Maltby CT250 Flight Control driver

[SiberianDVM]

In a passing moment of weakness, I have ho'ed yet another driver.

Dana Upshaw is having a final sale on the Maltby CT250FC driver head, coupled with any shaft he has, spined, FLOed, assembled and shipped to your door. Prices vary according to which shaft you want.

I went to Dana for an iron fitting 18 months ago so he still had my specs and video (surely in a place of honor in his vault). At the time, after viewing my driver swing with my 983K, he said "I can't help you much with a driver with that swing." Ahh, perfection.

Since I suck at golf, especially the driver, I wanted a cheaper shaft but with a twist: I wanted to try out Tom Wishon's assertion that most of us would be better off with a shorter than 45" driver.

I am shorter than the average USA male these days: 5'7" tall with a 36" wrist to floor measurement. Dana decided on a 43.5" driver.

I used a Swing Speed Radar unit at the range last week when I was hitting my 905R. On some good swings, I got 92mph, 96mph, and 106mph. I have no idea wher the 106mph came from, but I wish I could do that one all the time. Dana decided on a stiff flex.

I told Dana that I usually get 220 yards or so carry and some roll. Hey, I'll be 56 years old next month! Dana decided on a 10.5° head that really measured 11° and is 0.5° closed. Yes, he does measure driver heads.

I reminded Dana that I suck at golf and that the 10 drivers I have bought in the last 3 years haven't helped much. Dana decided on his cheapest graphite shaft: the True Temper EI70. It's a beautiful dark green.

They don't make my favorite grip anymore: the Golf Pride Tour Wrap half-cord with reminder rib, so Dana substituted the GP Tour Velvet half-cord. Very nice. The whole club feels solid and well put together.

I ordered and paid for the club last Friday and it was delivered to my door yesterday, intact, 4 days later. As it happened, that was All Hallow's Eve, that putrescent day upon which every beer swilling couch potato takes their delinquent offspring on a begging expedition around the neighborhood, and which I usually avoid by going to the range anyway, so off I went.

I warmed up as usual: cracked my knuckles & farted, and we're ready to start swinging. I started with the irons and worked my way through the beast of the bag: the 4 wood. For some reason this club has my number. Just when I am ready to snap it over my knee, it hits great shots. Last night it hit great shots.

Then on to the drivers: I started with the Maltby. First swing: straight down the middle, mid flight, about 225 yards carry and some roll. Kind of metallic clangy sound. I swing a little harder each time and finally get a curve ball: a big high fade. I back off a little and settle on about 230 carry, still nice and straight. Weights were set to neutral.

I let a friend, a true 5 handicapper, hit it. He normally hits his Mizuno about 50 yards past me. Yep. He still hits it 50 yards past me with the Maltby. And when he hits it, it goes THWACK!!! OK, Trevino was right.

So then I hit my 905R with the 45" V2 shaft. I love this club, but sometimes it doesn't love me back. Normally I choke down on it to make it easier to hit straight. Last night, choking down on it, I was hitting it about the same distance as the Maltby, sometimes with a bit of a fade. After I while, I felt I was swinging better, so I gripped it all the way at the end and put a big wide turning swing on it: 250 yards carry! And some of them were straight! Maybe swinging the shorter driver for a while helped me get a better swing? OK, wishfull thinking.

So, the shorter shaft is probably straighter, but may be shorter in distance as well. I will play this Maltby for a while and see how my driving is affected on the course.

Maltby CT250FC driver with True Temper EI70 shaft, with weight wrench and roll of teflon tape, assembled by Dana Upshaw, $150 delivered.

[Adam Pettman]

Nice club
I take it your normal miss is out to the right?? Have you tried setting the club up for a draw and then swinging as hard as you want, it worked for a mate of mine.

[LyleG]

Just curious if you have ever tried a softer shaft? With everything you have said here and in other threads I can for the life of understand why he would put you in an S flex, especially in the notoriously stiff EI-70. At a shorter length it will play even stiffer to boot.

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by Adam Pettman

Nice club
I take it your normal miss is out to the right?? Have you tried setting the club up for a draw and then swinging as hard as you want, it worked for a mate of mine.

Sometimes it is a push-slice, sometimes it is a pull-hook. I have tried what you suggested, and sometimes the outcome is good. Sometimes it's ugly.

Originally Posted by LyleG

Just curious if you have ever tried a softer shaft? With everything you have said here and in other threads I can for the life of understand why he would put you in an S flex, especially in the notoriously stiff EI-70. At a shorter length it will play even stiffer to boot.

I don't know if I can remember them all. Let's see:
Hogan CS-3 10.5° with the OEM NV in regular, 45", went straight and high but ball fell out of sky like a dead duck
983K 9.5° (measured 12°) with OEM Prolite 3.5 in regular, 45", usually goes straight with slight draw, mid height, not very long
Tour Edge Exotics, 9° I think, with OEM Fuji HL-55 in regular, 45", hit huge high hooks, usually OB
Callaway X460, 11° with NVS in regular, 45", hit straight but very high, this one I didn't own but demoed
905T 9.5° with VS Proto 65? in regular, 45", hit all over the place with this stick
905R 10.5° with OEM NV in regular, 45", very inconsistent with this shaft, a hugh hook one minute and a huge slice the next, tested at 230 cpm; had it reshafted to:
905R 10.5° with V2 65 in regular flex, 45"; feels mucho stout and seems to feel better the bigger I swing; somedays I hit it well, somedays I'm in the woods a lot, smothered hooks or pushes

I think Dana added some headweight as it still swing weights out at D2, so that would soften the flex a bit. I was kind of surprised at the stiff flex as well.

[JEFF4i]

You are a weak weak man Doc.

Nice driver.

[warbirdlover]

Doc, tee the Maltby up 1/4" higher then usual. The sweet spot is there. Then tell us how you do.

[clemsonhacker]

yea i have to get out and try my ct250 with the blueboard...just havent had time...but the one i hit with a reg. maltby ct250 shaft was long with tons of roll

[MGP]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

Doc, tee the Maltby up 1/4" higher then usual. The sweet spot is there. Then tell us how you do.

Good advice. The first time I hit my CT250 I was hitting everything quite a bit low and weak. I finally figured out it likes the ball a LOT higher on the tee than my R580XD, close to 3/4" higher!

I was used to the R580XD where you could tee it low (maybe 2/3 of the ball below the top line of the face) and still hit a nice mid climbing launch drive. The CT250 threw me for a loop for a while since I was teeing the ball about the same height as the R580XD. Once I got the equator of the ball at about the top of the club face it launched much much better.

[warbirdlover]

zaphod clued me on to that. He found that out first. So that's three of us that have found to tee the CT250 higher Doc.

[Hangfire]

Not bad for a buck and a half!

[warbirdlover]

Doc, stick a stiff flex BB Solutions 130 in there at 45" for $89. You'll have a BOMB!!!

[SiberianDVM]

I hit the CT250FC and my 905R at the range last night, and the club is not the problem. I was hitting both of them straight, just not far enough.

My friend the semi-pro hits both of them so much better than I do, a good 50 yards. It's disgusting. I'm almost ready to give up golf.

So last night he watched me swing and said I am losing the lag too soon. Not casting outside the line, but losing my wrist **** too soon. And I am not turning enough on the downswing.

So I don't know what to do about this. I really don't know how to fix this, and since the pro I was taking lessons from moved away, I'm kind of stuck.

Maybe I'll just take up hunting and start murdering deer.

[MGP]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

Maybe I'll just take up hunting and start murdering deer.

With your luck you'll just wing him, take pity and load him up in your car to take back to the shop and nurse back to health.

You ever see the movie Tommy Boy?

(Best movie scene involving a deer ever!)

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by MGP

You ever see the movie Tommy Boy?

(Best movie scene involving a deer ever!)

No, I missed that one. There's no sex in this scene, is there?

[MGP]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

No, I missed that one. There's no sex in this scene, is there?

No, but Chris Farley (Tommy Boy) and David Spade are on the road making sales calls for the auto parts company they work for. They are tooling down the road in Spade's classic convertible. Farley is being Farley and distracts Spade who slams on the brakes but hits a mammoth buck standing in the middle of the road.

They get all sentimental when they think they've killed him and try to figure out what to do with the the "dead deer". They decide "we can't just leave him here" so they load him up in the back seat of the car and drive on to their next sales stop. After that stop it's night time and they are again tooling down the road only. They hear a snort from the back seat and the buck "comes back to life".

Startled by what they thought was a dead deer in the back seat, they jump out of the car in the middle of the road and the buck proceeds to kick out every window, shred the seats and finally shreds the convertible top. The buck jumps out through the top and up onto the trunk of the car then majesticly stands atop the car in the moonlight for several seconds before bounding off into the woods.

Farley says "Man, I've seen a lot of things, but that... was... AWESOME!" Spade is less than thrilled...



It really is a funny scene. Being a vet, I think you'd probably get a kick out of it.

Edit: Ok, here's a link to a YouTube clip of funny scenes from Tommy Boy. It's about the 4th scene in. I love this movie...