Nike VR_S Covert Driver - In For Review!

[Tony Covey MGS]

This is probably as excited as I'm going to get about any club this year (before I actually hit it anyway). Just arrived is the hotly anticipated VR_S Covert Driver from Nike. We've received a sample of both the 460cc Performance and smaller (430-cc) Tour edition, and expect to get a couple more flex options in as we prepare to put this thing through a full test.

 

Why should you be excited?

 

It's red!

It's got a a Swoosh on it! (ok...maybe that one doesn't deserve an exclamation point).

It's got a cavity!

And it effectively decouples loft and face angle which gives you more meaningful adjustability than you've ever had before at your finger tips!

 

Also...just like every club from every major OEM, it's on the Hot List...which is...well...meaningless, but that's not going to stop Nike or anyone else from paying to use that little badge they give out every year. So WooHoo! But I digress....

 

We've got some testing scheduled for tomorrow for another product, but you can bet I'm going to use the opportunity to take more than a few swings with. In the meantime...here's a bunch of pics y'all.

[GolfSpy WD]

Purdy. Looking forward to it T!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Holy Mabel that's pretty!

[Aotearoa_Brad]

'tis a beautiful thing T! I'm going a little green right now. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the cavity badge as an aside... I think it was Furu who tested one and the badge broke (or was broken)... hopefully just a one-off...

[BK in TEXAS]

You got snow on it

[furu]

Yes, I had one with a broken badge. It was the Tour version.

 

My best results came with the Tour shaft in the Performance head. The standard shaft in Performance didn't fit me. It was excellent for my dad who's 67. He actually hit 230-235 yards with it! Performance needs an upgraded shaft if you've got high swing speed. That's my opinion.

 

About the cavity. Doesn't every driver have a cavity if you just tuck in the rear? It's just about moving centre of gravity to the middle and showing of the technology in the driver. It's not magic. It looks cool.

 

The red color is beautiful

 

Hate the "Covert" alignment aid. They should've used the wings/arrows from the sole as alignment on top.

[The Dansome]

Yum

[The Dansome]

Oh and any word on additional adapters?

[Trebuchet]

I'm saving my pennies all winter so I can buy a new driver this spring. And I really can't wait to see what you guys have to say about the Covert and the Amp Cell!!!!!!

[Firstkart]

That is just sex on legs. (if it had any that is)

 

AJ

[PMookie]

Beautiful clubs! I not reading many positive reviews, but I'm so ready to try this myself!

[Wannabegolfer67]

Coming from a life long Georgia Bulldog fan, that red & black looks awesome!!!!

 

Just needs a black capital letter G instead of the white swoosh and it would be perfect

 

Looking forward to the review!

[whiskey golf]

Looking forward to this review, so far this is my favorite driver of 2013.

[kygolfer1980]

Really looking forward to this review! I may be in the minority but I like the swoosh on the crown. This is also the 1st Nike driver I have ever even considered trying.

[Hula Rock]

+1 regarding the Performance Head with a tour shaft. I dropped the "Fuel" in the performance head and got amazing numbers, Stock shaft is a "wee bit" too light.

[GolfSpy WD]

I really didn't notice any difference between the Performance and Tour heads in terms of forgiveness, but I didn't get to hit the Tour version for that long. I'm thinking I have my backspin back to manageable numbers whereas before every head I hit was some stupid amount of spin.

 

All in all, I liked the Tour version much better though.

[GolfSpy_X]

[fozcycle]

I am definitely torn between two drivers......

 

Nike Covert Driver & the Cobra Amp.

 

I know I can get the Cobra in UK Wildcat Blue, but will it perform?

 

Currently, My Powerbilt AFO WMD with Project X shaft is my Driver! It will be difficult to replace it.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I am definitely torn between two drivers......

 

Nike Covert Driver & the Cobra Amp.

 

I know I can get the Cobra in UK Wildcat Blue, but will it perform?

 

Currently, My Powerbilt AFO WMD with Project X shaft is my Driver! It will be difficult to replace it.

Short answer is ..... You gotta hit it and find out. But the Amp Cell Pro is tied atop my current list with Covert Tour.... Fwiw....

[4luvofthegame]

T,

 

I sure wish someone would talk about the shaft adapter and available shafts for this baby, seems to be a derth of knowledge. Hopefully, your review will cover this.

 

CANT WAIT!!!!!! Hurry up wouldya!!!!

[Walt]

T,

 

I sure wish someone would talk about the shaft adapter and available shafts for this baby, seems to be a derth of knowledge. Hopefully, your review will cover this.

 

CANT WAIT!!!!!! Hurry up wouldya!!!!

 

Pretty much any shaft you want is available from Nike. Adapters may or may not be available. That is still TBD.

[4luvofthegame]

Walt,

 

Where would one find the listing of available shafts?

 

Thanks

[Super Tuna]

T,

 

I sure wish someone would talk about the shaft adapter and available shafts for this baby, seems to be a derth of knowledge. Hopefully, your review will cover this.

 

CANT WAIT!!!!!! Hurry up wouldya!!!!

 

Elsewhere, Nike just said that select fitting places will have adapters on hand to do custom installs for people. Doesn't sound like they're going to let someone do it at their home shop though.

[kygolfer1980]

I am definitely torn between two drivers......

 

Nike Covert Driver & the Cobra Amp.

 

I know I can get the Cobra in UK Wildcat Blue, but will it perform?

 

Currently, My Powerbilt AFO WMD with Project X shaft is my Driver! It will be difficult to replace it.

Haha, The UK Blue is the reason I was drawn to it as well.

[4luvofthegame]

Elsewhere, Nike just said that select fitting places will have adapters on hand to do custom installs for people. Doesn't sound like they're going to let someone do it at their home shop though.

 

 

Yea, but where? What does "select shops" mean? An no response to what shafts are going to be available only that "We can get almost any shaft" kinda answer. Vague at best.

[Tony Covey MGS]

Yea, but where? What does "select shops" mean? An no response to what shafts are going to be available only that "We can get almost any shaft" kinda answer. Vague at best.

 

My expectation is "select shops" will be those places where builders stock Nike heads as components and builders assemble 100% to spec. We're talking about your Cool Clubs, Club Champion, those sort of places. You have to keep in mind that the reason for not making tips available at retail immediately is one of liability concerns, so assuming that doesn't change, you're never going to walk into Bob's Discount Golf and buy one. You won't be able to order from GolfSmith either. You're going to need to go to someplace like PeakPerformanceGolf and have them do the assembly for you.

 

Incidentally, because of the complexity involved in the sleeve within a sleeve design (I'm told by people not affiliated with Nike that it requires a very difficult machining process) I believe it will be a while before 3rd party version emerge.

 

 

As for the custom shaft offerings, I can't fathom why this is so hard for people to grasp. Nike has relationships with basically every shaft manufacturer of consequence (Oban, Mitsubishi, Fujikura, Matrix, Graphite Design, NVentix, UST-Mamiya, etc., etc.). A few of the odd ball and smaller companies (Talamonti, Excalibur, Black Ops) might not be available from Nike (or most anyone else), but basically if there's something you want, order it. Nike will price it accordingly into one of three pricing tiers, but they will custom build it for you . It's that simple.

 

I find it strange that anyone would find it more satisfying to be limited to a specific list of a dozen or so upgrades. People complain all the time about OEMs offering only a couple handfuls worth of custom, but when we're told the sky is the limit, it freaks people out.

 

 

[4luvofthegame]

My expectation is "select shops" will be those places where builders stock Nike heads as components and builders assemble 100% to spec. We're talking about your Cool Clubs, Club Champion, those sort of places. You have to keep in mind that the reason for not making tips available at retail immediately is one of liability concerns, so assuming that doesn't change, you're never going to walk into Bob's Discount Golf and buy one. You won't be able to order from GolfSmith either. You're going to need to go to someplace like PeakPerformanceGolf and have them do the assembly for you.

 

Incidentally, because of the complexity involved in the sleeve within a sleeve design (I'm told by people not affiliated with Nike that it requires a very difficult machining process) I believe it will be a while before 3rd party version emerge.

 

 

As for the custom shaft offerings, I can't fathom why this is so hard for people to grasp. Nike has relationships with basically every shaft manufacturer of consequence (Oban, Mitsubishi, Fujikura, Matrix, Graphite Design, NVentix, UST-Mamiya, etc., etc.). A few of the odd ball and smaller companies (Talamonti, Excalibur, Black Ops) might not be available from Nike (or most anyone else), but basically if there's something you want, order it. Nike will price it accordingly into one of three pricing tiers, but they will custom build it for you . It's that simple.

 

I find it strange that anyone would find it more satisfying to be limited to a specific list of a dozen or so upgrades. People complain all the time about OEMs offering only a couple handfuls worth of custom, but when we're told the sky is the limit, it freaks people out.

 

Thanks for the response T. Not saying I want to go buy an adapter, just wanted to know where do I go to get the shaft I want. I know many very qualified clubfitters that belong to the society and have great creds, but based on your take these folks will not be able to acquire the adapters.

 

Also, it sounds like the only stock offering is going to be the Kuro Kage offering. If that's the case no problem just wanted a little more information. By way of example, if I go to the Titleist website there is a wealth of information on upgrades,etc. On Nike's site there is very little in the way of information. Only the Covert line and then very little info at that.

 

Not meaning to get ur dander up LOL, just a golf junkie wanting to know all I can about the Nike offering.

[Tony Covey MGS]

Thanks for the response T. Not saying I want to go buy an adapter, just wanted to know where do I go to get the shaft I want. I know many very qualified clubfitters that belong to the society and have great creds, but based on your take these folks will not be able to acquire the adapters.

 

Also, it sounds like the only stock offering is going to be the Kuro Kage offering. If that's the case no problem just wanted a little more information. By way of example, if I go to the Titleist website there is a wealth of information on upgrades,etc. On Nike's site there is very little in the way of information. Only the Covert line and then very little info at that.

 

Not meaning to get ur dander up LOL, just a golf junkie wanting to know all I can about the Nike offering.

 

One stock offering per driver. Kuro Kage Black (50g) in the Performance Model, Kuro Kage Silver (60g) in the Tour Model. Nike has stated that in both cases the shafts are "real" (not made/designed for...) however, the Performance model features Red Nike-exclusive graphics.

 

Explaining stock and upgrade availability is something that, IMO, Nike Golf has done a poor job of in general. It appears that Nike goes out of its way to give all of the websites of the various divisions (golf, tennis, basketball, etc.) a uniform look. Unfortunately there's a degree of specificity inherent to golf clubs that doesn't exist, at least not to the same degree, in other sports. If Nike has realized as much, they haven't put those realizations to practice.

 

It's definitely an area where Nike needs to improve how they present the information.

[fozcycle]

Haha, The UK Blue is the reason I was drawn to it as well.

 

 

See the blue shirt in my pix? There's a reason for that......I was a student at UK when Rupp was coaching!.....My blood is BLUE!

 

I will be trying out both the Covert & the Blue Amp.....they are the same price.

[Super Tuna]

Nike also said off air that they'll get you a shaft with their adapter on it from the factory if you order from an authorized partner.