Drivers and Prices

Selecting the right driver is an important part of playing good consistant golf. With technology so well advanced, it is imperative that the golfer selects the club that is best suited to their needs. There are many factors to consider, such as club head size, weighting, impact zone and forgiveness, club shaft to name but a few. Of course, an important consideration is price. Here are some of the better drivers available and their approximate price (in Australian dollars).

Cleveland Hibore XLS. This club has a very large face, aligns easily, and is forgiving and so can be used by new or experienced golfers alike. $399

Nike SQ Sumo. I have never really liked the sound that the Nike driver makes, unless Tiger Woods is hitting it of course. This club has a high moment of inertia (MOI) and is hence very forgiving, but can also be hit a long way. If you are looking to shape your drive, maybe keep looking. This will be around the $550 mark.

The Ping G10 has a deeper face and a low centre of gravity which reduce spin and offer higher launch. A much nicer sound than some of the plastic sounding clubs. A good club, but also fairly pricey at around $600.

TaylorMade Burner is all about trying to get more distance. It offers less twist at impact for straighter hits, set up to promote a faster swing and provides a long shaft for a broader arc and more distance. Not a bad club to go with if you are ok with your direction and are after extra distance. The sound it makes is the best of all drivers. For this, expect to pay around $575.

The latest XXIO (pronounced zeck-si-oh) is mighty pricey at around $800. Sure it looks good, but does it provide the game improvement that the price suggests, I don't think so. Still, if money is not your issue, you will have plenty of admirers if you unveil this on the first tee. The driver incorporates multiple materials that help stabalise off centre hits, which means plenty of forgiveness. The shaft is pretty flash and does tend to increase clubhead speed and hence adds to your distance.

The Callaway FT5 is high on forgiveness and can be weighted with a draw bias or neutral, which helps the games many slicers. You will still slice, but maybe more of a fade than a hard core slice. The sound is terrible, but the performance is there, with plenty of forgiveness and length on offer. This is around the $650 mark.

Finally, the Titleist 909 Driver is very competitively priced for such a quality club and quality brand at around $450. Better for better players with higher workability than other drivers, a ball hit of the centre of this club will go a long way and sounds like a well hit driver should sound. There are 3 options which offer varying trajectories. The best golfers tend to use the D2, which is mid level trajectory, while the average golfer would generally select the 909 DComp.

Single Digit Handicap

Once again I got two rounds of golf in this weekend. Both rounds were in very hot conditions. On Saturday the weather got the better of me, and I ended up 4 shots over my handicap. This meant I lost 0.1 and again went back to 14.5 handicap. On the Sunday, it was still hot, but I managed to stay in control and beat my handicap by 5 strokes. As such I'm likely to come in to either 13 or 13.3, depending on the course rating for the day. I expect to be on 13.3. A pretty good outcome for the weekend, and one further step closer to my goal.

In relation to the tip with my driver, it has helped me a little, but perhaps not the revolution I thought it may have been when I last posted. With the ball slightly forward from where I line up it gives me more time to hit the ball on an elevated trajectory, and also encourages me to hit the ball with a square club face, rather than slightly open as I tend to do otherwise. The other thing I concentrated on was making sure my back was to the ball on the back swing. Worked on most holes, but still a lot of improvement left there. Next week will not be so easy, having lost a shot on another hole. Playing to a 13 handicap will be harder, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

Single Digit Handicap

I managed to get 2 rounds of golf in this long weekend. On Saturday it started positively, with a couple of birdies. However I fell apart in the afternoon heat to finish square with my handicap. On Monday, I played a little better and beat my handicap by 2, with a chip in birdie on the last hole from 40 metres the highlight. I got a good tip from one of the South African guys I was playing with, suggesting that I should set my driver up an inch or two away from the ball. He only told me on the last hole, but it worked a treat with a 260 metre ball straight down the centre. I'm looking forward to trying that one out again. I ended up getting disqualified on Saturday, I think I neglected to sign the card. Good thing I didn't have a stella round, or I would have been very annoyed. I've learnt my lesson anyway. Haven't checked my handicap movement yet, but it should be back to either 14.1 or 14.4. Either way, I go back to 14. Five more full strokes to go!

PGA Tour - Round 3 Bob Hope Classic

Probably one of the more boring rounds of the PGA Tour calandar, with the rich and famous mixing it with the pro's (for around $15K). Given the European tour is Qatar and some serious appearance fees are paid, the quality of the field drops significantly for this event. The top ranked player was Stricker, who was ahead for a lot of the tournament before throwing it away with a 7 and an 8 on par 4's on the run home. Choke! Pat Perez, pictured here, was good enough to hold on and win the 5 day tournament. Yawn. The best of the Aussies was John Senden who was 7 strokes of the pace at 26 under par. The courses for this round are too easy for the pros which makes for an all round average spectacle. The highlights are probably spotting the celebraties, with the likes of Alice Cooper and Petermen from Seinfeld strutting their stuff. About as graceful as his music.

The Journey to Single Digit Handicap

OK the other part of this site is about my personal journey to golfing greatness. Well, at least golfing greatness for the weekend player. That is, a single digit handicap.

Currently I'm playing off 14.7, which is probably what I deserve. I've been on 14 for a while, and recently ticked over to the 15 mark (rounding to 15).

The problem at the moment is a simple one - my driver is not working. Or rather, I am not working my driver properly. Playing your second shot on most holes from the rough, behind a tree, or worse, losing the ball does not give you many opportunities at birdie, and makes par a struggle. My iron play, short game and putting are ok, so for now the priority is the driver.

My major problem is slicing the ball, with an out to in swing path. This is something I am working on. Also I tend to have a steep swing path and tend to hit down on the ball, as such my 9.5 degree loft may be a little less than I need. I have a Callaway FT5 Tour version with a draw bias. My good shot with this club is low, and can run out to about 250m. My average shot is a fade and about 230m, and my bad shot is a slice or a pull. The bad shot is happening a lot recently.

My immediate focus is on slowing the swing down and seeing how I go. After that, I may have to go pick up a driver with more loft. It will hurt the bank account, but with the amount of money I will make when the sharemarket recovers, that should be a drop in the ocean!

Next competition round is this Saturday, will see how it goes.

Sony Open - Zach Johnson

The Masters champion Zach Johnson took out the seasons second title this week on the USA pga tour. His consistent 4 round performance was too good for a hot finishing Adam Scott, who finished tied for second.

The 2009 season has started pretty well for the Australians, with the FedEx Cup points table showing Zach Johnson on top, followed by Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott.

My form hasn't been quite so good, with 3 competition rounds so far this year and my handicap blowing out 0.3 points to 14.6. My iron play and short game have been good, but I have lost my way with the driver, which is something I plan to rectify. Stay tuned for progress.

Mt Lawley Golf Course - Social Round

Nick and myself braved the stinking hot conditions this morning in Perth to take on Mt Lawley. Well at least 8 holes of Mt Lawley Golf Course. Nick hasn't played much, although has good potential having played a bit of golf during high school. I was pretty impressed, given that he'd spent the past month talking himself down. He shot a 46, I had a 38. Give him a couple of months of consistent golf and I think he could take 3-4 shots off his round.

Mercedez-Benz Championship - Geoff Ogilvy

Geoff Ogilvy takes home a cool $1.12m with his dominating start to the 2009 season. Hot off the heals of a win in Australia, Geoff looks set for a big year.

With Tiger likely to take some time to get back to his best, the potential is there for someone to stake a claim as a legitimate contender, and with Geoff Ogilvy's length, unrivaled short game and solid iron play, he may well be the man to do it.