2012 Driver Test (back to results)

If I have learned anything in these tests it is that there is a club that will work better for you and it may not be the one you expected. Testers invariably come to these tests with a club or two in mind. More times than not, they finish the test and find a club they may not have ever thought of using. The preconception of what club they want comes from advertising, what the pros use or what friends have have told them. I hear this all the time when playing, on the driving range and generally when people sit down to talk about golf and the clubs they use. Now this, in an of itself, is not bad thing just as long as you don't automatically take these recommendations as gospel. Use them as a starting point. How important is looks, how about sound? Are you just looking for distance and are willing to give up some consistency? Or is getting the ball in the short grass the most important factor regardless of distance, color or sound? This is what MyDivots is all about, giving you suggestions, based on what a group of golfers in your handicap range felt about the clubs they tested.

Armed with your must haves, you start testing clubs. If you can get to a MyDivots test, I highly recommend it. We don't care which one you choose, we do not sell clubs. We want to know what your think about the clubs you test and why you chose the one you did. Or go to several manufacturers demo days. You can also try to find a golf shop that will let you try the club, preferably in a round of golf. I use Roger Dunn, a West Coast retailer, they have a 90 day, 100% return policy (be nice to them, pick used clubs to try). Try the ones you think you want and then try another and another. After you find a club that fits your prerequisites, have it fit to you and your swing.

One of the other things we frequently notice is that golfers often are using stiffer shafts than they should be using. The big benefit of having the correct flex, besides being more consistent, is increased distance. I have not been playing much in the last couple years, also getting older, and have lost a lot of swing speed. I tried the same driver in stiff and regular and found that I was at least fifteen yards longer with the regular flex. So, check your ego at the door when you go to buy that new driver. I can't stress this enough, get the club fitted to you and your swing.

Okay, now on to this driver test results. First, why did we do this test so late in the year? Deals! It's the end of the season and many manufacturers are getting ready to release their new models so deals abound. You can get up to $100 off a lot of the drivers we had in this test.

As with most of our tests, we found there were eye opening moments. For instance, very low handicap players (0 to 4) had a lot to say about the Adams Fast 12LS. It gave the TaylorMade R11s a run for the money. The R11s came out on top with these golfers but if the Fast 12LS was a different color, the results might have been different. The Rocketballz lived up to the hype and was almost universally the longest driver. Not necessary the most consistent, but definitely the longest. The new Ping Anser was a big hit and finished first in the low handicap group due to very even ratings in all categories. The love it or not club was the Nike VRS. It was the only club that testers tried, very hard, to buy on the spot. One even flashed cash at me. Cleveland came to the test with two distinctly different clubs, the Black and the Classic. The Classic is a gorgeous club, but not very forgiving. The Black turned out to be a very highly rated driver with all levels of golfers. The Callaway Razr was another driver that received very even marks across the board and now has a custom color option that is very cool. In the high handicap group, the Adams Speedline Tech rating varied by only a half a point and came out on top of this group. The Cobra AMP was a disappointment to a lot of golfers with the exception of the high handicap group where it placed 3rd. The Cobra ZL Encore, on the other hand, was a big hit (literally and figuratively) and finished high with the low and average golfers.

Many MyDivots members requested we test some of the smaller club makers and one of the most requested was Wishon, they sent a couple drivers that placed well. Ashdon, a long time MyDivots participant was also tested and proved to be a club to try for the high handicap group. The Boccieri Control Series driver finished on top of the consistency rating after combining all handicap levels. All had respectable showings increasing your choices for a new driver.