GolfWRX 2020 Best Drivers: 15 Top Fitters, 3 Speed Profiles- Discussion Thread...

[GolfWRX]

OK, WRXers....What is the best driver for 2020? We can't answer that for you specifically but we did ask top club fitters to answer that question for three different speed profiles and then asked for the best overall.

Why ask the fitters? Why not? They are the experts! All day, all year they are grinding in fittings. The list comprises of the best fitters in the industry. All they do all day is work with launch monitors and golfers to determine what driver is the best for that golfer. Here is a link to the article on the front page. With so many great options from all of the manufacturers, it was impossible not to find a driver that got you excited about its performance. We here at GolfWRX wanted to create our list of the Best Drivers for 2020 and share it with you.Check out the Best Driver of 2020 article here.

[sogan.]

SIM all day. Helped get my height down.

[3riC]

honestly my first reaction to every annual "best" club article: which major club brand isn't listed here?

Every year, the findings of these reviews are the same. All (major) OEM's clubs are listed as some form of winners

might as well rename the article to "best available drivers of 2020" tbh

[Guia]

Usual Bull Shit! How about all the Major Manufactures /Addvertisers get a golf medal. Same every year, never a mediocre performer.

[HDTVMAN]

I'd never argue with tests as every person hits a club differently, but the Ping G400MAX is still current and I don't see how this driver was not included.

[easyyy]

Well I have been at this for 15 years. I would love to have a civil debate. We ask the 15 club fitters (most of them are the best in the industry) to rank the top 5 best drivers for each swing speed and then ask them most forgiving overall. They respond back with their hundreds of fittings what driver was the top gun then the next and so on for each 3 speed profiles.

Why do we ask club fitters to vote? These fitters watch hundreds of swings, measured by launch monitors and then tweak the players equipment performance using every head/shaft combo at their disposal to determine the best combo in hopes that the performance is better than the customers current gamer. Why wouldn't you use their findings after hundreds of fittings? Don't you want to ask them? Don't you want to ask them "What is the go to driver this year and why?"

So what would make it better? Have 30 hackers on a range ripping 2,000 balls and have some bean counter with a clip board behind these birds taking notes? Would that give readers something more valuable?

We are here. If you have a suggestion that would make it better I am all ears. What I find amazing is how there is little difference every year from fitter to fitter on the best that year. Very consistent .

Again we are here not to make OEM's happy. This type of content does us more harm than good. We do it because it helps those that are interested in a new gamer to narrow the field. The comments this year from the fitters for each of the winners makes it more transparent IMO. Hope you all can find some good in the content. We bust our AS S to make it useful.

Richard :)

 

[easyyy]

Please read my reply to 3riC above.

There is no one driver is the best. These drivers were max'ed out years ago and now they are tweaking a touch of MOI and CG every year to make them a touch better. Looks, sound and lastly feel are also factors. But no way is there only one option for BEST. Has to be a family of heads for each speed profile and then you have a best for high spin slicers as well. Now I an generalizing. You will always have outliers that are unique... such as a player that likes a smaller head, etc. This is just my opinion.

The G400Max is a cannon but the head is 2 years old and the G410 heads have launched last year. The newer G410 heads are some of the oldest heads in the options. I just cracked my 400 max and Ping is saying that they are far and few around. Not sure how we could add legacy models that arn't or won't be a viable option for the readers.

As for the individual swing requires an open field with all the options... ok. But have you ever met a top fitter that does over 5 fittings a day? Don't you want to ask him what he is seeing this year? I do. Some of us do. This is just that. Not a be all for everyone. Just a fun piece that gathered top voted from the top 15 fitters in North America. Fresh meat for some.

Tell us how to make it better. We have been tweaking this for over 12 years now trying to make it real and not a fluff piece.

Richard

[easyyy]

Please read my posts above. They are force ranked. Please read my replies and give me some of your time. Tell me what you would do other than not do it.

 

Did you read the fitter nuggets "quotes" in the article? They are pure gold. Pay dirt. Right from the source from the guys that don care what driver they sell.

 

[leftylama]

Did I miss something, because I can't understand why the Mizuno's weren't mentioned.

[ski_co]

Most people buy a driver off the shelf - with the manufacturer shafts. How about a best driver in this category instead of the ones optimized by the clubfitters?

[easyyy]

Simply didn't make the top 5 for the 15 fitters that are surveyed. That simple. I know that the head performs but not better than the winners according to the fitters.

[9ironiscash]

No mention of the g410 lst??

[erock9174]

To not mention the Tour Edge EXS220 in the forgiving category is just laughable. It’s kept up with my Epic Flash in every way pretty much.

[3riC]

Not questioning the process or the results, but I guess the title of the article and purpose

"Best" generally refers to no.1 or the most excellent. Naming 5 drivers to be the "best" is akin to awarding 5 gold medals in a 100m race - understand no club can really be the best, but why not release the results as most voted no.1? or most voted club etc.

For example: between Ping/TM/Callaway/Titleist/Mizuno/Honma/Cobra there are probably only 8-10 clubs designed for 106+mph golfers. To award 5 out of 8-10 as "best" is effectively saying everybody is a winner. It really dilutes the message

From a purpose of the article, what I am trying to understand is:

Promote the drivers released in 2020? If so, goal achieved. Because almost all major OME's driver is listed somewhere on the winners chart, nobody has missed out kind of feelingHelp readers decide what to buy? Well giving 5 recommendations (per swing category) isn't that useful. How do we pick 1 from the 5? If the answer is go test the club or get fitted, well then, really what's the point. Also, think about how it helps a non-golfer doing research for gift ideasMy solution: take the review one step further and do a second round of voting. Ask the same group of fitters to rank these drivers 1-5 within each category.

Ultimately it will make the results more interesting, and gives the winner a deserving title to be "the best of 2020"

Thanks for reading! =)

 

[halfsumo]

I hit almost all of them indoors and have owned 4-5 on the list already. This year, I have settled on the standard Mavrik. Everything is so good these days. For me, it came down to mostly the subjectives. I love the way the Mav looks/sounds/feels. It is forgiving and long. There is definitely something really strong out there for everyone this year and I it's great that there are so many really different options to choose from.

As an aside, the Mizuno ST200 is a really good option as well and their drivers have been coming in with awesome stock shafts every year at a lower price point. I think it is the best stock offering value for the money.

[MCoz]

SIM has been incredible for me. The whole line in fact is very impressive. I am hitting fairways at a ridiculous rate. While most of my drives are only 2-5 yards longer than the M5 every round I get 2-3 that just leap way out there. I know this isn't about the fairways or Hybrids but those are consistently one club longer than any of the previous models. Beware the 5 wood plays like a 4 wd, it is the latest addition to my bag.

[03trdblack]

You get a gold, and you get a gold AND you get a gold!

[leftylama]

Thanks for explaining this , I'm still gobsmacked it's not in the list though,considering it's high praise from the majority who have tested or tried it.

[easyyy]

Well...

They are force ranked. So you can make that work. I don't think you want us to tell you there is only one head that is the best given the inconsistency of the eco system that uses it. From golfer to golfer you simply cant tell me there is one head that is the best. I will agree to disagree on this point.Driver technology makes these heads so close it would be a joke to say one is the best. They have been max'ed out for years and small tweaks to a winning recipe is what we are talking about. There are dozens of heads that didn't make any of the category lists. Nike worked for years and didn't cross the line of a top tier head. Doesn't surprise me to see consistency here. Also... from fitter to fitter the consistency on their votes on who was #1, #2 and #3 is surprising.

[easyyy]

I don't understand your comment? Did you mean "was not" in?

[easyyy]

Well... (as I said in the reply above and applies here as well)

They are force ranked. So you can make that work. I don't think you want us to tell you there is only one head that is the best given the inconsistency of the eco system that uses it. From golfer to golfer you simply cant tell me there is one head that is the best. I will agree to disagree on this point.Driver technology makes these heads so close it would be a joke to say one is the best. They have been max'ed out for years and small tweaks to a winning recipe is what we are talking about. There are dozens of heads that didn't make any of the category lists. Nike worked for years and didn't cross the line of a top tier head. Doesn't surprise me to see consistency here. They are ranked 1-5. But I will say that in a fitting environment your swing and my swing could be very different. Because of that you or any reader should allow more than one option. Dynamic loft at impact, attack angle, swing plane and face angles will all contribute to inputs that might want a different head than another. We see that in fittings every day. To say there is one BEST head is not a good practice.

[knudson81]

That is a great driver, my brother got fit for his at Club Champion in March and he is killing it!

 

The fitters are sharing with us what they are fitting players into the most, for each category, this year. Companies don't make bad equipment anymore, so you could make an argument for anything on the market.

[knudson81]

I have hit a lot of the drivers out there this year and I don't think there is a mediocre performer! Companies spend A TON of money to make really good stuff now and just because it didn't work for me or you, doesn't mean someone else isn't loving it!

[JohnnyDub]

To all out there that are questioning why certain drivers didn't make it in, the answer is simple: They just didn't poll high enough with our fitting collaborators. It's not that those drivers aren't fantastic but these tests are broad in nature. Of course a good portion of the Major OEMs will see success, 1) They make great stuff 2) Most consumers can identify them and want to try 3) Most fitters have them in their fitting matrix and on and on. I know of a few drivers that I love that didn't get in (PXG, Srixon, Honma, Mizzy). Great drivers that were not overlooked but just didn't make it into the top 5 of this particular test. Means nothing as to the quality of each club.

These tests are not to sell you drivers, its to provide information to all of us who ultimately need to go and try them for ourselves. So is the term "Best of" mis leading? No. We always encourage everyone to get fit first. We have fitters we respect deeply. We asked them to share their experience. This is what the collective said was "The Best".

I have hit all of them and been fit by a good number of the top fitters. Truth is, anything out in the market these days is fantastic. No one makes a dud anymore. So when the fitters say these are the drivers OVERALL that they have seen the best results with, it's not a trick. Its what they have seen in the hitting bays. And one is not necessarily triumphant over the next on a case by case basis. Its always going to come down to you the player that has access to hit em all and decide for yourself.

[03trdblack]

Oh yeah I know. I'm just a smart a**. All of the drivers are so good that basically everyone should get a "gold". I still enjoy lists as it's just more information to assist people make decisions as to what works for them.

[BAlberstadt]

WRXers...I understand the inherent skepticism toward any "best driver' ranking in general. That is simply the world we live in thanks to hot lists with abundant laurels, etc.

However, our best driver ranking is the result of no shortage of discussion of the best methods and hours of dialogue with fitters, including several rounds of follow-up questions. In short, we truly believe the breakdown by swing speed and shortlisting methodology is the best to set YOU up to know what you should test to find YOUR best driver. However, as Richard said, the categories are ranked from left to right within each row of the graphic, if you're looking for a quick answer.

With those asking why "X" wasn't included: In short, it was. The fitters surveyed have access to all current drivers. If a club didn't make the list, it's because our survey of some of the best fitters in the country found they are not fitting players into it. Simple as that. The results are the product of real answers from real fitters and real fittings, not an "expert panel of testers" or a robot.

Further discussion of the method is contained in the pieceThe reason for this format is that every golfer fits into one of these categories regardless of age, handicap, or gender.Even before starting the process of building the survey, we reached out to our trusted fitters to discuss how they sort through the endless head combinations available to golfers. Time after time, swing speed and forgiveness were the highest-ranked choices, after that it comes down to adjustability to fit individual players and their trends.We then worked internally to craft a survey that allowed the fitters to be honest—we want the truth just as much as you do, and to prevent anyone from feeling they couldn’t be, we allowed all of the results and quotes to remain anonymous unless otherwise stated.

We are all available to answer any questions about Best Driver 2020.

[lookylookitzadam]

Why make it subjective when it could be objective? Instead of blanket “here are pretty much the 5 same drivers shuffled around” is it possible to present the data (or do that alongside these ‘rankings’) for us to review? The article mentions that the club fitters have compiled all this data so why not publish it and allow us to sort by swing speed, launch, spin, etc so we can filter it to our numbers and see what the optimal drivers really are for our launch characteristics? I know it’s almost a moot point without shaft data, but it would be interesting to see how different heads compare with different attack angles, paths, etc.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

I like the list. Thank you!

[scooterhd2]

Thank you. Was going to buy 3 more drivers, but I will stick with my G410.

[RyanBarathWRX]

Hello WRXer's.

Ryan Barath here ( figurative wave to the audience ), I was responsible for speaking individually with each of the wonderfully knowledgeable fitters on out list, and for putting together the rankings. I have been on both sides of this process, both as a fitter and as someone speaking with fitters and the goal is always to provide the best information for the greatest number of golfers - we just take the information we are provided and package it in the most easy to understand format. If you are already someone that has a "go to" fitter and you have an understanding of clubs dynamics and launch conditions then to be completely honest this list could be considered more of a validation tool than a "must have guide".

 

As I have already mentioned, we at GolfWRX have no say in the rankings, we just compile data from the fitters we surveyed and present. When talking about these fitters, some of the bigger groups involved not only have player testing but also have robot testing to backup their decision making process. Information like that is proprietary and these fitters participate for free, to help us share information - they have no obligation to share it in whole but instead are willing to share final results to help us help golfers. For that, we are thankful.

 

If you want to get into the nuts and bolt, just for a point of reference, the two drivers I personally use back and forth are the SIM, and the Mizuno ST200G ( one highly ranked and the other not on this list). Both have been custom fit and both are quite different in their final specs, but you know what - they are neck and neck in performance ... why you may ask... because they were CUSTOM FIT, and as we say all the time "custom fitting is the best way to maximize the performance of your equipment".

 

The reason the biggest names in equipment / metal woods seem to show up is the same reason Nike dominates marathon running - they have a distinct developmental advantage over companies that do not have the budgets and technology to push the envelope. Just because it's new and shiny doesn't make it better, it just makes it new and shiny. To truly be better requires you as the golfer to take responsibility for your game and your clubs and invest in custom fitting - not just new for the sake of new.

 

I know for a fact the the crop of 2020 drivers are the best that have ever existed in golf, but making sure one is right for you still involves taking to time to test. Not every golfer has that ability and this list was designed to help those golfers without all of the resources make better choices in their equipment.

I'm here and happy to answer any question about specific clubs, or about the list, I'm also very open and willing to listen to suggestions on how we could improve. I like everyone that comes to GolfWRX loves golf, loves golf equipment, and strives to be the best golfer I can be - It's why I do what I do, and take every opportunity I have to share that love and knowledge with others.

 

Happy Golfing everyone,

Ryan Barath