Driver test musings....

[MarkAJones]

Just thought I'd share some thoughts on some drivers I hit at the weekend.

 

Currently playing 2017 M1, HZRDUS Black 63g Stiff

 

I've actually been hitting my driver quite well of late (touch wood) but given it's pretty much a couple of years old now, I thought I'd just pit it against the new tech out there. Plus, I'd got it in my head I was launching a bit high so wanted to see if a lower loft head might help. It's not spin with me so much, more just hitting up a tad too much, if that's possible.

 

First up, G400 LST. I was looking forward to hitting this having played the G. It was a bit disappointing tbh. Dispersion was good (despite hitting into a closed bay with nothing but a felt tip X to aim at) but it was short. Looked nice behind the ball and sounded ok too, if thats important to you. I was using the same shaft I have in my M1

 

My ShotScope performance average has me at 259 yards. According to monitor, I was carrying it 225 rolling out to 240-245.

 

Next up, M4. Slightly longer than the Ping, dispersion good but more right of the line (I naturally draw a little). Hated how it sounded though and looked "too rounded" behind the ball. Shaft was Project X Even Flow I think

 

Finally, Rogue sub zero 10.5 head. Yikers. This thing was long. I mean I carried all my test shots as long or longer than where the Ping and M4 were rolling out to, with a longest total distance of 281. dispersion however was a little wider. I had the HZDRUS Black in again but at 75g. This gave it a real solid feel. I also hit the 9 degree head with the Even Flow 75g. Similar results as the 10.5 head. It sounded good too. My only criticism was looks. Its a very shiny black head and whilst its a nice shape, it doesn't frame the ball as well as the Ping did. None frame it as well as the M1 IMHO.

 

All three drivers I was launching between 14 and 16 degrees and spinning around 2200 so not bad numbers. Maybe Jailbreak isn't BS (though Twistface most definitely is.....)

 

As the Rogue test went well and as I was also looking at all 3 at the top of my bag (look, the missus and kids were away all weekend and the devil makes work for idle hands....) I also hit the Rogue 3 wood. Again, a total beast. I'm not renowned for my fairways which is why I currently play hybrids. I had that thing going 230 yards off the deck.

 

Given the trend for driving irons, I wanted to hit one but they only had the Titleist MB 3 iron. It was okay. I got one just over 200 yards but mostly they were at around 190, so not exactly monstrous.

 

However, I could easily have games all 3.

 

So here's the rub. They wanted 430 for the driver, 250 for the fairway and 220 (!!!) for the 3 iron, so a cool £900 in total. They offered me 160 for my M1. I didn't get a price for my two M1 hybrids but lets say I'm offered 300 in total. I'd still need to lay out £600....

 

So did I?

 

No. I did love the Rogue driver and fairway - not so much the MB 3i but there were no real gains.

 

I'm hitting my driver well. Yesterday it was like it sensed I'd flirted with another and it was sweet to me, I missed 2 fairways all day - my best ever stats.

 

My 2 hybrid doesn't quite match the Rogue fairway but its near enough. My 3 hybrid most definitely beats the MB 3i both in terms of distance and ease of play.

 

What a waste of time then I hear you all saying. Well, not entirely. I got the need to tinker out of my head. I de-ho'd myself.

 

For now anyway. Note to self, set alert to notify when Cally price drop the Rogue.....

[Duffner's Waggle]

Man, good on ya! I wish I could de-ho myself. If I even think I've thought about thinking about picking up a club to try, the search begins and it doesn't matter what I do to try and stop it. Once the thought is there, it's like a seed that takes root and begins to grow. It's all I have to not leave my office right now, go stand outside Golf Galaxy and as soon as they open the doors go hit the Rogue Sub Zero to see if I can hit it further than 281.

[swizbeatz]

What kind of launch monitor did you test on? Did your current driver actually go too high?

[MarkAJones]

281 was my best, the majority were between 265 and 275 which tbh, is plenty good enough.

 

Pretty sure monitor was GC2 and I think my swing speed was around 100. I a tall, long armed guy with a wide arc so I get decent ball speed. Launch was coming off between 14 and 16 across all the drivers - didn't check the 9 degree Cally - d'oh. The only thing that made me feel a bit iffy about the numbers was efficiency (smash factor?) came out at 1.45 for EVERY shot. Surely it should vary

 

So I'm probably launching a couple of degrees above optimal - if I've read the charts right. Explains why I'm not getting so much roll out. A guy I play with carries it about 170 and rolls out another 60! Tbh, it's not really a problem, this time of year excessive roll can cause real issues so if mine are going up and up and only rolling out 10 or 15, I can live with it if they're carrying 240, 250.

 

Anyway, all really interesting. I'd love to spend more time with my entire bag looking at these numbers. I would however, prefer to hit out onto a range so I can see the "real" flight. Hitting at a green tarpaulin 5 yards away with just a sharpie cross as target didn't really suit my eye.....

 

As for the ho-ing.... I guess I'm the guy who likes to look through the window rather than actually sampling the goods so to speak. If there is anything I need its probably getting my lie checked. I was fit 2 degrees upright with an inch extra length and I'm not sure I need that now. However, not sure I like the £30 per club I was quoted if a change is needed!

[sdrthedj]

I bought used from the Callaway preowned store. Made the price much more reasonable.

[Rapatt95]

281 was my best, the majority were between 265 and 275 which tbh, is plenty good enough.

 

Pretty sure monitor was GC2 and I think my swing speed was around 100. I a tall, long armed guy with a wide arc so I get decent ball speed. Launch was coming off between 14 and 16 across all the drivers - didn't check the 9 degree Cally - d'oh. The only thing that made me feel a bit iffy about the numbers was efficiency (smash factor?) came out at 1.45 for EVERY shot. Surely it should vary

 

So I'm probably launching a couple of degrees above optimal - if I've read the charts right. Explains why I'm not getting so much roll out. A guy I play with carries it about 170 and rolls out another 60! Tbh, it's not really a problem, this time of year excessive roll can cause real issues so if mine are going up and up and only rolling out 10 or 15, I can live with it if they're carrying 240, 250.

 

Anyway, all really interesting. I'd love to spend more time with my entire bag looking at these numbers. I would however, prefer to hit out onto a range so I can see the "real" flight. Hitting at a green tarpaulin 5 yards away with just a sharpie cross as target didn't really suit my eye.....

 

As for the ho-ing.... I guess I'm the guy who likes to look through the window rather than actually sampling the goods so to speak. If there is anything I need its probably getting my lie checked. I was fit 2 degrees upright with an inch extra length and I'm not sure I need that now. However, not sure I like the £30 per club I was quoted if a change is needed!

The smash factor was locked because they only had the GC2 without the HMT. The GC2 only reads the ball, so your distance numbers and spin numbers were all correct. Your swing speed however, was not being read independently. Instead, it was calculated off of a 1.45 smash factor with driver, regardless of strike quality

[Golf64]

Rogue stuff is pretty good. #2 choice for me. ;)

[North Butte]

281 was my best, the majority were between 265 and 275 which tbh, is plenty good enough.

 

Pretty sure monitor was GC2 and I think my swing speed was around 100. I a tall, long armed guy with a wide arc so I get decent ball speed. Launch was coming off between 14 and 16 across all the drivers - didn't check the 9 degree Cally - d'oh. The only thing that made me feel a bit iffy about the numbers was efficiency (smash factor?) came out at 1.45 for EVERY shot. Surely it should vary

 

So I'm probably launching a couple of degrees above optimal - if I've read the charts right. Explains why I'm not getting so much roll out. A guy I play with carries it about 170 and rolls out another 60! Tbh, it's not really a problem, this time of year excessive roll can cause real issues so if mine are going up and up and only rolling out 10 or 15, I can live with it if they're carrying 240, 250.

 

Anyway, all really interesting. I'd love to spend more time with my entire bag looking at these numbers. I would however, prefer to hit out onto a range so I can see the "real" flight. Hitting at a green tarpaulin 5 yards away with just a sharpie cross as target didn't really suit my eye.....

 

As for the ho-ing.... I guess I'm the guy who likes to look through the window rather than actually sampling the goods so to speak. If there is anything I need its probably getting my lie checked. I was fit 2 degrees upright with an inch extra length and I'm not sure I need that now. However, not sure I like the £30 per club I was quoted if a change is needed!

The smash factor was locked because they only had the GC2 without the HMT. The GC2 only reads the ball, so your distance numbers and spin numbers were all correct. Your swing speed however, was not being read independently. Instead, it was calculated off of a 1.45 smash factor with driver, regardless of strike quality

 

I know it's just my inner engineering-geek showing through but I absolutely detest equipment that presents measured numbers alongside "estimated" or "computed" ones, without distinguishing which is which. Makes me distrust even the stuff that's supposed to be actually measured.

[Rapatt95]

281 was my best, the majority were between 265 and 275 which tbh, is plenty good enough.

 

Pretty sure monitor was GC2 and I think my swing speed was around 100. I a tall, long armed guy with a wide arc so I get decent ball speed. Launch was coming off between 14 and 16 across all the drivers - didn't check the 9 degree Cally - d'oh. The only thing that made me feel a bit iffy about the numbers was efficiency (smash factor?) came out at 1.45 for EVERY shot. Surely it should vary

 

So I'm probably launching a couple of degrees above optimal - if I've read the charts right. Explains why I'm not getting so much roll out. A guy I play with carries it about 170 and rolls out another 60! Tbh, it's not really a problem, this time of year excessive roll can cause real issues so if mine are going up and up and only rolling out 10 or 15, I can live with it if they're carrying 240, 250.

 

Anyway, all really interesting. I'd love to spend more time with my entire bag looking at these numbers. I would however, prefer to hit out onto a range so I can see the "real" flight. Hitting at a green tarpaulin 5 yards away with just a sharpie cross as target didn't really suit my eye.....

 

As for the ho-ing.... I guess I'm the guy who likes to look through the window rather than actually sampling the goods so to speak. If there is anything I need its probably getting my lie checked. I was fit 2 degrees upright with an inch extra length and I'm not sure I need that now. However, not sure I like the £30 per club I was quoted if a change is needed!

The smash factor was locked because they only had the GC2 without the HMT. The GC2 only reads the ball, so your distance numbers and spin numbers were all correct. Your swing speed however, was not being read independently. Instead, it was calculated off of a 1.45 smash factor with driver, regardless of strike quality

 

I know it's just my inner engineering-geek showing through but I absolutely detest equipment that presents measured numbers alongside "estimated" or "computed" ones, without distinguishing which is which. Makes me distrust even the stuff that's supposed to be actually measured.

Me too, when I was working with people using GC2 and they wanted to know their swing speed, it was tough sometimes explaining that it wasn’t exact

[Jack Pearsall]

...it’s always fun to try out new gear, so long as some stall monkey isn’t hassling you..but most times Jack Pearsall is not wowed like he sometimes thinks he’ll be by some ad or cool color scheme...mostly he blames himself — screaming gullibility is such a dirty pant. Still, you find a gem...it’s like magic.