For those who play driver and mini

[Mike_C]

On 6/24/2025 at 7:56 AM, 1puttTUT said:

 

Same:

 

18° 5 wood

21° 4 hybrid

5 iron (MP245 bent 1° weak)

Sort of the same:

 

Driver 9° set to -1.5, still can hit it quite high. 

13.5° R7 Quad mini weights forward stock loft. 

5 wood Qi10 tour 18° stock loft, but weights forward.   Hits high and lower spin, quite long when hit well for me, plays like a 4 wood IMO. 

I have the ZXi5 4 iron, but rotate it with a Paradym ai smoke 4 hybrid 21°.  Also have an older P790 4 iron that goes much lower/spins less and will use when the wind gets up. 

ZXi5 5 iron, stock loft. 

 

Have toyed with getting a Qi10 or Qi35 7 wood in place of the 4i/hybrid, but wonder if a 9 wood would be better.  But I probably could never find a TM 9 wood anyway....

 

 

Edited July 4 by Mike_C

[Urb]

6 hours ago, stratgolf said:

 

What distance do you hit a cut driver? Just curious as to me, a cut driver would likely go the same/similar distance as your draw thriver, and the UW would be within 5 off the tee of your cut thriver.

D - 265 is a fade.  I stick with one shot shape.

 

Thriver works both ways.  That's it's utility in addition to being a fairway finder / bailout club.

 

UW off a tee can creep into thriver but given the choice between the two, I'm taking a 460cc head.  UW is mostly for off the deck or very long par 3s.  

[Ghostdunc27]

I just ordered a 440 max 7 wood. Hoping it fits in nicely, was carrying it around 260 (at altitude) on well struck shots in the SIM. 

 

So will now be 

8* Driver

13* GT 280

21* 440 7 wood

4 iron etc. 

 

Eventually may look to replace the 4 iron with a low trajectory utility 3 iron or something, but I should probably stop buying clubs for a while. 

[blazman11]

22 hours ago, Urb said:

D - 265 total

 

460cc thriver - 225 (cut), 240 (draw) both total.  Mostly hit draws.  

 

Apex UW 19* - 210 carry off deck, 220 off tee.

 

4h - 195 carry

 

5i

 

 

This right here.  GM at local shop was at Ping HQ a few months ago where Ping started to reach out more into thriver territory and it’s been a game changer so far for those tight par 4 with water left and OB right which seems to be every hole in Florida.  It may completely knock driver out of the bag in the near term.  It’s that user friendly.  

 

I’ve only tested 2 heads so far, both 460cc both stock 12 degrees:  Ping G440 Max and Callaway Epic Max.  Both heads using a 43” 75g shaft (still testing shafts).  I was able to get the Epic Max to D2 using 2 weights in the track.  With the Ping I have a 35g weight and some lead tape to get me there.  SS is 100 +/- 3 at any point with this setup.

 

Total tee distance averages 240.  I cannot push Epic Max past that.  I can get the Ping to 265 with a tight draw.  Which really only matters if I take driver out of the bag, otherwise 240 is where I want it to be.  

 

Off the deck I struggle with the Ping but with the Epic Max, for whatever reason, it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever hit off the deck.  I have no idea why this is the case, it just works.  

 

I don’t know yet which route I’m going to settle on, except for the fact a thriver has found a permanent spot for the time being.  Options include:

 

1) Ping g440 thriver at 12, Ping g430 LST 3 wood at 15, Ping G425 hybrid at 18

 

2) Ping g440 driver at 10.5, Cally Epic Max thriver at 12, Ping G425 hybrid at 18.  I’m waiting on a lower weight for G440 to do this testing.

 

3) Ping G440 thriver at 12, Ping G425 hybrid at 17, upcoming Ping iDi 3 iron already on order.

 

Edited June 24 by blazman11

[Pack7483]

Sub 70 9 degree set up for fade

BRNR 13.5 set to 11.5 for draw/straightish

AI smoke 16.5 HL Max 3w for longest fairway club.  

Then I go 4i-SW. 

[mackepa]

I go…

Driver: GT2 9°

Mini: BRNR 11.5°

7W: GT2 21°

 

4-PW, 52,56,60. 
 

I will occasionally put 3 wood back in the bag and take the Mini out but I really only do that on courses with doglegs where the mini would run thru the dogleg and I need something that launches higher and softer. Otherwise the Mini is in the bag so I can hit low bullets that run for days. 

[Mych]

10.5 Driver

14 Mini

19 3 Hybrid

22 4 iron

 

I am considering other options in the mini spot to get back more ability to hit it off the deck, but most of the fairway woods that I've demoed top out right around where my 3 hybrid does (240ish). I'm sure I could fix my swing and get more distance out of those clubs, but for now the Mini gives me the right distance (250-260) off the tee to give me a safer option than driver on tight driving holes. 

Edited July 1 by Mych

[Asiangolfer1995]

Elyte Triple Diamond Max (9 set to 8 degrees)

 

Elyte Mini Driver 11.5 Degrees or an Elyte Ti Fairway Wood at 15 degrees

 

From Here its either a Rogue ST pro 3 iron, an apex UW 17 degree, or an Elyte Ti 18 degrees 5 wood

 

Than its Either a Rogue ST pro 4 iron or an apex UW 21 degree 

[stormbringer]

Ping G440 10.5 265 average

Ping Rapture 13.5 245 average off the deck, can hit high, low, fade, or draw.  Been in the bag a long time and likely never to leave.

Ping 410 5 Wood set at 17 225 yards

Adams Red Hybrid 21,  205 yards

 

Older 60 year old golfer.  Have lost some distance the last year or so.

Edited July 1 by stormbringer

[KJKim93]

R7 Mini @ 10*
BRNR Mini @ 14.25* 
Rogue ST Max 7 Wood @ 21* 
588 CB 4 iron 

 

4 wedges at bottom end now but previously went 5/7 wood. 

[AlpineGolf]

GT2 @ 10*

BRNR Mini @ 13.5*

Qi35 5 wood @ 18* 

Callaway UW @ 21*

[odshot68]

10.5 LST Driver

13.5 R7 Quad Mini -1/2"

19 & 21  UW

TSI1 5H (At 25 deg)

6 iron

 

I've tried adding a 4 wood but don't gain much over my 19 UW and my 21 UW covers a specific distance..

Edited July 7 by odshot68

[Ghostdunc27]

Well I tried the 7 wood but it is not for me.  I think I swing too steep for shallow faced fairway woods to work consistently. And playing in the CO front range it is often really windy which makes that ball flight not a great fit. Think I need to go back to some kind of hybrid between the GT280 and 4 iron. 

[GoldenEagle69]

I've got a 11.5 Ai Smoke mini. I played it at stock length turned down to 10.5 for awhile and it doubled my fwy hit stats and wasn't much shorter than driver, so it replaced my driver for awhile. My fairways hit were up, but innacuracy was still an issue. So I tinkered.

 

I decided to cut it to 43". After doing so, I went up in loft to 13.5 which made the club sit perfectly square and I'm much more precise now. Fairways hit has gone way up. I removed the stock weights and added two 8g weights to keep trajectory and spin in check. This works great but opens room for a driver.

 

I added a 10.5 Cobra Darkspeed X driver at 44.5". I put the heavy weight back and when hit right it's long and so far, knock on wood it has been accurate. 

 

I took out the TS2 16.5 as it was misbehaving anyway and have no issue hitting a low bullet dod with the AiSmoke mini. The 4w is definitely better off the deck and more versatile, but so far it's not hurting anything it's just more unpredictable coming in low and hot wheras the 4w could be launched. 

 

10.5* Darkspeed x 

13.5* AiSmoke Mini 

21* Sub70 ProV2 7w  with weights in front. 

22* JPX HMP 5i 

 

At my home course I usually hit 5i off 3 tees mini off 3-4 tees and driver off 7-8 tees. 7w is only used on the fairway.

 

With the heavy weight in front I can hit the 7w like a 5w if I lean into it, or 7w trajectory if I wait on it. I can hit it from 190 - 215. Easy to cut or draw. Very versatile club. 

[Rosco1216]

Driver, mini, 3hy at 19* or Fli Hi 3i at 20*

[me05501]

On 6/29/2025 at 6:26 PM, Pack7483 said:

Sub 70 9 degree set up for fade

BRNR 13.5 set to 11.5 for draw/straightish

AI smoke 16.5 HL Max 3w for longest fairway club.  

Then I go 4i-SW. 

 

I also carry a 13.5 BRNR and 16.5* AI Smoke 3HL.

 

Recently the AI Smoke has been giving me pretty close to the same carry and roll distances as the BRNR. I'm pretty sure I tend to swing the fairway metal more assertively...if that club is in my hands I'm usually swinging for accuracy more than distance. But if my results are going to match the fairway wood I don't really need the BRNR. 

 

I may try lofting it down like you've done and see if I can create a gap between them. 

[provx]

Anyone game a mini setup to draw and a normal driver setup extremely fade bias?

 

if so what driver would setup most fade bias these days

 

tbh I’m highly debating going to a g440 lst to fade and a g440 max thriver set for draw

 

 

[speedeuphoria]

On 7/17/2025 at 11:42 AM, provx said:

Anyone game a mini setup to draw and a normal driver setup extremely fade bias?

 

if so what driver would setup most fade bias these days

 

tbh I’m highly debating going to a g440 lst to fade and a g440 max thriver set for draw

 

 

I considered this but draw mini may be close to fade driver distance 

[Urb]

Update.  Fitted for an Elyte Ti 3w.  It's hot enough to fill the Thriver spot.  Obviously launches way better off the deck.

 

Having a 460cc head on a tee is always gonna be more confidence inspiring than a 3w.  

 

Just gotta pick what trade-off ya wanna live with.

[leojax]

Trying to help my son finish the top of his bag for the HS season, and I think mini driver or strong 3 may be the way to go as a fairway finder vs driving iron. There are a lot of options, especially with all the high lofted wood models. Thanks all for sharing your setups! Food for thought....

[golf1010]

Qi10 9* open 

r7 13.5 

Qi 10 7 wood 21*
4 iron 22*

[speedeuphoria]

On 6/29/2025 at 6:26 PM, Pack7483 said:

Sub 70 9 degree set up for fade

BRNR 13.5 set to 11.5 for draw/straightish

AI smoke 16.5 HL Max 3w for longest fairway club.  

Then I go 4i-SW. 

How much gap between driver and mini?