Off the Shelf Driver

[Birish21]

Hello all,

I have recently renewed my love/hate relationship with golf, and am looking to move away from the ear raping 08 Nike SQ Dymo 2 driver in favor of something a little more tame on the ears and more forgiving.  The only problem is, I currently live in Guam so I have no options to get fitted, or to do any type of swing analysis.  I currently hit my SQ 10.5 Reg about 220-230 and get near 250 if I hit it pure.  I don't want to spend a lot of money since I can't get fitted, and I am currently sitting on a $275 gift certificate at TGW.com.  What would you suggest?  

Thanks for your time. 

[colin007]

No suggestions other than to say one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen in my life was from Guam.

Carry on.

[Shindig]

I liked my Dymo2, I think it was in the bag until '15 when I got fitted for my current Titleist.

But that doesn't answer your question.

Distance is one thing.  What else can you tell us about your driver?  Ball flight?  Swing speed?  What do you like about your shots with your driver?  What do you not like?

[Birish21]

4 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I liked my Dymo2, I think it was in the bag until '15 when I got fitted for my current Titleist.

But that doesn't answer your question.

Distance is one thing.  What else can you tell us about your driver?  Ball flight?  Swing speed?  What do you like about your shots with your driver?  What do you not like?

Ball flight is fairly straight, I slice it every one in a while but for the most part it stays straight.  I typically get good height from my drives and very rarely go low.  Unfortunately I have no way of testing my swing speed right now.  I do not own a swing analyzer nor is there one on the island except for one place that only fits pings, and I am not sure what they use to do it, and they only carry $500+ drivers (Guam inflation FTW).  I don't like the look of the driver, and I absolutely hate the sound it makes.  I never understood Rick Shiels infatuation with driver sounds until I devoted range time with my driver.  It literally hurts my ears when I get good connections.    

[CharlieB]

I like Titleist drivers. If you watch Global Golf you could probably find a nice used 917D in your price range.

Sorry, missed the gift certificate.

Edited August 10, 2020 by CharlieB

[dennyjones]

The TaylorMade M2 is a club that has been around for a while with very good reviews. 

[ChetlovesMer]

I would look at a Ping G400... probably the SFT model. 

Ping drivers have been very forgiving for almost a decade now. The G400 is full of tech. It doesn't have the movable weights that are on the G410, but I think those are over-rated anyway. 

You can get one brand new on TGW for 250 to 275 USD. I'd probably suggest the Ping Alta stiff shaft. ... under-rated shaft in my opinion. 

Good luck. Let us know what you decide. 

[TourSpoon]

What shafts do you play in your irons and woods now? What's your ball flight?

I just ordered the F9 driver from Cobra Direct with a custom shaft for 249. I think their generic is the Hazardous Smoke 6.0 which is pretty solid. if you are generally a Dynamic Gold S300 or PX 6.0 (ie: stiff flex low launch) profile kind of guy it may do you right. I could easily play that set-up. 

I ended up doing a casual but educated fitting and picked the Even Flow White shaft in a 6.0 because its a low launching low spinning combo that worked on the Trackman. 

[ChetlovesMer]

4 minutes ago, TourSpoon said:

I just ordered the F9 driver from Cobra Direct with a custom shaft for 249. I think their generic is the Hazardous Smoke 6.0 which is pretty solid. if you are generally a Dynamic Gold S300 or PX 6.0 (ie: stiff flex low launch) profile kind of guy it may do you right. I could easily play that set-up. 

I was going to suggest the Cobra F9 as it is a great driver IMO. However, he'd have to get a used one as TGW doesn't have any new left in stock. Which isn't necessarily a problem, but he'd have to throw in more money than what his gift certificate is worth. 

[TourSpoon]

33 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I was going to suggest the Cobra F9 as it is a great driver IMO. However, he'd have to get a used one as TGW doesn't have any new left in stock. Which isn't necessarily a problem, but he'd have to throw in more money than what his gift certificate is worth. 

I just saw that he did say TGW. I like the G400 or the F2 for the price. 

[ChetlovesMer]

1 minute ago, TourSpoon said:

I just saw that he did say TGW. I like the G400 or the F2 for the price. 

He may be able to stretch a bit and get a Rogue. But, in truth I prefer the G400 to the Rogue. But that's just one man's opinion. 

[TourSpoon]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

He may be able to stretch a bit and get a Rogue. But, in truth I prefer the G400 to the Rogue. But that's just one man's opinion. 

You sold me! 

[Birish21]

15 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

What shafts do you play in your irons and woods now? What's your ball flight?

I just ordered the F9 driver from Cobra Direct with a custom shaft for 249. I think their generic is the Hazardous Smoke 6.0 which is pretty solid. if you are generally a Dynamic Gold S300 or PX 6.0 (ie: stiff flex low launch) profile kind of guy it may do you right. I could easily play that set-up. 

I ended up doing a casual but educated fitting and picked the Even Flow White shaft in a 6.0 because its a low launching low spinning combo that worked on the Trackman. 

I play the steel shafts that came with my Nike Slingshots, and my current Dymo 2 driver has a regular flex 55g shaft, nothing special.  I don't have any woods, I have a slingshot 3H with stock shaft, and a Ping G410 2H with the basic R flex shaft.

For the most part my ball flight is straight with a slight right push. I'd love to learn how to hit a drawl, but right now I'm just focusing on impact.

I am stuck between the M2 and the G400.  Unfortunately it seems like ping is backlogged on their clubs, and getting something custom would take at least a month till it "maybe" ships.

I really appreciate all the replys.

I could push my budget up to 400 since it would only be 100 out of pocket.  That might open up some more options.

[TourSpoon]

Since you are just guessing, I would get the M2 and then if it doesn't work go get a shaft that works. Its hard to even recommend something without anything solid to go on. Good luck. 

[Birish21]

28 minutes ago, TourSpoon said:

Since you are just guessing, I would get the M2 and then if it doesn't work go get a shaft that works. Its hard to even recommend something without anything solid to go on. Good luck. 

What do you mean by guessing?  At what I need, or what I currently play?  I wish I could go get my swing looked at and get some raw data.  I don't enjoy the thought of buying a driver raw, but I got to get something lol.

[TourSpoon]

12 minutes ago, Birish21 said:

What do you mean by guessing?  At what I need, or what I currently play?  I wish I could go get my swing looked at and get some raw data.  I don't enjoy the thought of buying a driver raw, but I got to get something lol.

I mean guessing at what you need. My point is that the modern driver is more about getting the correct shaft than it is should I get Ping or TM.  It sounds like you have a decent swing with the regular stock shafts and that is really your starting point. I would do the M2 because of availability and price, see if it works in a shaft that maybe resembles what works for now knowing later that you can do an aftermarket reshaft if needed. I just wouldn't spend more money in this scenario unless I really knew exactly what I wanted and had better data. I hope this is helpful. 

[Birish21]

23 minutes ago, TourSpoon said:

I mean guessing at what you need. My point is that the modern driver is more about getting the correct shaft than it is should I get Ping or TM.  It sounds like you have a decent swing with the regular stock shafts and that is really your starting point. I would do the M2 because of availability and price, see if it works in a shaft that maybe resembles what works for now knowing later that you can do an aftermarket reshaft if needed. I just wouldn't spend more money in this scenario unless I really knew exactly what I wanted and had better data. I hope this is helpful. 

Definitely helpful.  I'll be back in the states in a year so I'll be able to dig deeper into getting the right setup.  Thanks for your time.

[Birish21]

So I got a little bit extra TGW cash and pulled the trigger on the G400 Max 10.5, R shaft with Alta CB 55.  This will allow me to get fitted later on when I move back to the states and should still give me a decent upgrade over the Nike in terms of feel and forgiveness.  Now let's see if they actually ship it. Thanks all for your help.