Eracer
No more triple bogies!!
- Oct 31, 2005
- 12,405
- 8
Got to the course about 45 minutes early on Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised to see that a demo day was happening. Reps from Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, Ping, and Bridgestone showed up. I didn't have the time to do much besides grab a few clubs and hit a few balls with each, but here are my impressions:
TaylorMade CGB Max w/45g (!!!) RE*AX Mitsubishi Rayon shaft. This club felt like swinging a ping-pong ball on the end of a feather. I was afraid that even with my 90mph swing I was going to cave in the face with each shot. Not impressed like I was with the Burner. In fact, I hated it.
TaylorMade Superquad with 65g RE*AX. OK, but I won't be buying this club. The head felt a bit heavy and "not lively". I like my TM 425 (with the same shaft) a lot better.
Bridgestone J33R with ProLaunch Blue. 420cc's of excellent! I really liked the shots I was hitting with this club. Very straight. Good trajectory, with a solid feel. Hitting my Mizuno MP500 on the course after hitting the J33 was very disappointing, and the Mizzie could get kicked out of the bag for this one. I really liked it. Funny, I've never liked a club with the PL Blue in it before. I also hit the J33 with a VS-Proto shaft. You big boys can keep that shaft...
Bridgestone J33 Forged CB irons. I am in love! I grabbed a 6-iron and a 9-iron with Rifle Flighted 5.0 shafts, and was simply floored by how sweet feeling (and laser-like) the clubs were. Interesting that Bridgestone doesn't show the Flighted 5.0 as an option on their website (they show 5.5's as the lowest flex). Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be looking for a set of these.
Callaway FT-i with Fuji Speeder 586 - Blecchh!
Callaway FT-5. I tested two models: the 13ºHT-neutral and the 10º-draw heads, both with the Fuji Fit-on 150 shaft. Interesting, as I hit the 10º club on a consistently higher trajectory than the 13ºHT model. In fact, the 10º draw model was launching way too high. Very, very strange. I will have to demo the 13ºHT on the course. I'd like to try it with the 150, and the E-360 shafts. The club I demoed was a freaking rocket launcher. Good feel, and every shot was (or so it seemed) a good 30 yards further than any driver I've ever hit. I'm very interested in this club.
Bottom line, my bag is going to sport a set of the J33CB's with Rifle Flighted 5.0's before too long. Period.
I'm going to demo used FT-5's with a couple of different shafts.
I may look at the J33 driver again, but if I like the FT-5, then there won't be a need, since the FT-5 seemed to be a far longer club for me.
TaylorMade CGB Max w/45g (!!!) RE*AX Mitsubishi Rayon shaft. This club felt like swinging a ping-pong ball on the end of a feather. I was afraid that even with my 90mph swing I was going to cave in the face with each shot. Not impressed like I was with the Burner. In fact, I hated it.
TaylorMade Superquad with 65g RE*AX. OK, but I won't be buying this club. The head felt a bit heavy and "not lively". I like my TM 425 (with the same shaft) a lot better.
Bridgestone J33R with ProLaunch Blue. 420cc's of excellent! I really liked the shots I was hitting with this club. Very straight. Good trajectory, with a solid feel. Hitting my Mizuno MP500 on the course after hitting the J33 was very disappointing, and the Mizzie could get kicked out of the bag for this one. I really liked it. Funny, I've never liked a club with the PL Blue in it before. I also hit the J33 with a VS-Proto shaft. You big boys can keep that shaft...
Bridgestone J33 Forged CB irons. I am in love! I grabbed a 6-iron and a 9-iron with Rifle Flighted 5.0 shafts, and was simply floored by how sweet feeling (and laser-like) the clubs were. Interesting that Bridgestone doesn't show the Flighted 5.0 as an option on their website (they show 5.5's as the lowest flex). Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be looking for a set of these.
Callaway FT-i with Fuji Speeder 586 - Blecchh!
Callaway FT-5. I tested two models: the 13ºHT-neutral and the 10º-draw heads, both with the Fuji Fit-on 150 shaft. Interesting, as I hit the 10º club on a consistently higher trajectory than the 13ºHT model. In fact, the 10º draw model was launching way too high. Very, very strange. I will have to demo the 13ºHT on the course. I'd like to try it with the 150, and the E-360 shafts. The club I demoed was a freaking rocket launcher. Good feel, and every shot was (or so it seemed) a good 30 yards further than any driver I've ever hit. I'm very interested in this club.
Bottom line, my bag is going to sport a set of the J33CB's with Rifle Flighted 5.0's before too long. Period.
I'm going to demo used FT-5's with a couple of different shafts.
I may look at the J33 driver again, but if I like the FT-5, then there won't be a need, since the FT-5 seemed to be a far longer club for me.