JUST ARRIVED! - Adams 9088 UL Driver

[Tony Covey MGS]

The latest driver in the Adams lineup showed up earlier this week. This is the Ultralight 9088 (or 9088 UL if you prefer). I've never been a fan of lightweight drivers before, but I am interested to see what the 9088 is all about for two reasons. First, I'm currently still gaming the 9064 LS we reviewed last year, and haven't found anything to make me give serious thought to replacing it. Secondly, the Adams take on lightweight is a little different from others. With Cleveland and TaylorMade, the consequence of Ultralight has actually been a heavier swing weight. Adams has managed to keep the swing weight low (D0). What the real world impact of that actually is, but it definitely qualifies as a bit of a different approach.

 

One little detail that Adams has added to their woods recently that I really like is the 2 piece ferrule (manufactured by cell parts). Love the black with white, although I must admit the black with red options looks awesome with the UST ATTAS T2 shaft.

 

In a somewhat unusual move for Adams, the shaft, Matrix HD 4.1 does appear to be a made for variant. I suspect this was done for the purposes of keeping weight low, while being able to produce a stiff flex shaft (the "real" HD 4 is not available in stiff flex).

[Moecat]

Face looks pretty closed!

[JohnBarry]

Looks great, would love to test her out, love my Fast 11

[Miboy62]

Looks nice.

[btbgolf4]

They look better in person. Almost like a 910D2 except with the notches in the back

[TWShoot67]

Been wanting to try the 9064 for a while but can't seem to kick my Taylomade Superfast 2.0 as it's a BEAST! But I'd be willing to demo this ultra lite 9088 to see what it's all about. Finally put a hybrid in the bag and its a 9031 DF. I love this hybrid, finally found one I like.....

[Tyk]

Not a fan of the notches in the back, but like the overall shape, sole, and look of the club pretty well.

[Tony Covey MGS]

I've got some serious concerns about an Ultralight driver and my swing (more about the shaft then the head), but what the hell...I'm taking it out for 9 holes tonight (which is probably only 5 or 6 swings - assuming the ball stays in play), but I am curious.

[RookieBlue7]

Hit it the other night, and wow, did I hate it. Waaaaayyy too light for me, and waaaaaayyyy too whippy.

[GolfSpy Dave]

I just hit this at the shop. Thought it had a good feel and sound at impact, but man did the ball go high.

Hit the 9.5° and it looked like my 60°

Did seem to go a long way though, even with the balloon.

Would love to see the spin numbers on this one...

[Tony Covey MGS]

So I played 9 with the 9088 tonight. I really like the head at least where sound and feel are concerned. It's definitely more muted than the 9064, but still very good. I did hit a big hook OB (that's my miss) on the 2nd hole, but otherwise, my misses were right including a couple of BIG fades (not my ball flight). I don't know if it's the torque on the shaft or what, but realistically going from a 75 gram shaft down to what I think is probably a fairly soft 45 gram doesn't really work for me. It will be interesting to see how it performs for the other guys, and I'm sure when strokes and lost balls aren't on the line I'll swing it a bit more freely and probably produces better results.

 

It could also be that I've become extremely comfortable with the 9064 LS + ATTAS T2 + Harrison Shotmaker combo, and anything else just doesn't feel right.

[jamo]

I'm a big fan of the 9064 LS (thinking of buying one, they're running about $150 right now), but I don't really like this one. The grey and blue is part of it.