FROM SCREEN TO RANGE TO COURSE
While I waited for my new driver to show up several weeks later, I kept my trusty R9 in the bag, knocking the ball out there my customary 230-240 yards. By the time the TPT/Cobra F8+ combo arrived, spring was giving way to summer and golf season was in high gear, as was my excitement. I had a trip planned and wanted to get this club into battle under “real” conditions.
First up was a trip to my local range with a nifty personal launch monitor called Swing Caddie in tow (see Editor’s Picks, page 7 ). I set the gadget up a few feet behind my hitting bay, in line with the target line, and went to work, warming up with a couple 7-irons before pulling out my beautiful new baby.
Within a swing or two, the solid yet smooth feeling at impact that enthralled me during the Club Champion session was back. The club felt and performed in three dimensions as it had in the Trackman virtual environment, producing a small cut; I could also coax a draw out of it with some small stance and grip adjustments.
Now to the real-world numbers, courtesy of Swing Caddie set generally to the new driver’s specs, with 11 degrees of loft. Taking into account worn range balls and a slight side breeze, driver numbers for the new club were spot-on match for what TrackMan produced — average smash factor of 1.42, swing speed of 91, ball speed 130; maximum total distance was 253 yards (very close to what TrackMan showed on the indoor range screen). Once in a while, as I worked through a medium bucket, I’d catch one extra well, sending that weathered yellow ball close to the range’s boundary fence some 270 yards away as Swing Caddie’s robo-voice called out distances with every shot very clearly.
Fast forward a couple weeks to Turning Stone Resort in central New York, on the first tee of Atunyote, its sublime, semi-private Tom Fazio track. Out came the TPT/Cobra for the first time in a full round of golf. I teed up, took a breath, relaxed as best I could and put my best move on the ball, blasting it right-center, leaving a wedge home and an easy two-putt par. Four hours later I posted my best round in months after busting bunkers and taking aggressive lanes with impunity.
I’m now a custom fitting believer. Big time.
