The engineers at TaylorMade have been on a mission to increase your driving distance. The new R11S is a bit longer than its predecessor, the R11. It is, in fact, one of the longest that we have tested.It is not extremely forgiving on off center hits that sound different, but it is long when you find the fairly large center of the club face.

The R11S has a wide adjustability range that can suit most golfers. It has five face angle adjustments from 3 degrees closed to 3 degrees open. Its 460cc head is larger than the R11 and lighter. Loft can be adjusted by 1.5 degrees +/-. If that doesn’t confuse you, then there are two moveable weights. If you like to fiddle on the range, the R11S can take several seasons of range fiddling and that is our only negative. Perhaps we confuse easily, but we strongly recommend that you have your local pro help you adjust the R11S to your swing and then leave it alone.

We did like it immensely once we adjusted it for a slight closed face angle to promote a low boring draw that caried far and roled forever. When hit on the sweet spot the ball explodes powerfully with a pleasant sound.

Our marketing affiliate Golfsmith can equip you with an R11S.


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It’s the current rage since Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, even Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson have shown up in tournaments with a long putter. Rocco Mediate began using one in early in his career to help him with some long standing back problems. So, the real question is will you make more putts with one.

The answer is no one can tell until you personally go and try one.

The first decision is how long? Fitting is very important since if the ball position is too far away and your eyes aren’t over the ball there will be a tendency to line up too far to the right. You have decide whether the belly or the longer shaft is right for you and then get the shaft that keeps your eyes close to being over the ball.

Nothing will beat trial and error, but a club fitter can shorten the fitting time.

Our staff adviser chose the belly with a 43 inch shaft. Using a conventional reverse overlap grip (and you will see all kinds of grip variations with long putters), he felt from 12 feet in his alignment and percentage of made putts improved dramatically. Over 12 feet his ability to hit on a chosen line was still good, but pace, distance control, was not so good. After a week of practice and play, his distance control with the belly putter was improved but not up to his standard.

With the 14 club limit, it makes no sense to carry 2 putters.

Our pro decided that the belly putter would save some pars and enable him to make a few more birdies on make-able short putts and controlling pace on long putts could be further improved over time to mitigate the 3 putt tendency on long ones.

His advice is to try it. Demo a long putter if you can. One problem is that most golf retailers don’t carry enough lengths, head styles, etc. for golfers to find a long putter that’s right for them. In addition, if they do find one that works, they have to spend potentially hundreds of dollars, just to try it out!

Here’s an alternative that we found – Belly Putt. It attaches to any putter and it’s fully adjustable, so regardless of your height, you’re can custom fit the Belly Putt to the length that you feel comfortable with. You can start belly putting right away and you don’t have to invest hundreds just to try out a new way of putting and determine your long putter specifications. For more info, click below:

What a name! Yes, it’s hot! TaylorMade has been on a distance crusade on this is the latest and longest. The lineup includes three driver series – The RocketBallz Tour Driver, RocketBallz Tour TP Driver, and the RocketBallz Driver – plus new RocketBallz Rescues and irons. To give you an idea of what’s going on here, the 6 iron has a loft of 26.5 vs. the Ping G20’s 29.0 and shafts are among the longest in the field. Yes, they are long and really are rockets.

We sampled an 18.5 Rescue that had a very long, boring flight. The sole has a slot and a very thin wall that allows the engineers to move the center of gravity low and forward for increased ball speed. It has a good sound and is just super long.

The Tour Driver series has a slightly heavier/stiffer shaft and smaller head said to promote faster speeds for faster swingers. They have the now well-known white crown and black face.

We can’t wait until these clubs are generally available to try the whole series. Here is a preview of the lineup. Golfsmith is our proline supplier for TaylorMade products

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The engineers at Ping have done it again!

For those of us who don’t want to fiddle with adjustments, but are happy with long, straight, and forgiving this new driver from the Ping engineers is worth the premium price. The G20 optimizes the center of gravity position to generate high launch and low spin. It’s 460cc club head is made from a low density high strength titanium alloy. The high strength-to-weight ratio allows for additional weight to be strategically placed for increasing the MOI on both the vertical and horizontal axes. The G20’s large, variable-thickness face generates faster ball speeds and increases MOI for maximum forgiveness.

We tried the 8.5° driver with a stock 45.75 stiff shaft. The head weight is 204 grams with a swing weight of D3. It is long and forgiving. It is now in the bag.

Driver lofts available include 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, and 12.0°. There are many custom options available, but the standard, out-of-the-box, driver fit our requirements for long, forgiving tee shots. There is a fair amount of discounting going on, so please check several of our affiliates for the best price. Golfsmith is always one of the leading retailers that we turn to for prompt, in-stock service and we always check eBay for bargains.

The new Bobby Jones Workshop Edition Driver Is long and controllable,  Designed by Jesse Ortiz, whose family has a long tradition in design of superior woods, this is a solid new club. This new driver takes advantage of recent technological breakthroughs in head, shaft and grip design. It has an aerodynamic, triangular shape clubhead. The shape enhances the rotation of the head during the swing so that the face squares more easily at impact. This feature is critical to the performance of over-length drivers because in square or traditional shape designs, the face lags open at impact.

Japan’s leading shaft manufacturer, Graphite Design, has created a responsive, Super Light 45 gram shaft, which coupled with Winn’s new 25 gram ‘lite’ grip, reduces the total weight of the driver by 45 grams. We then make the shaft length 47 inches to increase club-head speed by nearly 7 mph and distance by 15 yards for most players. The light weight allows for greater control, even though the shaft is over standard length.

It is available in 9, 10.5, and 13 degree lofts in standard and super light shafts. We recommend the super light for all but the highest swing speeds. The manufacturer will customize the shaft length for an additional $10 fee. We tried the standard 47 inch shaft with a 9 degree loft on the range and for an 18 hole round. It was long and workable. The only small thing we found was the sound. It was kind of thud and not the louder sound of many over sized titanium clubheads.

We compared it on the range to our standard 43.5 inch driver and believe it’s as controllable because of the head design and lighter weight.  The MSRP of $299.99 has been discounted at most shops by $50-100 and we’ve seen several on eBay for a bit less.

Cleveland’s new CG16 irons are available with lightweight steel or graphite shafts, in either a Black Pearl or Satin Chrome finish. We tested the Satin Chrome irons on the range calibrating distances with a laser and comparing them to my gamers, Ping S56 irons, that I have played for about a year. The company claims that the large cavity back, with its full undercut, stretches the center of gravity low and deep to optimize launch angle and significantly improve forgiveness.  The large, thin face allows for increased COR and maximum ball speed that will produce distance that competes with any iron set in the market – but with increased control.

Here’s the skinny. I hit the CG16 7 iron consistently 6 yards longer than with my S56. The ball flight is predicable. I can work a fade or draw. The shaft is 1/2 inch longer resulting in some of the distance gain, but the oversize club head seems to offset any deviation for off-center hits. The distance gain is a bit more on longer irons and a bit less on the scoring clubs. The CG 16 is solid with predictably a bit less feedback on off-center hits.

I really recommend the CG 16 for low to mid handicappers that want some distance with their irons. It is forgiving, but not visually cumbersome. The only negative is directed toward tournament players with a plus handicap. In really nasty, windy, wet conditions when tournament players have to go out, The little 3/4 punch shot becomes preeminent. The CG 16 requires some work and focus to keep the trajectory low on those awful days when competitive golfers just have to play.

Cleveland has engineered one of the lightest drivers available utilizing a light weight shaft, grip, and re-engineered club head. Weight has been removed from the club without sacrificing swingweight or flex profile. Theoretically the lighter and longer golf clubs produce faster head speed for more ball speed and greater distance. The special Miyazaki shaft comes in Senior, Regular, and Stiff flex. Our staff pros say they can feel the clubhead exceptionally well for a very light club and the ball flies high and long. Weighing 25 grams less than its predecessor (Launcher DST), this driver has been engineered for maximum head speed, yet provides amazing forgiveness with a traditionally weighted 460cc clubhead. The longer shaft (standard is 46 1/4 inches) may not be for everyone, but does provide increased clubhead speed and should result in distance gains for nearly everyone.

The LAUNCHER Ultralite Series consists of 3 weights – 310g, 290g, and 270g – each model engineered for unique performance and feel. Across the series our testers have said there is a WOW Factor for effortless distance.

Each ultralite model comes with an ultra-premium Miyazaki Tour/Aftermarket C. Kua shaft. The Miyazaki C.Kua series shaft pushes speed and distance to a new level. The shaft reduces the total weight of the driver while preserving the swingweight and flex profile, providing an increase in head speed without a loss of feel or playability. The result is the effortless distance that our staff testers experienced.

The new Ping Anser irons are multi-metal forged – yes forged – for enhanced feel and performance. Ping engineers combined a strong 8620 steel body with the natural dampening of a tungsten sole for a great new forged design. The combination of the 8620 steel body, a dense tungsten sole and machined grooves yields an unequalled forged-iron feel and forgiveness.

After hitting them on the range, our senior pro commented that the trajectory and distance was predictable and the feel was awesome. Expect a slightly lower trajectory than an oversized game improvement design with no loss of distance. The grooves bite and the look is the best we’ve seen from Ping. This is a winner if you can stand the suggested price of over $1,300.

Callaway’s latest driver is revolutionary. Lighter, faster, stronger is their claim and it is a rocket launcher. Forged Composite club head material is the result of a unique partnership between the R&D teams of Callaway and super car maker Lamborghini. Forged Composite is one-third the density of titanium, yet features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass in bending. The Diablo Octane driver has a lighter club head that retains an extremely high MOI.

Callaway uses hyperbolic shaping and a unique chemical reduction process to remove excess material from areas of the titanium face and achieve precision thickness control. This produces consistently high ball speeds for long distance, even on off-center hits and on shots hit across all areas of the face. There are two models. The Diablo Octane is available with a square face or 1 degree closed with a 460cc head, 46 inch shaft, and a D4 swing weight. The Tour Driver is designed for more accomplished golfers with features that provide greater versatility to attack the course with precision shot-shaping and trajectory control. The 450cc head incorporates a deep face with a smaller footprint and an open face angle with less face progression.

The Project X Shaft from Grafalloy is a longer, high-performance shaft designed with feedback and input from tour pros to maximize performance.

It is a rocket launcher with minimal shot dispersion. If you want distance, try one at the range or your local demo center first. The longer shaft may not be for everyone, especially if your home course has narrow fairways.

Ping has long been an engineering leader in the golf equipment field especially for the game improvement irons and putters. The new K15 is a definite winner for most amateurs. You can customize your set with up to four hybrid options for greater forgiveness and consistency. The patented design creates a low spinning, high launch angle.

The large K15 irons have a light weight titanium face and a stainless steel body that optimizes forgiveness and launch angle. The multi-metal, maximum forgiveness technology provides design features to help lower your scores. Factors such as forgiveness, feel, control, head size and appearance are important considerations when choosing the iron that best fits your game. We highly recommend a personal fitting to optimize your K15 set to your swing and capability.

We think that the Ping engineers have pushed the edge of the envelop in developing the K15 for those of us who can’t practice or play every day and really the game improvement features to better enjoy our weekend golf outings.