Thursday, June 16, 2011

Best Drivers of 2011

Alright, let's get back to the main reason I started this blog...golf!

This spring at the Shell Houston Open qualifier, the PGA guys were using equipment I had never seen before. As an amateur, I consider myself to be on the long end of the distance spectrum throughout the bag. My drives are consistently around the 290 - 300 yard mark while hitting around 50% of fairways. Compared to the pros, I couldn't muster the strength to match their distance. Most of the pros had been measured over and over to find the right club head and shaft combo. The ease at which they swing and the distance they produced got me thinking about my current setup and how it might be completely wrong for me.

As a lefty, demo clubs are about as rare as a hurricane in Iowa. So instead of purchasing a bunch of custom ordered drivers and hoping one would work out, I traveled all over the Houston area to demo days. I found that 4 drivers are really worth taking a look at if you are a more skilled golfer.

Background: If there was a shaft upgrade available, I would choose that club. Otherwise, I was stuck with stock shafts for the demo. Titleist, Cobra and TaylorMade offer interchangeable shafts so they had an unfair advantage over the Callaway.

Specs: Avg swing speed - 116mph. Optimal Launch Angle - 10*. Optimal Spin Rate - 2700rpm. Avg Angle of Attack: -0.7*. Avg Smash Factor - 1.44

Cobra S3

Probably the most forgiving driver I have ever hit. Also, probably one of the worst stock shafts I have ever hit (Fujikura Blur). It was a little difficult to hit a consistently straight drive but man were they long. Cobra's elliptical face design really is cool because it applies to just about every golfer. Where are most of your mishits? High on the toe, low on the heel. Kudos to Cobra for the most realistic driver head on the market...just a shame that if you want a shaft to fit your game, you will need to pony up another $200 on top of the $300 price tag. Plus I love the name of the driver: S3...that's my initials. I should buy one solely for the label!
Final Grade: B- (Only because of the subpar shaft)



Callaway Razr Hawk Tour

Sweet Mary and Moses this is by far the longest, hottest driver on the market. Into the wind, this driver was about 15 yards further than any of the competition. Normal wind conditions, the Cally was tied with Titleist. Their stock shaft, the Aldila RIP, is a great shaft for most golfers...but not for me. I needed something to launch lower with a lot less spin. This is quite a step up from the FT-9 Tour. It is the only one of the 4 that features a fixed head unlike the other 3 adjustable heads.
Final Grade: A



Titleist 910 D3

Most of the time I skip over Titleist. Why? Because they have always been to hard for me to hit and they were the most unforgiving club in the shop. The last Titleist driver I owned was the 905R and it was a rocket...if you could find the sweet spot the size of a gnat's ass. This club completely changed my opinion about their forgiveness. This club actually HAS some forgiveness. I first hit the Diamana 'Ahina (the updated WhiteBoard) and thought I had fallen in love...that is until I put in the Oban Devotion shaft (a $150 upcharge) and this had a hard time not going in my bag. The adjustability of the club is nice and it is just enough to tinker but not overwhelm you.
Final Grade: A (would have given A+ but the price is a little steep)



TaylorMade R11

The tinker toy of the golf world. Yes, they are on TV more than we can count. Yes, out of the 9,756 options, 1 is bound to work for each golfer. However, the white driver is too bright for me in the Houston summer sun and the spin on this driver was way too high for me. I don't ground my club so the face angle adjustability doesn't come into effect. I tried the heaviest, stiffest shaft available and it still couldn't bring the spin rate down. For people with slower swings, you need spin to keep the ball airborne; however too much spin causes the ball to balloon and reduces roll.
Final Grade: B+


If you are in the market for a driver, please go get fitted. Do NOT buy right off the rack. There is so much technology out there that can find you the right combination. Sure, we would all like to blame the club instead of our swing, but if your driver is older than 3 or 4 years, you will benefit from the latest and greatest out there.


Numerical Summary for the Week:

1 - rounds of golf played in the last 4 weekends. Yes, I have been going through the typical withdrawal symptoms: shakes, nervous twitch, cold sweats and spontaneous golf swings in the office.

0 - number of good shows on this summer. Living on reruns is getting old and no I can't dance, she shouldn't date that guy and I am sure someone has a great voice.

25 - mpg average in the Shelby on my trek from Houston to New Braunfels, up to Waco and then back to Houston. Who says 320 hp V-8 engines aren't fuel efficient!?!

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