My first demo day - report card attached

[bames]

Today I attended my first demo day. It would be a stretch to call this a review due largely to the fact that it was indoors - nonetheless I thought I would share what I found. It was a whirlwind of clubs and headcovers and way too many North Dakotans crammed into an indoor range after one of the worst winters on record, so I don't have a ton of the usually useful technicalities. If you are interested in any of the specifics just ask, I might remember. My friend and I hit and assigned a letter grade to the following:

*TM R9 - Better than I had expected, improvement over the R7. Very nice at address, decent feel. B
*TM Tour Burner - Felt the same as last years. Reacted the same as last years. Seems long, but unforgiving. B
*Cobra Pro Speed D - This was all black. Great shape and size. Really great sound and feel. Great look at address. Not your most forgiving driver, but I was impressed. A-
*Cobra L5V - Walked right past it. I don't know why. I just did.
*Nike Dymo - Terrible sound. My left ear is still ringing. Stock grip SUCKS. I know it was indoors, but this face felt "hotter" than any other. Actually looks decent at address. B-
*Hibore XLS - I just couldn't get myself to hit the Monster - So I hit this. Believe it or not - LOUDER than the stinking Nike. Face did feel hot though. Look is not bad, but it wasn't for me. C+
*Cally FT-9 - Better sound than my FT-5. Nice look at address. Great feel. Really great. Forgiving. Solid. I think "solid" is the best way to describe the feel of the Ft-9. It has a very distinct feel. I love it. A+
*Cally FT-IQ - I love this club. We both agreed. This is dead straight. Consistent does not even begin to describe this club. My friend was aiming for a red banner at the end of the range and almost tagged the thing three times in a row. The feel is very similar to the FT-5, so it is solid. The look at address just seems to say "I'm going to hit this straight". A
*Cally Diablo - Don't love the look at address. Too tingy feeling and sounding for me. Just OK. C
*Cleveland Launcher - This is a pretty good looking club. Sound is OK. Much better than XLS. It felt pretty good too. Maybe I expected too much based upon the Launchers of old. It would probably get a B.

There was a lot of talk about the TM R9 floating around the range. Although, I think the most impressive comments all came from the FT-IQ. Personally, I don't think it is better than the FT-i, but I think it generates less spin which is better for some people. My winner was easily the FT-9. So, so solid. My friend just couldn't put down the FT-IQ, so it won his shootout.

I did hit some irons as well, but nothing holds a candle to the feel of my MP-60s so I usually don't waste my time. Its going to be a tough sell for me to find anything better.

 

[mddubya]

Great report, thanks.

My Scratch Golf friend and me played 9 holes today. He is the one who had bought a Speedline about a month ago. Today he was bagging a R9 and raving about it. He did hit it good, but then again, he hit the Speedline great, and the driver he had before it. And my HiBore XL and 49 year old swing were hanging right with him all day. I even out drove him on one hole. Granted, both drives were wind assisted, but mine traveled 15 yards farther, :thumbs up:

 

[bames]

Great report, thanks.

My Scratch Golf friend and me played 9 holes today. He is the one who had bought a Speedline about a month ago. Today he was bagging a R9 and raving about it. He did hit it good, but then again, he hit the Speedline great, and the driver he had before it. And my HiBore XL and 49 year old swing were hanging right with him all day. I even out drove him on one hole. Granted, both drives were wind assisted, but mine traveled 15 yards farther, :thumbs up:

I know this report would be much, much more worthwhile had I been able to actually see more than about 75 yards of ballflight. It is probably the vanest golf report ever written. Based totally on looks, feel, and sound! It was a heck of a lot of fun though. Any driver you want for free for 4 hours.

 

[mddubya]

I know this report would be much, much more worthwhile had I been able to actually see more than about 75 yards of ballflight. It is probably the vanest golf report ever written. Based totally on looks, feel, and sound! It was a heck of a lot of fun though. Any driver you want for free for 4 hours.

I've never caught a Demo Day. Every time they have one around here I have something else to do that day. Hopefully I'll catch on this summer. Sounds like a blast.

 

[VtDivot]

I did hit some irons as well, but nothing holds a candle to the feel of my MP-60s so I usually don't waste my time. Its going to be a tough sell for me to find anything better.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't own a set of these. You can get em super cheap now too.

 

[Rockford35]

Good report, B.

I'm getting the same feel from reading about the FT-9 and the R9. Very, very similar results. Huge pop in the Ft-9, but so-so for the R9. More hype than pipe.

The only thing that sucks is this wants me to make a move on an Ft-9 Tour now. :shocked:

R35

 

[ezra76]

Not to be a buzzkill but you play Callaway woods, go to a demo day and hit a bunch of Callaways into a net and say they are the best... WBL would say the Ping, I would say the TM ect.. Without at least an open range, preferrably a launch monitor with same shafts, not a whole lot can be judged.

Edit... I see you said 75yds. of flight. I assume a dome? Maybe just slighty better than a net. We have one that is about 120 deep and I can't hit a driver that doesn't hit the ceiling before the back wall.

 

[MIKE1218]

I have to agree with Ez, seems like a slightly biased review.

 

[ezra76]

Sorry if I sounded a bit like a jerk. I know you said it right in the 1st sentence of the post that it was indoors and not a good judge.

I hit that Airforce one driver the other day... my review... it's loud and the head didn't explode. rop:

About the only thing I can tell indoors is if a shaft is really terrible for me. If I'm totally missing the center of the face, it's not a good setup for me.

 

[Wi-Golfer]

I thought it was a fine report based on what you had to work with.

 

[LeftyHoges]

Good report, B.

I'm getting the same feel from reading about the FT-9 and the R9. Very, very similar results. Huge pop in the Ft-9, but so-so for the R9. More hype than pipe.

The only thing that sucks is this wants me to make a move on an Ft-9 Tour now. :shocked:

R35

Not only will that run you a couple hundred bucks, but a box of balls aswell. PRICEY!!! :laugh:

 

[nututhugame]

What does everyone have against the Monster? I hit that club at the Milwaukee show and loved it.

 

[LeftyHoges]

What does everyone have against the Monster? I hit that club at the Milwaukee show and loved it.

He obviously just didn't like the look. A lot of players are like that, no sense forcing them to hit something that they don't like the look of.

Hell, even if Cally irons were the greatest in the world I wouldn't play them, coz they look like CRAP! (Good thing for me that they will NEVER be anywhere near the best irons in the world)

 

[N.V.M.]

i see rankmark.com has released it's february testing of tons of drivers. pretty good read. i even picked up a Burner driver because of it, albeit mine is the 2007 model(i heard there's not that much difference). pretty happy with the results i had today on the golf course.

and as far as this thread goes,i've got to say that hitting drivers into a net sets so many limitations on a solid review.

 

[Rockford35]

and as far as this thread goes,i've got to say that hitting drivers into a net sets so many limitations on a solid review.

Unless you take into account personal preference, which is what any of them are about.

And don't even get me started on RankMark or Golf Digest and their "unbiased" winners.

R35