Ben Hogan GS53 Max Driver Review

My current driver has a smoke yellow 70g. Anybody have any input which shaft would be the closest(that they offer)? Thanks for your help!
 
This driver is starting to come alive for me as I regain confidence in my swing. The past to rounds I’ve hit 4 drives in the 260 range. If those were in the summer those would have been 290.

I made the N+ upright adjustment otherwise standard 9 deg loft. The Lin-Q purple combination is fabulous for me. My Epic Flash was a 10.5 playing D plus 1 loft with a PX HZRDUS Smoke Black yet I can launch this driver better.

My drive on 18 today a visually could see the bulge and roll do it’s job to “self correct “ a fade.
 
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My current driver has a smoke yellow 70g. Anybody have any input which shaft would be the closest(that they offer)? Thanks for your help!
that is hard to say, The Smoke black is probably a bit stiffer then yours in a lighter package. maybe the X-flex Tense blue gets you the weight you are used to and some how offsets that. I think you are looking at the Stiff smoke Black or the X Stiff Tense Blue.
 
This driver is starting to come alive for me as I regain confidence in my swing. The past to rounds I’ve hit 4 drives in the 260 range. If those were in the summer those would have been 290.

I made the N+ upright adjustment otherwise standard 9 deg loft. The Lin-Q purple combination is fabulous for me. My Epic Flash was a 10.5 playing D plus 1 loft with a PX HZRDUS Smoke Black yet I can launch this driver better.

My drive on 18 today a visually could see the bulge and roll do it’s job to “self correct “ a fade.
Glad to see this. I also figured out my driver swing recently and I can't wait to try this driver (won the contest last week). My speedzone is performing great, but I have a feeling this one is going to be a monster for me.
 
Glad to see this. I also figured out my driver swing recently and I can't wait to try this driver (won the contest last week). My speedzone is performing great, but I have a feeling this one is going to be a monster for me.
it gives you some good feed back when you hit the center. It rewards you with a good ping when you hit the button!
 
Went to the indoor simulator place this afternoon. Hit some 8 irons to warm up, then the Callaway Big Bertha​
B21. Next, I switched over to the Ben Hogan GS53 Max. It sits behind the ball nicely. The carbon fiber and the BH logo really stands out. This driver sits extremely neutral!
The GS53 Max definitely feels heavier than the BB21. I have the 62 gram Project X HZRDUS Black shaft​
playing 44.5” in the Hogan. The Callaway has the 55g RCH shaft. After the first swing, I can confirm that it is louder than the original GS53. It’s not offensive, but very prevalent. Reminds me of the Ping G400 Max really. Louder than the Tour Edge EXS driver. Kinda surprising given the carbon fiber in the head. The best way to put it is remember that scene from Bull Durham when Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh tells “Crash” Davis, “ I want to announce my presence with authority!” Well, it definitely does that. To be fair (insert Letterkenny gif here), I was hitting indoors, so it should mellow some outdoors.
If sound is feel as @Jman says, than it’s not as soft as the standard model! It’s not a bad​
feeling driver, just not the pillowy magnificence those that played the original driver might have come to love. This driver really gives its user the feeling of power. It feels like a forged sledgehammer!
Performance wise, this driver showed it was lower spinning. One drive was as low as 1500 rpms! Overall, it​
averaged 3-400 rpms lower than the GS53. I was absolutely stunned to see a lower launch and more penetrating flight than the original!😳 With the weight moved toward the rear of the head, I would have bet money it would be higher launching of the two models. With more testing, I might loft the driver up from 9.0° to 10.0°. The GS53 Max showed a big performance potential. I’m super excited about given this a fair shot to knock the BB21 out of the bag...putting that 14th Ben Hogan club back in my bag!

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Great stuff sir!

Did you order it from Hogan at 44.5"? If so, did they bring the swing weight up to the D2 - D3 range? I believe the driver with that shaft at stock length (45.5) would be around D2. The swing weight would be crazy light (around C6) after taking an inch off if some kind of head weight were not added back to it.
 
How would this be for someone with a higher swing speed?
I did the homepage article on it and am a 108-110 guy historically.
 
I am 68 and enjoy playing but have a 21 hc. Most of my problems come from driving right instead of straight. I have been looking at the BH GS53 Max for a while to see if this can help me stay in the middle. Have talked with BH people to figure out what shaft to use for swing speed of about 88-91. Going to Club Champion to try out shafts and drivers soon to make a purchase. Any and all comments are welcome at Robert.younger1@gmail.com
 
Great stuff sir!

Did you order it from Hogan at 44.5"? If so, did they bring the swing weight up to the D2 - D3 range? I believe the driver with that shaft at stock length (45.5) would be around D2. The swing weight would be crazy light (around C6) after taking an inch off if some kind of head weight were not added back to it.

I believe they did. It doesn’t feel light at all! If I get a chance, I will try to measure the swing weight.
 
I believe they did. It doesn’t feel light at all! If I get a chance, I will try to measure the swing weight.

When I get around to ordering one, I will go 45". Have tried shorter and longer and keep going back to that as my best fit. When I ordered the original GS53 with the Helium shaft at 45", it came in at D1 so they must have added some weight to it, otherwise it probably would have been C8 or 9. Must be to the head and not a shaft tip weight because the Accra TZ6 55 at 45" that I play in it plays to a D2 swing weight, which makes sense compared to the Helium because it is 3 or 4 grams heavier.
 
Low spinning and forgiving.... that’s right up my alley. Gonna have to add to my list of drivers to try before making my next purchase.
 
Finally got this thing to the range today. Going head to head with my sz xtreme.

The Hogan is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch longer than the cobra. It also has a standard size grip (I usually use a plus4 midsize).

The ball flight was much lower with the hogan...but that could be down to a difference in the shaft (smoke yellow vs smoke black), and I was hitting closer to the bottom of the face with the gs53max.

Not really a fair test today because I didn't swing the BH as well as I would like, but Cobra won this round. I'm going to put my normal grip on it and maybe try to get to a simulator this week.

I am a little bummed because I'm now leaning away from the dual driver setup.
 
My initial reaction...

 
Super impressed today by the GS53 Max! Performance is night and day different from the standard model. The ball really wanted to go straight. The few I hit to the right stayed on track and never took that hard right turn that plagued the GS53. They were playable... talking edge of fairway/1st cut of rough. Not 2 fairways over! It is definitely louder than the original. Surprising by the addition of carbon fiber, you expect a more muted sound. Very Ping G400 Max to Cleveland Launcher HB loud. Feel is no where comparable to the GS53. But, I feel more of a solid impact where the original felt more explosive/springy.

GS53 Rating-
Looks- 8
Sound- 10
Feel- 10
Distance- 10
Forgiveness- 3
*X-Factor- Traditional*
Total- 41

GS53 Max Rating-
Looks- 9
Sound- 6
Feel- 8
Distance- 10
Forgiveness- 10
*X-Factor- Confidence*
Total- 43

Overall, I would say if you play Ben Hogan ICONS, you will probably benefit more from the standard GS53 driver. You can consistently hit the middle of the club face and square it up allowing for long bombs. If you play a combo set, PTx Pros, or EDGE irons, the added forgiveness of the GS53 MAX will pay huge dividends by not punishing you so severely when you don’t swing the club consistently!

I need more time to test to see if the MAX can bounce the BB21 out of the bag!
 
GS53 Max supposedly out for delivery today! Hopefully will arrive prior to me heading for the course at 1. Can't wait to hit it and definitely looking forward to the increased forgiveness over the original GS53.
 
Pretty mediocre debut with the GS53 Max today. As others have said, the head is definitely louder than expected. But, honestly, I didn't even notice it after the first few hits. For the first time out, I put in the shaft that I have been gaming in the original GS53 for about 1.5 years, the Accra TZ6. I really don't think the low spin shaft in the low spin head did me any favors. Did see some good roll out but much less carry distance than I was getting with the OG GS53 and that shaft combo. Have the Helium plugged in to use tomorrow with the HZRDUS Smoke in the bag also to try.
 
Better results today with the driver. After hitting the first 2 balls short and loud high off the clubface, I tried teeing the ball a good bit lower than I normally do with driver and starting hitting the ball higher and further. So feel like I am starting to get it dialed in. Time will tell whether it will be a better option for me than the regular GS53.
 
Ball runs a long way on a dry fairway. I don't ever recall getting as much roll out with any other driver I have owned. Problem is that I am still trying to figure out how to get more carry. Still a good bit behind what I was getting with the regular GS53. Heck, it may turn out that I play the Max in extreme dry conditions and play the regular in normal to wet conditions.
 
Welp, I played both the GS53 Max and the BB21 head to head last week. The Ben Hogan put up a valiant fight, but even Mighty Casey struck out! The performance of the BB21 was just too much to overcome! The biggest reason the Callaway is staying in the bag is something that isn't quantifiable! I just have SO MUCH confidence in teeing off with the BB21! As a serial slicer of the driver, it has put me in the fairway more than ever. And, as @Jman touts, "it is definitely a unicorn!" The Ben Hogan GS53 Max is a really good driver that has a lot of potential for a fraction of the cost of most OEMs. Anyone looking for a very forgiving/high performing/low cost driver should really take a look at this club.
 
So, I picked this up from @J.B. Cobb III last week. Paired it with my UST Mamiya Lin-Q purple. I have not had a chance to get a full range session in or get it out to the course yet. I did however get a chance to hit a few balls into the woods yesterday while showing it to my Brother in Law.

Initial impressions are positive (I'll go into more detail when I get a full session with it). The sound is a bit louder than the original, but that has been discussed previously. It's not bad at all, just a bit louder. Ball flight was a good mid - penetrating flight on the few balls I did hit. I was not warmed up at all, so the impact was a bit out near the toe. Even with that, the ball held it's line quite nicely. I look forward to getting this out to the course and putting it through it's paces. I will report back with a full review when I do.
 
I have several rounds in with this driver and am finally feeling pretty darn comfortable with it. From my earlier comments after my first couple outings, I was having trouble getting enough carry distance out of it. I gave the HZRDUS Smoke an honest chance and it came trough with the launch and carry that I was looking for. Kind of bizarre in that the Smoke is touted as a low launch, low spin shaft while the shaft I have been using in the original for about a year and a half and initially tried in the Max, the Accra TZ6 55, it touted as a high launch, low spin shaft. And I honestly never have previously gotten along well with any Project X shaft (graphite or steel) but this combo just seems to work for me. I did take it down about .25" to hit the swing weight I was seeking and put a full cord grip on it.

Some observations:
1. Distance - thus far it is pretty well on par with what I have been getting from the original GS53. Seem to be gaining momentum the more I use the Max so it may ultimately win out in this category by a little.
2. Dispersion - the Max is definitely easier for me to control from this perspective. I just have not seen any big sweeping rope hooks that I am prone to hitting with driver from time to time. In fact, I was starting to see a slight fade as my normal ball flight with the Max, which is something I have never routinely seen from any other driver. This kind of baffled me a bit so I changed the setting from N- to N+ and my normal draw returned. I have always played the original at N- so I'm wondering if I was getting more shaft droop with the Max / Smoke combination and the 56* lie angle at the normal setting was just not enough to produce my desired ball flight.
3. Foregiveness - this is probably where I differ from others that have commented about this driver, especially in comparison to the orginal. Off-center hits do fly straighter with the Max but I seem to lose a pretty fair amount of distance more with the Max than I do with the original.
 
I was able to get this out to the range and get a few swings on it. As far as the sound is concerned, it does sound like the Ping G425 driver. There was a guy in the stall next to me that had the Ping, and the sound was almost identical. I have the UST Mamiya Lin-Q Purple in it. With this shaft, I am getting a very nice penetrating ball flight. This is a 9 degree head, but I have it set to 10 degrees which gives a closed face. Since I'm accustomed to my original GS53 setting up square, it took a couple of swings to visually adjust. Nothing too overbearing that would cause it to be a distraction though. I did hit a few out on the toe (early season swing) and the ball held it's line fairly well. I did not have any shots that I lost way to the right so that is a positive as far as the forgiveness goes. When struck on the sweet spot, the ball did appear to just jump off the face. I hope to get out tomorrow on the course to get a true indication what this can do. As for now, I continue to get comfortable with it so we shall see how it compares for me to the original.
 
I have played several rounds with this club. I have it set to N- with a Helium S shaft. I’m a 13 index and 63 years old. My swing speed is in the mid 90 mph range. I have hit a couple of the longest drives I’ve hit in years with this setup. However my consistency is all over the place. I’m much straighter and only a little shorter with my Srixon z765 with Miyazaki R-flex. So I’m going to continue bagging the Srixon, while I experiment with hosel configs with the Hogans.


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Was able to get another range session in with the GS53 MAX. Thankfully my local course opened their range with grass tees. After warming up, I was able to go head to head with the original GS53. The Max had the Lin-Q shaft set at 10 degrees and the original had the Tensei Blue set at N+ which is 10.5 degrees.
After about 10 balls with each driver things were pretty much “neck & neck”, similar distance, ball flight, etc. The misses with both were a push.(all my swing)
Decided to take a little break where I swapped shafts. The Lin-Q with the original GS53 was like playing with an old friend. Penetrating ball flight, consistent distance, miss was a push.
The Max was now paired with the Tensei Blue set at N+ , 9 degrees , neutral lie. This set up was an eye opener! Dead straight shots, center face contact, ball flight was a bit higher than with the Lin-Q but not ballooning at all. Miss was still a push, so I will relate that to my swing. I would not have expected these results with this set up, but I’m certainly glad I tried it.
I have an outing Sunday, I can’t wait to get this out on the course to see the real results...... stay tuned
 
This is great!

 
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