Demo Day at Golfsmith Headquarters

[Bogey in The Woods]

So this is the Demo Weekend at Golfsmith when many of the manufacturers show up and put the new wares on display for the teeming masses. As many of you know this happens twice a year, and this is when all the new toys are out to be played with. With the recent sport-wide hype after MGS announced the results of the Most Wanted Driver, i was very interested to see for myself. 

 

If you have never been, on this weekend, Golfsmith closes down the driving range so the companies can set up their tents and you can demo the goods. 

 

A quick survey of the firing line this year quickly revealed:

Titleist

Callaway

Ping

Nike

Exotics

Ping

Wilson

Taylormade

Mizuno

Cleveland

Edel

Bridgestone (Ball Fitters)

Top Golf

 

Without getting into everything I hit, (4 hours worth of hitting all up and down the line) let me just hit MY highlights:

 

Cobra - with all the hype, I wanted to hit the Fly-Z+ under outside conditions instead of in the bay where I hit it previously. (my previous impressions were not good) I was handed my standard 10.5 Stiff and set loose. The club i was handed felt NOTHING like the one I hit indoors a few weeks ago. The hit felt soft on contact, but i was amazed by the laser that flew off the face. It was equipped with the Matrix, but others were available if you wanted to try. I hit ten with the weight forward and then ten with it back. I didn't think i would see a big difference considering being a high handicapper.  I was wrong. There was a great difference in ball flight that I could see right away when i would consider wanting to use each on the course.  BOTTOM LINE: Worth the Hype. Great performance while being forgiving of a hacker like me. 

 

Nike - Having hit the Vapor Speed Driver before, I hadn't expected to spend much time at the Nike Tent. When all of the Vapor Speed drivers were in others hands, the Nike rep asked if I had hit the Vapor Flex yet. I hadn't, so i decided to see what it had. It had everything they said it did (at least for my swing). Where my Covert 2.0 adjustments do make mild adjustments to my ballflight, the adjustments on the Flex made dramatic and easily controlled changes to my ball flight.. The hosel and the FlexFlight screw adjustment make very noticeable adjustments to ball flight without a change in swing. BOTTOM LINE: good performance and great ballflight adjustment if you cant change your swing (like I cant). 

 

Titliest - Didnt ever read on the differences between the D2 and D3 heads of the 915. After telling the rep how I play and my normal ballflight, he handed me the D2. The shaft was 10 grams lighter than what I normally hit. The lighter weight was a big difference. I expected to overswing the lighter club, thereby exaggerating my out to in. I was wrong. by far, this was the most impressive club of the day for me.  While there were no flightscopes or launch monitors but the balls i hit were unusually straight for me; a few even showing signs of a slight draw. What got my attention the fastest was the carry. My normal performance on this driving range lands my balls about 15 yards short of the back net. Today, with the D2, most of my balls were hitting the back net about 25 feet in the air. In total disclosure, the hitting line was about 20 yards up from where it normally is when i hit the mats. The ball flight and speed of the ball at least makes me THINK I was hitting further than I normally do. Even if it wasnt the case, the ballflight still made me begin to drool. BOTTOM LINE (for me): consider jumping on the Titliest bandwagon. 

 

After reading about Edel here on MGS, I was excited to see them there and get my hands on the clubs. The wedges were a great surprise for me. After finally going through a wedge fitting and settling on Cleveland 588's, i didn't expect to find something that felt more smooth and solid. I did. i hit the 52, 56, and 60.  The hits were crisp and solid. Even the mishits from hitting fat flew true. After talking to Rob Gallagher, Sales Director and Master Fitter, I learned that they are actually based right here northwest of Austin in Liberty Hill. Being a machinist, we began to talk about what they have in the plant. He impressed me with what he told me. I am setting up an appointment with him to go and take a full blown walk through of the plant and to go through their fitting center. I am looking forward to going and seeing the "other" clubs that are produced here in Texas.

 

A few quick notes:

- finally got to hit Mizuno. i now see what the fuss is about. 

- a fit R15 hits much different than one I just pick up in the indoor bays. 

- Bridgestone ball fitters explained a whole lot about ball flight and spin in 5 minutes than all that I have read. 

 

Could stay here and write 10 more pages about all I hit, but dont know if anyone will find this useful. 

[Kenny B]

Sounds like a nice experience. Your observations seem to be fairly common with the most common reaction... "I was wrong." I've experienced that a lot in golf.

 

One thing I have found out about these demo days is that a particular club will feel great one day, but when I come back a few days later, it doesn't feel quite the same. So, when I try a club and like it I will come back the following week and try it again along with another club. Sometimes I have 2-3 clubs that feel good and give good results, so then it's match play time! If a club still sticks with me after several trials and bests the others, then I know it's a keeper.

[Severtheties]

That sounds awesome. Much better than ours here in Columbus yesterday. Very jealous of the Edel experience. I'm glad you had a similar great experience as I did though. Let's me know I'm not crazy drinking the kool-aid haha.

[Txstcatman]

I went for a little bit Friday and got to hit a few things before the rain started.

 

Cobra: Fly Z+ was great! Loved the sound and fee. Hit it with a Tour Green in X (looked like knuckle balls in the air) and a couple other shafts. Really cool club!

 

Nike: hit the Vapor Speed with the S+ and really liked it. More interesting was the 58* Engage wedge the guy had. I believe it was the Square grind. Felt great in the swing and made consistent contact. Really like the club, shame it's release is delayed.

 

Bridgestone had their awesome comparison/fitting set up. Can't beat talking with someone about golf ball construction and seeing actual results. Downside was they had some odd drivers for testing purposes (non Stone stuff) that could produce skewed results for some.

 

Didn't get a lot of time with Wilson's FG V4s but they look nice. Interesting they went away from the PVD of the M3 and back to the chrome.

 

And then the lightning announcement came in so I went about shopping. Couldn't get back out there Saturday as the wife was working and I had baby duty.