Final Reviews: Dollar Driver Club

The final review!!

When I was first selected for the DDC review, I was so thrilled. Driver has been a trouble club for me in the past. We’ve all had the fitting experience…you go in and your swing is an absolute mess, or you feel like Tiger Woods. By the time you leave you are (hopefully) confident in your set-up and order your new driver. 

Fast forward to the course…

Shank city. Slice-o-potomous. Frustration. 

Having a company that allows you to test out drivers on the course without any penalty is a needed model in the industry. I think about it akin to Apple’s program that allows you to upgrade your phone every year while paying a subscription fee. People want new drivers, and want to mix and match until they feel comfortable taking in that tight par five. Dollar Drive Club allows you to test out up to 3 drivers per year for $1 per day. If you find your perfect match, you can purchase the driver for MSRP minus the cost of your subscription.

When I first got my driver, we did not get along. Shout out to @dlow206 for helping me upgrade the shaft to Ventus, which really helped me get confident. 

Fast forward to now, I feel like I can reliably hammer this thing. I do not know if it is the one for me, but it is an improvement over my old driver. Being able to have time on course with the club knowing I could swap it out is a great feeling. The model can work. 

Let’s get to the scoring. 

Speed of Shipping: 4/5 Stars

Shipping was fast and easy. I had my club about a week later. Living in CA I am used to getting a pretty fast turnaround as I’m only a couple hours away from Carlsbad, so I docked one star for the extra couple days. Shipping also costs money, which was an unwelcome surprise. I’d like to see the model adjusted that the subscription fee covers everything. 

Selection of Clubs: 2/5 Stars

This was a disappointment. When I first began the review we were fairly late in the season of 2021. Pickings were slim, especially when it came to shaft options. I use an X-Flex, so I typically have trouble with off the rack options and was hoping there would be more than I found. Some heads were lefty only. I recommend finding a shaft you love and putting an All-Fit adapter on it so you can swap it out with different driver heads, removing the need to worry about shaft selection. 

What I was most excited about was being able to jump on new releases in 2022, which never came to fruition. There are still no new driver options on the DDC website. Without an update to inventory, it makes the model a bit of a head scratcher as to how it will be sustainable. 

Return/Exchange Process: 3/5 Stars

Full disclosure…I never did this. I had been looking forward to it, but without new clubs showing up on the site I never went for it. I was going to get fitted and order the top two contenders as my last two drivers, but that never happened. I was tempted to try a swap for the sake of the review, but the shipping costs are not cheap (roughly $20 range). As I mentioned earlier, it is disappointing this is not included in the cost of the membership. What really stopped me, however, was having to ship my driver back before they’d send me a new one. That would leave me driverless for over a week, which is not something I was wanting to do. I would prefer the model gives you a two to three week window to get your old driver shipped back. That way you were never without a driver, and could test two side by side and send back the new one if you decided it didn’t compare. 

Customer Service: 5/5 stars

I did not have much interaction with DDC customer service, outside of initially setting up my account. They were very helpful, timely in their responses and aided me in feeling confident navigating everything. They also have a great FAQ section which answers a lot of questions members might have. In my limited experience, I have no complaints!

Purchase Process: N/A

I have not tried this. I assume it is a simple enough process, but cannot fairly comment on it having not completed the transaction. 

Total Score: 14/20 Stars

Dollar Drive Club can work. There is a need for the service, and they are off to a good start. It will be interesting to see how this evolves, and if companies will begin a subscription of their own much like Taylormade appears to be. Until the kinks are worked out, however, I would recommend tabling it as a wait and see option. 

Thanks to MGS and DDC for the opportunity!

Jordan
 

Greetings everyone!

My name is Jordan Daigneault, and I have been lucky enough to be amongst an amazing group of testers to provide some insight into Dollar Drive Club. What an opportunity! Thanks to MGS and the folks over at DDC for providing us access to this amazing service. 

A little about myself...

I currently reside in Southern California, just north of Los Angeles. It is an amazing area for golf, with a variety of well maintained courses that you can play just about every day of the year (we maybe lose 5-8 days to rain and extreme wind every year, it is a burden). I teach high school and am fortunate to coach the boy's golf team. I work with an amazing group of golfers, most of whom are substantially better than me (and thoroughly enjoy reminding me of such). I got my handicap down to an 11, but that was before disc replacement in my lumbar spine. It popped back up to a 13 in the time since, and I'm working on getting it back down. It can be frustrating to have it one day and completely stink the next, but that's golf! I was finally able to play two days in a row for the first time in 8 months, so I expect the scores to come down. Outside of golf, I was fortunate to finally marry my amazing wife this summer! We had to postpone a year because of COVID. We managed to have our wedding occur right as things opened up, prior to them quickly closing again thanks to Delta. It was an amazing day! Better than breaking 80! We have two dogs, one of whom is a COVID puppy, so they keep us on our toes.

Though my short game is my biggest weakness, I know that it also an area I have improved a lot and will always be working on. What has me really excited about with this test is that I get to attack another weakness of my game...driving! I can absolutely hammer the ball. My swing speed is up around 120 on a good day, and I hope to get there more consistently as I will be working the superspeed training system with my golfers starting in a couple weeks. When I keep the ball in a good spot off the tee, I get far more greens and shoot great scores. Mind blowing stuff, I know. The difficulty with hitting it far, however, is that little misses end up missing by a lot. Where someone who hits 225-240 might be in the rough, I'm OB or in the trees. Distance can be a big advantage, but also ratchet the scores up quickly!

Enter Dollar Drive Club. With this membership, I'll be able to try out clubs on the course. We all know how huge this can be. You pepper the fairway in the fitting studio, but when you get exactly one swing on the course to make it count, it isn't always there. Finding a club I feel very confident with is something I am really looking forward to. The M5 I have right now has given me some great results, but you really need to find the middle if you don't want to get punished. 

I plan to begin my test with the MGS Most Wanted Callaway Epic Max LS. I will be going to the local golf shop to test it out and make sure it isn't a complete mismatch for what I like, but I used to have an Epic Sub Zero so I feel pretty good about this option. From the reviews, it seems like Callaway really found something special this year, and the forgiveness factor is a big one for me. I'm not sure if it is just the time of year, or COVID, but DDC also seems to have limited offerings right now, so that also helps me make the Callaway decision. There are only 3 X flex options available, so I might take @dlow206s advice and put the Allfit adapter on my Accra and see how that works out across different heads. I do still plan on swapping shafts, but the Accra is definitely one that has worked well for me so keeping it in the rotation will help me compare new shafts as I go. I may also throw a Ventus Black in the mix to see how that compares. 

I'm particularly interested to see what shipping times look like. Do I send the old stuff back before they send new? Vise versa? Does inventory increase as we get into new stock at the turn of the year? (I must admit, I am incredibly excited about the prospect of trying the latest and greatest as it comes out this winter). What are peak shaft offerings? All stock? Upcharge? I hope to answer all of the these questions, and any that the community would like to know about as well!

I cannot wait to get started on this ride with my fellow testers! If any of you have information you'd like during this test, please let me know and I will make sure to find out whatever I can. 

Jordan

Well first things first I want to thank MYGOLFSPY for the opportunity to participate in this testing. I’m sure it’ll be one like no other being that this testing will last a year. 
 Next up my name is David Lopez I live in the DFW area in the somewhat great state of Texas. As my screen name states I’m a father of boy/girl twins(6), and 2 more boys (5&3) for a grand total of 4 kids under the age of 7. This family is held together by my amazing wife who never complains on how much golf I play which is typically 1-2.5 times a week year round thanks to our not too cold winter with the exception of the 1 week we had this year. 
 

This testing was appealing to me for many reasons. First being it’ll allow me to try something different step outside of my typical Callaway comfort products. Next is being a lefty I’m curious to see how many options in driver and shafts are offered for LH golfers. So far at first glance there are quite a few Lh  drivers available possibly more than RH. 
 

I am a bit of a researcher when it comes to making purchases so my process of selecting driver will not be without a lot of thought. Im currently doing Super Speed training so my club head speed is consistently mid but trending to high. With that being said I plan on gathering data from the MGS Mid swing speed & High swing speed most wanted  to determine my 1st choice. 

 

Dollar Driver Club: Final Review (4-12-22): “Move Fast and Break Things”

So, maybe those of you familiar with technology are familiar with that phrase above. You see, when asked about his now super-company known know as Meta, Mark Zuckerberg said that was the motto the company needed to abide by. Don’t wait, make mistakes and figure out how to catch up to those mistakes after the fact. A modern version of “you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” It’s easy to see for early adopters where that has gotten them and also where there are flaws in that thinking.

Personally, I remember the rise and subsequent bottoming out of Movie Pass, a service where for $9.95 a month, and later even cheaper, you could see 1 film a day, bringing people to films in droves. However, those wings built on dreams and Icarian belief later cratered into immeasurable financial difficulty and eventual bankruptcy.

So, why I am I saying these things in the lead in to my final review of the Dollar Driver Club? Well, it is a way to bring some historical context to the issues and praises I have to this business model, and since this is more a review of a service and not a particular equipment based a review, a way to edu-tain you without the usual pictures, statistical analysis, and pure numbers that a club or ball review may provide. We’re looking at 5 factors on which to grade DDC, they have the star ratings next to them at the top of the post, but I’ll list them here as well

Speed of Shipping

Selection of Equipment

Return/Exchange Process

Customer Service

Purchase Process (if applicable)

 

Speed of Shipping: 4.25 stars out of 5

There are benefits to being in a central local for service providers. You don’t need to harvest from different warehouses across the country to make shipments happen, and if you focus on one specific product you can make shipments happen very quickly. Luckily DDC has that going for them. The company is located in Texas and was able to ship me both drivers I requested for this review in about an average of a week’s time, which for someone in New York is very good, especially considering one of those exchanges was made in the winter where it was only delayed due to a bomb cyclone in the northeast by a day.

However, there is a drawback to favoring speed in some circumstances, and it comes with handling in care. As mentioned in my initial post when I received my Cobra, the box had taken some damage in transit and as mentioned when I received the current G425 Max, the driver was shipped in a box with the headcover and the tool, no extra packing materials to ensure the club made it in one piece. I appreciate the commitment to fast turn-around times, but if I had to wait a couple of extra days to make sure I could receive my driver in one piece, I’d take it.

Selection of Equipment: 3.5 Stars out of 5

If you see that star rating and think it a big harsh for this company, I’m not going to sugarcoat. The selection is decent, but nothing more. Sure, you get the major companies, your Callaway, Titleist, Taylormade, Cobra, Ping, and Srixon for something a little exotic. The shaft choices are pretty standard as to the non-upcharge stock options, but that’s about as big the selection gets. I know, you shouldn’t be going in expecting to get the latest from Oban, Accra, Autoflex, etc… but this is more about the late release of 2022 drivers.

As of right now, no 2022 drivers are available to order for testing purposes and it’s a bit of a disappointment. In talking to the folks in the DDC chat, they’ve indicated to me that there are supply chain issues in them getting clubs, and while I’m understanding of that, all the major 2022 releases so far I would have expected were released in store 6 weeks ago with preorders a month before that. It’s not a total deal breaker, but it’s a definite hit.

 

Return/Exchange Process: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Again, this is not a knock on the service here. So as either a yearly member, like we were for the test, or a monthly member, you are entitled to test and receive 3 drivers every 12 months. The actual process to go through for the returns and exchange are actually quite easy. You enter the driver you wish to exchange or “upgrade” for or the shaft you wish to swap, complete a few pages of drop down menus and get yourself a pre-printed shipping label to send the club back to Texas.

What drops a star and a half off this easy process? The fact that it costs you each time you do. For me to get my new Ping driver upgrade, it cost me $20, and the initial Cobra ran me $16.95. Again, for someone who ‘paid’ upfront $360, I should be able to send what I want for either a reduced price to a month to month member or get a few free switches, or at least have those funds used toward a potential purchase. Perhaps that’s me wanting the service to be something it’s not, but if the idea is to make it advantageous to be able to switch and try different set-ups, it should be more financially viable.

 

Customer Service: 4.75 Stars out of 5

Look, I loved dealing with the staff at DDC. The people they have with the chat function to be the up-front people for folks looking to answer questions are friendly enough, and they were helpful enough in answering some questions we had of the service. It’s also worth noting that the package we got in our initial drivers of the tees, the ball marker, and the letter from the head of the company was a very nice touch. It’s hard to be up front about supply chain issues and getting back to us with answers to our questions so that’s why it’s not a perfect five as we have gotten a bit of radio silence as a group recently, but they have good people that work there and they try to go that extra step for the customers, which is all you can ask for.

 

Purchase Process: N/A Stars out of 5

Simply put, I don’t know if I’m going to purchase whatever driver I finish with, so I can’t grade this part of the review. I am planning on a personal fitting for woods this fall, but I could be convinced by great performance by the G425 Max or any other potential driver.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you guys ever heard of the saying format “X walked so Y could fly,” I think that’s what we’re in a case with Dollar Driver Club. Much like how Moviepass died and systems like Regal Unlimited, AMC Stubs A-List, and Cinemark Movie Club sprung up, I think you’ll see something similar if Dollar Driver Club falters in any fashion. You’re already seeing it with the Stealth Demo program attached to TaylorMade’s My TM+ service and if that proves popular, golf is one thing where it’s follow the leader. I could easily see Callaway and Cobra following suit soon after and potentially DDC might get played out of their own market.

I guess in summation, DDC is one heck of idea, a great proof of concept that it can and will work for some golfers. For Spies who tinker, I think you’ll find it a little threadbare for what it is we are looking for, but for the regular golfer with money to burn and a need to have the latest and greatest, Dollar Drive Club is one heck of a service.

FINAL SCORE: 77.5% (15 Stars out of 20)

 

Introduction for Posterity

"Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most"  - Dostoevsky

I often wonder some times if famous people or thinkers were golfers or not in a past life. In a way, I want to believe that ol' Fyodor Dostoevsky would have been one, and would have been one hell of a tinkerer, always trying new things in the search to get better.

Oh yeah, me. I'm Ryan Bergman, aka forum member Berg Ryman, commissioner of fantasy leagues, seeker of putters, tester of products, and writer of really intricate reviews that make multiple pop culture references that range from explanative to bizarre.

In that above quote, Dostoevsky puts forth the thesis that the one thing that man fears most is change, and he has a point. We are creatures of habit or routine, and for something as cataclysmic as change to come in and be a constant is scary. The idea of "evolve or die" comes to mind. Again, the parallels are there for us a golfers. We have our old reliable, we have our own superstitions, we have our way of doing things and it's hard for some of us to get out of there.

Interestingly, the same can be said of business and the golf industry. This is where Dollar Driver Club comes into play here. It takes a change in the way business is done to shift the golf world forward and Dollar Driver Club is attempting to be that shot in the arm. For a new company to come in and offer a subscription model for drivers is a welcome change to the typical big box model or even green grass model.

So, what can you expect from my version of this test? Well, I'm going into this as a general golfer, not as a Spy, not as a former worker in the industry. I'm not going to get fit in a big box store or a fitter before making my orders. The reason for this is two fold. One, I feel like this is a service built for those of use who want tinker and try for ourselves, so I do plan on using the options available and the people that DDC have on staff as my resources, as well as info from the companies themselves to direct me toward things I know I like. Two, I feel like beside the tinkerer in us, this service also really appeals to that "basic golfer", the one who may not dabble in the finer points of equipment differences, exotic shaft selections, kickpoints, etc. So I'm going to try and take some information about these clubs to again, color the choices. Namely, I'm looking at the measurements from the MGS Most Wanted testing.

Now, I've already signed up for the service and made my first selection. First, I want to talk to you guys about early interactions with DDC. They had us all fill out an intake form that basically set us up a profile. They asked us your basics, name address and then we got into golf specific questions. We gave them our current driver set up, preferred ball flights, lofts, etc. So I entered my info about my Mizuno ST180 with my Kuro Kage Silver TiniDual Core in Stiff flex in 60 grams (net weight 69 grams)

So, then we get into the search and as noted the selection is not all-encompassing, but is substantial. You have the Main five driver companies on offer with the newest lines from Taylormade, Cobra, Callaway, Ping, and Titleist, as well as one generation old Callaway and Taylormade in limited offerings. Again, using the info in the Most Wanted testing for mid speed swings and current feelings about drivers, there was one club that caught my eye and checked all the boxes to be the first driver I requested... and I guess I need to find out if it truly does suck.

That's right, I have a RadSpeed coming my way, 10.5 in the Peacoat Blue with the MotoreX F1 60 in Stiff. It was the longest at midspeed testing and I'm all after bombs right now. It should be here Wednesday. I am psyched.

So that's where we start from, there will be change, there will be questions, and we'll be there for the better part of a year to answer them and help you guys understand what DDC can be for you. As always, thanks to the MGS Staff for the opportunity and for the community for putting it's trust in me, I'm going to give you everything I got.

To get this started I would love to thank MGS for the opportunity to test something I have always seen but wondered if it was worth it to try. 
 

So first off let me tell you a little bit about me and my game. I am a scratch golfer and I play 3-5 times per month when I am not in training or on deployment. I play all types of courses in the San Diego area.  I played one year of college golf before deciding that college just wasn't for me and I joined the Navy. Since joining I have played in several tournaments and done pretty well. 2018-2019 were the best years for me. I won several tournaments and shot some great rounds. I spend most of my time now with my 2 boys that are 9 and 5. 

 

When it comes to my game I have always been a long hitter and pretty accurate considering how far I hit the ball. I am currently playing the Taylormade SIM2 with a UST Mamiya LINQ Purple 7F5. This driver has been the best driver I have hit in years. 
 

I absolutely love to tinker with equipment it is a passion of mine. When I retire from the Navy I plan to open a fitting and building studio. I currently have a full build shop in my garage and do all my own builds along with most of my buddies builds. 
 

The Dollar Driver Club(DDC) is a really great idea for the person that loves to change and test different drivers for a long period of time without having to pay full price for every driver. I have a few drivers I have been wanting to test but didn’t want to buy without being able to play them first. I couldn’t commit to buying them as the Taylormade SIM2 has been a game changer. The Titleist TSi3 has had me drooling since the release and every time I have hit one it’s taken everything in my power not to buy one. I have always had great success with the Ping drivers since the G400 LST and G410 LST. So these are the top of my list to try in this review. 

I might have missed it, but to the testers get to keep or have the option to buy the driver they like the best?

21 minutes ago, jlukes said:

I might have missed it, but to the testers get to keep or have the option to buy the driver they like the best?

I’m not sure how this is going to work. I hope so! Based purely on the DDC website, we’d get $365 off retail of the driver we like at the end of it all. 

3 hours ago, jlukes said:

I might have missed it, but to the testers get to keep or have the option to buy the driver they like the best?

The test is for the system or service itself. Unfortunately testers won't get to keep a free driver at the end of it. They will get a option to purchase the driver (I'm not sure how the pricing works if they are discounted X amount or what) if it works for them and because it is a season long test or service they should be able to test several of the new releases next spring!

Hey Testers!  2 really quick questions for each of you.

1) I know it was already mentioned as to which drivers you guys will be looking at throughout this process, but did any of you try to go to PGA SS, or anything like that, to hit them first to narrow down the list of possibilities from the website?  If not, are you worried about grabbing the wrong head, example SIM2 vs SIM2 Max, in the process?

2) From my review of MGS's TRUEGolfFit mixed with Global Golf's UTry program, we determined that getting fit into the correct shaft was a huge factor.  At the time, TGF didn't have a shaft recommendation and Global Golf was VERY limited in which shafts they had to send.  How much do you think shafts will affect your perception of this review?

1 minute ago, goaliewales14 said:

Hey Testers!  2 really quick questions for each of you.

1) I know it was already mentioned as to which drivers you guys will be looking at throughout this process, but did any of you try to go to PGA SS, or anything like that, to hit them first to narrow down the list of possibilities from the website?  If not, are you worried about grabbing the wrong head, example SIM2 vs SIM2 Max, in the process?

2) From my review of MGS's TRUEGolfFit mixed with Global Golf's UTry program, we determined that getting fit into the correct shaft was a huge factor.  At the time, TGF didn't have a shaft recommendation and Global Golf was VERY limited in which shafts they had to send.  How much do you think shafts will affect your perception of this review?

I hit a few of the options, but definitely not enough. I plan to get fitted once next years drivers come out and use DDC to test the two finalists on the course. 

Shaft is proving to be a challenge. The stock for DDC is very low. I plan to put an AllFit adapter on my Accra shaft and use the same shaft across all the heads I try. I may also go hit with a ventus shaft to see if I prefer that. 

3 hours ago, goaliewales14 said:

Hey Testers!  2 really quick questions for each of you.

1) I know it was already mentioned as to which drivers you guys will be looking at throughout this process, but did any of you try to go to PGA SS, or anything like that, to hit them first to narrow down the list of possibilities from the website?  If not, are you worried about grabbing the wrong head, example SIM2 vs SIM2 Max, in the process?

2) From my review of MGS's TRUEGolfFit mixed with Global Golf's UTry program, we determined that getting fit into the correct shaft was a huge factor.  At the time, TGF didn't have a shaft recommendation and Global Golf was VERY limited in which shafts they had to send.  How much do you think shafts will affect your perception of this review?

Goalie, some good questions here, let me talk you through my thoughts.

1) Outside of like hitting stuff at a demo day just off hand I haven't really been much in the driver market. Sure, I read the articles and keep up with the trends, but it wasn't something I was expecting to get to improve the bag for 2021. Much like @jddaigneault when we move onto the 2022 stuff I'll likely be a bit more picky about things for that part of it. As far as what set me into the RadSpeed, it was longest in the Mid Driver Speed for MGS, it fits the profile of something close to my current ST180, a bit lower spin with some playability, and the controversy around it made a good start for me to finish the season/go into the winter season for me as the barometer of the newer tech. Also worth noting that in picking RadSpeed OG I can kinda get a look at RadSpeed XB with a weight flip. I know it's not a pure one to one, but it's close enough. I do think getting in the wrong head is a risk, but with the help of the DDC guys assisting us with we need the help, I do feel confident in getting proper fits.

2) Shafts are undoubtedly important Goalie. However, we need to also look at this inside the the service that DDC offers. Looking through the other heads it appears that the company does have a majority of stock options to pick from for shafts, and I think the Callaway offerings show this best as they have like the Project X options, the Mitsubishi MMT options, etc. I'll be honest, the fact that the Motore X is a shaft I read the reviews on MGS and that it's not a made for, the real deal Motore X is in this head made it an easy choice. Having being through enough shaft fits in drivers to know what I need (lower spin, mid to low launch) is helping me shape the shaft choices from what they have on offer and that Kuro Kage I have in the Mizuno might be the nicest shaft I've ever had in a head, so playability close to it is what I'm seeking. Again, depending on 2022 and what's on offer there this may change.

I hope that answers your questions as I sit here waiting for this UPS truck to make the 30 minute drive to my house that it should have made hours ago!

4 hours ago, Berg Ryman said:

2) Shafts are undoubtedly important Goalie. However, we need to also look at this inside the the service that DDC offers. Looking through the other heads it appears that the company does have a majority of stock options to pick from for shafts, and I think the Callaway offerings show this best as they have like the Project X options, the Mitsubishi MMT options, etc. I'll be honest, the fact that the Motore X is a shaft I read the reviews on MGS and that it's not a made for, the real deal Motore X is in this head made it an easy choice. Having being through enough shaft fits in drivers to know what I need (lower spin, mid to low launch) is helping me shape the shaft choices from what they have on offer and that Kuro Kage I have in the Mizuno might be the nicest shaft I've ever had in a head, so playability close to it is what I'm seeking. Again, depending on 2022 and what's on offer there this may change.

That's awesome that DDC offers so many shafts!  I can definitely say that the Motore X shaft is the real deal.  I still have mine from the review hence why only my old PXG head is up for sale and not the shaft as well haha.  

How long before you drive to UPS on your own just to go grab it?

Well look what finally decided to arrive. I'll have thoughts on it tomorrow after a round or range session because apparently we aren't playing skins tomorrow

Very nice. Looking forward to reading about this one. I’m curious to hear about the shaft as well.

So, let's get into the first impressions of the DDC.

First, the box. It's a cool branded white box, which is nice from the garden of brown boxes I have from golf club purchases. However, you'll notice in the picture the box crunch and if you saw @TxTwinDad+2's photo earlier, you'll see that the box has no padding or or paper in it. I know it isn't the biggest deal for some, but I want to make sure things get where they need to be safe.

Second, the money bag you've seen. This is an awesome personal touch that really made me feel like part of the team. In it came a letter from the founder of the company, those two vinyl stickers if you're the sticker type, 5 branded DDC tees, but perhaps the coolest thing was an initialized copper/bronze ball marker. I know it probably didn't cost them anything to make it, but it makes you feel special and valued... a big plus.

Finally onto the RadSpeed itself. The one thing that surprised me was that it was brand new. I remember doing demo programs like this in the past and sometimes it was... you get what you get, but for a brand new pristine RadSpeed to show up was a surprise. The Peacoat Blue is an awesome look in matte and the club feels lighter than my driver, which looking at swing weight it's about 1.5 points lighter (D4 for Mizzy, D2.5 for Cobra). Lastly, the fact it has Arccos means it was an easy add for stat tracking. I added it as a 2 wood to keep my current driver stats in there for comparison, we'll see what happens

I'm hoping after the fiance and I can scope out this spot for a potential engagement photo shoot, I can get to the golf dome at Turning Stone to just hit a few shots. If not, it makes its debut at a scramble tomorrow

On 8/14/2021 at 10:54 AM, Berg Ryman said:

Lastly, the fact it has Arccos means it was an easy add for stat tracking.

I never thought about if Cobra would have Arccos grips!  Do you think would be able to use that Arccos grip if you've never had Arccos before?  (I'm assuming you've already got your set up and in use)

5 hours ago, goaliewales14 said:

I never thought about if Cobra would have Arccos grips!  Do you think would be able to use that Arccos grip if you've never had Arccos before?  (I'm assuming you've already got your set up and in use)

So I'm not sure how Covra Connect autopopulates in the Arccos app since that's the tech, but I would think you would.

Scramble today was alright. Didn't stat tracking because wasn't sure we'd be taking my drives all the time, but did bang some out there around 260-270 which is pretty darn long for me. The most interesting note right now woth the Radspeed is how muted it is off the tee and I'm not using soft balls here, it's very quiet compared to most drivers.

Ok guys, going out for a round I know on Saturday, anything you want to know about the driver?

Also, I have an idea for a shipping test of DDC's capability, but sadly it's going to have to wait a bit

18 minutes ago, Berg Ryman said:

Ok guys, going out for a round I know on Saturday, anything you want to know about the driver?

Also, I have an idea for a shipping test of DDC's capability, but sadly it's going to have to wait a bit

Performance & feel vs your gamer would be a great place to start, do you plan on messing with the settings beforehand, etc. 

Of course, unless you've already mentioned all that earlier and I missed it in the thread

4 hours ago, russtopherb said:

Performance & feel vs your gamer would be a great place to start, do you plan on messing with the settings beforehand, etc. 

Of course, unless you've already mentioned all that earlier and I missed it in the thread

So, I do have 275 drives tracked with my current prize winner in Arccos and I do plan on laying out those averages and what not after I track a round with the RadSpeed.

Now, my skins game probably won't allow me a double ball type of round, but in casual rounds I will be trying to get two off the tee.

Lastly to answer your question, no tinkering yet. It's still 10.5, heavy weight forward, light weight back. I don't think the weights may flip but loft might get a bump at some time.

I’ve now been on the course twice with the new driver, once with the stock shaft and once with my Accra. 

About the driver…the epic max LST definitely hits bombs. I’ve noticed it is forgiving, but definitely has a right side bias. I really have to turn over to hit draws. The sound of kind of funky, and will definitely take some getting used to. It also has a higher ball flight than I’m used to, despite being a 9.0 head.

About AllFit adapter…this is pretty cool! I was bummed to see it doesn’t operate like a traditional callaway sleeve, but swapping heads is a simple process which seems like it will pair really well if DDC if you have a shaft you enjoy. Worthwhile purchase!

About Dollar Drive Club…I really like that I’m two rounds in with this driver. As a mid-capper, I can’t just pick up any club and pure it out of the gates. There’s going to be an adjustment period as I get dialed in. Knowing that I can keep using this driver, and if it ends up not being a winner I can just return it, is really cool. It definitely adds a sense of confidence that I’m going to find a driver I will fall in love with. At a fitting you can pure a driver and feel really good about it, but when you take it to the course every bad shot feels like a stark declaration that you made a $500 mistake. I think DDC will help you either settle into a driver with confidence, or provide the flexibility to always swap out heads on your never ending tinker quest. 

My next step is to hit the range with the launch monitor to see a head to head comparison between the M5 and the Epic to see if there’s anything in the numbers to help me decide which direction to go. 

AS the remnants of Fred have entered Central NY, I figure now is as good a time as any to update you as the benchmark numbers to defeat the current reigning, defending, undisputed, driver champion of my bag... the Mizuno ST180. For those of you with long enough memories you'll remember this club was the first club I have had the opportunity to test and review on this forum, so it holds a dear place with me, and it flat out performs.

According to Arccos and the 275 shots it has tracked, here are the meaningful stats as to my driver.

Smart Range: 236 yards to 261 yards

Smart distance (average): 243 yards

Longest Drive: 306 yards

Fairway accuracy: 35.2% fairway, 34.1% miss left, 30.8% miss right

So what I am looking for? Well, I'd like to see that average creep ever so slightly to the 250-255 range. Ball speed should be higher off the Cobra, at least it was in comparing the the two drivers in MGS testing and spin was slightly lower from Cobra as well. Obviously accuracy is a big one for me as well, but it's also more about making sure the shot goes where I aim it. I can live with a missed fairway if it means I'm taking advantage of the hole or missing it in the right place. This is one of those things where I don't think Arccos tells the whole story as I have some shorter par 4's that if I go for them to get into up and down scenarios it count's as a missed fairway, but I digress. Something in the 40-45% realm will be more than solid enough for me.

In response to my post over in the How'd You Play thread and @bens197asking how Radspeed Rd1 went, I figured I'd answer over there, but then I thought, no, it fits better here, so I copied and pasted from that draft to land here. Here's my take away as to how it performed 

I'll say this, it depends on my swing. It feel as if I have three different swings with the driver. The base swing, the steery swing, and the balanced swing. I'm trying to get more balanced swing than base swing right now, but both produce good results.

With the base swing, I get a nice fade ball flight, a little higher spinning, higher launching tee shot that normally carries  in the 220-230 range. In the humid air we were in on Sunday and with no roll, this dropped it back to around 210-220 and I was just coming low on the face.

The balanced swing is the "everything goes right model". This is the max out driver, carry in the 240 range with drives going out to 260-270 on roll. Admittedly, I'd love for this to be the base model, but it's a work in progress right now. This is where Radspeed really performs and it's where I feel like I'm swinging hard at the bottom, but not necessary fast through the whole swing, if that makes sense.

The steery swing in the one right now giving me problems. I've often had a bad habit on swinging from the top and just going super fast at times where I feel I need to really make a pass at it. Basically, I speed everything up, whether it's anger at the round or feeling like this is one you've got to kill. This leads to me feeling like I'm manipulating my path to get some kind of result. These normally lead to duck hook nothingness and with Radspeed's low spin profile you are super punished. The ball is barely in the air long enough to say so. I had 4 shots like that, averaging sub 200 off the tee, including one going 136 yards. 

So, what do I need to do? One, work on getting more the that balanced swing into my game. Two, maybe I can play with the weight a bit to make the club more neutrally weighted for mishits instead of very low spin. Three, it just might take time to dial it in, it was only my first "play by own round" instead of a scramble that I've played with it. I'll keep you all posted.

Got out on the course again yesterday for 9, and the new driver helped me make 3 birdies! I’m getting used to the sound of the epic, it is definitely different. I’ve checked the DDC site a few times, but there aren’t any new shaft offerings so I’ll continue to use the AllFit adapter on my Accra shaft until something new comes out to try. I am not sure this is going to end up my gamer, but it is really nice to be able to have an extended on course test. I find it takes time to trust the driver, and while our time together started off with red flags, I’m starting to develop a fondness for it. 

Round 2 in the books, still fighting the hook. Right now it's 40% left rough percentage. It's a path issue right now, just feeling like I'm losing the head in space, bringing it way too far inside.

So here is my question. I read people talking about the drivers they selected and the performance on the course.  That’s nice but the review is about DDC.  Do you believe the average consumer can get benefit from this model?  Will they find a driver that works for them by experimenting like this?   Why is this better than going to a brick and mortar and hitting a variety of drivers especially if you need to rely on a launch monitor to check performance.  Can you get non stock shafts?   Other than the big advantage of being able to hit the club on the course why should I use DDC….although that is probably something you will answer in the final review.  

4 minutes ago, cnosil said:

So here is my question. I read people talking about the drivers they selected and the performance on the course.  That’s nice but the review is about DDC.  Do you believe the average consumer can get benefit from this model?  Will they find a driver that works for them by experimenting like this?   Why is this better than going to a brick and mortar and hitting a variety of drivers especially if you need to rely on a launch monitor to check performance.  Can you get non stock shafts?   Other than the big advantage of being able to hit the club on the course why should I use DDC….although that is probably something you will answer in the final review.  

Definitely I can see all the testers diving into these questions throughout their review process. One additional thing to keep in mind is they got a year subscription for the service and with that will be providing updates over that time I would say. I can say from being involved on the back end they were pretty quick to get out the product to them and what I am a little more curious about is how quickly they are able to stock the brand new drivers that come in the spring. With them being able to test 3 for a season I have a sneaking suspicion they will hold onto these until the new ones get released and use their "final 2" going into next season... however that is just my guess. How do you guys plan to split up your 3 in a season and was the selection what you were hoping for or was there any that you really wanted to try but wasn't able to either because they didn't offer or out of stock?

14 minutes ago, cnosil said:

So here is my question. I read people talking about the drivers they selected and the performance on the course.  That’s nice but the review is about DDC.  Do you believe the average consumer can get benefit from this model?  Will they find a driver that works for them by experimenting like this?   Why is this better than going to a brick and mortar and hitting a variety of drivers especially if you need to rely on a launch monitor to check performance.  Can you get non stock shafts?   Other than the big advantage of being able to hit the club on the course why should I use DDC….although that is probably something you will answer in the final review.  

 

6 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Definitely I can see all the testers diving into these questions throughout their review process. One additional thing to keep in mind is they got a year subscription for the service and with that will be providing updates over that time I would say. I can say from being involved on the back end they were pretty quick to get out the product to them and what I am a little more curious about is how quickly they are able to stock the brand new drivers that come in the spring. With them being able to test 3 for a season I have a sneaking suspicion they will hold onto these until the new ones get released and use their "final 2" going into next season... however that is just my guess. How do you guys plan to split up your 3 in a season and was the selection what you were hoping for or was there any that you really wanted to try but wasn't able to either because they didn't offer or out of stock?

So, I guess I'll take both of these posts on at once here. Cnosil is right, this is ultimately a test of DDC, not the clubs, however, considering we're in a familiarization process with the clubs right now  it makes sense that a lot of our posts early on would lean to that. Now, what's interest for me as a tester here is that I'm in a cold weather climate, right? Central New York is not golf 365 like my friends in CA and TX in this test. Therefore, when I teased testing their shipping out I meant that I won't be waiting until 2022 releases to spend my last two. I plan on ordering a second driver before the end of the year to see how well they ship from Austin to Syracuse in a lake effect snow condition.

Now, as far as things I was looking for in the initial order, I only wish we had gotten the service up and running sooner. Admittedly, the RadSpeed was a choice, but it wasn't my first choice, or even 2nd choice to be honest. Choice #1 was Ping's 425 line, most likely the LST. The reasons were a couple fold, one, they had it offered with the Tensei Orange shaft that I feel would fit me best of any stock offering shaft by any manufacturer because of how much I liked in my Mizuno test, but at 50 grams it was too light, 60 grams though... that's the business. Plus, I was intrigued by their poor performance in the Most Wanted testing, it seemed a weird outlier and one I was eager to try.

Second choice were the new Srixon model, ZX5 and ZX7, however at the time of order they were not available. It appears they are now, but with impending 2022 releases and other drivers higher on my list to try, it seems unlikely I will go in that direction. It bears stating here that RadSpeed is what it says on the tin, a distance monster, but not the most forgiving on mishits.

I hope that answers some of the preliminary questions. Obviously we have a way to go to form an opinion on the service as a whole, but that's where I feel I'm at with a starting point.

Does it feel like OEM shortages have been noticeable in the DDC inventory?  Does anyone have anything negative about the current model of the DDC early on?

1 hour ago, RollingGreens said:

Does it feel like OEM shortages have been noticeable in the DDC inventory?  Does anyone have anything negative about the current model of the DDC early on?

OEM Shortages don't feel like a large issue. Again, when you're doing something like this you're going for the fattest part of the bell-curve, so the top 5 driver brands being in there is what I would have expected, Srixon being there is a nice bonus. Maybe in 2022 they'll get new relationships with OEMs meaning greater selection. Same deal with shafts, I wasn't expecting all the best custom shafts you get at upcharge, but they do have, at least potentially, every stock shaft you could find in most general Big Box fitting carts for the brands.

Again, early days yet, but so far so good as far I'm concerned.

Have always been a Taylormade Driver guy.  Currently playing the SIM.  But have wanted to try the Ping driver for awhile now.  This would be awesome.  Thx for the opportunity!

looking forw3ard to finding my best fit

Another awesome opportunity to test some great gear.

This would be great. I’m dubious about whether I picked the best driver for me early this season (I was only given a few to hit during my fitting). To be able to to try a few in real world setting instead of agains a screen would be amazing. 

please add me to the list

Great concept. I already use Tee Box Clubs and would love to get to compare how this company is to them. 

I hope one day I will get picked for this test

Please count me in I play in the Danbury Ct area at least 2x's per week, currently using a Cobra Fly-Z driver and was thinking about upgrading, recently used my golf buddies M6 Driver and hit that pretty good, I'll have to say I hit it better then he was !!!

This would be amazing as I live in an area where the nearest golf retailer, demo option, or club fitter is 4 hour away. 

The one and only reason I haven’t been able to pull the trigger on a new driver is the fear of buying the wrong one. This is 100% the solution to that problem. 

In! Thanks!

 What a great idea. Definitely would like to be one of the testers. 

Best of luck to all that signed up. Hope the 4 selected take full advantage of the opportunity.

This is going to be a very interesting test!  I literally got my SIM2 last week, so I'm not going to sign-up but will definitely be following!

I’m known for testing drivers often , like to try them so this is up my alley 

Great opportunity. This is what the site is all about. Good luck to everyone!

I like the concept! Would be a good idea to have a dollar shaft club... 

I golf alot and am always getting new clubs therfore would be a great candidate for this. I am in the market for new driver right now I let someone hit mine on the range and they broke it

Really excited for this. Im going to be upgrading my driver for next golf season (currently swinging Taylormade Aeroburner) Would love to test out some of the new driver tech out there before pulling the trigger.

What a cool opportunity!  Especially for the guys like me who don't have an extra $500 a year to upgrade their equipment... I'd love to give this a shot... literally! Good Luck to everyone! 

I think it's a great idea with how much technology comes out. Seems kind of like a fit yourself program. I'd be interested in this for irons but also understand that swapping shafts might be more of an issue. 

Interesting concept, with so many technology updates this is a cool way to get a feel for new clubs and settle on one or stay current. Very intrigued!

Been thinking about getting some new sticks this would be very helpful thanks. 

I actually looked into this recently, didn't pull the trigger for a few reasons, but primarily because I had some questions on the process, and I'm not in a real hurry to get back into the market for another driver.  What better way to get those questions answered than getting to test the process here though?  I'm in, and hoping to be one of the lucky participants. 

I am interested in this and read your article but was hesitant to give it a try.