Golf Club Review

The Tour 780 Draw Titanium Driver from Pinemeadow Golf is made after the TaylorMade r7 Draw Driver and is advertised as being able to help curing your slice and add more distance. Well, haven't we heard this all before...? So, does this club really have what it takes to cure that dreadful slice?
 
How it works
 
Just to recap: a slice happens when a golfer leaves the clubface too open relative to their swing path. The ball then curves sharply to the right for a right-handed player, or to the left for left-handed players. This kind of shot is quite common for beginner golfers and can be a source of much frustration. A slice can be improved by changing certain fundamentals in your address and swing, and getting proper clubs can assist in these efforts.
 
As mentioned the technology and design of the Tour 780 Draw Titanium Driver is based on the Taylor Made® R7 Draw Driver, which has proven to be yet another popular TaylorMade driver receiving excellent reviews. The idea behind the draw-supporting design is actually quite simple: move some of the weight closer to the shaft (also called the 'heel' of the club) and make the opposite side (the 'toe') lighter. This gets the clubhead's center of gravity closer to the heel, and this in turn speeds up the closing of the club face during the down swing. You have probably seen a figure skater spin, and when he/she pulls the arms closer to the body she spins even faster. This is the same principle: getting the center of gravity closer to the point of rotation, to the heel of the club in our case. For the Tour 780 Draw Titanium Driver this can even be customized with a weight port which can hold a 6 gram or a 10 gram weight, depending on your needs. This is an improvement over the r7 draw which doesn't have a weight port.
 
The body of this maximum sized, 460cc driver is made of Titanium, keeping the weight at about 200g. The face is made Beta Titanium and features a 0 face angle, a 10.5 degree loft and a 58 degree lie.
 
Does it fulfill its promise?
 
When hitting the Tour 780 Draw Titanium Driver it becomes obvious that the club face is indeed more closed than any other club we've tried recently. Golfers with a slice problem who tested this club said they were able to move their shots from the right of the golf course to the middle. Even non-slicers were impressed with the fact that they could put a draw on the ball, thereby hitting further than usual. Although not clear from the clubs specifications we felt that the club has a high moment of inertia (MOI = resistance to twisting), probably because of the beta titanium clubface. This resulted in straighter ball flights even when hit off center.
 
The club looks very impressive and confidence boosting at address, with a beautiful shiny-black paint on top (the 'crown'). Fortunately the green paint of the sole is not visible at address as some of us found it a bit bright. It certainly attracts attention in the bag. The only drawback we found was that my left-handed friends could only watch as this club is only available in right hand.
 
My personal impression was that the closed style was quite apparent, so much so that I thought that I should change my usual alignment I use for my normal driver. In the end I didn't and went thru my normal routine, and after a few shots I adjusted to the club very well. In fact, I adjusted to this club a lot easier that I did with other test models. What was also apparent was that - due to the fact that the center of gravity is closer to the heel - the club feels a little lighter. This is partially offset by the Pinemeadow Graphite Shaft that weighs in at a whopping 85 grams.
 
Our verdict
 
The Tour 780 Draw Titanium Driver delivers on it's promise. It clearly helps to improve on a slice, and to gain extra distance by inducing a draw. These characteristics make it a top choice for beginners who suffer from visiting the right side of the course too often. Priced at $99 this is clearly great value for money.

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Its seems to me that if a golfer has a basic swing problem (slicing) using a club like this will only lead to additional problems in the future. Learn how to swing correctly and not worry about the bias of a club.
Bob (email on file)

Our response
Hi Bob,
I fully agree, good swing fundamentals are important. If a golfer has slicing problems with every club than something is clearly wrong with his/her swing, and lessons from a pro should be sought. However, many golfers only struggle with their driver and are reasonably ok with their other clubs. In that case I think that a draw-biased driver that helps the golfer to compensate for a driver-specific slice would make the game more enjoyable.
Frank
  

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