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Year of the Driver?

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Canadan

Canadan

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Kind of crazy to think of how many exciting drivers are going to be in play and available to us.

Head injections, AI, Milled faces, carbon carbon carbon...

Are we looking at the year of the driver, right now? Is anyone else freaking out thinking about how they are going to narrow down what to play?
 
I’m not, but I cheated.

It’s definitely a year where we’re seeing a lot of cool tech in the big dogs. I’ve got a pretty good idea what going to be the winner, but it should be fun to watch it play out.
 
Yep. And it’s not close imo.

Think about all the normal big names and add in Mizuno, Cobra, Tour Edge Exotics, Wilson, Srixon, and more putting out leeeeeeggggiiiiiittttttt tech and performers.

It’s a year for drivers unlike any I remember seeing.
 
I thought similar in 2011.
We had TaylorMade come with R11, Callaway with RAZR Hawk (composite materials), Cleveland with the Launcher line with real Miyazaki, Nike with MachSpeed which was initially quite popular, Titleist with 910, Srixon with Z-Star and many others. At the time the online buzz for all was crazy. Looking back on it, there were some duds in there, but the tech move to better shafts, composite materials, color options, etc still was very solid.
 
I don't think so tbh. The last big leap forward we had was when the SLDR came out. Since then we haven't seen a significant jump in performance gains from drivers to me anyhow
 
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JB said:
I thought similar in 2011.
We had TaylorMade come with R11, Callaway with RAZR Hawk (composite materials), Cleveland with the Launcher line with real Miyazaki, Nike with MachSpeed which was initially quite popular, Titleist with 910, Srixon with Z-Star and many others. At the time the online buzz for all was crazy. Looking back on it, there were some duds in there, but the tech move to better shafts, composite materials, color options, etc still was very solid.
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It's funny, I thought RAZR Hawk was the last bad driver they made, but the tech was exciting. Looking back, that was a pretty crazy year. Also the last really good Titleist driver IMO until TS.

But now I'm looking down a list and it is nuts.

Epic Flash. Big story. AI.
M5/M6. Big story. Injected face.
Speedback. Curled carbon. Hammered weight. Aero. Milled face.
TS. Just openly better.
Ping. Fully viable.

Then you have companies who aren't usually in the spotlight making great drivers.
Srixon.
Mizuno.
Wilson.
Tour Edge.

And now with companies coming into the market.
Honma.
Maruman.

It's kind of like.... keep hitting me in the face with directions I can go, and we'll see if I can somehow land on my feet.
 
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alexped2393 said:
I don't think so tbh. The last big leap forward we had was when the SLDR came out. Since then we haven't seen a significant jump in performance gains from drivers to me anyhow
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SLDR was a big leap for a small collection of golfers, and a horrible driver for the majority.

It certainly benchmarked what COULD be accomplished, but it was at the cost of far too much performance for the regular golfer.
 
i’m hesitant to say yes. each year most companies manage to get us excited with well-crafted tech stories. this year has some new angles, but so did last year.


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Canadan said:
It's funny, I thought RAZR Hawk was the last bad driver they made, but the tech was exciting. Looking back, that was a pretty crazy year. Also the last really good Titleist driver IMO until TS.

But now I'm looking down a list and it is nuts.

Epic Flash. Big story. AI.
M5/M6. Big story. Injected face.
Speedback. Curled carbon. Hammered weight. Aero. Milled face.
TS. Just openly better.
Ping. Fully viable.

Then you have companies who aren't usually in the spotlight making great drivers.
Srixon.
Mizuno.
Wilson.
Tour Edge.

And now with companies coming into the market.
Honma.
Maruman.

It's kind of like.... keep hitting me in the face with directions I can go, and we'll see if I can somehow land on my feet.
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Definitely agree there. On paper this has very big stories tech wise.
Composite to the masses by more players is a huge win.
Ping going with some interesting (albeit not new) tech for their audience.
Tour Edge hitting a price point with adjustability and carbon fiber.
Wilson Cortex with arguably the best driver in stores right now.
Srixon with HandCrafted shafts in a driver that is in play for some of their staff and a hit for the masses.
Cobra putting out a product that is noticeably different than anything on the market and a speed story that makes sense.
 
Maybe I’m getting complacent but I may not try another driver this year after owning a Cortex to duel it out with my Epic SZ. I don’t know which one is better for me yet but I’m sure I will figure it out in April when the golf season starts.
 
Year of the Driver?

Canadan said:
Kind of crazy to think of how many exciting drivers are going to be in play and available to us.

Head injections, AI, Milled faces, carbon carbon carbon...

Are we looking at the year of the driver, right now? Is anyone else freaking out thinking about how they are going to narrow down what to play?
Click to expand...

Definitely Year of the driver! There are a ton of options coming out and I’m just trying to gather as much info as possible. I would say that I’d. Arrow it down by aesthetics, but that is almost impossible this year.... almost all of them are stunners.


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I think it is the year of the driver. Luckily I don’t have to worry about pondering on any because I already have my unicorn.
Hello Cortex


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tahoebum said:
Maybe I’m getting complacent but I may not try another driver this year after owning a Cortex to duel it out with my Epic SZ. I don’t know which one is better for me yet but I’m sure I will figure it out in April when the golf season starts.
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Until the demo days start rolling in lol
 
Yep. It’s going to be interesting to see who comes out on top. Do more golfers go get fit to find the best one for them. Do people stick to their favorite brand and not consider what else is out there?

I know for me I have 4 brands at the top of my list to see if they can take out the g400 which imo has been the best drive on the market since it’s release.
 
I'm interested in the TEE EXS and the Mizuno ST190. Also, from what I've been told, Ben Hogan is testing a driver and fairway wood! And, that is exciting.
 
McLovin said:
i’m hesitant to say yes. each year most companies manage to get us excited with well-crafted tech stories. this year has some new angles, but so did last year.


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I tend to agree, but it's cool to see how they are constantly evolving with technology. Just when you think you've seen it all, something new is introduced and changes the game. I like what's out there for the masses, but there is only one offering I am considering right now based on my previous success with the current drivers that are or will be released.
 
Canadan said:
SLDR was a big leap for a small collection of golfers, and a horrible driver for the majority.

It certainly benchmarked what COULD be accomplished, but it was at the cost of far too much performance for the regular golfer.
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Agree with you there it was a difficult club to handle, the SLDR was the catalyst and then other companies like callaway brought along the sub zero, and ping with the LS tec to really push that low spinning market
 
mikeg_74 said:
I tend to agree, but it's cool to see how they are constantly evolving with technology. Just when you think you've seen it all, something new is introduced and changes the game. I like what's out there for the masses, but there is only one offering I am considering right now based on my previous success with the current drivers that are or will be released.
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oh i 100% agree with you. i don't mean to say that i think the stories this year are just hype. what i'm saying is i don't think the stories last year were hype either. last year had cool tech, and this year has cool tech. so i don't think this year is any more the year of the driver than last year was.
 
McLovin said:
oh i 100% agree with you. i don't mean to say that i think the stories this year are just hype. what i'm saying is i don't think the stories last year were hype either. last year had cool tech, and this year has cool tech. so i don't think this year is any more the year of the driver than last year was.
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I get it. I think each year there is a legit story to tell across all OEM offerings. Some may not like how they are "marketed" and will pass it off as hype, but each company is bringing something new (at least to their line) that has not been done before. I'm glad we have gotten past the "longest driver ever" marketing (i know it's still there in some spots) but how the technology is advancing the discussion.

I'm a big nerd and one that gets excited when new tech emerges regardless of the industry. Golf is no different, but usually has a bit of a hurdle to jump with the masses (not the online consumer base like us) because they will be quicker to dismiss the tech and just focus on a release cycle or the narrative of "how many yards can i really gain"
 
I sort of think that every year starts out as the "year of the driver", but it isnt until mid year where we can truly look around and see if that has held true.

The fact is its really freaking hard for an OEM to give distance gains across the board so feedback is always mixed.

Either way it's a great time to be a golfer. Tons of new tech if the story compels you, tons of great 1-3 year old options for cheaper if $$ compels you.
 
Nah, I'm unlikely to make a change at driver this year. Irons are priority. As long as I keep finding the fairway, my driver stays in the bag for at least 1 more year, probably 2.

~Rock
 
It certainly seems like it. Everywhere you look there is some kind of really cool tech story or brands that are making waves this year. I think there are a small percentage of brands whose driver will have some performance advantage but really you could throw most brands driver in the bag and be happy.
 
Canadan said:
Kind of crazy to think of how many exciting drivers are going to be in play and available to us.

Head injections, AI, Milled faces, carbon carbon carbon...

Are we looking at the year of the driver, right now? Is anyone else freaking out thinking about how they are going to narrow down what to play?
Click to expand...

In terms of new offerings 2019 might be "year of the driver".
For my own game I just try to bag a driver with which I can strike consistently straight shots. To that goal I like the 425CC driver head size. Sadly, the brands have not made that size for about 8, 9 years now.
 
I definitely think it is, lot of awesome options in the market right now.
 
I'm not sure it's just the driver. It may well be throughout the bag. As more and more technologies mature and designers figure out how best to apply them, we're seeing great offerings across the board from a broad range of manufacturers. With each passing year, I think it's becoming more and more possible to be able to buy a better game, if you find the tech that suits your game and you get properly fitted. A better game, not necessarily a great game.
 
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