Blind Driver Comparison (which would you bag)

[Juice1121]

I just wanted to get your guys opinions on this. I went to Golfsmith today to look at possibly replacing my driver if there was anything that beat it outright numbers-wise. I hit a number of drivers. Some worked well and others definitely did not. I am going to list the trackman numbers for the 3 new drivers and 2 that I bag on a regular basis. I would love to hear what you guys think of the numbers and which one you would game. The dispersion is ranked from 1 best to 5 lowest, but all were pretty close to each other with 1-3 being almost identical.

 

Option 1:

Spin- 2150

AVG Carry/Total- 268/289

Launch- 15.3

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #4

 

Option 2:

Spin- 2275

AVG Carry/Total- 279/303

Launch- 16.2

SS 105

Dispersion Rank # 3

 

 

Option 3:

Spin- 2760

AVG Carry/Total- 256/273

Launch- 16.5

SS 103

Dispersion Rank #1

 

 

Option 4:

Spin- 2589

AVG Carry/Total- 262/276

Launch- 17.1

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #2

 

 

Option 5:

Spin- 2197

AVG Carry/Total- 275/296

Launch- 15.7

SS 105

Dispersion Rank #5

 

 

Also, for what it's worth, I ended up walking out of there with a King Cobra LTD fairway too. I hit about 20-30 balls with that club and the numbers and feel were better than any 3 wood I have ever hit. I didn't even bother putting a 3 wood in my bag last year. I was just playing with 13 clubs because I couldn't find one that suited me and I liked my 3 wedge set up. It felt/looked very anti-left which is great for me. I set it to 15.5 degrees and was hitting the ball surprisingly well. My only concern is that it occasionally felt almost like a driver. This spin has a tendency to drop a bit low so I'm interested in seeing how it holds greens. Regardless, I can't say enough about that club. It feels a bit nostalgic because I used to play the old king cobra driver and fairways back in high school and I loved them to death. I'm glad Cobra is still pumping out quality clubs.

[Ewmcdade]

Whichever one looked and felt the best, and gave you the most confidence. There's more to golf than indoor trackman numbers.

[matchavez]

I just wanted to get your guys opinions on this. I went to Golfsmith today to look at possibly replacing my driver if there was anything that beat it outright numbers-wise. I hit a number of drivers. Some worked well and others definitely did not. I am going to list the trackman numbers for the 3 new drivers and 2 that I bag on a regular basis. I would love to hear what you guys think of the numbers and which one you would game. The dispersion is ranked from 1 best to 5 lowest, but all were pretty close to each other with 1-3 being almost identical.

 

Option 1:

Spin- 2150

AVG Carry/Total- 268/289

Launch- 15.3

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #4

 

Option 2:

Spin- 2275

AVG Carry/Total- 279/303

Launch- 16.2

SS 105

Dispersion Rank # 3

 

 

Option 3:

Spin- 2760

AVG Carry/Total- 256/273

Launch- 16.5

SS 103

Dispersion Rank #1

 

 

Option 4:

Spin- 2589

AVG Carry/Total- 262/276

Launch- 17.1

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #2

 

 

Option 5:

Spin- 2197

AVG Carry/Total- 275/296

Launch- 15.7

SS 105

Dispersion Rank #5

 

 

Also, for what it's worth, I ended up walking out of there with a King Cobra LTD fairway too. I hit about 20-30 balls with that club and the numbers and feel were better than any 3 wood I have ever hit. I didn't even bother putting a 3 wood in my bag last year. I was just playing with 13 clubs because I couldn't find one that suited me and I liked my 3 wedge set up. It felt/looked very anti-left which is great for me. I set it to 15.5 degrees and was hitting the ball surprisingly well. My only concern is that it occasionally felt almost like a driver. This spin has a tendency to drop a bit low so I'm interested in seeing how it holds greens. Regardless, I can't say enough about that club. It feels a bit nostalgic because I used to play the old king cobra driver and fairways back in high school and I loved them to death. I'm glad Cobra is still pumping out quality clubs.

 

Option 2.

[Kingcat990]

Option 5 looks pretty damn good to me if the dispersion wasn't that bad. Option 2 is pretty good with launch and carry. Whatever option 3 was, looks like it had a stiffer shaft

[Sbarnold]

Option #2 seems like the clear winner assuming dispersion wasn't much wilder than Option #4. It would be hard to overlook that much difference in length.

[Cape]

Option 5 looks pretty damn good to me if the dispersion wasn't that bad. Option 2 is pretty good with launch and carry. Whatever option 3 was, looks like it had a stiffer shaft

 

I would've thought opposite due to such high spin #

[nmanoles3]

Option 2

[Makuakane_Bear]

I am not a fitter but Option 2 looks to be pretty good with Option 4 as a possible second.

[castellar]

Option 2 is the clear winner. In my opinion, dispersion is way more you than it is the club.

[boggyman]

Option 2

[SwingMan]

Option 2 looks good but it also depends on the extent of dispersion. Looking at it, a little more backspin may get you less dispersion. It also will get you a little less yardage. It's a balance.

[carn9698]

Option 2 . That length is useful and dispersion can be improved if you dial it down a tad when required.

[Tcann32]

Tough to overlook a driver that you hit at a minimum 10 yards further and up to 30 yards further than other options. Looks like it did relatively well in dispersion, by dispersion I'm kinda thinking your talking about this in the sense of forgiveness(?), but either way you can get more accurate but not every stick will give you those numbers.

[vonasemj]

Option 2. It's hard to ignore the distance of it versus the others.

[mikewohlwend]

How much of a difference was the dispersion between clubs?

[cxx]

Do you have the real dispersion numbers rather than the ranking? The actual dispersion values are important.

[bladehunter]

Take option 2 and cut 1/2 inch off the shaft. I bet it's still leader in distance and becomes leader in dispersion too

[swizbeatz]

Considering this was done at golfsmith are you sure you were working with trackman? If it was the usual golfsmith monitor which I feel always inflates numbers for low spin drivers the distance gaps between drivers probably aren't accurate making this a tougher choice.

[breakfree40]

Option 2 or 4. Whichever felt the best.

[Bigmean]

Option 2 or 4 for me, and the thing is only you know the dispersion difference between them. Basically if not much take the distance, if enough to cost strokes then don't. Just my opinion on them.

[brianhorne8]

I'm going in the minority here and taking anything that hits fairways more often than not. If the dispersion was similar between 2 and 4, the roll with #2. But if it was much tighter with 4, take the accuracy and run. And I'm saying this as someone who wouldn't mind five more yards...

[Wardman]

Whichever one looked and felt the best, and gave you the most confidence. There's more to golf than indoor trackman numbers.

This - exactly why I lost my G30 this year after 9 months. Just could not get it to look good to the eye and was distracting to me...

[e-man]

Agree with the above posters that we need to know the difference in dispersion between the various options.

[castellar]

I'm not understanding why dispersion is being weighted so heavily. I bet if you take 50 swings with each club the dispersion would be a non factor as they would all be so similar. Dispersion is more subject to a proper strike than it is "forgiveness". Op, as a single digit handicap my guess is if your seeing more then 5-10 difference in left to right dispersion it's you not the club.

[Qqq123xx]

Option 2. Clear winner imo.

[Juice1121]

I just wanted to get your guys opinions on this. I went to Golfsmith today to look at possibly replacing my driver if there was anything that beat it outright numbers-wise. I hit a number of drivers. Some worked well and others definitely did not. I am going to list the trackman numbers for the 3 new drivers and 2 that I bag on a regular basis. I would love to hear what you guys think of the numbers and which one you would game. The dispersion is ranked from 1 best to 5 lowest, but all were pretty close to each other with 1-3 being almost identical.

 

Option 1: G30 LS Tec Tour stiff

Spin- 2150

AVG Carry/Total- 268/289

Launch- 15.3

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #4

 

Option 2: G30 LS Tec Oban Devotion 6 stiff

Spin- 2275

AVG Carry/Total- 279/303

Launch- 16.2

SS 105

Dispersion Rank # 3

 

 

Option 3: G25 AD-MT Stiff

Spin- 2760

AVG Carry/Total- 256/273

Launch- 16.5

SS 103

Dispersion Rank #1

 

 

Option 4: AD DJ Stiff

Spin- 2589

AVG Carry/Total- 262/276

Launch- 17.1

SS 104

Dispersion Rank #2

 

 

Option 5: Big Birtha Alpha Rogue 70 stiff

Spin- 2197

AVG Carry/Total- 275/296

Launch- 15.7

SS 105

Dispersion Rank #5

 

 

Also, for what it's worth, I ended up walking out of there with a King Cobra LTD fairway too. I hit about 20-30 balls with that club and the numbers and feel were better than any 3 wood I have ever hit. I didn't even bother putting a 3 wood in my bag last year. I was just playing with 13 clubs because I couldn't find one that suited me and I liked my 3 wedge set up. It felt/looked very anti-left which is great for me. I set it to 15.5 degrees and was hitting the ball surprisingly well. My only concern is that it occasionally felt almost like a driver. This spin has a tendency to drop a bit low so I'm interested in seeing how it holds greens. Regardless, I can't say enough about that club. It feels a bit nostalgic because I used to play the old king cobra driver and fairways back in high school and I loved them to death. I'm glad Cobra is still pumping out quality clubs.

 

 

Just to give some more numbers and info/reply to commenters. Looking back on it, I believe they had GC2 instead of trackman, but the numbers between clubs are still relevant. In my reply, I filled in what club/shaft combo each option was if you were curious. I currently Bag option 3 most often but do play option 4 occasionally. I ended up purchasing Option 2 (G30 LS Tec with the Oban Devotion). The feel was solid, the dispersion was very good, and the numbers made me feel like it was worth it. I was picking up 25ish yards on my current drivers by dropping the spin rates down and decreasing the loft.

 

1) I don't have actual dispersion numbers. But in reality all 5 were perfectly reasonable and playable. My current gamers were both the tightest circles and nearly identical (MT was left of the target line and the DJ was right of the target line). The Oban was centered right down the line, but the dispersion circle was a bit larger. The cally and the G30 Tour were both larger than the other three but still reasonably centered. Probably both double the size of the Oban but definitely still reasonable. I'll attach a picture of what the chart looked like (sorry for the MS paint skills for some reason the background goes black when I upload it. Blue is MT, Red is DJ, Light blue is Oban, Green is the Tour, and the charcoal is the Cally if you can see it).

 

2) Feel has a huge measure. It's extremely personal and hard to quantify. While the numbers were great for the Cally, the feel made me really dislike the club. Without sounding too dramatic I would almost call it unplayable because the feel off the face was dead and uncomfortable. G25 AD MT has by far the smoothest feel out of all of them It was followed G30 Tour. The G25 AD DJ and the G30 Oban were close behind that. I tend to prefer smoother shafts, but the numbers on the G30 with the Oban were hard to ignore.

 

3) I honestly went into the store expecting to not find anything noticeably better than what I had. I was clearly dead wrong. The G30 was quite impressive. I was honestly surprised how much better it was, I spent a ton of time honing in on that g25 about 2 years ago, I thought it would be in the bag for a while.

 

4) I also tried a regular G30 in a stiff shaft, The G Driver, R15, 915 D3, King Cobra LTD, King Cobra Fly-Z, Cally BB, Cally XR, Srixon z355, and a few others I can't even remember. I didn't include those numbers because they were either not as good as the ones listed or the feel/dispersion were not good enough to make the cut.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback, and I'm glad I pulled the trigger on "Option 2". It seemed like that was pretty much the consensus pick.

[jasonp87]

Go give the F6+ a shot looks like you didn't try it

[JustTheTips]

I'm not understanding why dispersion is being weighted so heavily. I bet if you take 50 swings with each club the dispersion would be a non factor as they would all be so similar. Dispersion is more subject to a proper strike than it is "forgiveness". Op, as a single digit handicap my guess is if your seeing more then 5-10 difference in left to right dispersion it's you not the club.

 

It is you but you also aren't changing:) The questions are

a) how are they calculating it. I have seen some places that just add the numbers (+ for left, - for right) and average. In that case you have the fun result of 30 left followed by 30 right (30+ -30 = 0) being better than 5 left followed by 5 left (5).

 

b) how accurate it is. If you are only looking at 5-10 shots, it is pretty easy to have one or two outliers that really tweak the numbers.

 

Ideally you would do another fitting with a couple of days latter and see how reproducible your results are. Of course the risk with that is that it can shatter you confidence when your best club changes.....

[wfowler]

Option 2 if you ok with the feel. Option 4 if you like it's look and feel better than option 2

[wfowler]

I'm not understanding why dispersion is being weighted so heavily. I bet if you take 50 swings with each club the dispersion would be a non factor as they would all be so similar. Dispersion is more subject to a proper strike than it is "forgiveness". Op, as a single digit handicap my guess is if your seeing more then 5-10 difference in left to right dispersion it's you not the club.

 

It is you but you also aren't changing:) The questions are

a) how are they calculating it. I have seen some places that just add the numbers (+ for left, - for right) and average. In that case you have the fun result of 30 left followed by 30 right (30+ -30 = 0) being better than 5 left followed by 5 left (5).

 

This is why you should always use median so the outliers do not affect the overall results