Tour Swing Renegade with Graman UL540 Shaft

[ualtim]

Day one with the Renegade:

Well, I finally got out to the range with the Renegade today. Its been a month since I picked up a club so i figure it was not going to be pretty. I brought 3 clubs to the range; my Eye 2+ PW to warm up, my Geek DCT 9* with NV, and the Renegade with the UL540.

After warming up with the PW, I left a few fly with the DCT to see how well I was hitting the ball. Unfortunately, right where I left off at World Woods.

Not too encouraged, I took the cover off the Renegade and lined up my shot. Smacked dead straight down range with just a slight draw at the end of the flight. That felt pretty damn good. I then proceeded to miss the center of the club face on the next several shots as my swing was just terrible. Even with the horrible mis hits, I was still getting the ball down range on target line with just a little bit more movement right to left. I was losing distance, but getting way more distance on my mishits than I was with the DCT. After a couple of Ezraesque near sky balls high and off the toe, I decided to bear down and start hitting the ball correctly. I adjusted the tee position lower as my ball marks were all towards the top of the face and that seemed to do the trick. I started getting my ball marks in the circle on the face and my drives were flying down range and long. I did not have my range finder with me today and the tees were further forward than normal so my known distances were off. When I hit the ball solid, I was flying the ball off the back of the range and still getting some roll up hill.

The sound is a little different than what I am used to with the DCT and TEE, but it is not anywhere near as annoying as the Sumo2. It sound like a more traditional sound off of Titanium that the other odd shaped heads.

The feel of the club was awesome. I knew exactly where I was hitting the ball on the face, and trust me, I put several locations to the test until I adjusted my tee position and freed up my mind a bit and let my instincts swing the club. Center contact felt as good as any driver I have hit. Off center hits gave plenty feedback as to the strike location. I knew exactly where on the club face I would find the ball mark.

I hit the Renegade better than the DCT even when I went back and hit 5 more balls with the DCT after my swing came back to me. It could not touch the Renegade in either distance or feel. Now, of course, this is day one with the club so there are still a lot of questions to be asked of it. I left the range confident enough to put the Renegade in the bag for my next round to see how it will play on the course. If all goes well, I will get another range session in this weekend and report back the findings.

One word of caution. I found that I had to tee the ball a bit lower with the Renegade than I do with either the DCT or TEE in order to get solid contact in the center of the face. When I was teeing it higher, I came really close to putting Ezra marks on the top of the club twice. With the adjusted tee, I was finding the center of the face a lot more frequently.

[clemsonhacker]

great review

[Clugnut]

Ezra marks. That is fantastic.

Good review, Tim. Makes me want to try one.

[indacup]

Excellent review!

What you have said is pretty much the intention of TourSwing with this head (maximized stability without the high spin and loss of distance attributed tio Hi-Moi heads).

One guy called me from Floriday yesterday...said he took his to a local range where he goes and picks up the balls to see how far they go.

He said he hit ten of them, and even with his eratic swing he said they were in the middle and within 20 feet of eachother.....he said if he had a blanket, he probably could of covered 15 of them with it.

[Crossfire]

Great review, I get mine tommorrow and will be giving it a thorough workout this weekend. Tim, Interested in playing anytime soon?

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by Crossfire

Great review, I get mine tommorrow and will be giving it a thorough workout this weekend. Tim, Interested in playing anytime soon?

Probably will not be until after the PGA show. I might be able to sneak away tomorrow for a range session, but not enough for a full round. Saturday is out, SWMBO stuff. Working Sun thru Wed, PGA Thur-Sat, Back to work on Sun-Wed. This work stuff really gets in the way of my golf.

[ualtim]

OK, some test photos of the Renegade with the new toy; Canon Rebel XTi.

I tried to simulate the lighting conditions expected at the PGA show next week to see how the camera would perform. Just like at the PGA show, some unexpected company got into the photos.

(click on the thumbnail photos for a larger version of the photos)
The Renegade:



At address:



The Face:



Uninvited guest #1, Lance:


Uninvited guest #2: Hogan



Closeup of Hogan:



The Graman UL540 close up:

[MIKE1218]

Hogan needs his toenails clipped! Good review, btw.

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by MIKE1218

Hogan needs his toenails clipped! Good review, btw.

He's due, I just dread the struggle.

[Eracer]

Hogan is a camera HOG-an...

How was the launch angle? I've got a high-loft head in the works.

[VtDivot]

thanks for posting some pics.

I'll just go ahead and cross the renegade off my list of drivers to try...

No offense, just not my thing.

[warbirdlover]

Good review. I was almost going to ask where the pics were and you had them up already...

[IrishGolfer]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

thanks for posting some pics.

I'll just go ahead and cross the renegade off my list of drivers to try...

No offense, just not my thing.

Hey I'm trying this thing out for sure. I know what VT is saying but I'm willing to try it. Rory, fire it up dude and I will give it the Irish treatment!!

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by Eracer

Hogan is a camera HOG-an...

How was the launch angle? I've got a high-loft head in the works.

I am glad I went with the 10 (measured to 10.5) and the higher launching shaft than my NV. It was launching higher than my 9* DCT/NV combo (which was the idea) but a touch lower than my 9* TEE NV combo. In other words, exactly what I was looking for.

Going up a degree and a half over my normal along with a slightly higher launching shaft produced a good launch angle. The flight was still a boring trajectory to keep it out of the wind, but I still got a high enough peak altitude towards the last third of the drive so it did not feel as though I was losing distance by being too low. The best part was that I was still getting a good roll even in the rough at the end of the range up a hill. With my TEE, I rarely got good roll.

If your going to keep the same shaft as your current gamer, going up a degree or even two is probably a good idea unless you are trying to lower your ball flight.

I can not wait to give it a go at the range again. Towards the end of the bucket, I finally started feeling comfortable over the ball again and that usually leads to some good hitting.

As for Hogan, he is an attention hog. Since my wife rescued him from the shelter back in 2004, I got to name him. Almost named him Big Poppy or Ortiz as it fit his personality (Sox had just won the WS, too), but decided on Hogan as it sounded better. He was only in foster with us a few weeks when we adopted him out. Two and half years later he was returned to the program after the owner went through a divorce and Hogan did not get along with the new boyfriend/family, so he came back to our household name intact. Since he was a mixed breed, we did not get any inquiries on him for almost a year when my wife decided to adopt him outright and Hogan became my birthday present in 2007. He's my bud, now. Hangs out with me all the time. Even when I am trying to take pictures of my clubs.

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

thanks for posting some pics.

I'll just go ahead and cross the renegade off my list of drivers to try...

No offense, just not my thing.

None taken. When I was buying the range balls the guy behind the counter obviously saw the shaft and wanted to see what was underneath the headcover. It wasn't his cup of tea either. When he pulled the cover off the Geek, he loved it. Said it looked like a Titleist.

To tell you the truth, you do not even notice the head shape at address. It looks fairly conventional, unlike the square drivers, when I align and address the ball. Since I am looking at the ball as I start the forward press, my peripheral vision sees the Renegade as a fairly normal shape. With the squares, my peripheral vision definitely notices that the shape is different.