Boccieri Heavy Driver - Forum Testing Review
Are you comfortable enough to now game it in an official club tournament? Or would you go with your Ping (if you had to choose and tee it up today)?
Golf 'N Gator
Formally HoosierGolfer
You know, the fact is that the K15 is so easy to hit almost perfect everytime. It is a very easy and predictable driver for me. With the Heavy Driver, it has become fairly predictable but not nearly as much as the other one.
The bottom line here is, that while Ping has been building drivers for a long long time and their own technology has advanced, but Mr. Boccieri has done very well with this as a first driver. The HD is bound to not be as easy to hit as one that has evolved over many years.
To answer the question, I would not be afraid to use the HD now in something important. I would more than likely miss a couple more fairways with it over the other, but it is safe enough for me now that I would go with it. Does it replace the K15 full time from here on out....I'm not sure.
Coldbleu -
Have you heard back from Mr B about your other shaft options he was going to send you? Have you been able to hit the White HD any more? Any head to head thoughts?
I hit the HD this weekend, but its so wet I was not getting near the roll I have thus far (prob abt 5 yards of roll total). This causes a big decrease in overall distance, so it has me concerned. It does have me pondering if I shouldve gone with a 10* or a different shaft for a higher ball flight.
With my SuperTri, I just change the weights or swap my shaft if I want to really launch it high when its wet. Mr B did mention some adjustability in his next driver, I think this would be great. I love being able to swap shafts very easily with the R9/11 tips.
Have you heard back from Mr B about your other shaft options he was going to send you? Have you been able to hit the White HD any more? Any head to head thoughts?
I hit the HD this weekend, but its so wet I was not getting near the roll I have thus far (prob abt 5 yards of roll total). This causes a big decrease in overall distance, so it has me concerned. It does have me pondering if I shouldve gone with a 10* or a different shaft for a higher ball flight.
With my SuperTri, I just change the weights or swap my shaft if I want to really launch it high when its wet. Mr B did mention some adjustability in his next driver, I think this would be great. I love being able to swap shafts very easily with the R9/11 tips.
CharlieMoy
Well-known member
I got out yesterday comparing the HD to my other driver and I started to get the feeling that the face on this driver feels thick. Its something I truly hadnt noticed before, but I am getting that feeling now. Anyone else feel this?
I havent really noticed this, but I havent been looking for it either. I wonder if you are "finding" some of the dimpling that Mr B said made up the inside of the face?
CharlieMoy
Well-known member
Possibly. It hasnt really affected the performance of the driver I am sure, just more or less a feeling.
Golf 'N Gator
Formally HoosierGolfer
With our 2011 golf season end drawing near, I think it is time for me to share some closing thoughts on the Heavy Driver and the forum testing.
After four, four and half months of testing, I have hit hundreds of shots with this driver, both on the range and in play on the course. I'm not the kind of player that spends great amounts of time on the range. I normally only go there when something wrong crops up in my swing. Having played since the early 70's, my swing has not changed much over the years. Even though technology has come so far since I took up the game as a kid, my style and much of my original swing remains. I'm very lucky to still have the same teacher I had way back then. I have worked so much with him over the years, I often say he knows my swing much better than I do. I've never been good at self diagnosis, so I also go to him when there are issues, and so I included him in this testing.
Over the years, my driver swing has changed, or evolved more than for any other club. Drivers have progressed so far from the small persimmon Spalding I started out with. As hard as those old clubs were to hit perfect everytime, I don't remember my misses getting me in nearly as much trouble as the bigger, and much longer drivers of today.
Over the past ten to twenty years or so, I have owned many different drivers. It is fairly common for me to change drivers from year to year to keep up with technology. With other clubs, I tend to stick to what works, but I have about always started each year with a new driver. As I think back I owned just about every Callaway driver they have made. I think my first was the Big Bertha Warbird. That driver, behaved for me much like a persimmon driver. I'm sure there was some adjustment as I think this was my first "metal" driver.
From there, it was a steady progression from the Warbird to VFT, Steelhead III, C4 (yes I owned one and it was horrendous). After the C4, I had the Big Betha II, Big Bertha Titanium, Big Bertha Titanium 454 (great driver), FT-3, Big Bertha 460, FT-i, FT-iq and my last Callaway, the FT-9 i-mix. I did not own them all as I have a few gaps in there, but I owned a large number of different Callaway drivers. Each was a progression in technology. Out of all of these a couple come to mind as being great drivers for me. The BB Titanium 460 was my first with a higher loft (13 degrees). Over time, I was having trouble getting these big headed drivers square at impact. I started with a 10 degree version first, but it was at this time when I really noticed that I hit the 3 wood version of the line much straighter than the driver. The added loft of the 3 wood just made the misses much less severe. So I switched to a 13 degree version of the driver and overnight I began to hit a high percentage of fairways.
So after the discovery for me that higher loft meant more accuracy, I never looked back. There is no doubt that I am giving up some yardage with the higher loft, but my game is solid and I think it is much easier to hit greens from there over the rough. The Callaway FT-9 i-mix I had a could of years ago was really one of the best I ever owned. With technology now giving a fader like me a draw bias driver, I hit a very high percentage of fairways. I also loved the i-mix which made it easy to switch shafts with ease. Fitting was new to me at this time, so I was still buying regular flex drivers, but with the i-mix, I purchased a stiff flex and found that shaft to be even more accurate for me. It was fun to experiment as my home course had a fitting cart that was loaded with shafts.
After this, my home course and our owner/PGA professional had a bit of a falling out with Callaway so he stopped selling their products. I have for all of my life bought most of my golf equipment from our course, if for no other reason than to support the course. So with Callaway out of the picture, my first Ping driver was the G15 in 12 degrees. With a stock shaft, this driver played very much like my FT-9 but there were times I missed the FT-9. My misses with this driver, like many everyday players, was a slice. The next driver I demo'd was the K15. For me this was a perfect match for me and my swing. Without any real changes, I was once again able to hit a high percentage of fairways. I put this driver in my bag late last season and my driving has never been better.
So now we fast forward to me being chosen to test/review the Heavy Driver. I will forever be greatful to both THP and Steve Boccieri for this opportunity. I really knew very little about the brand as I had only messed with their putters a little when I was in Indy at one of the big box golf stores.
Right out the box the first driver I received (10 degree) did not fit my current style at all. We were only offered 2 lofts up front, as I have noted, I had been gaming a higher loft, either 12 or 13 degrees for several years. With the 10 degree, I was really back to where I had been several years ago with the Big Bertha Titanium 454 driver. With just my normal setup and swing, this driver was very often right. After talking with Mr. Boccieri in our inital phone call, he told me that he was about to introduce a higher lofted version and he agreed to switch mine. I sent the 10 degree back and received the 12 degree version right away.
With this driver, it did offer me more control, but I still found it very easy to miss right with. At this point, I brought in my teacher and after some range time, we found that I had to use a much stronger grip and a much flatter swing plain to get the driver to be accurate. Over time, I have logged several hundred tee shots on the course and at least that many more on the range. The driver takes the left side completly out of play for me and that is a good thing most of the time. However, there will always be cases where you must hit a draw, and I find this shot to be more difficult for me with the HD than with the K15. Distance wise, there is some loss of overall distance for me with the HD.
In closing, I would say as I have in the past, that this is a great driver for a first driver. Not many companies have had their first driver look as good, sound as good and perform as good as this driver. At the same time, it is only natural I think that the K15 Ping I own performs a little better for me, my swing and my style. They have simply been building drivers for a much longer period of time. The amount of data they have compiled over the years is huge. Having all this data, no doubt makes it much easy to plan and build the next version of their drivers in any particular line. Mr. Boccieri simply does not have all of this data. With that being said, I still think that this driver is very good first driver. The quality to which it is built is not in question. It is very pleasant to look at, it sounds good and it works great in the right hands, but for me right now, it is just not as forgiving as my other driver. I'm sure, if the HD face could be closed a little more for me, a little draw bias weighting could be added and we were 1000% correct with the shaft, this driver could perfom as well.
I think Boccieri Golf has made great strides in what has been a less than perfect economic time period. I know that it will be any uphill battle to compete with the major OEM's for both a spot in the big box stores and a spot in the market, but if anyone can do it, this brand can. I have written a review as well here at THP about my Heavy putter. There is no doubt that the putters are very good and there is no doubt that the other clubs they are now offereing are just as good. While this driver may not be perfect for me, I can't wait to see what their second offering will be like. This one is good and I would think the next one will be great.
I've had a great time testing this driver. Thank you THP and Steve Boccieri for allowing me the opportunity!
After four, four and half months of testing, I have hit hundreds of shots with this driver, both on the range and in play on the course. I'm not the kind of player that spends great amounts of time on the range. I normally only go there when something wrong crops up in my swing. Having played since the early 70's, my swing has not changed much over the years. Even though technology has come so far since I took up the game as a kid, my style and much of my original swing remains. I'm very lucky to still have the same teacher I had way back then. I have worked so much with him over the years, I often say he knows my swing much better than I do. I've never been good at self diagnosis, so I also go to him when there are issues, and so I included him in this testing.
Over the years, my driver swing has changed, or evolved more than for any other club. Drivers have progressed so far from the small persimmon Spalding I started out with. As hard as those old clubs were to hit perfect everytime, I don't remember my misses getting me in nearly as much trouble as the bigger, and much longer drivers of today.
Over the past ten to twenty years or so, I have owned many different drivers. It is fairly common for me to change drivers from year to year to keep up with technology. With other clubs, I tend to stick to what works, but I have about always started each year with a new driver. As I think back I owned just about every Callaway driver they have made. I think my first was the Big Bertha Warbird. That driver, behaved for me much like a persimmon driver. I'm sure there was some adjustment as I think this was my first "metal" driver.
From there, it was a steady progression from the Warbird to VFT, Steelhead III, C4 (yes I owned one and it was horrendous). After the C4, I had the Big Betha II, Big Bertha Titanium, Big Bertha Titanium 454 (great driver), FT-3, Big Bertha 460, FT-i, FT-iq and my last Callaway, the FT-9 i-mix. I did not own them all as I have a few gaps in there, but I owned a large number of different Callaway drivers. Each was a progression in technology. Out of all of these a couple come to mind as being great drivers for me. The BB Titanium 460 was my first with a higher loft (13 degrees). Over time, I was having trouble getting these big headed drivers square at impact. I started with a 10 degree version first, but it was at this time when I really noticed that I hit the 3 wood version of the line much straighter than the driver. The added loft of the 3 wood just made the misses much less severe. So I switched to a 13 degree version of the driver and overnight I began to hit a high percentage of fairways.
So after the discovery for me that higher loft meant more accuracy, I never looked back. There is no doubt that I am giving up some yardage with the higher loft, but my game is solid and I think it is much easier to hit greens from there over the rough. The Callaway FT-9 i-mix I had a could of years ago was really one of the best I ever owned. With technology now giving a fader like me a draw bias driver, I hit a very high percentage of fairways. I also loved the i-mix which made it easy to switch shafts with ease. Fitting was new to me at this time, so I was still buying regular flex drivers, but with the i-mix, I purchased a stiff flex and found that shaft to be even more accurate for me. It was fun to experiment as my home course had a fitting cart that was loaded with shafts.
After this, my home course and our owner/PGA professional had a bit of a falling out with Callaway so he stopped selling their products. I have for all of my life bought most of my golf equipment from our course, if for no other reason than to support the course. So with Callaway out of the picture, my first Ping driver was the G15 in 12 degrees. With a stock shaft, this driver played very much like my FT-9 but there were times I missed the FT-9. My misses with this driver, like many everyday players, was a slice. The next driver I demo'd was the K15. For me this was a perfect match for me and my swing. Without any real changes, I was once again able to hit a high percentage of fairways. I put this driver in my bag late last season and my driving has never been better.
So now we fast forward to me being chosen to test/review the Heavy Driver. I will forever be greatful to both THP and Steve Boccieri for this opportunity. I really knew very little about the brand as I had only messed with their putters a little when I was in Indy at one of the big box golf stores.
Right out the box the first driver I received (10 degree) did not fit my current style at all. We were only offered 2 lofts up front, as I have noted, I had been gaming a higher loft, either 12 or 13 degrees for several years. With the 10 degree, I was really back to where I had been several years ago with the Big Bertha Titanium 454 driver. With just my normal setup and swing, this driver was very often right. After talking with Mr. Boccieri in our inital phone call, he told me that he was about to introduce a higher lofted version and he agreed to switch mine. I sent the 10 degree back and received the 12 degree version right away.
With this driver, it did offer me more control, but I still found it very easy to miss right with. At this point, I brought in my teacher and after some range time, we found that I had to use a much stronger grip and a much flatter swing plain to get the driver to be accurate. Over time, I have logged several hundred tee shots on the course and at least that many more on the range. The driver takes the left side completly out of play for me and that is a good thing most of the time. However, there will always be cases where you must hit a draw, and I find this shot to be more difficult for me with the HD than with the K15. Distance wise, there is some loss of overall distance for me with the HD.
In closing, I would say as I have in the past, that this is a great driver for a first driver. Not many companies have had their first driver look as good, sound as good and perform as good as this driver. At the same time, it is only natural I think that the K15 Ping I own performs a little better for me, my swing and my style. They have simply been building drivers for a much longer period of time. The amount of data they have compiled over the years is huge. Having all this data, no doubt makes it much easy to plan and build the next version of their drivers in any particular line. Mr. Boccieri simply does not have all of this data. With that being said, I still think that this driver is very good first driver. The quality to which it is built is not in question. It is very pleasant to look at, it sounds good and it works great in the right hands, but for me right now, it is just not as forgiving as my other driver. I'm sure, if the HD face could be closed a little more for me, a little draw bias weighting could be added and we were 1000% correct with the shaft, this driver could perfom as well.
I think Boccieri Golf has made great strides in what has been a less than perfect economic time period. I know that it will be any uphill battle to compete with the major OEM's for both a spot in the big box stores and a spot in the market, but if anyone can do it, this brand can. I have written a review as well here at THP about my Heavy putter. There is no doubt that the putters are very good and there is no doubt that the other clubs they are now offereing are just as good. While this driver may not be perfect for me, I can't wait to see what their second offering will be like. This one is good and I would think the next one will be great.
I've had a great time testing this driver. Thank you THP and Steve Boccieri for allowing me the opportunity!
d_in_la
Not so in LA.
Great summary HG. Your history, anecdotes and expression of your game and how the HD fit (or didn't) gives me a clear view of the past months of testing. Thanks for a thoughtful, complete post.
Hopkinscowboys
New member
I am new to this site and this is my first post. I just wanted to say thank you for all the feedback from the testers on the Heavy Driver... I'll add my own experience with the HD for what its worth... A bit of background: I'm an 18 hcp and have been playing a lot of golf for 2 years, and while other aspects of my game are improving my driving has been horrendous--(lots of pushes and some slices)... so much so that I had to resort to hitting my 2 hybrid off the tee box (great shots go around 220-230 for me with this club), but if I miss hit it I'm way back...Anyways, I was intrigued by the HD b/c I use a very body/pivot swing and very relaxed/tension free arm swing. I have had the HD for a couple of weeks, and the results for me have been wonderful... I shot 88 over the weekend hitting 11/14 fairways, which for me is phenominal... I am able to hit a nice draw with this club, which is opposite from my usual weaker fade. I think this driver just really fits my swing. I am consistently in the fairway at around 250-270 and it has made a round of golf so much fun! I've had a new swing thought or new club provide short term benefits in the past, but these results feel different-- just consistent on the range and on the course for me... I am so impressed with this club that I have ordered the heavy irons just to see if I get similiar results (currently play Adams V3 forged iron/hybrid combo set)...
In short, I think if you have a certain "body powered swing", this might just be the club you've always been looking for! Anyways, sorry for rambling, but just wanted to add my experiences with this club... Again, I am so glad I found this forum, thanks again!...
In short, I think if you have a certain "body powered swing", this might just be the club you've always been looking for! Anyways, sorry for rambling, but just wanted to add my experiences with this club... Again, I am so glad I found this forum, thanks again!...
CharlieMoy
Well-known member
Golf 'N Gator
Formally HoosierGolfer
Thank you for adding your thoughts. There is no doubt that this is a very good driver. Very nice to read that it works well for you.
CharlieMoy
Well-known member
Right on Hawk. Cant wait to hear how it performs!
Dr. Teeth
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing! It is great to hear others share their experiences with the club.
Hawk, I am excited to hear how it goes!
May and will are two different things. The HD will be there, and it will be freely available for anyone to try out.
~Rock
Thanks for the note and welcome to THP. I agree this is a great club for body swingers and it is really easy to get the ball to move left. Keep us updated on how you progress with it and good luck with the irons too.
- Staff
- #721
I was able to take a few swings with the Heavy Driver on Saturday and it really left me wanting to hit it more. I hit some really nice drives with it. Mid trajectory with a very slight fade, which was odd since I don't really fade at all these days. Don't think I hit a bad ball with it. I was honestly trying to think of something I could trade McRock for it, but I knew that wouldn't be appropriate.
Dr. Teeth
Well-known member
That seems to be the MO of this driver. A nice slight fade. It is such a solid driver!
- Staff
- #723
The nice thing was that it wasn't one of those distance sapping fades. I felt like I was really hitting it a good distance. I like the NVS shaft.
CharlieMoy
Well-known member
With the weight in the grip, I doubt you could get it down the shaft.