyone here thinks? I really value what everyone has to say on here because the information is almost always good and insightful. Anybody have anything to say about this company or driver?

run far away

I bought my son a golf bag from the, good quality. I have also seen their wedges. NOt any of the other clubs.

adams will fix your club...almost all of them will do it...just take it back to the store and let them ship it...or call adams and they will give you a return number. should be no cost to you.

[quote name='elunoputter' date='27 April 2010 - 06:11 PM' timestamp='1272406268' post='2404784']
adams will fix your club...almost all of them will do it...just take it back to the store and let them ship it...or call adams and they will give you a return number. should be no cost to you.
[/quote]


Well I bought my Speedline online brand new from an a powerseller on ebay. Will Adams still fix it?

What companies did you look at when shopping for shafts. I don't know your personal preferences but try graphite design. you could alsogo to a website like Ralph Maltby and it will give you the shafts they have in stock that match oyur specks. Other wise, I would try to get adams to fix your driver before you go with Hippo Golf. There arent terrible, but if you need good quality stuff, they are not the company for you.

[quote name='steveh1591' date='27 April 2010 - 11:07 PM' timestamp='1272406021' post='2404774']
run far away
[/quote]

And dont look back, EVER.

edit: This might be non conforming, sure I read they were a while ago.

Hippo makes fine entry level clubs. They're more popular in Europe. The Hex and Hex2 drivers were well reviewed in golf magazines.

I say don't listen to ignorant people and buy one.

Pretty sure there is a pretty big shaft sale on in BST atm

check it out some are cheaper then the Hippo

[quote name='seminole1024' date='27 April 2010 - 02:15 PM' timestamp='1272406509' post='2404792']
[quote name='elunoputter' date='27 April 2010 - 06:11 PM' timestamp='1272406268' post='2404784']
adams will fix your club...almost all of them will do it...just take it back to the store and let them ship it...or call adams and they will give you a return number. should be no cost to you.
[/quote]


Well I bought my Speedline online brand new from an a powerseller on ebay. Will Adams still fix it?
[/quote]

Just call them and ask. Dont tell them where you bought it. Im sure the serial determines whether or not theyll be fixing anything. Some authorized dealers sell on ebay; whether or not they are allowed to do so, I dont know.

You should call Adams and tell them what happened first. Personally, I wouldn't touch a Hippo club with a ten foot 8 iron.

i think i seen a hippo driver at marshalls for like $15 bucks...

[quote name='BigMike300c' date='28 April 2010 - 09:04 AM' timestamp='1272409453' post='2404887']
i think i seen a hippo driver at marshalls for like $15 bucks...
[/quote]

quality...

i used to play these kinds of no name brands and trust me you're only doing yourself a dishonor.
Hit up the BST for a new shaft if Adams wont fix it

Thanks for all the input everybody! I will definitely try to contact Adams and see what they have to say. The shafts I've looked at are mainly Aldila, but have also looked at Matrix and Graffaloy. I want to buy a quality shaft, but nothing over $100. The Hippo driver would just be temporary, but I don't want to buy a POS. The answers seemed to be mixed, but the run far away definitely made me laugh.

Aldila NV/NVS Pin for $16.95 from aldila store on ebay.

[quote]i used to play these kinds of no name brands and trust me you're only doing yourself a dishonor. [/quote]

Hippo isn't exactly a no-name brand. They've had [url="http://www.hippo-golf.com/uk/news.php?story=31"]Ian Woosnam[/url] on their staff.

Yeah but you know what I meant.

Ok, how about lower tier company (Top Flite, Wilson (not Staff))

i don't think Hippo is really any more lower tier than Adams, for example. the quality of the components used in their clubs are as good as anyone else (i.e., they've featured Mitsubishi and Grafalloy shafts in their drivers). they're just not that big outside of Europe, that's all.

I REALLY dont think Adams can be considered low tier. Hippo IMO are not in that league as far as quality goes

[quote]I REALLY dont think Adams can be considered low tier.[/quote]

um . . . that's the point. though Adams is small potatoes compared with Ping, Titleist/Cobra, Cleveland/Srixon, Taylor-Made, and Callaway, and the resale/trade-in value on Adams clubs is crap.

[quote]Hippo IMO are not in that league as far as quality goes [/quote]

you are entitled to your opinion, however misinformed it may be. food for thought: Nickent is out of business, but Hippo is still going strong. think about it.

Just because Nickent went out doesn't mean Hippo have better clubs. I played Nickent irons and hybrids and they were class.
Uninformed people looking for a bargain go Hippois BIG and CHEAP, gimme gimme gimme.

And I still don't get where you are going with Adams. Their new offerings are top notch. The general market hasn't caught on yet.

[quote name='shorrrno' date='27 April 2010 - 09:39 PM' timestamp='1272422370' post='2405373']
Just because Nickent went out doesn't mean Hippo have better clubs. I played Nickent irons and hybrids and they were class.
Uninformed people looking for a bargain go Hippois BIG and CHEAP, gimme gimme gimme.

And I still don't get where you are going with Adams. Their new offerings are top notch. The general market hasn't caught on yet.
[/quote]

+1

[quote]Uninformed people looking for a bargain go Hippois BIG and CHEAP, gimme gimme gimme. [/quote]

i suppose that "BIG and CHEAP" is why Hippo offers a Grafalloy Platinum ProLaunch shaft in their latest driver, which also features multi-material construction with a carbon-fiber crown with a beta-ti sole and SP700 titanium face.

[quote]And I still don't get where you are going with Adams. Their new offerings are top notch. The general market hasn't caught on yet. [/quote]

the general market hasn't caught on yet? it's not like Adams is some new brand that needs to catch on. the comparison is apt: neither company is a big hitter like Ping, Titleist/Cobra, TaylorMade, Cleveland/Srixon, and Callaway. both companies make solid clubs at competitive prices. and both companies' clubs have crap trade-in/resale value.

i've bought an Adams RPM 3-wood and 5-wood at Wal-Mart for chrissake. i like Adams as much as the next guy, but being able to buy their clubs at a Wal-Mart places them in the same league as Hippo as far as i'm concerned.

I said they havent caught onto the NEW offerings being top quality.

I dont think you can justify where you bought one of their older models as a way of forever generalising a brand.

Maybe we should do a count of how many Adams clubs are being used on tour and how many Hippo clubs are being used on tour?

[quote]I said they havent caught onto the NEW offerings being top quality. [/quote]

as opposed to their older offerings being *not* top quality?

[quote]I dont think you can justify where you bought one of their older models as a way of forever generalising a brand. [/quote]

sure i can. because you'll *never* find a Ping, Titleist/Cobra, Callaway, TaylorMade, etc. golf club for sale in a Wal-Mart, older model or not.

on top of that, here in the US, Adams plays in the same value-priced, entry-level market that Hippo does--both companies offering $200 iron sets, for example. Adams clubs tend to get the biggest markdowns at the big box stores here in the US (i.e. Dick's Sporting Goods). the comparison is apt.

[quote]Maybe we should do a count of how many Adams clubs are being used on tour and how many Hippo clubs are being used on tour? [/quote]

which tour? Hippo is big in Europe, but small everywhere else.

in any event, being played on tour is a bit of red herring anyway. Maruman and Honma don't have a huge tour presence, and they're not exactly crap.

And i guarentee Adams is still bigger in Europe. Can you even name a successful Hippo staffer?

Brosnan is popular in Australia too but that doesn't make it any good.

And no the offerings of a few years back from Adams were not in the same league as Titleist, PING, TM, Nike, Callaway but its suffice to say that their drivers and hybrids now very much are. Not to mention some of the forged irons coming out now!! To put Hippo in that league is a joke! Popular in Europe or not.

i put Hippo in the same league with Adams. because here in the US, they play in the same sandbox, so to speak. whether Adams is bigger than Hippo in Europe, i can't say. Hippo claims to be the biggest European-based brand in the golf industry, whatever that means.

You should be able to get many high quality shafts for less than $40. Grafalloy Epic and Prolaunch Platinum come to mind. It's also very easy to install a shaft yourself. Let us know what you do!

[quote name='shorrrno' date='27 April 2010 - 09:33 PM' timestamp='1272418396' post='2405209']


Ok, how about lower tier company (Top Flite, Wilson (not Staff))
[/quote]

Top Flite(other than balls) is crap as far as equipment goes. Wilson(I was about to say: "WTF are you on? Wilson "lower tier?" are you kidding me? they've won 3 majors w/their stuff-, until I saw the "not staff" thing) is ok. WS is amazing iron/wedge wise. Their new irons are wonderful. The cheapy Wilson stuff you find @ say Walmart and the like? pretty much crap. Although, my buddy did buy one of those 460cc Wilson (cheapo) drivers from I *think* Target, and knocked the s*** out of it. The head eventually fell off, but, he was lucky to get something like 3-4 rds in on it, and some pretty sweet shots too, before that happened.

Hippo isn't bad, TBHWY, I had one of their old 400cc drivers, and that thing lasted a while, and I hit the s*** out of it, and I paid $30 bucks for it, from a bargain bin. Thing lasted me over a year, before I sold it off for $15 to a friend, who didn't like 460cc drivers.

[quote name='GolferJeff' date='28 April 2010 - 03:25 PM' timestamp='1272432322' post='2405632']
[quote name='shorrrno' date='27 April 2010 - 09:33 PM' timestamp='1272418396' post='2405209']
Ok, how about lower tier company (Top Flite, Wilson (not Staff))
[/quote]

Top Flite(other than balls) is crap as far as equipment goes. Wilson(I was about to say: "WTF are you on? Wilson "lower tier?" are you kidding me? they've won 3 majors w/their stuff-, until I saw the "not staff" thing) is ok. WS is amazing iron/wedge wise. Their new irons are wonderful. The cheapy Wilson stuff you find @ say Walmart and the like? pretty much crap. Although, my buddy did buy one of those 460cc Wilson (cheapo) drivers from I *think* Target, and knocked the s*** out of it. The head eventually fell off, but, he was lucky to get something like 3-4 rds in on it, and some pretty sweet shots too, before that happened.

Hippo isn't bad, TBHWY, I had one of their old 400cc drivers, and that thing lasted a while, and I hit the s*** out of it, and I paid $30 bucks for it, from a bargain bin. Thing lasted me over a year, before I sold it off for $15 to a friend, who didn't like 460cc drivers.
[/quote]

that quote was in response to a guy who said they werent a no name brand so i offered an alternate. IMO Hippo are just the budget golf clubs stocked in golf stores to aim at those who arent there to pay much but dont wanna play Walmart clubs