Follow Up On My "Speed = Distance" Post...

At the Demo Day, I was able to look further into my "Speed = Distance" post.  Specifically with Cleveland's new 2011 line up consisting of 3 driver weight classes.

The first 2 weight classes  are the XL 270 and SL290.  The 270 and 290 relate to their total club weights of 270 and 290 grams respectively.  Amazing when you consider my current putter has a head weight (after all the lead tape) of 370 grams alone! 

Now if you're looking to see how fast you can swing a club, then by all means pick one of these up and impress your friends with your swing speed.  But if you're looking to buy a golf club that will provide both distance and accuracy... look elsewhere.  I think my 21 month old son's plastic golf club has more weight to it then the 270 model. 

After picking up the first two I wasn't expecting much, but continued on to the TL310 model.  To be fair, the TL310 driver is designed with a better/stronger player in mind unlike the other two models.  The first one I picked up was a 9.5* w/ a Miyazaki 59 X flex shaft.  Typically I would think a X flex shaft would be too strong for my 103-104 mph swing speed., but something just felt right with it.  The look at address is very traditional.  Not an too deep of a face and a nice square to slightly open face angle.

Like most manufacturers at the Demo Day, Cleveland had launch monitors on hand to show your numbers.  Cleveland was using a new mini launch monitor by Foresight that retails for around $6,000 I believe.  While it doesn't give you swing speed stats, it did provide the golfer with more relevant numbers such as ball speed, launch angle, spin and yards of carry.

I would have loved to see what my face looked like after my first driver with this club.  A smile with a little bit of an "O-face" perhaps?!

The next nine balls were all hit on the same boring rope and let me tell you.... this driver is HOT!  Feels great and seems to be forgiving enough for the single to perhaps the low double digit handicap. My numbers told the story.... average of 13.5* launch, spin in the mid 2800's and 262 Carry.  I'll take that all day, every day.

I picked up a stiff flex afterwards to see if they could be improved.  I immediately noticed something felt different.  Turns out the X flex had a 36 gram Lamkin grip on it (used for the 270 and 290 models) and the stiff flex had a 46 gram grip that normally comes with on the TL310 model.  The 10 gram difference made the club feel different in my hands due to grip size and obviously the weighting of the club was different. 

To make an already long story short, my numbers weren't close to as consistent or as good as with the first club.  Interesting that the first club actually was 300 grams instead of the 310 as it was designed to have.

Subsequently, I've ho'd my driver and ordered the exact setup as the 1st club at a ridiculous price through DiscountDansGolf.com and should have it in hand shortly after the February 18th release date of this line.

To conclude... The 270 and 290 lines just feel uncontrollable, with the 270 feeling like a toddler's toy. However, the new TL310 was the surprise of the 2011 PGA Show Demo Day for me and my 2011 season will start with one in my bag.