Further to my review below, I've had a few more outings and this club really has changed the way I play. My only barometer as far as distance goes is my playing partners and where I am in relation to them; currently I'd estimate 30-35yds up on my 975. I don't think all of that is down to the club alone... I know I swing this one faster than my other drivers, I don't think there is any question about that. The driver tests that you read about in golf digest never seem to address this side of performance and with this club I really feel so confident that I consistently 'go after' my drives without fear of losing the clubhead or missing the 'sweet zone' (the 455 is a big head). My swing speed with the old faithful 975 was 105mph +- a few, I was measured with the SMT (same clublength, same harrison 2.5TiPro shaft) and I seemed to be routinely swinging at 115-117mph. This probably means its a case of the swingweight of the SMT suiting me better than the 975 but thats likely to be just one of the factors. The bottom line for me is that I'm hitting this 14° club around 270, now the temptation is to say 'without really trying' but thats not true... I think this clubhead/shaft and oversize grip (winn wrap) let me try all the harder. I'm not sure what it will take to displace this from my bag? possibly only a rule change could do that right now.

Customer Service

300yards.com - excellent

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many

Believe the hype. Bought off of eBay for $147 with Aldila NV 75x shaft. First time at the range it seemed a little wild and a little big - so I cut the club from 46" to 44.5" and really tightened up the shot pattern (because 310 in the fairway is better than 320 in the rough). Can be a little difficult to work the ball both ways, but I've found cutting the ball to be pretty easy. Draws usually border hooks. First time on the course resulted in 2 driven par fours, all par fives in two, 1 eagle, 4 birdies, and 2 bogeys for a 69. My advice would be to take a chance. I've put away my 510 and 983 to play this one. And if you play it - you get noticed. Everytime I go out everybody wants to know what club it is.

Customer Service

eBay for cheap

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TM 320 tour,360,510,580,510tp Titleist 975j, jvs,lfe,lff,983k Launcher 400

I was very happy with the distance with my Titleist 983 K, but was not as accurate as needed. The K is a little more demanding of a very good swing to get very good results. Not really very forgiving. I decided to try the SMT after reading the enthusiastic claims of SMT owners of forgiveness and incredible distance at a low price. I was not in a position to demo, so for $186 delivered, I took a chance and bought one. Everything I read said that the deep bore in this driver head would stiffen the shaft tip pretty good, so after researching shafts and I settled on the Fujikura Tour Release 27.3 in stiff flex at 46” length. It’s a great shaft with a little softer tip. I’m 6’ 5” with a driver swing speed in the 100 – 105 range and a pretty slow tempo – age 52. It’s a great looking stick, and I liked the feel immediately, but the first trip to the range yielded very average results. My first reaction was pretty negative. After giving it some thought, I decided to stick with it and am very happy I did. There was an adjustment period for me for sure, but I just keep getting straighter and longer with this thing. I have been to the range a few times, have played 4 rounds with it, and am hitting it straighter than the Titleist. The wild distance claims of some seem exaggerated to me, but the distance is very good – very similar to the Titleist, and I was getting very good distance with the Titleist. I do like that I can “get after” the SMT with some confidence. If I dialed it up with the Titleist, the results were usually dreadful. So what is the bottom line? These claims that the SMT 455, made by this small company, is far superior to the best drivers produced by the large club manufacturers is an exaggeration. The surprising thing to me is that I can say, with absolutely no exaggeration, that THEY ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD, and, are HALF THE PRICE! The other cool thing is that your shaft options are - - EVERY SHAFT MADE. There are so many great shafts produced today, with so many distinct characteristics. The shaft really is the club’s engine, and you have the opportunity to get a shaft that is suitable to your swing. If you are having success with your driver, stick with it and be happy. If you need an equipment adjustment, be sure and consider the SMT line.

Customer Service

SMT has great warrenty, $10 rebate, and I received incredible service from 2 Putt Golf ( http://www.2puttgolf.com ). Assembled and delivered in 3 days. Pleasant to deal with.

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Titleist 983K, TaylorMade R510 TP, Cobra 440 SZ

I have an Accuflex VS 339 Stiff shaft at 47". Have started to groove this beauty. Am hitting slight draw and averaging 280-290. With a bit of wind am getting 315-320. Ball flight is a beautiful thing to behold. Certainly, lessons help. Last week, hit 4 0f 4 fairways (played 9) and today had a birdy try (par) and eagle putt (bird) on two par 5s. Working on putting! Just a nice smooth stroke. I am 42 with a 105-110 mph swing speed. Did I mention that the candy apple red head with the red-fade-to white shaft is awesome? It sure is, and custom built, spined and delivered under 200.

Customer Service

E-bay builder. Excellent service. Make sure they have a lot of positive feedback

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TM burner 420. Very good also, but not same bang for buck

most reviews here talk about pure distance, I'm not really interested in that - I want a club I can take out on the majority of holes and guarantee (as much as you ever can) that I'll put it in the fairway 240-260yds. I swing about 100-105mph which is firm/stiff shaft territory - I like the Harrison 2.5 Ti Pro shaft, its not the longest out there but the control is superb; thats really all the reasoning there was behind the choice. Now the 14° loft bit... as I mentioned before I'm not too fussed about getting an extra few yards, I just want a high trajectory and low spin rate to create straight shots that I can place where I want. Okay so 14° seems a lot (it plays 14.5° actually) but the club is really easy to hit, the head is massive so I get fantastic consistency from it. Actually - as it turns out the club is surprisingly long given the aforementioned loft and shaft length - I rarely miss the fairway now and first tee nerves are much reduced now I carry this 'banker' club. In future I may make up a LDA version to push me up past 300+ but for now I'm enjoying the view from 260!

Customer Service

N/A

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Titleist 975D 10.5° Harrison 2.5 Ti Pro 46" Stiff Launcher 10.5° stock shaft King Cobra 10.5° Adams RedLine 10.5°

Longest driver i ever hit, by 40 yards!!!! I have a new Cleveland 460 which i got with to much loft but this club carries past it. I'm always around or in the fairway unless I put on a really bad swing. If I can improve my swing and get rid of my fade, I hate to see how far this club goes. My swing speed is in the mid 80's sometimes low 90's and I hit the ball high naturally so i got a 9 degree loft and an Asassin 2 reg flex shaft. the combo is also easy to look at. Beautiful club.A+++++++++++++

Customer Service

300yards.com - helpfull in picking out shaft. 5 day delivery

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Cleveland 460 many others

CRRRRAAAZY LOOOOOOONG best describes this club. I plan to compete on the LDA tour this year with this club. I have the SMT 455 Deep Bore 455 with a Accuflex Extreme LD xxx shaft and this thing kicks serious hind end! I NEVER fail to clear 300 yards even with a bad shot and most of the time our local driving range just simply isnt long enough (340 yards)! Just the other day I out drove our local golf pro 4 balls to 1 ball in a shoot out. The only reason he got the 1 was because I hit that one out of bounds. This club will draw a crowd when you hit it. It has very solid feel and out drives my Bang Mellow Yellow 420 hands down EVERY time! And the club head is a beautiful see through red. The lack of score lines on the face allows for incredible roll. Last week at our local golf course I double eagled a 514 yard par 5. To give you a better idea of how far the ball launched off this club and rolled, I used a PW and hit the flag stick, dropping the ball in the hole in 2! That is what this club can do for your game. Best club I have EVER hit without a doubt. I thought my Bang Mellow Yellow was hot, until I hit the SMT 455 Deep Bore... NO COMPETITION!!

Customer Service

Horsepowergolf.com is the ONLY name you need to know! They actually do everything they promise they will do and their craftsmanship is superb and second to none. They had my new club to me in just 2 days. From California to Indiana in 2 days... GREAT!!! Give Bart or Pat a call and get the best club around!

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Bang Mellow Yellow 420, Taylor Made Ti Bubble II.

Eureka! This head is long and forgiving. Even if the sweet spot isn't hit dead on, the results are good. When the sweet spot is reached, the results are exceptional. The lack of score lines helps decrease driver spin, which results in greater distance and roll. I have the 11 degree 455 shafted with an AJ Tech Raw Gold 46" shaft. The deep bore insertion helps with the stable feel, despite the ultralite shaft. I am rarely worse than the first cut of rough or a fairway bunker, and usually hitting from the short grass with this driver. I've had it for quite a few rounds now, so this isn't an "I hit it for the first time yesterday and cut 10 strokes off my score" review. This is a solid head. Mike at SMT provides outstanding customer service. I think it will be quite a while before I buy another OEM driver.

Customer Service

Outstanding

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983 K/Fuji 757, Taylormade 540/Fuji 757, MacGregor V-Foil 410/YS-6, Tsunami 400/AJ Tech 4000 series, Cleveland Launcher 330/Harrison FL60

The SMT 455 replaced the Golfsmith Hi-Cor in my bag a couple months ago and is a keeper. It is as long or longer than any driver I have tried and a third the price. The Aldilla One stiff shaft with Winn G3 quarter cord grip on a 10 degree head has allowed me to swing as hard as I want and achieve straight and long{for me}drives. The forgiveness factor is high, and I win money almost every week in our skins game with the difference being lofted club approach shots on the par fours instead of mid-irons or fairway woods. Infact, yesterday I had and eagle and two birdies on par 5s because of the length of my drives allowing me to reach in two. The club has easily paid for itself, but with the decrease in handicap I will have be working on other things to get an edge on the competition again. I have spent thousands on golf clubs; wish this head had come to attention sooner.

Customer Service

no problem

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taylor made 350, golfsmith Hi-Cor 400cc, SS350, biggestBB, GBB, Titlest-various

This club is mucho lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng. I swear that the head is one giant sweet spot. I have played them all and this is by far the hottest and straightest USGA conforming driver out there. The explosive speed off the face remains very very impressive. SMT, has a winning product on their hands, and with a full "no questions asked" lifetime warranty on the head, you would have to be a fool not to give it a shot. On center hits feel like no other club I have played. It seems as if the club explodes from the inside out. It feels like lightning in a bottle. What else can I say but "buy it, buy it, buy it!" Don't walk, run towards it you fool! lol I put a UST Harmon FZS on it and it flies. At $129 US for the head it's a steal and a half.

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Callaway GBB II, TaylorMade R580, Callaway C4, Callway Hawkeye VFT, Kasco, Adams Redline, ect...