I've been hitting the latest clubs indoors over the last couple months. We finally had a warm day last week and had a chance to go to the local driving range and hit the latest and greatest drivers. I went there expecting to buy the new G5 driver with the VS Proto shaft option. I hit the the FT5, FT-I, Titleist D1, new cobra driver with proto shaft, G5, Sumo 2, and Sumo. The D1 was horrible at best, the FT I was better then the FT5 but nothing special. The G5 was very nice but the shaft being 3/4 of an inch longer showed a greater dispersion pattern with no distance difference than the sumo. The sumo 2 was horribly short. The feel of the sumo produced a nice soft impacted feel upon contact without the loud thwack or ting. When I tried to draw and fade the ball it was no more than 10 years at the most. This was longer than every driver but the G5, maybe 5 yards because of the shorter shaft but much straighter. The driver has been my achilles heel but this new driver is incredible!!! The new NV Proto shaft with its lower torque and slightly softer tip is far better than the NV green. Last years nike was okay but this new combination is awesome. It bugs me how everyone gives clubs a 5 star but this one truly deserves it. This isn't a driver for people who really want to work the ball but rather someone who wants to aim down the center and know its only going to move a few yards either way. This face is definitely square. My advice..never buy a club without hitting it outside with real tees...not off a rubber tee or in a golf simulater. By the way did I say its only $300. The NV proto shaft is $170 on its own...best buy on the market; I would have easily paid much more for this.

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Everything.

I just bought this club and hit for the first time today. My first hit was a hit from way off center and the ball still went straight about 260 yard. Usually I drive the ball about 240-270 yards with an occasional (1 per round of golf)300 yard drive when everything falls into place. However I hit about 70 balls in the range today and at least 1/2 of them went close and some over 300 yards drive. Only 1 ball I hit did not carry past the 250 yard marker. However I slicing and pulling occasionally. I guess I will have to get use to the club, but this club is definitely forgiving. Mis-hits which usually go nowhere are at least going 250 yards down the field. This is the best money I have ever spent on golf. I am a mid 90's player.

I bought this one sight-unseen. Got the 10.5-degree head with a ProLaunch Red regular-flex). I took the club to the range to try it out.

The first shot went dead straight (OK, maybe a touch of a fade) about 240 on the fly (which is good for me with range balls). The trajectory was definitely on the low side. The second, third, fourth and fifth drives (each alternated with a wedge, and a 7-iron shot in the middle) did exactly the same thing. The consistency of my shots was simply excellent.

The sound was just fabulous. A solid, slightly muted "thwack". The sound from every hit reminded me of the best hits from my old Titleist 975 - no "clang", "ting", "boing", "crack", or any other obnoxious sound. The Sumo is the best sounding driver I've ever hit. And it felt absolutely "invisible". By that I mean that I just didn't feel much, other than the shaft loading and unloading smoothly through the ball. I checked the contact spot on every hit. Most of my hits were close to center, which I attribute to the fine sense of balance that this clubhead/shaft combo promotes. The club seems to want to stay on plane. Hits that were off-center felt alsmost no different than center hits. This might be off-putting to some. There really is very little feedback, and every shot feels pretty much the same.

I experimented with tee height, thinking a low tee would work better with this low CG club. Not so, at least not with this shaft. It seemed to like a fairly tall tee (at least 1/2 ball above crown). Again, there's so much consistency here that it's tough to tell much difference. I decided to try some "extra-smooth" swings, and some "extra-mustard" swings. Extra smooth swings with the Sumo definitely lost some distance, but the trajectory seemed about the same. Hard swings didn't pull or hook at all. They just went further. That's a little scary. I even hit a few swings really hard, trying hard to turn my hands over. The shots were pulled a bit, but believe me, they were awesome shots compared to the snap hooks that I KNOW would have occured with other drivers I own.

To summarize:

Launch angle is too low with this shaft (for me). I'm having it replaced with a Grafalloy NT Comp. If you get a GREAT deal like I did, go for it. Otherwise, make sure you test several head/shaft combos. This clubhead seems to be lower launching than you would think, with its low CG and 10.5 loft.

Sound: The best I've ever heard in a driver.

Feel: Not much. It's hard to tell where on the face I hit it. Might not be to better players liking.

Consistency: So far, it exceeds what I had hoped for.

Distance: About 20 yards ahead of my current driver (TM R5). Should be even more once I get the launch angle up a bit with the new shaft.

Looks: It is a bit odd at first. There is a silver ring around the back of the head that frames the back of the club. Weird, but not really distracting at all. Other than that, the club looks quite traditional at address.

Overall: I'm very encouraged by this first try (isn't that always the way.... ) The club feels great. I don't think better players will like this club as much as a mid-capper like me. The feedback better players want just isn't there. I don't think workability is this club's strong point - which is just FINE with me. Straight and long is all I need...

Customer Service

Don't know

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TM R5, Srixon AD

I love this club! You honestly cannt feel the ball on a sweet strike and it flies miles. Toe and heel hits aren't too heavily punished which is what nike set out to do. The only thing that can be said is about the stock shaft. It isn't the best, and if you think you have a fairly fast swing, go for the stiff. Because the driver was made by the Japanese, the shafts are awfully whippy, and I think that I'll pursuade to get it re-shafted fairly soon

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Ping G2

Outstanding club. I purchased the stiff shaft and 9.5 degrees. I really like the look, sound and confidence I have now with a driver. Im planning to buy the 3 and 5 woods SQ also. I cant wait.

Customer Service

The guys at golf galaxy in Syracuse NY were awesome. I traded a few clubs and they worked with me. Great Stuff!

Wicked Long! Much better feel and sound than the original SQ. I bought the 10.5 with the stock stiff Diamana, I preferred that over the tip stiff PROTO NV and the Pro-Launch which threw it a little to high for me. D2 swing weight so you can really generate some club head speed and the ball goes forever. Lower trajectory than what you would think also. Try before you buy you'll see what I mean.

Customer Service

Not needed thus far.

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R5 TP, R7 425, Srixon AD