Comments on: Quest for a New Driver (Continued)

By: Troy Vayanos

Troy Vayanos — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:18:29 +0000

I tested about 5 drivers in the golf shop before making my decision. It’s a tough choice when you are hitting a few of them well. It came down to watching the ball flights on the digital computer screen and accessing which one I was most happy with. The lower, drawing ball flight won out in the end.

Thanks for sharing

By: golfdash

golfdash — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:02:38 +0000

Hey Gary,

Thanks for your comments! If you read the post again you will notice I said:

“I can’t say I’m just a little nervous about it as it will not be a “Callaway F9″ driver or a “Taylor Made R-9″ but will be built from golf club components (that are, of course, optimized for my specific swing).”

I just mentioned that I would be a bit nervous (although I have made my own custom clubs via components a number of times before) that is would NOT be some name brand (Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, etc.) that I could show off to my golfing partners. But I am well aware of components versus “off-the-shelf” clubs.

Bob Swets (whom I went to see in CT) actually deals with only Wishon components. But I still am hitting my Cobra driver decent so sticking with that for now.

And wasn’t really a “bad” experience with TGW just that I thought their “30 day playability guarantee” is somewhat misleading and actually had a conversation with the president about this.

This golf club fitting (as i have come to learn) is not all science. There’s a lot of “art” to it as well.

Cheers!

Doug

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:08:44 +0000

Just read both of your blogs about “The Quest for a New Driver.” In your first blog, you stated that it “will be built from golf club components (that are, of course, optimized for my specific swing).” Then I read that you narrowed your choices to either a Taylormade or the Ping G15 (that you ended up buying). In all honesty, neither of these are “components.” Perhaps you would have been better off looking to a true component from component companies such as Hireko, Alpha, Bang or Wishon Golf. All of these excellent companies make “original design components” that are actually made in the same foundries as Taylormade, Callaway, Ping or Nike. I am sorry you had such a bad experience with TGW, however I believe that the phrase “buyer beware” comes to mind. I have personally been making custom golf clubs for the past 35 years (going back to making persimmon woods from raw blanks), and I have seen many companies such as TGW come and go over the years. I wish you the best of success in the future in finding the best driver for you.

By: golfdash

golfdash — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:37:36 +0000

Thanks Bruce – If you see my post just after the one you mention I am going to a custom club fitter and trying to get this right from the beginning. There is just way too much guesswork when buying clubs off the shelf.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:37:48 +0000

Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s always good to know more when you’re lookin to buy clubs online. I’ll be weary of that playability guarantee from TGW.

By: golfdash

golfdash — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:01:34 +0000

Yeah, golfswingpros – very disappointed with the 30-day playability guarantee – just doesn’t make too much sense. Kinda like a tease – If I were running TGW I would set up a type of demo program where you can try out a number of clubs over time and just return the ones you don’t like. I don’t really care if I am demoing a new club – I just want to find the right club for me! But get tested (one of my big mistakes!)

By: golfdash

golfdash — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:57:05 +0000

Good Idea Jim – been checking with a lot of local ranges but somehow did not think to look at Ping’s demo day list – nice tip!

Doug

By: golsfswingpros

golsfswingpros — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:42:31 +0000

Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s always good to know more when you’re lookin to buy clubs online. I’ll be weary of that playability guarantee from TGW.

By: Jim Dauer

Jim Dauer — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:10:22 +0000

Doug,

Sounds like you should attend one of Ping’s demo days (http://www.ping.com/demodays/default.aspx) to hit a G15 with a higher loft. Then you can re-order from TGW safely.

Jim Dauer
Co-Founder, FullForesome.com