In absolute Love...

[Bravo]

with my new driver....This is the 'first generation' r7 which I bought from 3balls.com for $224 and had it reshafted with the Graf Pro-Launch 65 stiff.

The shaft was put in Friday and I did not touch the club until the morning. I hit it about 7-8 times on the range before we teed off.

I'd say I get about 10-12 yards more distance with it but the main benefit is how much straighter I am hitting it. And higher....

Shot a sweet 78 this morning and am $31 richer too.

Sweetnessssss. Now my R540 goes on ebay.

Pix to follow.

 

[Rockford35]

Excellent pickup.

The key is having the right shaft installed. I'm 100% certain that heads are so close that they are purely cosmetic, but the shaft combination is what dictates if it works or not.

Good to hear you're swinging it well. I had a 73 Thursday with a 7 on a par 3. I'm just ripping my Launcher and the 30's are like throwing darts (except that ball in the drink to give me that 7)

R35

 

[Bravo]

I would love to get down there (mid-low 70's)....I am just not consistent enough. But having a hell of a time anyway.

RE: the clubhead and your post. The face height on this club is about 20% increased over the 540. I tee it up with about a third of the ball above the top line....I hit so many fairways...

 

[mont86]

Now my R540 goes on ebay.

Pix to follow.

Bravo is the R540 the same as a R5 Dual? I have seen people advertise
the r540 under the r5 dual listings.

 

[ezra76]

R540 and R540XD then R580XD then R5. Mont.

Nice driver Bravo. Looks just like mine, except for the ugly shaft , and I have a crapload of skymarks. How do you have the weights set? That is the 10.5*?

 

[Hangfire]

I owned an r7 460 for about 15 minutes, the shaft was butt ugly imho...:miz:

 

[Rockford35]

I would love to get down there (mid-low 70's)....I am just not consistent enough. But having a hell of a time anyway.

RE: the clubhead and your post. The face height on this club is about 20% increased over the 540. I tee it up with about a third of the ball above the top line....I hit so many fairways...

Sweet. I'm a fan of Grafalloy, but the ProLaunch and I don't see eye to eye. I'm a hight ball hitter to begin with, so with this thing, it's like hitting an NV in my incapable hands....

Looks be damned, if it goes straight, use it!

Now, how's the flatstick? LOL....

R35

 

[Bravo]

Mont: I don't think the 540 and the r5 Dual are the same clubhead. I think the r5 Dual has a design that looks like an r7 Quad but with some limitations.

Hangfire: the standard stock shaft is indeed kind of plain looking. I never hit the club with it though. I went straight to the clubfitter.

ezra: Yes I went with the 10.5 this time. My old driver was a 9.5 and I did not get the ball as high as I wanted. I also really wanted better accuracy. The weights are set to neutral even though I am a decidedly right-to-left player. The moveable weight concept was not what sold me on the club - it was the fact that I had a R540 and liked it and had hit my friend's r7 and loved it.

Rock: I really decided to go high this time. At the shop they were careful to explain that the Blue would give me a lower flight than the ProLaunch, but I decided to go for both the higher face loft as well as the higher launch shaft. I really think this club complements my Sonartec 3 wood really well...weirdly, after hitting this shaft and the Aldila NV Hybrid shaft in my TM Rescue Mid, I am thinking about having that shaft put in my five wood and 3 wood too. They seem mushy now. (The have the Penley Tour Lite Regular shafts).

 

[chemboy2]

Sounds like a great combo for you , Bravo.

I've completely bought into this whole after market shaft movement but I'm not as convinced as Rock that the shaft is the sole difference (pun intended). I do agree that finding the right combo is critical. I tried the G5 with a Graf Pro-Launch and that was a nightmare for me; there were fewer balloons at my daughter's birthday party! I have the r7 set-up for the low fade. As a left to right hitter, that also suffers from a high ball flight, this set-up gives me a little help closing down the face and bringing down the flight. My ball flight is still a bit on the high side but now it just seems to keep on flying at that altitude. Kind of up-n-out instead of just up-n-up.

 

[ezra76]

Just wait till the whore starts pull-hooking on you. Did it to me 3 times today, double-crossin bzitch.

 

[Bravo]

Sounds like a great combo for you , Bravo.

I've completely bought into this whole after market shaft movement but I'm not as convinced as Rock that the shaft is the sole difference (pun intended). I do agree that finding the right combo is critical. I tried the G5 with a Graf Pro-Launch and that was a nightmare for me; there were fewer balloons at my daughter's birthday party! I have the r7 set-up for the low fade. As a left to right hitter, that also suffers from a high ball flight, this set-up gives me a little help closing down the face and bringing down the flight. My ball flight is still a bit on the high side but now it just seems to keep on flying at that altitude. Kind of up-n-out instead of just up-n-up.

Hi Chemboy...it is good to hear from you and to get your input. I wish you would come along here more often....

I frankly hadn't bought into the aftermarket shaft movement until I had this shaft put into this club. My R540 was completely stock and I liked the club...

A friend who is a much better player than me, really encouraged me to give it a go. So I took the plunge. I know so little about shafts frankly. You will hardly ever see me write about them when posted here.

I have only played one round with the shaft - I hit it 12 times. I still hit my Sonartec SS-03 14 from the tee and will continue to use this.

After only 12 drives though- I already see how I can alter the shots with the shaft. (I still haven't taken it to the range...it was a pretty bad holiday weekend for me except my round). I feel good that I can hit this one high or knock it down using common methods of moving the ball back or up in the stance or by teeing the ball higher or lower or swinging freely or hanging on to the shot. Overall, the shaft is definitely hotter and has considerably less dispersion than the stock MAS shaft.

Hey, I have a driver, two fairway metals and a hybrid so there is only so far I can go with the shaft deal. I know I could go with various Flighted or sensicore shafts in irons but I am likely not going to change my irons soon. Also not a good enough iron player for it to make a difference...

Come on back more often Chem. Good to see you..

 

[Bravo]

Just wait till the whore starts pull-hooking on you. Did it to me 3 times today, double-crossin bzitch.

Well this is one of the things I liked about it. My snap hooks were not as bad.

 

[ezra76]

Well this is one of the things I liked about it. My snap hooks were not as bad.

I had problems with it at first and still do every once in a while. I hit fades all the time so if if accidently turn it over I get a nasty pull. Good luck with it. Ball flies off that face. Have you really caught one on the screws yet? First time I did it my ears were literally ringing.

 

[chemboy2]

I have a driver, two fairway metals and a hybrid so there is only so far I can go with the shaft deal.QUOTE]

I'm tapped out myself; reshafted a driver and two fairway woods (the Sonartec hybrids, which started the shaft obsession, came standard with UST iRODs). I knew the trends of my ball flights and so it was just a matter of researching until my eyes glazed over. Now that my journey is over I truly stand over all my long yardage clubs with complete confidence. It's worth noting that I did have the driver and 3W shafts each cut down half an inch.

It's funny you mention that you're still teeing off with the SS-03. I picked up a Tour Spoon V-Steel before I got the the r7. My old driver was either HOT or WAY-OFF with nothing in between and I was giving up too much distance off the tee with my 16.5* 4W. The Tour Spoon at 13* was a great compromise and became my go-to on the tee box; that was, until, I picked up the r7!

As for my posting, I noticed you took a long hiatus too. I try to get on every chance I get but I had a change in job responsibilities last fall which meant I have much less time to, err, not work.

Actually, I'm just thrilled to be in a thread as lately it seems my posts are killing threads!

 

[Bravo]

Chem:

Thanks for your input. I will likely get the Sonartecs reshafted now.

Come along here when you get the time...I'll bet you have great weather now. We just about to melt down here.