Non SLDRs

[revkev]

As many know or could know from my signature I've been bagging an SLDR for a year and a half now. That's a long time for me to bag a driver that I'm not over the moon about - I don't hate it but don't love it - I've hit lots of good drives with it but lately that quick hook has been sneaking in.

 

On Sunday my friend Dennis show up with a Cleveland Black 12 degree that he won at a golf outing - wrong club for him - he's very high launch - sometimes too high with his Nike 9.5 honestly.  I hit it once on the range, didn't like the closed look of the club face but the result was great and since I've gamed a couple of Taylor Made adjustables that I opened a notch the closed is not a game changer for me.  I hit it twice on the course and mugged the heck out of it - the second one was 10 yards past Dennis who is normally a tad bit longer than me (certainly in the summer when it's all carry) when he flushes it.

 

So we made a trade - I gave him the Renegar that I hadn't sent back and an Adams hybrid that's the match to one that I gave him for Christmas (he gave me a bottle of McCallan 18 year old - I felt like a heel.) 

 

I took the driver to the range today - actually I took it and my SLDR - after warming up I went to work - I have to say that I can't miss hit the Cleveland even if I try - it's stupid easy to hit and even off center hits fly straight and almost the same distance as sweet spot ones (unlikely the SLDR).  Once I got used to it I was able to carry a mound that was 210 from where I was hitting (I did not carry it a single time with the SLDR.)  I then went to the other side of the range which meant that I was into the wind (it launches very high.)  I was extremely pleased with the results into the wind.

 

Bottom line is that it is far more forgiving than the SLDR and seems to be longer, certainly it is carry distance wise - what I don't know is whether or not it will roll out when it gets drier (sometime after New Year's at this rate..)  That would be the one final test.

 

I do have a question - are all the newer non-SLDR drivers this easy to hit?  I mean this is a joke - what's the G30 like?

[jbil8802]

Good to hear that you like it so far.

 

I haven't hit the SLDR or G30 so I can't speak to those. I have hit the R15 against my G25 and have the Mizuno JPX 850 that I gamed for the first few months of the season. I assume the R15 and JPX 850 are pretty close to the SLDR in terms of the low and forward CG although the 850 can be adjusted. On center strikes, the R15 and 850 are longer (10 yards carry).

 

With my miss tending to be high and towards the toe, the spin with the "lower spin" drivers got to be too low and the balls would just fall out of the sky around 200 yards. The same miss on my G25 still nets me 240 carry.

 

Ultimately the G25 is, for me, just a lot easier to hit.

[Mr_Theoo]

The G30 is very easy to hit. Almost too easy lol

[revkev]

Good to hear that you like it so far.

I haven't hit the SLDR or G30 so I can't speak to those. I have hit the R15 against my G25 and have the Mizuno JPX 850 that I gamed for the first few months of the season. I assume the R15 and JPX 850 are pretty close to the SLDR in terms of the low and forward CG although the 850 can be adjusted. On center strikes, the R15 and 850 are longer (10 yards carry).

With my miss tending to be high and towards the toe, the spin with the "lower spin" drivers got to be too low and the balls would just fall out of the sky around 200 yards. The same miss on my G25 still nets me 240 carry.

Ultimately the G25 is, for me, just a lot easier to hit.

According to the Cleveland website the Black is a low forward CG. It launches high but I was very impressed into the wind. I was hitting draw after draw that bore right through it. It was way longer than the SLDR into the wind. The club head almost looks square so that could be where the forgiveness comes from. It reminds me a lot of my Mizuno 700 which I loved.

[mbrodeur86]

I've hit many a driver in my 8 years of serious golf and nothing for me has been as long, straight and easy to hit than my TourEdge. I just love the heck out of it. It might not be as easy to hit as the others, but it's just been the best for me. I've hit the SLDR with a 14 degree head, X2 Hot, Ping G25, Cobra Fly Z+, Big Bertha Alpha, R15, Titleist 915 and the list goes on and on and it's Tour Edge for me.

[PlaidJacket]

Thought I'd take a look at the driver Rev is talking about. I'm playing a SLDR 14* which I believe is set to 12*. I got the driver as a reviewer last year here on MGS. I haven't looked back on my review since then but over all I seem to recall  that I was luke-warm on the driver at the time. I'm still playing it and have been happy with it for the most part. I launch the ball higher and have had greater success finding the fairway more often than any other driver I've owned. I do not get any more distance than before however. Being the Wishon lover that I am I had a custom Wishon 919 THI fitted and built for me this past summer. Hated it. It just could not come close to competing with the SLDR. For me that is. I returned it to my fitter for a refund. (yes, my fitter guarantees all his builds/fits) One thing I noticed at the Cleveland site for the Black driver is that it is 46" in length. I think for me that's just getting too long. For me anyway.My SLDR is around 45" I think. My fitter built the Wishon for me a 44" but that had nothing to do with the poor performance I experienced with it. I'd like to try the SLDR at 44" but I'm afraid to mess up a good thing.

[fozcycle]

I have not hit an SLDR other than on the launch monitor.   I have been gaming the Cobra Bio Cell for the past 1 1/2 years.  Meanwhile, I have a PowerBilt DFX Tour that I won last year. It goes into my bag on occassion.  It is most defintely longer than the bio Cell, but not straighter.  I keep thinking that i can make some grip adjustments and straighten it out, but, alas, no consistentcy.

 

Maybe I could pick up a SLDR on the cheap as they are in barrels at the local Golfsmith.  I like the looks of the Cleveland Classic, the mahogany colored driver with the brass-like face.  I have never hit one, but maybe should try it out.

[hckymeyer]

I'm almost through my 2nd season gaming the SLDR I was fit for at the Kingdom (Thanks MGS!!).  I just haven't found anything that can take it out of the bag.  I tested the Paderson shaft in it this year and it wasn't as good with that shaft.  I tried several drivers on the launch monitors this spring and nothing else brought my spin down like the SLDR.  I even purchased a Titleist 915D2 but sold it after a couple rounds.

 

I wouldn't say anything I hit was a bad driver, but they just didn't work any better and in most cases I didn't hit them as well or as consistently good.

 

Rev I think what you'll find is that pretty much everyone makes a good driver.  While we've never golfed together, I think I understand your game and when you swing like you do, you can have pretty good results with just about anything.  You might pick up a few yards here and there with some tweaking, but you'll hit everything decent.

 

It seems like since the SLDR has come out the CG story is much more prevalent in the driver releases since then.  I'm really curious to hit the 2016 releases and see if the M1 or King can live up to the hype of SLDR spin and G30 forgiveness.  Sounds like a holy grail to me.

[revkev]

Interesting stuff as always - Plaid if you have your SLDR at their standard its a shade over 45.5.  I had the Patterson shaft cut to 45".  The Black is 46" which is a bit intimidating but honestly the thing is so light that I have no trouble squaring the club face.  I'm thinking that the extra distance from the lightness and that extra length.  I'm going to play with it on Friday and then hit the LM sometime next week to check it out.  Eyeball wise I'm getting what the guys experienced a year and a half ago with the SLDR, it really launches high and stays up there forever. 

 

I agree with hckymeyer - TMag got the CG conversation going - I just wondering why this low front CG club seems so much more forgiving than the SLDR - it is significantly lighter is that because it's a fixed head?

[hckymeyer]

What shaft is in it? That could play a roll. I'm also curious if it's overall lighter or just swing weight lighter.

 

We probably need T to weigh in on placement, but my guess is that Cleveland low and forward is not nearly as low and forward as SLDR

[revkev]

It's a much lighter shaft and I'm only talking perceived swing weight - nothing formal - its night and day for sure though.  I'm certain that the CG is not as low and forward as the SLDR.  The irony is that this is an off the rack club that I was not fit for.  In fact it was a door prize that someone else won from a league golf outing - I took one look at it and thought - this could be a good fit for me but boy that's a long shaft.  I went from 44.5 to 45 in the SLDR - I'm wondering if I don't do better with a bit longer but we'll see there could be some sort of bad habit that creeps in if I end up bagging the club.

 

On center hits are very similar in distance with the Black carrying a tad farther (I can't tell spin rates - we are still at a hit and stop in the fairway or on the range so I'll need a monitor for that).  It's the misses that intrigue me most - there's a pretty clear diminishing return on mishits with the SLDR.  I'm shocked at how far and straight my mishits go with the black.  I hit tons of drives with it yesterday - 50 at least - of those 50 I only had 2 really bad drives - one a block pop up and the other a big hook.  I was also towards the end of a two hour range session when those shots took place.  Because of the wind direction and the great practice facility at my club I was able to hit drives down wind and into the wind - I just took a cart and drove to the back of the range. 

[Mr_Theoo]

I'm almost through my 2nd season gaming the SLDR I was fit for at the Kingdom (Thanks MGS!!). I just haven't found anything that can take it out of the bag. I tested the Paderson shaft in it this year and it wasn't as good with that shaft. I tried several drivers on the launch monitors this spring and nothing else brought my spin down like the SLDR. I even purchased a Titleist 915D2 but sold it after a couple rounds.

 

I wouldn't say anything I hit was a bad driver, but they just didn't work any better and in most cases I didn't hit them as well or as consistently good.

 

Rev I think what you'll find is that pretty much everyone makes a good driver. While we've never golfed together, I think I understand your game and when you swing like you do, you can have pretty good results with just about anything. You might pick up a few yards here and there with some tweaking, but you'll hit everything decent.

 

It seems like since the SLDR has come out the CG story is much more prevalent in the driver releases since then. I'm really curious to hit the 2016 releases and see if the M1 or King can live up to the hype of SLDR spin and G30 forgiveness. Sounds like a holy grail to me.

I really want the king cobra to be able to beat my SLDR. I loved how the bio cell pro played but was too stupid to pick one up.

[hckymeyer]

I really want the king cobra to be able to beat my SLDR. I loved how the bio cell pro played but was too stupid to pick one up.

That's the great thing about used older models, you can pick one up dirt cheap now!!

[Mr_Theoo]

That's the great thing about used older models, you can pick one up dirt cheap now!!

Can't find a bio cell pro for cheap anywhere!

[revkev]

What I continue to wonder about all of these drivers is their relative forgiveness.  Top end performance is top end performance - my guess is that under ordinary conditions (where there actually is some roll out) there would be no appreciable difference between my SLDR and the Cleveland Black. 

 

But if you consider the launch monitor numbers for me with the SLDR I'm very close to optimizing it - when my miss has too little spin, it stays in the fairway but as wet as it is I loose 40 yards.  I miss 2 to 3 times out of ten with the SLDR.  I've had exactly one miss that would have cost me any sort of distance with the Black and I was exhausted from hitting around 200 balls at that point.  I had one other big hook but not a duck hook this still carried over 200 yards, it was just a ball that I got in front of, turned over too much and got it riding the wind - not good on most holes at my course but not fatal on lots of holes elsewhere.

 

How forgiving are drivers like the G30 or the whatever iteration of the Vapor that we're on or the Callaway drivers.  I still get almost full distance out of the Cleveland Black with balls off the center of the clubface and they don't stray outside of the fairway. 

[revkev]

Played 27 today and drove it very well. The misses were exceptionally playable. I did hit one OB but it was totally an alignment thing on my part. Very windy day and hit some boomers, three longest drives ever on holes one of them into the wind.

 

Get a grip will appreciate the fact that I hit it on in regulation on three of those 4 monster par 4's two of which were dead into the wind. I actually had 178 into 1, 10 yards past my best driver ever there and it's still wet.

[mbrodeur86]

played a 9 tonight with my brother. It was 9 degrees celcius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong cold winds. Shot a 1 over 37 with 2 birdies. 2 fairways and 4 greens. Just put on new grips all around so was breaking them in.