Long drive drivers? yeah or nay?

sackgolf · February 15, 2012

Anyone play a long drive driver?

OK, so after watching the Long Drive competition over the holidays, I figured I might as well build along drive driver. My "normal" driver is 46" long. I built one at 48" long, 8.5 degrees of loft with a 56gram, stiff, Fujikura shaft. I took it to the range a few times so far, living in Michigan doesn't help too much, and hit it. After warming up with a few other clubs and my original driver, I brought out the beast. Not sure what to expect, I tee'd it high and swung as hard as I could. A little about me. I'm 5'9", 163 lbs, very flexible and usually hit my regular driver between 250 and 300. I hit my 8 iron from 150-160. So nothing too exciting about me one could say. So, I tee'd up my 48" long drive driver and swung like the guys in the long drive competition did. Short of blinking, I KILLED it!! I thought, hey maybe there is something to this after all, tee'd up another, swung as hard as I could and, BAM, a long, straight missile that flew over the net at the end of the range. I'm guessing it was probably 280-300 to the net. So, my question to my fellow golfwrxers, has anyone tried a long driver and what results have you had? Now I'm thinking of dropping a wedge and carrying 2 drivers, ala Mr. Mickelson. Definitely use it in scrambles too. Hope to hear from you.

5.2k · February 15, 2012

I've had a 240gr 47.5" 93cor driver at 12*. It was a total monster when the swing was working. Dispersion was a problem when playing the course. I loved hitting it and it went a long way. I cracked the face on it after about 8 months. I had it replaced for free. The new one did not play anything like the original one so I sold it to a friend who still uses it.

sackgolf · February 17, 2012

Ok, cool. Thanks for the reply.

[quote name='596' timestamp='1329343213' post='4293233']
I've had a 240gr 47.5" 93cor driver at 12*. It was a total monster when the swing was working. Dispersion was a problem when playing the course. I loved hitting it and it went a long way. I cracked the face on it after about 8 months. I had it replaced for free. The new one did not play anything like the original one so I sold it to a friend who still uses it.
[/quote]