Driver Shootout - Finalized?

[BLD7]

4 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

It is probably about time I update this. 

I still have both the Cobra King LTDx and Ping G425 Max. 

Not a big knock on the G425 Max as I had some great driving rounds with it and overall it is a solid performer. The Cobra King LTDx I wanted to like so badly. Really I did, but I really struggled with it. Couldn't find a consistent shot shape to play and didnt seem to get the distance I wanted. 

The Paradym Triple Diamond I think was purposely made for me. No joke. 

A little background, when the leaks came out and usga photos of the PTD I didnt like the shape. Something just looked a little funny to me about it. Then seeing it in person changed all that. My first demo of the club I was blown away. Sound, consistency, and how the ball just was in the air forever. 

I have two shafts right now for it and another adapter so likely have a 3rd just for kicks. My last two rounds with it have been at two different courses and while I have had a few bad swings the thing is a beast. The last round in particular I wasn't hitting it great. Solid but nothing special and I was still finding fairways and distances were on par which what I expected for time of year and so on. However when I found the full groove with it thats when it was game over. 

I am blown away at the forgiveness of the PTD. I know it is a smaller head and the lesser forgiving model, but I really think it is on par or just as good as the Ping G430 LST. The sound is this really muted and powerful sound that is fun to hear. I don't try to shape the ball too much, but there was a par 4 and playing short only about 330 meters on the card. It is a swoopy dog leg right and there are trees and bushed all up the left side of the fairway. The inside corner is marshland which is of course a no go zone. So I took aim over the corner and planned to play a draw to leave myself about 80 is meters in. Maybe 100, however it is was the play I felt most comfortable with and not pushing too much. Well I hit my shot of the day with this nice swoopy draw as planned, not crazy, but say 20 or so meters of movement and landed rolled a little. I walked up to my ball in the fairway and I only had 50 meters to the pin. 

The next driving hole called for the opposite shape and I will admit I did have to retee, but the first one my alignment was all off. I will blame a crap tee box that was not level at all and pointed in the wrong direction haha. Anyway the strike was brilliant. This hole is 440 meters or something? I dont actually remember. However I had only 140 meters in after the retee and seeing my first ball a little left in the biotop. 

I am going to tag @Jnoble89 just to put some salt in the wound, but I really am a huge fan of this driver. I have gotten along pretty well with Callaway drivers in the past and am very happy i have gone back. 

Sounds like you may have found your driver @GolfSpy_APH ! Good to hear. I might have to find a Paradym TD to hit myself. If you have found the driver for you, it would be cool to see a brief recap on your experience with each of the drivers you 'tested'. Maybe a sentence or two on what you liked, didn't like, why you ultimately passed on the club, etc. JAT

[GolfSpy_APH]

24 minutes ago, BLD7 said:

Sounds like you may have found your driver @GolfSpy_APH ! Good to hear. I might have to find a Paradym TD to hit myself. If you have found the driver for you, it would be cool to see a brief recap on your experience with each of the drivers you 'tested'. Maybe a sentence or two on what you liked, didn't like, why you ultimately passed on the club, etc. JAT

I could probably find the time for that

 

[Shapotomous]

What is the loft and shaft set up you have in the Paradym and the G430?  I noticed early on you had a 10.5 and a couple 9's in the mix and wondered where you settled.  I skimmed the previous posts for the info on these two but probably missed it.  I recently moved from a 9 to a 10.5 loft and it has made a world of difference in my tee shots over the last month.

 

[Josh Parker]

@GolfSpy_APH I'm interested in hearing how the new shaft works out. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

12 minutes ago, jdparker said:

@GolfSpy_APH I'm interested in hearing how the new shaft works out. 

I need to cut it down a shade, but otherwise great!

[Josh Parker]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

I need to cut it down a shade, but otherwise great!

It's one of the shafts I have had my eye on. The velocore shaft I got with the Paradym is a little too low for my liking 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

@GolfSpy_APH between you and @Ben Joest, I do not honestly know if I will make it to the 2024 season with the TSi3 in the bag. It's getting a run today with the Ventus Blue TR (finally!), but the next time I am down in Madison I'll be stopping by GG to demo the PTD. I have to at this point lol.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

10 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

@GolfSpy_APH between you and @Ben Joest, I do not honestly know if I will make it to the 2024 season with the TSi3 in the bag. It's getting a run today with the Ventus Blue TR (finally!), but the next time I am down in Madison I'll be stopping by GG to demo the PTD. I have to at this point lol.

[BLD7]

7 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

@GolfSpy_APH between you and @Ben Joest, I do not honestly know if I will make it to the 2024 season with the TSi3 in the bag. It's getting a run today with the Ventus Blue TR (finally!), but the next time I am down in Madison I'll be stopping by GG to demo the PTD. I have to at this point lol.

The Ventus TR shafts are so good. @Jnoble89 I find them to be quite stable. I have the Blue in both fairway metals currently. This season I put the Black in the driver to help keep the ball down. I need to get on a monitor though to do a side by side comparison... Let us know how the Ventus Blue works for you.

[Josh Parker]

17 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

@GolfSpy_APH between you and @Ben Joest, I do not honestly know if I will make it to the 2024 season with the TSi3 in the bag. It's getting a run today with the Ventus Blue TR (finally!), but the next time I am down in Madison I'll be stopping by GG to demo the PTD. I have to at this point lol.

Not to throw one more at you.... but.. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

12 minutes ago, BLD7 said:

The Ventus TR shafts are so good. @Jnoble89 I find them to be quite stable. I have the Blue in both fairway metals currently. This season I put the Black in the driver to help keep the ball down. I need to get on a monitor though to do a side by side comparison... Let us know how the Ventus Blue works for you.

Will do! I think the biggest thing for me with this is that I have the 6R model. While I normally play a stiff flex shaft, an opportunity came up to trade a HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX PVD I had been sitting on all summer because it just didn't fit my swing. I wasn't going to pass up the chance to upgrade to Ventus, so I went with it. I watched a video from Cool Clubs on YouTube and through their analysis the found the TR to play half a flex stiffer than OG Ventus, so the 6R could be really good for me as my cruising speed with driver is 102ish. 

If not, and I feel like I need the 6S, I will try to trade/sell the 6R and make that move. I'll be getting some comparison data today on my Mevo with the Blue TR against my stock Tensei AV Raw White. Look for an update possibly this weekend, otherwise Monday, in this thread!

15 minutes ago, Ben Joest said:

With @jdparker also on the PD bandwagon of peer pressure, I can feel the force pulling me.

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 hour ago, Jnoble89 said:

@GolfSpy_APH between you and @Ben Joest, I do not honestly know if I will make it to the 2024 season with the TSi3 in the bag. It's getting a run today with the Ventus Blue TR (finally!), but the next time I am down in Madison I'll be stopping by GG to demo the PTD. I have to at this point lol.

Just remember it's also the driver of choice for @GolfSpy_BNG!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Just remember it's also the driver of choice for @GolfSpy_BNG!

Black Friday is right around the corner. If CPO runs a deal I can't pass up, there's a good chance it'll happen lol.

[IndyBonzo]

4 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Will do! I think the biggest thing for me with this is that I have the 6R model. While I normally play a stiff flex shaft, an opportunity came up to trade a HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX PVD I had been sitting on all summer because it just didn't fit my swing. I wasn't going to pass up the chance to upgrade to Ventus, so I went with it. I watched a video from Cool Clubs on YouTube and through their analysis the found the TR to play half a flex stiffer than OG Ventus, so the 6R could be really good for me as my cruising speed with driver is 102ish. 

If not, and I feel like I need the 6S, I will try to trade/sell the 6R and make that move. I'll be getting some comparison data today on my Mevo with the Blue TR against my stock Tensei AV Raw White. Look for an update possibly this weekend, otherwise Monday, in this thread!

With @jdparker also on the PD bandwagon of peer pressure, I can feel the force pulling me.

I predict you will love it, @Jnoble89.  It really is quite forgiving, even (especially) on toe hits that will draw (!) into the fairway despite the poor strike.  Good luck to you!!

[Dead Solid Bogey]

7 hours ago, Shapotomous said:

What is the loft and shaft set up you have in the Paradym and the G430?  I noticed early on you had a 10.5 and a couple 9's in the mix and wondered where you settled.  I skimmed the previous posts for the info on these two but probably missed it.  I recently moved from a 9 to a 10.5 loft and it has made a world of difference in my tee shots over the last month.

 

If I may ask… What was the difference in going from 9° to 10.5°? 

[Josh Parker]

Just now, Dead Solid Bogey said:

If I may ask… What was the difference in going from 9° to 10.5°? 

 1.5 degrees! 

For someone like me who shoots a very low Texas drive or shot, going up to a 10.5 degree will help the ball get better elevation off the tee.  I actually have mine set at 11 degree and still hit a pretty low penetrating drive.

[Javs]

While not the exact models listed in the original test: I have started a rotation in my bag of the Callaway Paradym TD, PXG Gen 6 0311, Ping 425 LS and Titleist TSR 3. So far, the Callaway and PXG drivers have been the best performers for me. 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

9 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Just remember it's also the driver of choice for @GolfSpy_BNG!

 

9 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Black Friday is right around the corner. If CPO runs a deal I can't pass up, there's a good chance it'll happen lol.

Not to hijack Jamie’s thread but I will be trying a few different heads this winter along with a bunch of shafts but it will take something special to get the Paradym TD out of the bag

[Shapotomous]

6 hours ago, Dead Solid Bogey said:

If I may ask… What was the difference in going from 9° to 10.5°? 

I used to have the swing speed to get enough altitude with a 9* driver for decent carry distance.  As the swing speed decreased so did the altitude and carry distance.  I don't swing up very much with the driver and when i try to adjust my swing to increase the AoA i get very hooky.  I also tried moving the ball slightly forward to catch it on the natural upswing but got the same hooky miss.  

The extra 1.5* loft isn't much but it allows me to take my same swing and get at least 90' of peak height without the hooks.  

[GolfSpy_APH]

@BLD7 This one is for you! Here is a rundown of the drivers and why I ended up settling on the ones that I did. 

PXG 0211 - This was a solid performer. I got it when they had their rock rock bottom price and maybe this isn't quite fair, but it was never meant to be the go to driver. It was always going to have a tough time cracking the lineup. However the price was incredible and in the end while I did get a few rounds and sim sessions with it. The sound and distance wasn't quite there. Looks were great and feel was good. It is definitely a solid driver, however it got out performed by others. That being said it wasn't the one I would put at the bottom of this whole list. 

Callaway Max LS - My big miss through all this has been a toe side strike that results in the worst of the worst duck hook right that go absolutely nowhere. Ball speeds were impressive and feel and sound of jailbreak is something I really like. The shape is slightly triangleish which isn't my favorite, but easily overlooked. Why it didn't make it? Well it just got out performed slightly in each aspect by the TSi. If you have this driver (as @GolfSpy BOS does) there is little reason to move on from it unless you want to. It is a really good club and one that I maybe should have given a bit longer, but this is me being me in search of the golden club. 

Titleist TSi3 - There isn't much to say about this that I haven't said already. I had some great rounds with this club. It looks stunning and performs well. Part of me wishes I still had it. A good offer came along that was too hard to pass up. There was albeit a slight lack of forgiveness that ended up making it expendable. This is an alltime driver, just not quite for forgiveness. The rest is close to the best of the best. 

Cobra King LTDx - I wanted to like this driver so badly. I tried various shafts, various settings and while I loved the looks. Truly maybe my favorite or top 3 at the very worst. Unfortunately forgiveness was not there and even good strikes seemed to be a bit shorter than what I had hoped for. This is still a decent driver and one that I am sure will work for many. Unfortunately for my miss and my swing it did not perform. I gave it a good run and still have it, may do another longer trial over the winter on sim, but I quickly lost confidence which meant it got relegated quickly as well. 

Ping G430 LST - I love, still love and will always love this driver. Why it didn't make the bag? A friend wanted to buy it and offered a good price, he plays a lot more than I do so as much as I really wanted to hold onto it I wasn't going to be heartbroken to let it go to a friend. This is for me an all time driver for 2023 and easy to hit, forgiving and has stellar distance. I would highly recommend this driver. If it not be for number 1 to come I would be on the hunt to potentially get this driver back. 

Ping G425 Max - Want forgiveness? This is a stellar driver and I still have it. I have contemplated having a two driver setup for kicks with this being a true fairway finder. The pitfall? Maybe a tad short, but truly nothing crazy, the biggest thing is what many have said prior. It is loud. The feel is still good and you can get consistent shapes and still make a lot of shots. It isn't the sound for everyone, but in the end slower scores are lower scores. 

Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond - This is the club which is going in the bag for the foreseeable future. For me this club checks all the boxes. Sound is there with being a muted but powerful crack that exudes confidence. The shape is the smaller look that I prefer as well. These are all things the Titleist had as well, however the biggest difference is the forgiveness. I am entirely blown away how this club allows me to find fairways and get away some less than perfect strikes. 

There is my recap. It has been a journey, but this journey has ended... just in time for the season to end and the new clubs to soon come out!

[Dead Solid Bogey]

12 hours ago, Shapotomous said:

I used to have the swing speed to get enough altitude with a 9* driver for decent carry distance.  As the swing speed decreased so did the altitude and carry distance.  I don't swing up very much with the driver and when i try to adjust my swing to increase the AoA i get very hooky.  I also tried moving the ball slightly forward to catch it on the natural upswing but got the same hooky miss.  

The extra 1.5* loft isn't much but it allows me to take my same swing and get at least 90' of peak height without the hooks.  

Thanks for your answer. What driver do you play? Did you increment the degree increase over time or the entire 1.5 degrees at one time. I have currently got the Ping G430 SFT as the top gun in my bag set at 9°…. After this weekend may try increasing the loft. Thanks again for the info. 

[BLD7]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

@BLD7 This one is for you! Here is a rundown of the drivers and why I ended up settling on the ones that I did. 

PXG 0211 - This was a solid performer. I got it when they had their rock rock bottom price and maybe this isn't quite fair, but it was never meant to be the go to driver. It was always going to have a tough time cracking the lineup. However the price was incredible and in the end while I did get a few rounds and sim sessions with it. The sound and distance wasn't quite there. Looks were great and feel was good. It is definitely a solid driver, however it got out performed by others. That being said it wasn't the one I would put at the bottom of this whole list. 

Callaway Max LS - My big miss through all this has been a toe side strike that results in the worst of the worst duck hook right that go absolutely nowhere. Ball speeds were impressive and feel and sound of jailbreak is something I really like. The shape is slightly triangleish which isn't my favorite, but easily overlooked. Why it didn't make it? Well it just got out performed slightly in each aspect by the TSi. If you have this driver (as @GolfSpy BOS does) there is little reason to move on from it unless you want to. It is a really good club and one that I maybe should have given a bit longer, but this is me being me in search of the golden club. 

Titleist TSi3 - There isn't much to say about this that I haven't said already. I had some great rounds with this club. It looks stunning and performs well. Part of me wishes I still had it. A good offer came along that was too hard to pass up. There was albeit a slight lack of forgiveness that ended up making it expendable. This is an alltime driver, just not quite for forgiveness. The rest is close to the best of the best. 

Cobra King LTDx - I wanted to like this driver so badly. I tried various shafts, various settings and while I loved the looks. Truly maybe my favorite or top 3 at the very worst. Unfortunately forgiveness was not there and even good strikes seemed to be a bit shorter than what I had hoped for. This is still a decent driver and one that I am sure will work for many. Unfortunately for my miss and my swing it did not perform. I gave it a good run and still have it, may do another longer trial over the winter on sim, but I quickly lost confidence which meant it got relegated quickly as well. 

Ping G430 LST - I love, still love and will always love this driver. Why it didn't make the bag? A friend wanted to buy it and offered a good price, he plays a lot more than I do so as much as I really wanted to hold onto it I wasn't going to be heartbroken to let it go to a friend. This is for me an all time driver for 2023 and easy to hit, forgiving and has stellar distance. I would highly recommend this driver. If it not be for number 1 to come I would be on the hunt to potentially get this driver back. 

Ping G425 Max - Want forgiveness? This is a stellar driver and I still have it. I have contemplated having a two driver setup for kicks with this being a true fairway finder. The pitfall? Maybe a tad short, but truly nothing crazy, the biggest thing is what many have said prior. It is loud. The feel is still good and you can get consistent shapes and still make a lot of shots. It isn't the sound for everyone, but in the end slower scores are lower scores. 

Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond - This is the club which is going in the bag for the foreseeable future. For me this club checks all the boxes. Sound is there with being a muted but powerful crack that exudes confidence. The shape is the smaller look that I prefer as well. These are all things the Titleist had as well, however the biggest difference is the forgiveness. I am entirely blown away how this club allows me to find fairways and get away some less than perfect strikes. 

There is my recap. It has been a journey, but this journey has ended... just in time for the season to end and the new clubs to soon come out!

Thank you @GolfSpy_APH for the recap! Sounds like I need to find a PTD to compare to my current gamer - TSR3. Which for those curious, in my experience, the TSR3 has better forgiveness than its TSi3 predecessor. 

Have you finalized the shaft setup for the PTD? If you mentioned that previously I missed it.

Thank you for sharing this journey/hunt with the rest of us! As a tinkerer/club junkie myself it is fun to see others processes to find the perfect bag setup. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

18 minutes ago, BLD7 said:

Thank you @GolfSpy_APH for the recap! Sounds like I need to find a PTD to compare to my current gamer - TSR3. Which for those curious, in my experience, the TSR3 has better forgiveness than its TSi3 predecessor. 

Have you finalized the shaft setup for the PTD? If you mentioned that previously I missed it.

Thank you for sharing this journey/hunt with the rest of us! As a tinkerer/club junkie myself it is fun to see others processes to find the perfect bag setup. 

Currently using a graphite design ad di 6x. It is probably a bit too stiff but it has been incredible stable which is what I'm looking for. 

[Shapotomous]

10 hours ago, Dead Solid Bogey said:

Thanks for your answer. What driver do you play? Did you increment the degree increase over time or the entire 1.5 degrees at one time. I have currently got the Ping G430 SFT as the top gun in my bag set at 9°…. After this weekend may try increasing the loft. Thanks again for the info. 

I had a 9* sub 70 849 pro and tried adjusting the loft to 10.5 but it closed the face too much for me.   I came across a good price on a 10.5* ping g410 lst and have been hitting it well.

[GolfSpy_APH]

While I won't commit 100% I can confidently say the shootout is over with the Paradym locking in a spot for the 2024 season. The shaft is still TBD, however I am happy with the options I currently have. 

There are of course some great options still out there and available, but for now I am going to hold tight and play the season out with this as my gamer. 

[billpierce]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

While I won't commit 100% I can confidently say the shootout is over with the Paradym locking in a spot for the 2024 season. The shaft is still TBD, however I am happy with the options I currently have. 

There are of course some great options still out there and available, but for now I am going to hold tight and play the season out with this as my gamer. 

I found paradym sound to be off a bit. Maybe need to try again!

[Javs]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

While I won't commit 100% I can confidently say the shootout is over with the Paradym locking in a spot for the 2024 season. The shaft is still TBD, however I am happy with the options I currently have. 

There are of course some great options still out there and available, but for now I am going to hold tight and play the season out with this as my gamer. 

Agree and for now I am sticking with my Callaway Paradym TD.

[Josh Parker]

The Paradym TD has been money for me as well. 

[Javs]

1 minute ago, Josh Parker said:

The Paradym TD has been money for me as well. 

Love that driver especially with the Project X Hzrdus smoke yellow shaft

[Indy_Oz]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

While I won't commit 100% I can confidently say the shootout is over with the Paradym locking in a spot for the 2024 season. The shaft is still TBD, however I am happy with the options I currently have. 

There are of course some great options still out there and available, but for now I am going to hold tight and play the season out with this as my gamer. 

Can't say I blame you. I've been tempted to buy a TD head from ebay/FB marketplace to try out- prices should keep dropping with the Ai Smoke out. I really like the AiS TD feel and sound and I hit it really well recently. Off-center strikes were better than my Rogue ST Max LS and distance was about the same, just not enough to spend THAT much money. If last year's TD was about very similar to the latest, it could be a wise move. I should have some opportunity to try out the AiS stock and TD heads again on the sim before I make any decisions.

Hope the Paradym TD works well through the season for you!