Titleist 915 D2 and D3 Driver Review

Titleist updates their 913 drivers with higher launch and lower spin 915 Series. Do these drivers meet this claim?

Titleist_915D2_DriverTitleist has unveiled their new series of drivers and woods with the 915 featuring a new technology for Titleist, the Active Recoil Channel™ and the Radial Speed Face, a refinement on the face to improve distance on off center hits. The face changes also allow more weight to be shifted back on the head improving the head’s MOI with a lower and deeper center of gravity (CG). This driver has already seen success on tour with Jordan Spieth (915D2) winning the recent Australian Open and Hero World Challenge and their other top players having the D2 (Jimmy Walker, Bill Haas) or D3 (Adam Scott) in the bag.

This review will take a closer look at the “higher launch, lower spin” claims of the 915 versus the previous models, 913 and 910.

Grading Tiger’s Return

Tiger made his triumphant return to competitive golf, I give my thoughts on his performance.

Thrash TalkThere is good news, and bad news.

The good news is there are a number of positives to take away from Tiger’s recent return at his Hero World Challenge. The bad news was his score. Our, or at least my, expectations for Tiger are very high. When he comes back from injury I expect low scores and a return to dominance. The only thing he dominated in this return was the bottom of the leaderboard.

Volume Four Hundred Fourteen

Tiger displayed his new swing and his lunch at Isleworth

Hittin' the LinksIn golf last week, there seemed to only be one story. In case you missed it, Tiger Woods made his first start in four months at his own Hero World Challenge. From his new (old) swing to his chipping woes and gastrointestinal distress, coverage of Woods was everywhere.

Tiger’s play was less than stellar, shooting a dismal +5 at his old home course on Thursday. He spent a good part of Saturday throwing up on the course. Despite running a triple-digit temperature, he managed a 69 on Saturday, which turned out to be his best round of the week. (Apparently, a wounded Tiger really is more dangerous.) For the week, Woods shot 77-70-69-72 and finished at even par. Ever the gracious host, Tiger was T-17 in the 18-player field.

There’s no fighting the Tiger mania. So this week, let’s hit the all-Tiger, all-the-time links.

How Does Today’s Finish Predict Tomorrow’s?

Trying to sort out if the “hot hand theory” applies to golf.

The Numbers Game“He’s on a hot streak.”

“Rory just can’t miss right now.”

“You want Webb Simpson on your fantasy team this week, he’s been playing great the last few months.”

The hot streak. Long defended by athletes, denounced by statisticians. It pops up in discussions about three-point shooting, batting titles, and blackjack, but I want to talk about golf.

I don’t really care about putting hot streaks, and it would have taken me a decade to comb though the data to chart individual rounds, but there was one thing I could check out: tournament finishes.

I wanted to see how a player’s finish in one tournament (“event A”) could be used to predict their finish in the next tournament (“event B”).

My hypothesis going in was, with some reservations, that there must be something to the hot-hand theory. We’ve all seen the kind of streaks Tiger and Rory have gone on where they seemingly can’t miss a putt, and we’ve all had our own streaks where nothing seems to go straight. I figured most pros would go through the same thing.

But the results told a largely different story.

TaylorMade SLDR S Review

The newest version of the SLDR S lacks some of the adjustability from the previous version, but promises all the distance.

SLDR S SoleOne of the best ways to get golfers to spend more money on a new club is to convince them that they will gain considerable distance. While there are many who scoff at the seemingly wild claims so many of the companies make; many are more than willing to plunk down three or four hundred dollars in an attempt to see if the claims are true.

Volume Four Hundred Thirteen

Jordan Spieth bests the best down under, the Euros plot continued Ryder Cup dominance, and Tiger is set to return.

Hittin' the LinksThere’s just one month left of 2014, and means that while those in the southern climes are entering the prime of their golf season, those of us in the North are facing a harsh reality. In the northern latitudes, there’s no denying that golf season is just about at its end (despite the fact that many of us in Central Ohio played in shorts on the last day of November). As the Starks would say on Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.”

But we’re not quite done with competitive golf, yet. Tiger returns next week at the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth. It will be interesting to see if he can play pain free, and if he can play more like the Tiger of old than we’ve seen thus far in 2014.

So while we still can this year, let’s hit the links.