Review: Heavy Driver
Going against the grain for the benefit of golfers
Right now the trend is to go lighter and lighter with drivers. The thought is that the lighter the club the faster it can be swung. While this may be true, it often comes at the expense of control. Sure there might be that one time you gained 10 or more yards on that one shot a round, but how often does that lightweight driver end up hitting into the trees or OB. The average golfer would be better off finding more fairways.
Heavy Driver embraces the idea that control is most important. Boccieri introduced the driver (along with every other heavy club in the bag) at the PGA show 2011. The Heavy Driver impressed many golfers I saw at the show. Many people talking about this club and hitting it. They were impressed by the consistency of their drives.
It is one thing to hit a driver at a demo day or show; it is another to see it perform on the course. While it took a little time for Heavy Driver to get their clubs into the hands of golfers, it is now making its way into pro shops around the country. The Heavy Driver comes in a fairly basic set-up; 9,10,or HL loft, and regular or stiff flex NVS shaft. I knew that the 9* would be a good match for me with the NVS shaft which is higher launching.
The first thing that you notice is that this driver is heavy in your hands (no surprise there), but yet swingweights very nicely because the few extra grams in the head are balanced out by extra weight under the grip. It has a very nice clean look. No alignment aid and not too much stamping on the bottom. The black NVS shaft looks nice with the black head topped with a black/green cap velvet grip. This driver does have some other features besides weight like the new face technology. I got to see what is behind the face, it is all dimpled, much like a golf ball which is a variable thickness to offer maximum forgiveness and compensate for off center hits. It creates a very hot forgiving face.
My first round on the course was pretty impressive. I hit 13 out of 14 fairways and only missed the one by a little bit. This driver has excellent feel. It is so solid yet feels really hot. The ball just explodes off the face. It sets up nice and square behind the ball. It really just wants to hit straight. I found the trajectory to be pretty typical of a 9.5* driver, because the NVS with the 9*head is a great match higher launch shaft with a lower launching head. I found spin to be in a good range, not uberlow or high, just a standard mid/low spin driver.
Like any club, it doesn’t work miracles, you can still slice it, but those slices tend to be much less than your typical lightweight driver, everything is more controlled. There is no doubt that this driver will find more fairways.
Probably the most unexpected result was the length. I was thinking that I would be giving up a bunch of yards to keep it under control. This driver is no slouch. It was right up there with the best of them. I didn’t have distance loss or distance gain, just lots of fairways. So if you average only the drives that hit the fairway, I could see most people actually gaining distance on average.
My only complaint is the price point. I never comment about the price, since there are so many deals, driver cycles, and used options out there, but I think Boccieri needs to rethink their starting price. $399 is just too high. Yes, it is a great driver, but there is nothing that says it warrants that price. No adjustable weights, no fancy shaft, nothing that puts it at the highest driver price point. Yes, it comes in black paint or white paint, but for a company trying to crack into the driver market, price is important. There is on option I did see that a golf store is offering this driver with a Nunchuk shaft for the same price. That I can see, since the Nunchuk is an awesome shaft and $250+ alone. Honestly, I would love to see this in the hands of many of the golfers I play behind that the local munis. I just don’t see it happening at $399. They are the ones who need it and this is beyond their budget.
Don’t get me wrong it is an excellent driver and would serve many golfers very well. I even saw a friend build one to 47” and he was bombing it. It offers great control and can keep up with any driver out there, and hopefully there are good deals coming soon to get this driver into the hands of more golfers. Sure the concept goes against what is popular, but “Fairways are good.”
For more information: www.boccierigolf.com
Quick Hits
+More Fairways
+Solid Feel
+Good Length
+Black or White
--Too high priced
Right now the trend is to go lighter and lighter with drivers. The thought is that the lighter the club the faster it can be swung. While this may be true, it often comes at the expense of control. Sure there might be that one time you gained 10 or more yards on that one shot a round, but how often does that lightweight driver end up hitting into the trees or OB. The average golfer would be better off finding more fairways.
Heavy Driver embraces the idea that control is most important. Boccieri introduced the driver (along with every other heavy club in the bag) at the PGA show 2011. The Heavy Driver impressed many golfers I saw at the show. Many people talking about this club and hitting it. They were impressed by the consistency of their drives.
It is one thing to hit a driver at a demo day or show; it is another to see it perform on the course. While it took a little time for Heavy Driver to get their clubs into the hands of golfers, it is now making its way into pro shops around the country. The Heavy Driver comes in a fairly basic set-up; 9,10,or HL loft, and regular or stiff flex NVS shaft. I knew that the 9* would be a good match for me with the NVS shaft which is higher launching.
The first thing that you notice is that this driver is heavy in your hands (no surprise there), but yet swingweights very nicely because the few extra grams in the head are balanced out by extra weight under the grip. It has a very nice clean look. No alignment aid and not too much stamping on the bottom. The black NVS shaft looks nice with the black head topped with a black/green cap velvet grip. This driver does have some other features besides weight like the new face technology. I got to see what is behind the face, it is all dimpled, much like a golf ball which is a variable thickness to offer maximum forgiveness and compensate for off center hits. It creates a very hot forgiving face.
My first round on the course was pretty impressive. I hit 13 out of 14 fairways and only missed the one by a little bit. This driver has excellent feel. It is so solid yet feels really hot. The ball just explodes off the face. It sets up nice and square behind the ball. It really just wants to hit straight. I found the trajectory to be pretty typical of a 9.5* driver, because the NVS with the 9*head is a great match higher launch shaft with a lower launching head. I found spin to be in a good range, not uberlow or high, just a standard mid/low spin driver.
Like any club, it doesn’t work miracles, you can still slice it, but those slices tend to be much less than your typical lightweight driver, everything is more controlled. There is no doubt that this driver will find more fairways.
Probably the most unexpected result was the length. I was thinking that I would be giving up a bunch of yards to keep it under control. This driver is no slouch. It was right up there with the best of them. I didn’t have distance loss or distance gain, just lots of fairways. So if you average only the drives that hit the fairway, I could see most people actually gaining distance on average.
My only complaint is the price point. I never comment about the price, since there are so many deals, driver cycles, and used options out there, but I think Boccieri needs to rethink their starting price. $399 is just too high. Yes, it is a great driver, but there is nothing that says it warrants that price. No adjustable weights, no fancy shaft, nothing that puts it at the highest driver price point. Yes, it comes in black paint or white paint, but for a company trying to crack into the driver market, price is important. There is on option I did see that a golf store is offering this driver with a Nunchuk shaft for the same price. That I can see, since the Nunchuk is an awesome shaft and $250+ alone. Honestly, I would love to see this in the hands of many of the golfers I play behind that the local munis. I just don’t see it happening at $399. They are the ones who need it and this is beyond their budget.
Don’t get me wrong it is an excellent driver and would serve many golfers very well. I even saw a friend build one to 47” and he was bombing it. It offers great control and can keep up with any driver out there, and hopefully there are good deals coming soon to get this driver into the hands of more golfers. Sure the concept goes against what is popular, but “Fairways are good.”
For more information: www.boccierigolf.com
Quick Hits
+More Fairways
+Solid Feel
+Good Length
+Black or White
--Too high priced
