I finally broke down and put a more updated driver in the bag.

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By MHancock

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  1. MHancock

    MHancock
    Leesburg, GA

    I have never really been a firm believer that by simply adding the latest equipment available could really improve a persons golf game.  To an extent, I may have somewhat changed my mind.  I hear about this all the time from my playing buddies even after I shoot 71 or 72 and they struggle to break 90. Most of them always joke around and ask me if the pawn shop had a sale...lol

    Several weeks ago, I noticed that my driver had an unusual sound after hitting a tee shot but just thought I may have mishit the ball because it only went about 210 and average is usually around 265.  We finished that hole and turned to a short reachable par 5.  I made my normal swing, the sound this time was much worse and the ball went straight right, hit the ground immediatly and went nowhere.  Of course, I immediatly looked at the club and noticed the face had caved in and also had about a 3/4" crack which Im guessing caused the noise on the previous hole.  

    Now honestly, I am a huge Titleist fan and most of my equipment used to play and teach came from Titleist except for the driver, my hybrid, and my putter. The driver failure is something I never experienced while playing Titleist so after discussing swapping the damaged brand x club for a replacement Titleist 905s I had in the car, I was able to finish the round.  I hadnt used the 905 in years and even though it was much longer, I struggled a little wit control.  I was fitted for it many years ago and many things in my game have changed.

    Later that same day, I had a couple of students coming for lessons so my plan was to simply work on a different part of the game that day however neither student had this idea.  The first one had just got a new 913 d2 with a stiff RIP shaft and as the lesson progressed, he asked me to hit a few different shots with his club and explain what and how I was doing it.  Surprisingly enough, even using what I consider a somewhat g.i. club, I was surprised pleasantly how the club performed and even set up at 11°, it was often longer than my personal 8.5° that I damaged.

    When my second student arrived, I felt a little more confident about using his driver if he asked for any demonstration shots which of course I often to with my clubs.  He had a 910 d3 10.5 set basically neutral but he really just wanted to work on his short game so after the lesson was over, I explained what had happened to my driver and said that I would be using my 905s until I found a new driver more suited to my game.  

    I told him about hitting some shots with the 913 earlier and he suggested I hit some balls with his d3 910 stating he really preferred it over the 913.  Knowing that I almost always play 8.5 loft, we adjusted it down to 9 which I believe was as low as it would go.  I cant even begin to describe how nice this club felt and how easy it was for me to work the ball.  Even more importantly, I found myself hitting it well past where I usually hit my better drives with my normal driver.  I thanked him for letting me test his driver.  I really liked the Diamana shaft and the only complaints that I had was it flighted the ball a little higher than I prefer and the fact he wouldnt sell the club to.  hahaha

    Today, I called our closest golf store that stocks just about anything you want or need.  I really didnt expect many choices in the 910 model since the 13 is out now but I had to try.  I was told that he actually had 3 on the used rack. Just being a private golf coach and amateur tour player, I get no discounts for me or the kids I teach so I asked if he could hold them the two hours it would take me to get there.  After arriving, I found he had 2 in 10.5, one of which with the Kai li stiff Diamana shaft and 1 in 9.5 with a reg flex.  I told him I really wanted the 9.5 but the Diamana shaft was much more suited to my swing.  He allowed me to hit them on the flight scope, I found the 910 to easily carry longer than any of my personal drivers and then had almost 20 extra yards of roll.

    Needless to say, I made the purchase and they were kind enough to include the shaft I wanted and install a new Winn grip.  The club looks brand new and I couldnt be happier.  I still cant undertand why the 910 spins less and producess way more roll but Titleist really has a nice product in the 910d3

    My bag consists of the following

    910 d3 8.7 Diamani Kai'li 65s

    miz 13 Rifle 7.0 px

    TM 16" mid rescue Rifle 7.0px

    Titleist 690mb 1"stong, 2"flat plus 1/2" Rifle 7.0px

    Vokey bn 54 bent 52, 60 bent 58 Rifle 7.0px

  2. Christian J

    Christian J
    Griswold, IA

    It's great to hear that you had good service from your shop.  This past weekend my friend and I went to what was my favorite golf store, which by the way is a pretty big name brand golf store.  I'm really looking at new irons and wanted to try the AP1's and AP2's.  Well the guy said he didn't have any left handed ones so that was out of the question.  From there I just wanted to try out a few of the new drivers.  He just stood there staring at us not helping us at all and made you feel bad about trying out the clubs.  Oh by the way, the R1 is awful, just my opinion.   Anyways we left the store and headed down to Golf Galaxy which I had never really been a fan of.  They had a bunch of used 910's for my friend to try out and even a couple lefties for me.  When we were testing these out, I asked the fitter if he had any AP1's or AP2's that I could try.  He checked the shelves first but they didn't have any lefties, so he put a couple together for me to try real quick which I was very pleased that he went out of the way to do.  From there he sort of left us alone to try out the stuff.  Wow, the irons felt great.  When you hit the AP2's it was like cutting butter, I have never hit such a great feeling club in my life.  The AP1's were great also, but just didn't feel as good to me.  A little while later the guy came back and asked how we liked them, needless to say we loved everything we tried.  The guy was great and offered us a couple deals on the used clubs, so we are headed back there on Friday.  

    Sorry to stray away from the subject, but it seems like many of the big stores have gone away from their customer service, and really disappointed me at my favorite store.  I have much more respect now for the guys at Golf Galaxy.  They go out of their way and are even friendly.  That is the way is should be when you go to buy clubs.  Luckily there still are a few of those shops though that do this, and that is why they're still in the business.  

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