2023 Most Wanted Driver! + Forum Member Only Zoom Call w/ HQ Staff!

[ClarkWGriswoldIII]

Being the sensibly frugal (cheap @$$) that I am, I am also always interested in last year's drivers list.  It's nice to see that the Ping G425 MAX is still measuring up.

[TonsofSteel]

Interesting take on the Stealth 2 HD over at pluggedingolf.

[GolfSpy_APH]

43 minutes ago, TonsofSteel said:

Interesting take on the Stealth 2 HD over at pluggedingolf.

Care to elaborate on what it is? 

Many of us of course visit pluggedin and don't soley use MGS as our only golfing resource, but we are here to post and take part of discussion here vs sending to other sites. 

Feel free to post what they are saying!

[TonsofSteel]

https://pluggedingolf.com/taylormade-stealth-2-hd-driver-review/

The TaylorMade Stealth 2 HD driver just wants to do one thing: hit high, right-to-left bombs.  Great forgiveness.  Stout draw bias.  High launch and mid-low spin.

[Jim Shaw]

sorry, posted this wrong first time I guess.

 

Word on the street is off centre hits are not doing well with this model, anyone else find this?

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Jim Shaw said:

 

Word on the street is off centre hits are not doing well with this model, anyone else find this?

Which model?   I would say off center isn’t enough of a description.  which off center: heel, toe, high, low?    I thought on the stealth the off center hits were good but less than ideal feel.  The 2 seemed to improve feel across the face,   

[Jim Shaw]

2 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Which model?   I would say off center isn’t enough of a description.  which off center: heel, toe, high, low?    I thought on the stealth the off center hits were good but less than ideal feel.  The 2 seemed to improve feel across the face,   

let me check with my "informants" and get back to you

[GolfSpy_APH]

A little over an hour till we get fired up! 

Get your questions in so we can mark them and be ready to have them answered!

[Jim Shaw]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

Which model?   I would say off center isn’t enough of a description.  which off center: heel, toe, high, low?    I thought on the stealth the off center hits were good but less than ideal feel.  The 2 seemed to improve feel across the face,   

It is the "plus" version, off centre to me would be all of the above, just not in the centre. 

[GolfSpy SAM]

I'd love to know what testers were surprised by this year.  Was there a model that performed better / looked better / sounded better (or worse for that matter) that was a marked difference than years prior?  I feel like so many of the drivers are incremental changes - anyone feel like someone knocked it out of the park with something really new (I know the Paradym didn't really win any of the awards, but that one comes to mind - maybe the Wilson Dynapower?  Something like that)? 

 

[Jim Shaw]

Just now, GolfSpy_SAM said:

I'd love to know what testers were surprised by this year.  Was there a model that performed better / looked better / sounded better (or worse for that matter) that was a marked difference than years prior?  I feel like so many of the drivers are incremental changes - anyone feel like someone knocked it out of the park with something really new (I know the Paradym didn't really win any of the awards, but that one comes to mind - maybe the Wilson Dynapower?  Something like that)? 

 

i have heard the new Ping is leading the pack with overall accuracy and distance

[03trdblack]

On 2/15/2023 at 9:37 AM, cnosil said:

I also asked how he calculated strokes gained since he doesn’t know the final location of each shot.  If the tight dispersion was all in the rough stroke gained would be impacted differently versus a wider and all in the fairway. 

3 PXG drivers were in the test.   Maybe Sub 70 chose not to submit a driver.   

Weren't the Sub 70 drivers in last years most wanted test and aren't changed for this year?  That would be my guess as to why they weren't included.

[03trdblack]

Duplicate

[Tom - Moose]

Forgot to ask in the Zoom meeting.  Is there any difference between right handed and left handed drivers?  And I don't mean, well one is left handed and the other isn't.  I mean, is the quality the same and what the results are for right handed drivers will be at least 97.5% the same for the left handed driver, assuming the make one for a lefty. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Just now, Tom - Moose said:

Forgot to ask in the Zoom meeting.  Is there any difference between right handed and left handed drivers?  And I don't mean, well one is left handed and the other isn't.  I mean, is the quality the same and what the results are for right handed drivers will be at least 97.5% the same for the left handed driver, assuming the make one for a lefty. 

I will follow up with Phillip on that and get back to you!

I honestly don't know how many lefty testers they have. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Thank you all for who joined!

Was great to have all of you and enjoyed the conversation and discussion. Nice surprise to have Adam join the call and add some more information for all of us. 

For all those who were wanting swing speed breakdown, that looks to be coming next month sometime. 

However we did get some initial impressions on what could be leaders. There importantly are NOT OFFICIAL... I repeat NOT OFFICIAL. Just a fun question at the end of the call for a gut feeling. 

Slow Swing Speed - Taylormade Stealth 2 Plus - In part because of the shaft options (mid to high launch shafts) TSR1 was another one which was highlighted when asked.

Mid Swing Speed - TSR3, it may be because Phillip plays it, but it was his gut call. 

High Swing Speed - Cobra AeroJet - high high ball speeds.

So these are some to just check out ahead of time if you are curious in that range. 

I will be posting the video as soon as I can for all you who missed to enjoy and listen to!

[GolfSpy_APH]

Video being processed and link is posted, however it may be another hour or two till it is ready. 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

I honestly don't know how many lefty testers they have. 

None,  all the clubs are right handed.   

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Video being processed and link is posted, however it may be another hour or two till it is ready. 

I'm looking forward to watching the video;  I only heard one side of the conversation but at least I got in the recording

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

9 minutes ago, cnosil said:

None,  all the clubs are right handed.   

I'm looking forward to watching the video;  I only heard one side of the conversation but at least I got in the recording

Should have gave Phillip bunny ears!

What were ya swinging today?

[cnosil]

1 minute ago, Lacassem said:

Should have gave Phillip bunny ears!

What were ya swinging today?

Haha,  didn't even think of that.    I just hope my cursing didn't come through the audio to much,

 

We are doing players irons.   Today was 7 iron and the clubs were Cobra king tour, Proto Concept, I230, ZX7

[GolfSpy_APH]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

Haha,  didn't even think of that.    I just hope my cursing didn't come through the audio to much,

 

We are doing players irons.   Today was 7 iron and the clubs were Cobra king tour, Proto Concept, I230, ZX7

Love that lineup or clubs!

[cnosil]

17 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Love that lineup or clubs!

Looking at my data, the ZX7 was a little better than the others.   Made me think about pulling out my set of 765s.  

[saz0418]

My current driver matched the 2023 Most Wanted! 

I wanted to share a recent result from my own testing.   I tested all the settings on my current Ping driver to see how they compared to the MGS 2023 most wanted driver.    After trying all the settings, my best result is below (see attached from my Skytrak).    96 mph swing speed;  241/257 carry/total distance.   2229 spin,  28 peak height, 36 descent angle.  This one had 386 draw spin and launched at zero-- ended up 19 yards left, so probably left rough.   

My numbers matched the BEST 2023 results (go to the 'data' link provided with the review (data obviously, averaged) for everything:  ball speed, spin, peak height, descent angle, and carry distance. 

That means that my current Ping G410 driver is capable of producing the same numbers as the current, new-for-2023 drivers!  It's down to technique.  

96 mph is about as fast as I can swing it, for now.  Hoping to add a few mph this Spring.   Disclaimer:  I am almost 64 and about an 8 to 9 HDCP.    5 ft. 11 in. and about 210 lbs.   

For reference:  my driver is a  Ping G410 10.5 degree (set at 9 degree and Draw adjustments).   Standard Ping ALTA CB Red, 55 gram, regular shaft.   

There is certainly a chance that something new for 2023 could improve my overall distance/accuracy numbers -- maybe more forgiving so I hit closer to my best more frequently.   But I am going to focus on technique and training, for now, and not chase new equipment.   

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Check it out!

[TomBomb51]

I know it was sort of answered in the actual article's comments, but it just seems odd to me that the TSr3 and TSr4 both beat out the TSr2 in terms of accuracy and forgiveness. If the TSr2 is the least forgiving, why even buy it? I guess I should wait for the swing speed breakdown, if that ever comes out.

[shailey]

 

3 hours ago, TomBomb51 said:

I know it was sort of answered in the actual article's comments, but it just seems odd to me that the TSr3 and TSr4 both beat out the TSr2 in terms of accuracy and forgiveness. If the TSr2 is the least forgiving, why even buy it? I guess I should wait for the swing speed breakdown, if that ever comes out.

I am 118 to 121 and the TSr2 was best for me. I played the TSi3 previously and was planning on buying the TSr3. Launch monitor proved differently and the TSr2 is safe in my bag for quite a while. I actually found the mishits toward the toe to be unbelievably forgiving. 1/4" off the center and there is no distance loss. It does draw a hair more than a dead center hit than the same mishit would do with my tsi3.

[cnosil]

On 3/13/2023 at 12:39 PM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Check it out!

Was reading the comments on the various MGS social channels and everyone is commenting about Rory going away from Stealth 2 which means it isn’t a good driver.     Then I watched the TXG video that attempted to answer that question.   The TXG findings: Rory is not hitting the ball well and is hitting the ball worse with. It’s driver and irons and there is nothing wrong with stealth 2 and Rory is the problem

[GolfSpy_APH]

11 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Was reading the comments on the various MGS social channels and everyone is commenting about Rory going away from Stealth 2 which means it isn’t a good driver.     Then I watched the TXG video that attempted to answer that question.   The TXG findings: Rory is not hitting the ball well and is hitting the ball worse with. It’s driver and irons and there is nothing wrong with stealth 2 and Rory is the problem

Not only that but Morikawa went back to SIM so just compounds the issue. 

Pros are creatures of habit and have a different eye or feel for all that they do. As you said it isn't that it's a bad driver, but maybe just taking a bit longer for them to adjust for one reason or another.

I didn't love the OG Stealth, but would be curious to try Stealth 2.

Just more in the moment over reaction by many.