Putters and Drivers

Next on the testing agenda we’re Putters and Drivers. The following models went through our thorough testing:

Putter
- Ping Craz-e
- Taylor Made Monza Corza
- Odyssey 3Ball
- Geotech TR/5
- Nike Black OZ T130
- Honma Space Voyager 35″ red
- Komperdell Soft Touch Y-One Way
- Kramski HPP 325
- Wilson Staff KC IV
- Callaway Odyssey White Steel 2-Ball SRT
- Longridge F1 Mallet

Somehow I have the feeling that putter designers tend to have a size competition going on. The bigger the better? Especially for the Odyssey 3-Ball Putter you’ll need another bag. I cannot see how this should help. With the sheer size of this thing you’ll have to concentrate more on moving it without hurting anybody than putting the ball into the cup.

The Taylor Made Monza Corsa shows how good desing and functionality can work together. The Kramski putter also stood out with its functional and clean design. But even at a price tag of EUR 599, the ball doesn’t find the way itself into the cup.

My personal favourite out of all the model was the Nike Black OZ T130, we called it the batman putter. Go check the Nike Golf website to see for yourself. I love the design, it is well balanced and has a very soft insert. I prefer this when putting, gives me the feeling of a better control over the ball. I guess the price was around EUR 159, which I find pretty resonable.

Driver
- Wilson Staff Dd6 Loft 11.5
- Srixon W506 10.5
- TaylorMade R7 Quad 425 10.5 R80
- Callaway X460 Driver, 11.0
- Cleveland 460cc Launcher II Titanium
- MacGregor NVG2
- Pineapple Geotech HSW II Titan
- Honma 425 RF Titanium ARMRQ 856
- Komperdell 460cc 11.0 55-A R-Flex
- Longridge 420cc Titanium
- Nike SQ Driver 10.5 Regular Graffaloy Blue
- Ping G5 Offset Logt 10.5
- Wilson Staff Pd6 Regular 10.0

To be honest, I am not a Driver person. At my point of the game, my 5- and 7-wood gives me good lenght off the tee (around the 200m mark) without errant drives (most of the time). So the driver testing was probably hte hardest thing for me to get used to.

I clearly preferred two models, that gave me a good feeling and repeatable distances: the TaylorMade R7 Quad 425 10.5 R80 and the Nike SQ Driver 10.5 Regular Graffaloy Blue. I tend to like the less stiff shafts and a little more loft to the driver. The Wilson Staff Dd6 Loft 11.5 should have been my choice then, but it didn’t “feel” that good.

Star of the pack surely was the Honma 425 RF Titanium ARMRQ 856 that I hit twice on the thursday round and produced good lenght, but on the narrow course I wasn’t able to place the drives on the fairways. So I looked forward to testing it, but the pleasure didn’t last long, as after hitting the third ball on the range the clubhead broke!!! Just flew away and landed in the creek crossing the driving range. Can you belive that? A 1.000 EUR-driver and it just breaks? OK, it was a sample driver that had probably been tested by some other persons before, but still…. I may print myself another golf-shirt with “Honma-Killer” written on the back!