RBZ 3HL(17) vs Burner 2.0TP 5(18.5)

evoviiiyou · February 15, 2012

Pics of my quest to fill the gap

So here in North East Ohio its really winter. Snow on the ground and other than a dome that a full sand wedge hits the top, no real way to practice to see ball flight. With that said I am a 10 handy and recently realized that I need a club between my trusty SuperTri 11.5 driver and my Burner 2.0 3 iron off the tee and to obtain a consistent club for the off the deck 235 plus yard shots. Well here are my two options and needless to say once the weather clears I will see which club stays and which one goes for sale. Two new heads, 17* vs 18.5*, two different shafts, different lies, different lofts...just thought I would share.

evoviiiyou · February 15, 2012

Some initial reactions. I like the confidence the RBZ imparts from set up to my eye and the larger head seems to be manageable. The Burner 2.0TP seems to be a bit heavier but both feel great with the air swings. The RBZ is about a half inch longer in the shaft but does not feel too long. I may cut this down a half inch however after testing. The neat thing is that the weight in the RBZ seems that a simple star type screwdriver with a hole in the middle would allow for me to remove the weight screw and add some cotton into the head if I wanted to increase swing weight. This differs from the 2.0 TP weight that has a 3 pin type fitting for removal. Other than the that I like the lack of score lines that are on the RBZ vs the 2.0 TP. I cannot wait to test these.

JTK37 · February 15, 2012

Dying to hear your comparison of the two. I play the 2.0 TP 3 and 5, thinking about the 3HL as a replacement for the 3-wood, same distance with a higher ball flight hopefully? Love to hear how the 17* compares to the 5-wood for you. Joe

evoviiiyou · February 15, 2012

Turn on the heat Joe and I will get busy! Willing and wanting to write this up too.

JTK37 · February 15, 2012

Come to NJ, its an unseasonably warm 45-50, plenty warm enough to play

evoviiiyou · February 15, 2012

[quote name='JTK37' timestamp='1329362095' post='4295609']
Come to NJ, its an unseasonably warm 45-50, plenty warm enough to play
[/quote]

Don't brag and I was on Long Island a few weeks ago and it was like 60 degrees. Its been a Lintastic winter for you guys. Soon enough we will get ours here in Cleveland. Come on spring...I am ready for some testing and some writing.

JTK37 · February 22, 2012

Updates.....Updates, weather please warm up

evoviiiyou · February 26, 2012

OK not exactly mid summer today here in Ohio but its sunny and with the heated stalls at my local range, it was time for the test. To add I have a golf trip planned for Palm Springs in two weeks that I need to get ready for. To be fair to be ready for this test I had the RBZ woods shaft cut down 3/4" and added a winn lite firm grip in white as well (looks and feels sweet!) and the 2.0 TP was left at stock length for the test. Now for the review.

First up was my trusty Burner 2.0TP 18.5 degree fairway metal after a nice warm up. Picked a flag that was posted on a board to be 240 yards away. After about 15 balls hit with this club (all off the deck), all I can say is good things about the ball flight and feel. My normal shot is a straight boring mid flight with my miss being a slight fade. This club always seemed to error on the fade side and maybe it was the cold freezing air (37 degrees today) or the worn out range balls, but I did not carry one ball to the green which was not the point, rather I wanted to get a feel for the flight. I like the balance of this TP Radix shaft and out of all of my shots with this club it seemed to be VERY consistant and responsive. This is for a stronger player that has some club head speed...granted I only have a 106-109mph driver swing speed on the local golf galaxy simulator.

Next up was the RBZ 17HL 3 metal. For my swing, the RBZ seemed to be a dream. It is without a doubt the longest and easiest to hit off the deck. The face of this particular club seemed a little closed and the shaft was lighter and seemed softer than the Radix in the TP both Stiff flex. After, making some adjustments to make it work (slower tempo), I was rewarded with bombs that flew the same height as the TP 18.5 2.0 and I chalked up the similar ball flight to the shaft softness for similar trajectories with 1.5* less loft. It will be very interesting to see how this club works in the summer heat and not on the cold range balls. 14 of the 15 balls either were pin high or hit the green and the result was that the face seemed hotter on the RBZ and it was consistently 10+ yards longer with the miss to be a slight draw. I believe the hype and will be gaming the RBZ for my trip.

The RBZ while slightly deeper faced didn't seem all that big to me and was very confidence inspiring at address. Finally, I will add some more thoughts after I get some warm weather rounds in over the next few weeks. For right now the RBZ is in and the TP is out.