Private Air & Private AirMart | Long-Range Bombers

SIGN-UP | LOGIN | MY ACCOUNT

Keywords:
Landing Gear

Article
Equipment Check : Long-Range Bombers

Want to fly your tee shots straighter and farther? These new geometric drivers deliver all the thrust you’ll ever need.

By: Ty Wenger
May/June 2007 , Page 98

In drivers — as in jets — there is always a Next Hot Thing. Three or four years ago, bigger was invariably better. A few years later, drivers with adjustable weighted inserts were the absolute must-have. This season, the new frontier in design takes the surprisingly effective form of . . . funny-looking shapes. Designed to redistribute weight to the rear corners of the clubhead (thereby increasing its moment of inertia, or MOI, which is a measure of how much the clubhead twists from off-center hits — and yes, that will be on the midterm), these “geometric drivers” come in an array of profiles. But all share one common denominator: oversized sweet spots capable of launching even marginal drives longer and straighter.

longrange1_300x250

Arguably the hottest of these is the {1} Nike SQ Sumo2 ($480; nikegolf.com), which couples a squared design (now the name makes sense, yes?) with a composite crown and a titanium face and body to deliver the highest MOI of any driver on the planet.

longrange2_300x250

Similarly cubist is the {2} Callaway Golf FT-i ($625; callawaygolf.com), a 460cc driver with a tall, boxy titanium face. In constructing the rest of the club from a lightweight carbon composite, Callaway has displaced 44 grams to the far corners of the head, thereby producing an exceptionally stable hitting zone.

longrange3_300x250

The {3} Titleist 907D1 ($500; titleist.com) offers a different shape: a triangular construction with a titanium faceplate that delivers a higher MOI. Added bonus: Unlike the others, it does not produce, on impact, a sound like a backfiring engine — relief for those who think their funny-looking driver is conspicuous enough already.