In the battle to maximize distance, the latest
and
greatest driver offerings from the major
equipment
players in the industry have all gravitated
towards a
strategy that emphasizes a one-two punch of
high
launch and low spin. As to how to deliver that
combo, there is very little agreement. Some
companies, like TaylorMade, are committed to a
low
and forward center of gravity position. Others
believe in pushing the CG back to increase a
club’s forgiveness. Then there’s the
question of whether it’s better to have a
single flagship driver serve the needs and
wishes of
each and every golfer, or offer a selection of
clubs
precisely tuned for varying levels of skill.
If you’re in the market for a new driver,
you may grouse at the number of options
available
to you at the pro shop, but the shrewd player
will
realize that there isn’t a one-size fits all
approach that works. With a proper fitting, a
brand-
new driver will almost certainly help a golfer
pick up
a few extra yards - especially on off-center
strikes.
And given what we know about the growing
importance of the long game for setting up
scoring
chances, who among us doesn’t want to
shave a few strokes?
Below you’ll find a list of drivers that
have been released late in the year that will be
on
every player’s radar at the start of the new
season.
Titleist 915 (D2 / D3)
The company’s new tagline to describe
the 915 lineup is “distance without
compromise”, but they could’ve easily
stuck with “old faithful”. Titleist
isn’t exactly known for making technological
leaps between releases, but the new drivers
are
certainly bucking that trend. The new Active
Recoil
Channel that undercuts the sole of the club
allows a
wider region of the face to flex at impact and
imparts less rotational energy when the ball
leaves
the face. This leads to higher launch and lower
spin,
an improvement over the old 913 drivers that
had a
tendency to spin too much, according to some
players.
The 915 D2 driver has a 460cc head. It
launches
higher and is a little more forgiving than the
440cc
D3 that emphasizes a more penetrating flight
and
greater workability. Titleist was able to save
weight
up front allowing them to move the CG low
and
deep to increase MOI. Both drivers feature the
Active Recoil Channel and a Radial Speed Face
that
improves distance on shots struck towards the
toe
or heal. Want to go deeper? Read the AmateurGolf.com Titleist 915
D2
and D3 Driver Review.
Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815
and
Double Black Diamond
Make no mistake, Callaway didn’t trot out
the Big Bertha brand a little over a year ago
simply
because they were feeling nostalgic. Other than
the
name itself, Callaway’s flagship drivers are
pushing the technology envelope. Both drivers
make
use of the company’s innovative gravity core
pin that allows golfers to adjust the CG lower
or
higher in the club head simply by flipping the
weight. Representatives at Callaway believe
that a
low CG position isn’t for everyone. Some
players, like those who tend to contact the ball
high
on the face might benefit from having more
spin.
The idea that there isn’t a single driver
for everyone extends to the fact that Callaway
released two Big Bertha models. While both
clubs
are designed to reduce spin, the Double Black
Diamond is extremely low-spin.
Most
golfers won’t be adding a Double Black
Diamond to their arsenal, but highly skilled
players
who produce a ton of club head speed require
less
forgiveness and can take advantage of the low
spin
attributes to really bomb it.
As far as looks, the aggressive styling of
the
grey and jet black color way is, in my opinion,
an
improvement over last year's models. If
you’re still not sold on giving these sticks a
look, perhaps Callaway’s commitment to
offering premium shaft upgrades at no
additional
charge might help change your mind. Want to
learn
more? Read our full Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 driver
review.
Callaway XR and XR
Pro
The Callaway XR and XR Pro drivers, both of
which have been award a gold medal in Golf
Digest’s 2015 Hot List feature lightweight
materials and aerodynamic head
designs to increase ball speeds across the face.
A more efficient energy-transfer is achieved
through several technologies including the use
of the same R Moto face design found on the
company’s Big Bertha Alpha
driver lineup. Callaway also included the Speed
Step Crown (on the regular XR model) which
reduces drag to maximize speed. The XR Pro,
on the other hand, uses a
forged composite crown which lowers the
center of gravity by 53% as well as the total
spin by as much as 300 rpm over the pre-
existing X2 Hot Pro driver.
A simple matte crown, traditional head design
and an authoritative sound at impact will
appeal to plenty of golfers searching for more
distance from their driver,
particularly one that is designed to lower your
spin rate. Read our full Callaway XR driver
review.
Ping G30
How do you follow up the G25 - one of the
best
reviewed drivers in the industry? Simple. You
make
it better by improving forgiveness and lowering
spin. And you do this with technology that’s
easy to comprehend, though perhaps not easy
to
spell.
Ping’s turbulators, a series of fins that
protrude from the crown, help to reduce drag
and
increase ball speed. Couple that with a center
of
gravity location that is the lowest and furthest
back
on any Ping model, and you end up having a
driver
that promotes a higher MOI and encourages a
player
to swing upward into impact. With just a single
flagship driver offering, Ping is betting big that
it’s rearward CG location and new tech is
better suited for most players.
And why not?
Across the board testing has shown that
the Ping
G30 is one of the easiest drivers to put in play
right
out of the box and is appreciably longer than
its
predecessor. Visually, the combination of those
turbulator fins that help frame the ball at
address
and the all black matte crown make Ping’s
new driver one of the coolest and stealthiest
big
sticks in the game. To find out what our Player
Staff
thought of the G30, read the full Ping
G30
driver review.
Srixon Z545 / Z745
Over the years, Srixon has been better
known
for its brand of golf balls than its clubs - at
least in
the U.S. But the company with a huge
footprint in
Japan is making a big splash with a new driver
lineup that is making converts out of golfers
who
lean towards classic looking gear short on
gimmicks
and long on performance.
The new drivers feature what Srixon has
dubbed
its Quick Tune System. Plain and simple, it lets
golfers easily adjust the loft, lie, face angle
and
center of gravity settings. The 12-way hosel
tunes
the face angle, lie and loft. The single weight
port
on the sole comes standard with a seven gram
weight. Optional three and eleven gram
weights lets
golfers dial in their launch and spin numbers
up or
down as needed.
Srixon’s drivers also feature variable
face thickness design which enlarges the
impact
surface of the clubs. The new Z series drivers
have
sweet spots that are up to 35% larger than the
previous generation of woods, according to
Srixon.
The Z545 driver (460cc) is designed for mid-
launch
and forgiveness. The Z745 (430cc) will flight
the ball
lower and is the more workable of the two
drivers.
TaylorMade R15
TaylorMade’s SLDR driver was the most
talked-about club a year ago. It featured a
center of
gravity that was lower and more forward than
any
driver the company has ever produced. For
some
golfers it flat-out bombed the ball, but it
wasn’t the most forgiving driver on the
market. It isn’t wrong to call the new R15 a
reboot of the SLDR. Like its predecessor, the
R15 has
a weight track system. It’s designed to
launch the ball high with less spin. And it
pushes the
CG lower and even more forward than the
SLDR. But
unlike the driver it supplants, the R15 is
designed
for additional forgiveness.
The one-weight system in the SLDR has
been
replaced by two 12.5g weights which creates
25
grams of total adjustable movement. Sliding
the
weights towards the heel or toe will impart a
draw or
fade bias, respectfully. Sliding them to the
center
will max out the distance, while splitting them
out to
either side will increase the club’s MOI.
If you’ve already been fitted into the
SLDR, is the R15 worth the upgrade? Probably
not.
But if you passed up on the SLDR or weren’t
able to get it dialed in, the new, more forgiving
R15
is your second chance to loft up and go long.
Nike Vapor (Vapor Speed, Vapor
Pro,
Vapor Flex)
It’s really easy to look past Nike’s
driver lineup if you’re fixated with their bold
choice of using a fluorescent green colorway
they
call “volt”. But in case you
haven’t noticed, it’s time to give Nike
and the club builders at The Oven their due -
they’ve really stepped up their hard goods
game.
All three drivers feature several
technologies
designed to maximize ball speed without
sacrificing
forgiveness. A compression channel along with
a
hotter NexCOR face work together to improve
ball
speed at impact on shots struck across the
entire
face. A cavity-back design with the new
FlyBeam
structure reinforces the club’s stability and
lets Nike move discretionary weight around as
needed. Lastly, the the FlexLoft 2 adjustability
system offers 15 different launch options and is
backwards compatible. The Vapor Speed, with
it’s higher launch and more forgiving
characteristics will appeal to most higher-
handicap
players while the Pro model which comes stock
with
a Mitsubishi Diamana S+ Blue Board shaft is
geared
towards tour level performance.
The third driver, the Vapor Flex, is Nike’s
most compelling offering. It’s packed with
innovative features such as using RZN in the
crown.
It’s similar to titanium in strength, but lighter
and less rigid, allowing Nike’s engineers to
shape the material in ways that isn’t possible
with cast titanium. Then there’s the Flex
Flight Module - a flippable 15-gram weight that
shifts the center of gravity 2mm front to back.
In
layman’s terms, that little module impacts
the launch angle, spin rate, forgiveness and
workability. Most golfers will choose either the
Vapor Speed or Pro drivers, but the Flex exists
for
those players who want (and sometimes need)
additional bells and whistles to optimize their
launch
conditions.