Cleveland Classic 290 Driver

Lots of drivers in recent years have claimed to have a “classic look,” but none have gone to the lengths of the Cleveland Classic Driver, which not only has the pear shape, but also molding and color to imitate a persimmon head.

Of course, it’s not a persimmon club, but a modern 460cc titanium beast, with all the weighting, coefficient of restitution and moment of inertia that modern engineering can provide.

I wonder about the target audience of these clubs, though. Persimmon heads have been out of style—if not out of production—for a couple of decades now. And many of those who do remember playing with wood don’t remember it terribly fondly. Compared to today’s metal monsters, they were hard to hit. I honestly haven’t met anyone who was nostalgic in a positive way about persimmon heads.

But then maybe its that I play with the wrong crowd.

Cobra Long Tom Driver

When most club manufacturers brag about length, they’re talking about the distance the ball flies. For Cobra golf, that boast goes in an entirely different direction: the Long Tom’s shaft is an heroic forty eight inches! A “normal” driver, such as the new TaylorMade RocketBallz, clocks in at 46.

The idea is that the extra length translates to extra clubhead speed, which in turns results in greater distance. The theoretical downside is that the club may be more difficult to control. I say theoretical, because I build an extra long club a few years ago, and I’m not convinced I was any more wild with that than the extra short shaft GolfWorks Hero driver I put together at about the same time. For me, the main problem with the extra long shaft was that I popped it up way too much. I think the longer shaft somehow made me come in too steeply.

Still, this might be worth a look if you’re looking for a few more yards.

With the R11 S driver, TaylorMade continues its drive toward the ultimate in club adaptability. Players can adjust the loft up or down as much as one and a half degrees with Flight Control Technology, the face to five different angles (plus or minus three degrees) with the Adjustable Sole Plate, and use movable weights to shift the center of gravity toward the heel or toe.

It’s also got some other non-movable features in the 460cc titanium head: Thick-Thin Crown design lowers that center of gravity and Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) to promote more ball speed on off-center hits.  The R11 driver also has the striking white crown and black face that TaylorMade says improves alignment and reduces glare.

Intriguing.

You can get it at Golfsmith Golf & Tennis—Best Selection. Best Brands. Best Prices. Guaranteed.

Cobra’s new AMP Driver is available for preorder at Golfsmith. Here’s the skinny:

Cleveland Men’s CG Black Driver

The new Cleveland CG Black Driver focuses on aerodynamics to increase swing speed and this increase distance. It’s got a teardrop profile that Cleveland says reduces drag at all angles of airflow during the swing for more club speed. The CG stands for Center of Gravity, which is positioned low and deep in the head for a higher launch angle. They’ve also installed lightweight premium Miyazaki shafts and lightweight grips.

I’ll be looking for a local demo day to give it a shot.

The GXz Ti a GigaGolf’s latest design. It’s a 460cc forged titanium driver shaped to provide maxumum moment of inertia to make off center hits travel longer and straigher. The GXz Ti features an aero foil channel and a cup face design. The face is enhanced with GigaGolf’s Graduated Thickness Design, which is thinner on the edges than the center. This allows the ball to be hotter in the traditionally “dead” areas on the outside, while still conforming to the USGA’s coefficient of restitution limits in the center. Like all GigaGolf drivers, it comes with a 30 Day Play Guarantee.

GigaGolf Drivers

COBRA Long Tom Raw Limted Edition Driver

While other companies release drivers painted in glossy shades of black, white and red, Cobra has gone raw: their Limited Edition Long Tom has no paint or other cosmetics. They’re only going to release five hundred of these, so get them while you can.

Naked aesthetics aside, the Long Tom offers some pretty interesting specs. Here’s the official writeup:

The Cobra Long Tom Driver comes at the maximum length allowed by the USGA, with an ultralight and durable shaft, and with a Tour-style grip, all delivering the maximum distance possible. Additional features: Highest length-to-weight ratio of any driver Crown construction: titanium Head size: 445 cc Advanced material placement: with a high strength thin Titanium 8111 alloy face repositions up to 20 grams of weight to move the center of gravity extremely low and deep E9 Face Technology with Dual Roll - has an elliptical face featuring a new canted bulge with dual roll design providing more distance to shots that are hit above and below the centerline Ultralight Grafalloy Blackbird shaft: with a 275 gram overall weight and Speed Coat Technology, this shaft improves aerodynamics and increases clubhead speed

There’s a golf porn joke here somewhere. Naked. Raw. Long. Low and Deep. Need I go on?