Tag: Golf Products

Review: G.R.I.P 460cc Beta Titanium Driver

Nick Momrik2 Comments

Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P) announced a new 460cc Beta Titanium Driver at the end of April and I jumped all over the chance to review one.

G.R.I.P.

Specifications

The driver sells for $129.95 which is nearly giving the club away for free compared to the prices of similar drivers on the golf market which usually sell for $300 or more. The club is available with 9, 10.5, or 12 degrees of loft with the shaft length of the first two being 45.25 inches and the third at 45 inches. In addition to a choice in lofts, you also can choose a shaft made of graphite — regular, stiff flex, senior flex, lady flex — or true temper steel. These options should be enough to satisfy any amateur golfer in the market for a new driver except the lefties; the driver is only available in the right hand model at this time.

Photos

G.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium DriverG.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium DriverG.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium Driver

About the Driver

Directly from the web site…

The Craftsmanship — Aerospace-Grade 460cc Beta Titanium

Our G.R.I.P. Driver offers an enormous 460cc beta titanium clubhead, the largest allowable by the USGA. It is constructed using aerospace-grade, beta titanium, with the maximum allowable COR (Coefficient of Restitution), enabling the clubface to give slightly at impact and spring back.

Additionally, the clubface’s generous sweet spot produces exceptionally long and straight drives, and fewer mis-hits. Its deep clubface also promotes a high launch angle and low spin rate to maximize distance.

Elevated MOI

The G.R.I.P. 460cc Driver’s innovative design boosts its MOI (Moment of Inertia) by moving the club’s weight from its center, decreasing side spin and increasing ball speed. The elevated MOI also significantly reduces twisting of the clubhead, allowing for straighter shots even on off-center hits.

Rear-Sole Weighting

The GRIP 460cc Beta Titanium Driver features swing-correcting, fixed weight ports in the club’s rear sole, providing for a lower, deeper center of gravity that helps you close the clubface at impact and eliminate or reduce slicing. The G.R.I.P. fixed weighting system also reacts effortlessly to off-center hits by squaring the face during contact, making it the benchmark in fixed-weight driver technology.

G.R.I.P 460cc Beta Titanium Driver

The Look

The craftsmanship and design of the G.R.I.P. driver really shows when you pick it up and look at it. At 460cc the head is obviously going to be large, but it’s shape and construction don’t make it look odd like a lot of the drivers taking advantage of new technology. The shape of the head stays along the same lines of traditional drivers from 2-3 years ago. As you address the club it is very visually appealing next to the golf ball on the tee. The top of the club and the shaft are an attractive blue color which doesn’t show in the photos from the G.R.I.P. web site. For full disclosure, blue is my favorite color. I didn’t care for the grip on the shaft, which was kind of navy blue and black design if I can remember correctly. I don’t use normal size grips, so after testing out the club, I quickly had a new shaft (Winn Grip 6G8X-BBL which is a midsize with 3 layers of tape) put on to match my other clubs.

The Feel

As you swing the club everything feels very balanced. I like to start with a slow back swing and then really come at the ball on my downswing with an agressive weight transfer. With GRIP’s driver I feel like I’m in control of my swing.

In Action

The driver was delivered last Thursday, so I took it to the range before golf league. I wanted to determine if I should put it in my bag. After a couple of minutes I had my mind made up; I was giving the club a try in my bag. I was hitting pretty consistent shots that were long and straight. When I looked at the club face, I wasn’t even hitting the sweet spot yet. Every ball was high and towards the toe of the club, so the driver really is forgiving on off-center hits. On the course was a bit of a different story but not because of the golf club. I’ve been struggling with my swing timing on the tee, hitting some dead pulls or nasty pull hooks. When I did correct things I bombed a few down the fairways.

On Friday I went to the driving range to fix my swing and compare the G.R.I.P. driver to the 10 degree Makser AS440 I’ve played the last two years. When comparing the two drivers side by side, the new GRIP driver has a larger head and the shaft was over an inch longer. This year I’ve had a problem topping the ball on a lot of drives and this seems to have been resolved with the longer shaft. I hot both drivers, switching back and forth. I only hit a few slices using the G.R.I.P. driver and it played a lot more consistently. When the ball comes off the face of the club it has a nice rising ball flight and it goes long and straight.

On Sunday I played 18 holes at Bay City Country Club, using the driver every chance I could. The first few holes found me just off the fairway because I’ve been so used to compensating for a slice or slight fade. Once I learned to trust the club and aim down the middle, I was hitting bombs over the fairway bunkers. I don’t think I’ve ever hit so many fairways with a driving during one rough of golf in my life. I was hitting it 270-300 yards right down the middle nearly every hole. I only hit one bad slice all day long. My Dad took the old Makser driver home for my brother to try out since I have no use for it anymore.

Today I played 9 holes at Twin Oaks Golf Course and my swing was horrible. I didn’t make solid contact once off the tee, so I can’t say how the driver performed.

The Verdict

I’ve never felt more confident in a golf club in the 8 years I’ve been golfing. I’ve never hit a driver as consistently long and straight as I can hit the G.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium Driver. For only $129.95 you won’t find a better buy on a quality driver anywhere. Is there a driver out there I can hit just as straight and will give me another 10 yards off the tee? Probably, but it’s not worth the $300-500 it would cost. I can’t wait to get out for my next round of golf and hear the “ooohs” and “aaahs” after I hit a drive.

Review: Card Golf

Nick Momrik3 Comments

Card Golf

Card Golf mirrors the game of golf to a tee. The rules, the golf clubs and even the world’s top golf courses have been condensed into this fun, easy to play and addicting card game. It’s golf in a box. So if you or someone you know is into golf, or if you want to teach someone about the game, then Card Golf is perfect for you.

Card Golf

Ever get tired of playing poker, rummy, go-fish, or any other card games you might play? Card Golf just might be the game for you, especially if you’re a golfer or interested in learning how to golf.

The deck for Card Golf consists of 51 cards ranging from 1 yard putters up through 250 yard drivers. It also comes with a rule/instruction card and two sample score cards to get you started. A single Card Golf deck is designed to be played by 2 people and it does the job pretty well.

The basics of the game is that you want to add up the yardages on your cards to be more than the length of the hole. If your cards add up exactly to the yardage you aren’t given any penalty strokes, 1-5 yards over and you get one penalty, and then it goes up from there until a maximum of 4 penalty strokes.

Card GolfLast night I sat down and played two hands using the scorecard for Pebble Beach. For the first couple of holes I made the mistake of thinking about the card game too much like a regular golf hole. I’d hit it long off the tee, make an approach shot, and then try to putt for birdie. This is where the game of Card Golf can mix things up a bit, because there are some real potential chances to make eagles.

The first hand (player) I played was doing quite well making birdie on the first two holes and my second player went par, birdie to start. Then I realized I could try to make it in with two shots each time and if the yardages turned our right, I could even get the exact yardage using two cards. My first hand went on to eagle the next three holes and take a commanding lead. After another birdie, I was 9 under after 6 holes! A triple bogey 6 on the next hole, a par 3, ruined that real quick. While getting three eagles in a row is something I’ll most likely never do, I know what a 6 feels like on a short hole!

I kept playing along with both of my players and my first player cruised along by only giving up the tee on 4 holes out of 18 to the second hand I was playing. The scores for the front nine were 29 and 35 and then 31 and 32 on the back for 18 hole scores of 60 and 67, which are -12 and -5. Not bad!

Card Golf is a game anyone can learn and it doesn’t take long to play. While it doesn’t quite equate to real golf in a lot of aspects, you can learn a few things. One of the things I didn’t like was the lack of using a putter. The putter is the most frequently used club in every one’s golf bag (when playing real golf) and there wasn’t a requirement to use it in this game. In fact, there was a time when one of my players didn’t have a putter card in the hand for 3 holes, so I couldn’t have used one if I wanted to.

Overall I was really pleased with the game. The deck is well designed and should hold up for many 18 hole rounds of play. Card Golf would make a great gift for any golfer who is trying to get through the winter months.


Tiger Woods Uses a Weighted Golf Club

Nick Momrik2 Comments

He has a specific plan for what he wants to accomplish in every practice session, a plan he comes up with the night before when he’s home swinging a weighted club.

12 Things Tiger Taught Me

I’ve bought a weighted club earlier this summer and just love it. I use it to warm up before I play a round of golf and also on the practice range. When you switch from it to a normal club, it feels like you aren’t even swinging.

Review: Brush Tee

Nick Momrik2 Comments

Brush TeeI had always wanted to try out the Brush Tee, so when The Savvy Golfer sent me a package of them for testing, I was all for it. The whole idea makes a lot of sense…less resistance against your ball and club at contact and the ball will fly longer.

Last week while golfing a round of 9 by myself I pulled out the Brush Tee and decided to give it a try. The first thing I noticed was that it’s not all that easy to tee this thing up. With a normal tee most players will use the ball to help them push the tee into the ground. Since the top of the Brush Tee is, well, basically brush bristles, you can’t use the ball to get this thing into the ground. You either have to try and grab the tee around the middle, where the brush part ends or you have to put a finger down the middle of the bristles and push it down. Teeing the ball up for a drive shouldn’t be this difficult.

The next thing I noticed was that a golf ball doesn’t sit particularly well on the Brush Tee. It’s not possible for a golf ball to sit crooked, since it’s all rounded, but I constantly felt like my ball was leaning one way or another. When you’re trying to go for it with a driver the last thoughts you need to be having are that your ball is going to fall off the tee when you swing.

Brush Tee simply isn’t for me. I’ll stick to normal tees.


Review: TurfTee

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TurfTee“TurfTee is a revolutionized way of hitting golf balls versus the old fashioned rubber tees.” The idea behind the tee is great in theory and something I’ve always wished for. Hitting off the standard rubber tees at a driving range has never been one of my favorite ways to practice and never will. With TurfTee I thought those days might be over.

Savvy Golfer, sent me a TurfTee to give a little test drive about a month ago and I was finally able to give the product a try. At first it took me a minute or two trying to figure out who the tee actually worked. It didn’t seem to want to go into the longer whispier matt surface, where the rubber tees are, so then I tried the other part of the driving matt and it stuck in right away. I tucked the green end of TurfTee under the matt and teed a ball up. After two swings with my driver, the shorter yellow tee had broken. The little plastic tie down at the bottom of the tee where the string is held in place snapped. My TurfTee testing was over rather quickly because the taller blue tee puts the golf ball much higher than I like it for driving.

If the company behind TurfTee could come up with a better design for the leashes and holder, I think they’d have a great product. The current system doesn’t work though. I’d be pretty mad if I had purchased the item and had it break after two swings of the club.

Thanks to Savvy Golfer for the opportunity to try out TurfTee.


TaylorMade r7 Irons

Nick Momrik1 Comment

TaylorMade r7 IronTaylorMade is introducing 2 new sets of irons. The r7 XD boasts “extra distance without the extra effort.” The r7 CGB MAX is made for “Maximum COR, balls speed, clubhead speed, forgiveness.” The iron pictured is one of the r7 CGB MAX.

For all of the specification and info, visit their respective pages on the TaylorMade golf site.

r7 XD

r7 CGB MAX


Wilson KC4 Putter

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Wilson Kirk Currie KC4 PutterWilson brings us the r7 of putters with their Kirk Currie series of putters. The KC4 putter pictured here is not one of the best looking clubs on the market, but it is often used by Padraig Harrington, so it must work.

Each putter in the Kirk Currie series is customizable with a set of weights, screws, and alignment options to make the putter fit your game and course conditions. If you don’t have that ability to buy a custom fit putter one that you can “tweak” on your own is the next best thing. As your putting stroke inproves (or gets worse) you can modify the putter to reflect your game.

Weight portals in the shaft’s end cap and sole of the putter head allows players to transfer the club’s balance point so that, regardless of greens conditions, the precision-milled Kc putter series can create the right response.

Wilson

Nike Sasquatch Driver

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Nike Sasquatch DriverNike’s new Sasquatch driver is a great looking club. If you were going to buy a driver on looks alone, the Sasquatch might would be near the top of the list.

Nike has developed a new technology called Powerbow, which “adds a trailing volume of mass to apply more power and control to the ball without overstepping the 460cc limit.” This gives the driver the largest footprint in the game of golf. Powerbow is so revolutionary for making clubs they patented it. For the Sasquatch, they’ve moved the center of gravity lower and further back to give golfers more forgiveness and a larger sweetspot. When you look at the face of the club you’ll notice that Nike stayed with the nexTI that was used on the popular Ignite driver. Why change a good thing right?

For right-handed golfers, the driver is available in 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, Lucky 13°, and Sweet 16°. Unfortunately lefties are limited to 9.5°, 10.5°, and Lucky 13°. Lucky 13° and Sweet 16° are the exact terms used on the Nike Golf web site. The Sasquatch is built with a Diamana shaft by Mitsubishi Rayon.

Nike also matching fairway metals which look equally appealing.

Update: I just saw the commercial on TV which was a neat idea. It looks like the clubs will be released in November.

Precept Lady SIII Golf Ball

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Precept Lady SII Golf BallLast month Precept released a new softer lady ball which “offers avid women and slower swinging golfers ‘super soft, super high and super long’ performance.” According to Precept’s press release, the Lady SIII is the softest feeling golf ball on the market.

Some of the technology that went into the golf ball helps to generate maximum ball speed, minimize vibration, deliver optimum green side control and enhanced feel while putting. In addition, Precept has engineered a new dimple patter to help golfers get the ball in the air. For the women I’ve golfed with, this seems to be the #1 problem among them.

In addition to a traditional white golf ball, the Precept Lady SIII comes in four colors of pearl (yellow, blue, pink, and clear). I imagine the pearl variations of the ball were created for the female golfer who is looking to keep that cute look on the golf course.

Titleist Forged 735.CM Irons

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Titleist Forged 735.CM IronsTitleist’s newest irons are targeted at skilled golfers. The irons are the first blended set created by Titleist. Blended sets have been getting more and more popular among golfers. As a blendeded iron set progresses from long iron to pitching wedge, the focus of each club shifts from forgiveness and distance to spin and control.

The 2, 3, and 4 irons in the set feature cavitybacks; the mid-irons have a shallow cavity; and the short irons employ a full muscleback. It’s the first-ever blended iron set from Titleist.

The cavity isn’t the only thing progressing in this blended set, however; Titleist also makes slight progressions in the blade heights, blade lengths, offset, topline, center of gravity and moment of inertia through the set, tweaking each club for maximum performance.

About.com

Titleist is normally recognized for making golf balls, but they make some great golf clubs as well.