Golfers - Driver Recommendation?

ikarcuaso · 11-03-2007, 11:20 PM

I bought my first hybrid club, a Cleveland Halo 19 degree. It's pretty much made my current driver, a Ping TiSI Tec, obsolete (if it wasn't already). Easier to hit, and today at the range, I was hitting it consistently further than the driver. Can't have that, can we?

I haven't really looked at clubs for awhile. So what's a kick ash driver out there? With stock shaft, that is. Something easy to hit, and fuch'n long!

madmmac · madmmac's Garage

From my experience it is not the golf club but the golfer. You can buy the most expensive, biggest advertised club and it will not really do that much more or better than something that costs hundreds less.

It is all about swing speed, swing path and angle of approach. The biggest to me is swing speed. Not knowing all the parameters of your swing or ball flight tendencies is like shooting in the dark.

Get somewhere that has a ball launch angle, spin and speed computer and get the right head, face angle, swing weight and shaft fitted for you.

I have a 25 year old wood 7 degree persimmon driver ($15.00 tub buy) that I use on occasion that I can out drive 90% of the people I play with most of the time. The head is smaller than most of the current metal 5 woods. People get a chuckle out of it when they see it, but there is nothing like the feel of hitting it right on the screws that no metal club I have ever played can give you.

Work on your swing, any decent fitted club will do.

JCF · 11-04-2007, 02:42 AM

Buy the hot model from last year or 2 , or 3 years ago new on e-bay.
Those "must have or you will suck" drivers that cost $500.00 are now less than 200 - and you will find they don't make you suck any less.

I use a Taylor Made R7 quad that I bought a year ago for 100. (400 when first came out)
I test it constantly against new clubs and it is still the winner (maybe the comfort factor).
My handicap is a 6 and it doesn't drop (or go up) with any change in clubs.

widgeon13 · 11-04-2007, 02:42 AM

I agree with madmmac, I can't stand the big drivers. I have played golf for 50 years and wouldn't buy one of the big 460cc clubs, others can't live w/o them, big sweet spot. I have a set of old McGregor persimmon woods with the aluminum insert in the face and i can hit them as far as most people hit the big drivers. I now play with a Callaway Steelhead III w/ steel (stiff, rifle shaft), can hit it 280 consistently and have good directional control. When I hit it most guys say, "why are you hitting a three wood"? It's pretty small. I also can't seem to hit the graphite shafted clubs. I do think that higher handicap golfers benefit from the large head and bigger sweet spot. They do offer some advantage to the 15 plus handicapper.

I play with some guys who like the Cobra and hit it a mile, seems like a pretty good club. Don't like Taylormade. FWIW

I have heard that the new Titilest DCI driver is really great, haven't hit one because I don't want to spend $500 to hit the ball further into the woods.

Chocaholic · 11-04-2007, 04:48 AM

I have a 460cc Adams Golf driver. My kids call it the clown-club. I went with 11.5 loft. Love, love, love it. My wife keeps taking it out of my bag to use when she plays. $100 brand new. If I had to do it over, I'd buy the same club at 10.5 loft. May do that and give the 11.5 to her. Hmmmm.

Steve Carlton · 11-04-2007, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmmac

Get somewhere that has a ball launch angle, spin and speed computer and get the right head, face angle, swing weight and shaft fitted for you.

A friend of mine was a teaching pro (and toured Asia) with a 1/2 handicap told me the same thing.

the · 11-04-2007, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I I do think that higher handicap golfers benefit from the large head and bigger sweet spot. They do offer some advantage to the 15 plus handicapper.

And to Tiger Woods. He's not playing a persimmons driver, is he?

gprsh924 · 11-04-2007, 06:19 AM

While the clubs do not make the player, pretty much any golfer will have some benefits from switching to modern technology. I am not talking about going from 2004 clubs to 2007 clubs, but from old clubs to new ones. Todays clubs are made with better metals and have way bigger sweet spots that allow the average golfer to hit the ball straighter and farther more consistently.

I have a set of 30 yr old Spalding Executive irons that I will not replace because for the 10 rounds a play per year I don't want to drop 500 plus on a new set. However, I have demoed a few new sets and their is a noticeable difference, mostly because I can mis-hit the ball a little bit with a new club and not lose much, whereas with my clubs, the ball could go anywhere.

widgeon13 · 11-04-2007, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the

And to Tiger Woods. He's not playing a persimmons driver, is he?

The pro's get paid big money to play new clubs and sign with a particular company. I believe the technology does offer some potential for improvement with new metal woods but I would also say that if you look in most pro's bags they are not playing perimeter weighted cast irons, they are much more inclined to be hitting the forged tour blade design from years ago. They do this because they can work the ball better and the irons are not marketed as strongly as the woods.

What the pros do is purely for marketing purposes, if they paid me a few mill to play with the DCI driver, I would make it work for me as well.

Tiger can hit a persimmon club damn near as well as the toaster on the end of a stick. He won't tell you that because he's getting paid 60 mil by Nike to play their ****, good for him.

I can play with my Callaway Steelhead III and have an 8 handicap, I play as well today as I played 30 years ago, the difference in my game in certainly the result of technology and of perimeter weighted irons, I would suck if I had to go back to Wilson Staff's that I played 30 years ago.

widgeon13 · 11-04-2007, 06:40 AM

I believe ball technology has made a bigger contribution to hitting the ball longer and straighter than club tech, that is just my opinion. If you could get your hands on a (new) ball from 40 years ago, old balatta Titilest Black, if you bladed it once, you were through the cover and into the wound rubber. Today, you can't cut most golf balls, I don't care how bad you hit them. They are also harder than years ago. The new woods are made to hit the ball farther because of something called coefficient of restitution (trampoline face) of the club. That's the only reason for hitting metal. It's the same with metal baseball bats.

the · 11-04-2007, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by widgeon13

The pro's get paid big money to play new clubs and sign with a particular company. I believe the technology does offer some potential for improvement with new metal woods but I would also say that if you look in most pro's bags they are not playing perimeter weighted cast irons, they are much more inclined to be hitting the forged tour blade design from years ago. They do this because they can work the ball better and the irons are not marketed as strongly as the woods.

What the pros do is purely for marketing purposes, if they paid me a few mill to play with the DCI driver, I would make it work for me as well.

Tiger can hit a persimmon club damn near as well as the toaster on the end of a stick. He won't tell you that because he's getting paid 60 mil by Nike to play their ****, good for him.

That's only true to a certain extent. Pros have to play the brand that they are sponsored by, but that's just a label. If Tiger or anyone else felt that 460cc didn't give them a competitive advantage, they wouldn't play 460cc. The first order of biz for any pro is to WIN.

Nike could easily make a Nike-labeled persimmon driver for Tiger, and he'd use it, if he thought it would help him win.

widgeon13 · 11-04-2007, 07:44 AM

I said the technology does offer some potential improvement in performance, what's your point, just getting the last word. You obviously know best since you have first hand experience with the pros so I'm out of here.

sammyg2 · 01:26 PM

I figure than unless you have a single digit handicap, you need to worry about your swing and not what you're swinging. That's why I use cheap knock-off clubs

Edit, I tried one of those taylor-made toaster on a stick drivers, with that thing I coulf hit the ball really, really far out of bounds

K.B. · 11-04-2007, 08:23 AM

The psychology of feeling good about the club you use is probably more important than the club itself. After all isn't golf all about psychology?

JCF · 11-04-2007, 08:35 AM

I agree with the last two posts.
Why get suckered into paying 500 for a club that next year the same manufacturer will tell you is no good.
While tech helps - the #s don't lie.
If you suck you will suck just as bad with 2000 worth of gear as with 200.

If on the other hand you are trying to make a living at it (and are good enough to have a chance to) those little diffs can help - esp if you get the equip for free.

tabs · 11-04-2007, 11:56 AM

I never played golf..that doesn't mean that I didn't play chase the ball....all over the course. They actually told me to get off the course as I was taking too much time, maybe it was the camping gear that did it?

Chocaholic · 11-04-2007, 12:42 PM

Bobby Jones once said: "The most challenging part of any golf course is the five inches between your ears" (or something like that).

ikarcuaso · 11-04-2007, 12:51 PM

Thanks for all the input. I totally get the "it's not the golf club, it's the golfer" statement. When I took lessons, the instructor used anyone's club and hit it straight and long.

That said, I'm merely looking for a driver that will give someone at my level (weekend hack) a little more forgiveness, greater margin for error, and a little more distance than my current 323cc Ping. Is it reasonable to believe one of the 460cc clubs would give me that?

I've definitely taken JCF's approach and am looking at one of the "latest and greatest" drivers from 2-3 years ago. Great deals on eBay, especially this time of year. Some drivers, like a new Cleveland Ti460 Launcher, can be had for < $50, and a lot more for < $100.

BeyGon · 11-04-2007, 12:51 PM

I am a less than mediocre golfer, I love playing it and watching it.
My wife threw her business card in a fishbowl at a lunchen and won a Callaway Fusion Driver, she brought it home and I almost put it on EBay.
I can't hit the one I have and didn't see that this would help me. I would never have spent the money on it but decided to keep it. It seems to work OK at the range but never when it counts. It is all in my head, maybe. Anyway, I try to use it but chicken out a lot and use the irons. It looks good in the bag.

gprsh924 · 11-04-2007, 01:05 PM

I think that most of the newer premium drivers (Cleveland, Taylor Made, Nike, Titleist, Ping) are pretty much equal. It really comes down to personal preference. See if you can hit a few different drivers that you are considering, decide which one you like the best, then go out and find one on Ebay or in the used section of your local golf store.

I personally like the Titleist 905T and the Taylor Made R7 Quad.