Golf Digest South Africa — January 2018

he rules limit how much driver

faces can flex. But they aren’t

preventing them from flexing

more effectively. On the PGATour, the

average ball speed (how fast the ball

comes off the clubface) and smash factor

(the ratio between ball speed and swing

speed) have increased in the past five years.

That means the average of all hits with the

latest drivers – including mis-hits – are

likely flying further than they did the

last time you went driver shopping. New

structures and materials, stronger titanium

alloys and thinner faces lead to new

distance potential for all players. Here

are four new ways to get faster now.

• mike stachura

T

yonex

ezone gt

▶One way to make the

face better is to think

about how it works with

the crown. Here, the high-

strength titanium-alloy

face gets a boost from a

strong, lightweight, carbon-

composite crown that flexes

at impact to transfer more

energy to the ball.

SPECIAL ORDER

cobra

king f8

▶Cobra’s designers used

aprecise milling process (as

opposed to the usual manual

grinding and polishing) to

create a thinner face for

improved ball speeds. Two

movable weights let you

choose between standard

and draw settings.

priceR6 999

xxiox

▶Why not make the face as flexible as you

can where players make contact most often?

The face for this 10th-generation driver has

been thinned out in off-centre areas, resulting

inalargersweetspotheeltotoe.

SPECIAL ORDER

mizuno

st 180

▶ Thewave-like pattern

on the sole does two

things: (1) It reduces

stress on the advanced

titanium-alloy face for a

faster-flexing structure.

(2) The sole pattern

allows more mass to

be placed lower in the

head for less ball spin.

priceR6 499

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3

2

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FLEX APPEAL

New driver faces bring the heat

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFFREY WESTBROOK

EQUIPMENT

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Play Your Best

GOLFDIGEST.CO.ZA / J ANUARY 2018/ 23