New driver

[taylor_made809]

I currently have the Taylormade R7 and have been looking to get a new driver. I am going to be playing golf in college starting in the fall and need some feedback on a couple of drivers. I am currently looking at the Tmade TP tour burner and the Titleist 909 D2. I can shape the ball either way but I am not the longest of drivers roughly 290 average. I play on California's central coast (Santa Cruz to San Fransisco area) and the air is heavier and the ball flies shorter. I am looking for distance out of my driver but as well as performance. So my question is what do you guys think would be a better suit for my type of playing environment?

[wrx_junki]

Have you tried the Adams 9015D, it is long and sounds like you'd do well with it sitting open like the tm tb tp? You also might want to try the new Adams Speedline series. I would think 290 average is plenty long since some of the tour pros average around there and do just fine. Zach Johnson only averages only 280 while the tour averages 285 and he does just fine.

[bflat450]

I would go with the Tour Burner... great club and has really come down in price.

[enis750]

909 D2 would be my choice
for me the D3 fits better (cause i have high launch issues)

i have always either hit Callaway or Titleist off the T
last 5 yrs is Titleist......just love it

it would suit you good to, w your hcp you could actually use it to it's full potential

[taylor_made809]

  wrx_junki said:

I would think 290 average is plenty long since some of the tour pros average around there and do just fine.

I completely agree with you but my problem is that once I get onto courses about 7300 + yrds i tend to have a lot of long irons into holes and have long third shots into par fives. But thank you for the adams series suggestions. I will head over to golfsmith and check them out.

[ks8829]

I would test out the drivers you are considering along with your current driver and see what is consistently longer and forgiving for you on the launch monitor and narrow the field of drivers to 3. do not buy the club yet, but come back in a couple of days and go back and hit the top 3 drivers again and see what the results show.

If they allow you to play a round with the club even better as well as hitting the club on the driving range.

[ks8829]

I would test out the drivers you are considering along with your current driver and see what is consistently longer and forgiving for you on the launch monitor and narrow the field of drivers to 3. do not buy the club yet, but come back in a couple of days and go back and hit the top 3 drivers again and see what the results show.

If they allow you to play a round with the club even better as well as hitting the club on the driving range.

Justin Leonard, Corey Pavin, Zach Johnson & Jim Furyk are some of the shortest drivers on tour and let they have all won majors. They learned to play within their abilities and play to their strengths with accurate irons and top notch short games including putting.

There a dozen 300 yard drivers that can not make it on the PGA tour because of their all round game, mental toughness, intestinal fortitude ( I always wanted to say that) or X factor, playing under pressure.

good luck in college golf

[jmurdock]

  taylor_made809 said:

I completely agree with you but my problem is that once I get onto courses about 7300 + yrds i tend to have a lot of long irons into holes and have

Try the Cobra S9-1 Pro series drivers. It added about 10 yards for me because of the slightly lower launch angle and incresed roll.

My home course (in Memphis, which the air is also heavy) from the tips is around 7440 yards and while some of the par fours are longer, I never have more than a five iron into the hole and I average about 275 off the tee. Are your long third shots into par 5's around 100 yards? I would think that with a 290 yard drive and a 240-250 yard 3 wood, (530 yards) that wouldn't leave you more than 20 to 80 yards into the hole.

[taylor_made809]

Ok I get what you guys are saying. Thanks for all the suggestions and I will not limit myself to just looking at those two drivers. I'll give them all a chance.

[keller62]

  wrx_junki said:

Have you tried the Adams 9015D, it is long and sounds like you'd do well with it sitting open like the tm tb tp? You also might want to try the new Adams Speedline series. I would think 290 average is plenty long since some of the tour pros average around there and do just fine. Zach Johnson only averages only 280 while the tour averages 285 and he does just fine.

I'll second this...love my 9015D and like the speedline as well

[Ruckus]

This might sound stupid, but have you considered not cutting 4 inches off your driver? Assuming that is your picture in your avatar, you don't look short, so I am assuming you are doing this for control. However, I have never heard of anyone cutting that much off their driver. The fact that you still hit it 290 leads me to believe that you can give the Hammer a run for his money if you put another 1.5 or 2" on the R7. Just a thought.

[DeeNajjEeOh]

I just bought the 2009 R7 Limited it just dropped from $399 to $199, what a driver. I never hit over 250 with my old Ping G10 but I was consistantly 25-30 yards longer with the Limited. It hits low flying ballistic missles. Check it out. I've heard great things about the Adams Speedline and Cobra S9i which both came down in price.

[taylor_made809]

  Ruckus said:

This might sound stupid, but have you considered not cutting 4 inches off your driver? Assuming that is your picture in your avatar, you don't look short, so I am assuming you are doing this for control. However, I have never heard of anyone cutting that much off their driver. The fact that you still hit it 290 leads me to believe that you can give the Hammer a run for his money if you put another 1.5 or 2" on the R7. Just a thought.

Well the coach I work with made a great point to me and it is this: the tour average length of a driver is 43" but at that same moment the average height is right up at 6' ish. When I put my proforce shaft in my driver it was 43" and when I adressed the ball it was toe up. And because of this I had a draw that would sometimes get away from me. So me being 5'8'', I decided to cut my driver to 42", which at address the club is flat, after hitting my coaches Tour Burner of the same length. I found I was more consistant and hit the ball about 20 yrds further. It helped me gain more control of the club and in turn I was able to play different shots on command. David Duval who is 6' flat plays with a 42" driver but he is also more hunched over. So to answer a short question with a story, there is my reasoning.

[Ruckus]

I used to play a 43.5" and I am your height. Currently play a 44.5" and I think it's perfect for my swing. Goes to show height isn't everything when it comes to driver length, I guess. Youth plays a factor, I think. I am only 30 but I am now using higher lofts and longer shafts than 5 years ago. I heard Tiger is now swinging a 44", which is 1" longer (and 3 degrees higher loft) than last year.

[ballhog]

  Ruckus said:

I used to play a 43.5" and I am your height. Currently play a 44.5" and I think it's perfect for my swing. Goes to show height isn't everything when it comes to driver length, I guess. Youth plays a factor, I think. I am only 30 but I am now using higher lofts and longer shafts than 5 years ago. I heard Tiger is now swinging a 44", which is 1" longer (and 3 degrees higher loft) than last year.

I think you might be paying a little bit too much attention to what other people are doing with their equipment, like so many other people do, when their game and equipment choices probably have no relevance in your real life game. To the OP, If that is what works for you, more power to you, stick with what you know works, if thats a 42" shaft, go for it, good luck man

[Shorty]

  taylor_made809 said:

Well the coach I work with made a great point to me and it is this: the tour average length of a driver is 43"

You will find that he is incorrect.

The average may be around 44.5 inches. It is definitely not 43 inches. The point is right, though - most players use a driver that is too long and new ones are a ridiculous length.

[Ruckus]

  ballhog said:

I think you might be paying a little bit too much attention to what other people are doing with their equipment, like so many other people do, when their game and equipment choices probably have no relevance in your real life game. To the OP, If that is what works for you, more power to you, stick with what you know works, if thats a 42" shaft, go for it, good luck man

?? I was making a suggestion based on OP's question. If you are referring to paying attention to Tiger, I was simply implying that specs change over time as swings develop. I don't see how that's paying undue attention to other people.

[taylor_made809]

Well my coach was a former tour pro. He worked with these guys everyweek so I trust his knowledge is true. It also seems that some of us may be off on our specs, i may be too, but I agree with shorty that the standard is way too long.