HAYWOOD DRIVER | Unofficial Review and Test

[LeakyValve]

Hey Spies. Another review from yours truly today. In an effort to get the ball rolling quicker with the review I'll be adding as I go to the review itself, sort of like an on going review/test.

This will be an Unofficial Review of the @haywoodgolf Driver! And test against my current gamer, the Mizuno ST200!

Quick blurb about myself. I'm Leaky (Mike) and I'm a 9 HDCP leftie from Canada. I'm currently in the midst of a swing adjustment. I have a block push, and a nasty hook that comes out. And with the big stick. It's about the same. When I do make good contact and have the face square I can hit rockets. But my misses get me into alot of trouble. I'm currently trying to use my lower body a bit more to complete some rotation and take some stress off my arms and hands to get the club delivered well.

 Sorry it's so short. Need to lower quality a bit to make the videos less size. 

WHY THE HAYWOOD DRIVER?!

I was fortunate enough to win the Haywood Driver in their Masters contest. Having to pick the green jacket winner and their score and tag a few friends. I've never been glued to a golfer as much as I was when Scottie made Birdie on 16 to get to -11. Praying for 2 easy pars down the stretch.

After some investigating what my options were for shafts and such I decided to go a step stiffer in the flex department since my swing can get up to 120 mph + at times. I find that the ST can get that reverse flex in it. As for my grip I asked Haywood to send me their Midsize grip in the box uninstalled, since I will be putting on one of my Star Grips I was able to use from the Star Grips MGS review. Since I want to test these two drivers against eachother I want to make things a bit closer. Haywood was super easy to deal with. Though I wish they would have sent me a message when they were getting ready to ship as I had mentioned I would pay for express shipping to get it quicker.

After a few weeks of waiting. It finally arrived. And boy is it pretty.

First some tech from the Haywood site. The driver is simply named, "Driver." It is super minimal in its design. Features a carbon fibre crown that's surrounded by an 811 titanium body. A forged titanium face. Some internal channeling to help with acoustics and a 15 gram weight in the back to help with CG and MOI. The driver also came with a slick head cover. Adjustment tool and a bag of Haywood branded tees. The hozel is adjustable and can take the 9* head up or down 1.5* total. As well as more upright. I'll be setting both drivers at 10.5* going forward. Also offered from Haywood if you wanted to, there's a weight set you can buy for $15 that gives you a 5/10/20g weights. The driver itself would run you $400 CAD for just the head. And $475 for a complete driver. With a good selection of shafts to pick from for free and a few more for an upcharge. 

From the reviews I watched I never got the sense that this driver was trying to be "the next best thing". Testing done by Haywood has the driver performing similar to a Stealth (first gen). Which might be a step up from the ST200. Time will tell.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS!

The club came in a branded Haywood box. No damage on the box at all which was a good sign. The shaft was set in 2 pieces of foam as well. At first glance, down the shaft at address you're greeted with a familiar look to the Callaway Paradym and TM Stealth and Sim line, with the titanium wrapping up on to the crown. Where the top of the face ends, the matte finished body meets the carbon top. It's extremely minimal. So much to the point where there isn't even an alignment aid on the top of the club. Only the markings on the face to show the ball being in the centre of the face. Something I personally like in terms of looks. The head itself , to my eye, looks super square at address. And the head shape reminds me of the more "pear" shaped head that the Sim2 Max has. Having hit that driver as well I'm starting to have high hopes. Compare this to the more rounded profile of my ST200

 

For those who are interested here are the actual specs of the driver

Loft - 9* (10.5 for testing)
Lie - 56*
Volume - 460cc
Standard length - 45.25"
Shaft - HZRDUS black gen4 x-stiff

As for the Mizuno
Loft - 9.5* (10.5 for testing)
Lie - 56.5*
Volume - 460cc
Standard length - 45"
Shaft - Mitsu Chem Diamana S60

Grips are the same. Star Grips Sidewinders in midsize. 2 wraps of tape on bottom hand and 1 full length.

TESTING PROCESS!

For testing, I of course want to get into a sim and get some raw numbers. Mostly looking at spin rate. Distance. And dispersion. However I'd like to pivot a bit more towards an "on course" test. Answering questions like "Do I have more confidence? Do I hit more fairways? Is it longer?". I know that I can hit things over 300 yds. But if there is a tighter dispersion and maybe a bit less distance that's a win in my book.

When I play I'm going to try and be quick about taking both drivers to the tee. And hitting 2 shots. Alternating which driver goes first as to not get a bad swing out of the way before ripping one.

As for a "review" I'm going to wait a bit to finalize everything. Get a few rounds in. Some sim data and put the club through the ringer. However. In terms of aesthetics and the unboxing process. I'm very impressed so far. I recently bought a matching set of head covers for my driver and hybrids and I don't think I'll be using the driver one for the Haywood. This head cover is too nice. Haywood themselves were great to chat with for getting everything dealt with in terms of the contest and getting my order in. And the driver is, well, the perfect amount of new style meets timeless look. The look at address really has me excited to get on the tee and stand behind the ball.

I do have 2 points of concern in terms of " keeping it even" , one point being the difference in shaft flex. I currently play x-stiff shafts in my irons and I feel like they have made a difference. So I'm curious to see if I should have been in an X shaft for the driver a while ago. And second, the length difference. It's only .25 of an inch but we will see. Maybe added forgiveness from a stiff shaft plus added distance from a longer shaft can equal my best shots with the ST200.


May 1, 2024.

Fortunate to have a free evening to get into the sim and play a round at TPC Louisiana. Didn't go into the round with any expectations. Just wanted to hit both drivers and see if there was any difference.

Safe to say I don't think the Mizuno will last very long in the bag. I don't even know where to start. I'll kick off by saying I really believe the shaft makes a difference. There were a few shots I caught off the toe and heel and the ball just went in that direction. Not alot of draw or fade in the ball just straight in the direction I hit it. This is a bit of a good sign for me as the misses I have right now are snap hooks and huge slices. I feel like with the stiff shaft those misses get amplified alot. 

The head on the Haywood is lovely behind the ball. But it's the impact that has me absolutely sold right now. The shots I hit off the heel and toe just went. Again. Might be down to the shaft. But still. Everything felt super solid. And the sound. Oh baby the sound. I'll try to post two videos here. Green grip is the Haywood. Grey is the Mizuno. The Haywood sounds so clean. Like a smack. No. More like a rocket. While the Mizuno sounds a bit tingy with a solid impact. I was hoping the Haywood would sound how it does and I'm really happy with it. I'm curious how the sound will change on the course with a bit more space around me instead of being inside a room.

 The Mizuno  The Haywood

 

All in all for a first outing I'm super impressed. I know I need to work on a few things in terms of swing and alignment but they will come in time. I need to work at lining the ball up a bit more towards the toe so at impact I make more solid contact when I reach a bit during my swing.


I'm going to try and play 2 balls off the tee this Friday. And get some numbers with the Grint app and the shotscope. Really excited to play and keep going!!

Edited May 2 by LeakyValve

[GolfSpy_APH]

I love the look of the Haywood Driver and will one day get my hands on one.

Thanks for sharing do far and I will be eagerly following along!

[FallenSaber]

As far as aesthetics goes, I do like the look of the Haywood. Kind of reminds me of a PXG look or the Cobra Darkspeed. Nice work on the initial review and congratulations on winning the club! 

[Josh Parker]

Great job so far and I'm looking forward to following along on this one. 

[TJ Hall]

Very nice write up…it is a clean looking driver.

[WisecrackWard]

In person it usually sounds way different, but you're right, the Haywood driver sound way better from those videos you posted. Crazy!

[Rob Person]

Fantastic ongoing review! (Unofficially,  of course. )

Can you adjust the loft and lie of the club or just the one asjustment?

[WisecrackWard]

2 hours ago, TJ Hall said:

Very nice write up…it is a clean looking driver.

Yeah it's super clean I thought too! Didn't expect much else from Takomo at this point though.

[CFreddie]

7 hours ago, FallenSaber said:

As far as aesthetics goes, I do like the look of the Haywood. Kind of reminds me of a PXG look or the Cobra Darkspeed. Nice work on the initial review and congratulations on winning the club! 

Was just about to point out the same thing on the crown - looks just like a Darkspeed.  Great review @LeakyValve!!!

[LeakyValve]

Thank you all for the kind words. Getting real excited to hammer this thing. 

 

I hadn't even thought about the dark speed but looking at pictures it's real close

Edited May 2 by LeakyValve

[LeakyValve]

@Rob Person the hozel will go up or down .75 and 1.5 degrees. And upright 4*. I'll have to do a bit more digging to see what else it can do 

** I just checked on theit site. On the driver spec tab, the only things mentioned are the lofts going up or down and the lie going up 4*

Edited May 2 by LeakyValve

[Randall Robbins]

Club looks good - only negative is that it and you are on the wrong side of the ball!

[cksurfdude]

9 hours ago, LeakyValve said:

And upright 4*.

4 degrees lie angle adjustment?? That seems huge on a driver!

But great start, really interesting read

[LeakyValve]

@cksurfdude I think so too. To compare to the Mizuno sleeve. I think the Haywood would do something similar. Though they only post as it going 4 upright 

 

Edited May 3 by LeakyValve

[haywoodgolf]

15 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

4 degrees lie angle adjustment?? That seems huge on a driver!

But great start, really interesting read

Happy to share additional details on this:

Most OEM's have multiple settings, as the lofts change, so do the lie angles (usually 0.25/0.75º)

As an example, if you look at the TM spec chart, their upright is also 4º and will show the lie angle changing at all various settings.

Edited May 3 by haywoodgolf

[LeakyValve]

@haywoodgolf thanks for stepping in here!!

[LeakyValve]

Little cool this evening running around 10* C. Wind was pushing a bit to. Only played 9 and was only able to hit driver 3 times. I know, weird, but alot of the holes on the course I played are dog legs where I can comfortably play a long iron to inside 150 from the back tees. Played with a Bridgestone Tour X B or BX or whatever it is. 

 

First hole I hit driver, was hole 3. Long-ish par 4 that is wide open on the left side where it bends. You can be aggressive and rip away at the lone tree on the left side. A big shot left will have you digging in the fescue, especially when it grows in. And to the right it's the same on the hills. I was only nervous to hit the shot since I didn't want to go ob. Needless to say. I got all of it. Wind was pushing hard left to right and I hit it a bit low and in the heel. It was trying to fade but I believe the wind held it a bit. 

My god. The sound. It's unreal

Next chance to hit driver was a long par 5. Dog legs left then right. Usually I play the hole as long as I can straight to take my second shot from the rough. This usually leaves me a mid iron into this green. Keeping in mind I'm usually playing a tee box up. I got harassed when I played from the blues last time.... This hole I ended up hitting 2. One was my typical big ballooning slice. Which landed further left than on the picture but I think roughly the same distance.  Amplified by the right to left wind and it was gonzo. But still super solid contact feeling. Sound was incredible. And I think without the wind it would have held a bit better. Second shot was a stock fade that comes out. Wind pushed it left more than a would have liked. Didn't fly as far but I'm not complaining. 

 

Last was a straight up par 4. Trouble left with big trees that are between OB and the fairway. Making a miss left double bad as it's tough to clear the suckers if you're there. I figured the ball would cut a bit since it was doing that for the other ones and played for it. The wind behind me didn't help my cause as it pushed it a bit more left than I would have liked. Had the tree not stopped it, the ball would have been gone forever. But also gone deeper than it shows.

I cannot wait to get back to the course to play more. I'm excited to pull driver. 

Now I will admit. I fully believe that the shaft is making a bit of a difference in terms of misses. This proved true indoors especially with the lower heel and toe hits. It feels like the face still stayed square. However. The Haywood still is the point of contact. And even with the lower heel hits. The ball still rockets away. Compared to the Mizuno when I get that kind of contact it feels a bit flat. Or dull. Mute maybe?  However you can think of it, it's not solid. 

 

So far the driver is holding its own against my wants from a big stick. Might have to stick it in the hands of a few friends to see if it's any better than their "Big 4" drivers.