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I bought this newly introduced driver (S shaft, 9.5 degree loft) somewhat impulsively last week after hitting it in an indoor simulator vs. my old driver (TM r5 Dual). The CGB Max is an extremely cool looking club that is disconcertingly light in weight, and does seem to be very fast through the ball. Impact sound is excellent - solid and strong. The ball really jumps off the face! My driver swing speed is 95-100 MPH, and the simulator indicated that I was picking up 10-15 yards with the CGB Max compared to my old driver. High launch angle & relatively low back spin

Played my first round with the CGB Max this past weekend. I hit it very high and missed to the left on approximately half my drives (previous driver ball flight was straight to slight draw, occasional block right). Distance was excellent, even on high drives into the wind.

My tendency to go left is probably due to the fairly strong draw bias of the CBG Max in its "normal" weight configuration. Over time I should be able to adjust to this, but if not I can configure the weights to effect what TM terms a "slight" (5-yard) fade bias.

I see a lot of potential with this driver. I am a little concerned as a decent (8-handicap) golfer that the CGB Max has too much "game improvement" technology that will limit me in terms of working the ball, but if I can hit fairways and gain 10-15 yards it's a good trade off.

I'm interested to hear what others think of this driver. The golf season in my part of the world is essentially over, so I really won't be able to work with it until next spring. Hopefully I'll receive positive reinforcement on what is a pretty substantial investment!

Llewellyn,

That's a great club review and I think this type of post is really appreciated here. It's nice to see this type of objective information rather than the "I gained 40 yards with this club" type of hype.

Thanks!

I have been looking at this club and really appreciate your review. I think it is interesting how well you are hitting it since on the TM web site it says it is designed for swing speeds of up to 90 mph. I was wondering what it would play like witha bit faster swing speed, mine is in the same range as yours. I am going to be hitting it on a monitor this next week, so I will let you know how it comes out for me.

I have to admit that I was concerned about the TM swing speed recommendation as well. I can understand it because slow swingers have trouble with hang time, and the deep CG definitley helps in this regard. Faster swingers may hit the ball too high - that's why I went for the lower loft and stiff shaft. While I hit it high the ball doesn't balloon, and distance is very good, even into the wind.

I'll look forward to your comments after you work with this driver. Cheers!

Well I finally got to hit this driver on a monitor and IMHO I didn't see any advantage for me over any of the other drivers I hit that day. I hit several of the Callaways, other TaylorMades, Pings, and Nike drivers. My 3 favorites amoung the whole bunch was the Callaway X460, Callaway FT-3 and the TaylorMade Burner. The price on all three of these was cheaper than the $500 for the CGB. I hope it works out well for you Llewellyn, but I don't think it the one for me.

Same thing here. I have medium to slow swing speed, and I hit tp's alot better. I have the three wood, and my friend has the tp driver. I kill both. But I'm more accurate with the regular 425 b/c it has a closed face and not an open one.

I've decided to ditch the r7 cgb max - played four rounds with it and it wasn't nearly as accurate as my old r5. My local Golf Galaxy (where I impulsively bought the cgb max) is giving me generous trade value as a result of my agreeing to go through their full fitting process for $79. My impulsivity will end up costing me about $250....

I'll report back on what my final driver decision is for 2008.

The Golf Galaxy I went to had the Callaway opti fit system and I have ordered my driver, from Callaway. Even if you don't like Callaway products you still might want to try the optifit system it will give you the oportunity to try several different shafts on different heads, so you can learn more about which shaft fits your swing.

The Opti-Fit System is probably the best thing that's come out in the world of golf in the past 3 years. I know I always stress how great it is, but it's really the only way for the average person to experiment with shafts and combinations of lofts without buying loads of equipment.

I spent almost two hours working with the pro to find the right combination for me but once I found it I have heard that TM also has something similar to the opti fit system. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a shaft fit for driver or irons. I just got a call today that my driver is in, but I have to wait till Monday to pick it up as I don't live in Denver.

This is my last post on this thread because I no longer own the CGB MAX!

I had an indoor fitting session yesterday at my local Golf Galaxy. I hit the TM r7 Super Quad, TM Burner, and Callaway FT-5, all with stock shafts. Clubhead speed ranged from 95-102 MPH. Hit all three 5-15 yards longer (carry+roll) than the CGB MAX.

Hit the jackpot with 8.5 degree, neutral bias FT-5 with a Mitsubishi Bassara V63 shaft (stiff). Drives averaged 270 yards compared to the CGB MAX at 253 yards. Perfect launch angle, low spin, and straight!

I received the maximum trade-in value on the CGB MAX, but this was an expensive process toward a new driver. I'll never buy another club impulsively without being fitted! The Golf Galaxy launch monitor and software shows clubhead speed, ball speed, launch angle, carry distance, roll distance, and PTR (Power Transfer Ratio). PTR is a measure of on-center hits and resistance to twisting - a key stat that I maxed out on with the FT-5.

I spent a lot of money and broke my addiction to Taylor Made drivers (first non-TM driver in ~ 15 years, have been playing golf for 18 years). I won't be sentimental when I'm hitting an 8 or 9 iron into greens on 400-yard holes in 2008!

PTR huh!?!?? Man...one more thing that I need to work on in my game!!!!