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I've finally started cleaning out my garage, selling things off, and was also still have some money leftover from Father's Day. The logical thing in this case is to start looking at new toys . I'm looking to get a new driver to replace or share duties with my current one (see sig) and am looking for opinions. I play to a 16 handicap and have a naturally straight to slight draw shot shape. I don't consider myself to be a big hitter (260-275) off the tee and I think I'm lossing a little distance with the R7 b/c I have a pretty boring to low ball flight with it. I get tons of roll, but noticed that this is a problem when the course is playing wet. I've been looking at a few different drivers and all of them I truely like (went to Golfsmith on several different occasions and hit them all) so picking between them is hard:

Callaway X460
Callaway FT-3
Nike SQ
Taylormade 425/460

The X460 felt great off the face and set-up was great, not too into the shaft feel though. FT-3 felt the same as the X460, explosive off the face, better shaft, but is the extra cost worth it(think it's about $100 difference)? I guess if I have to swap shafts in the X460 then that would null the price unless I can find one on ebay with the combo I prefer. Nike SQ seemed extremely explosive off the face, but also seemed hard to work shots. Also the sheer size of the club is a turnoff IMO, but you can't argue the results.

TM 425 had a familiar feel to it, loved the shaft considerably better than my R7. Guess one of the advantages the 425 has is that it wouldn't take any adjusting too, which is good but also bad b/c then why change? The 460 I haven't had a chance to hit yet, but I'm sure it has the same TM feel, read that it seems to be forgiving but also read that the clubhead feels light. That is exactly what I didn't like about the Launcher Ti460....couldn't feel the head in my swing, which produced erratic results.

So if you've made it this far, you can see the confusion in my head....

i have the sq now...and, overall...i like the club. i'm not crazy about it...but i like it. distance is fine and so is the ball flight but... i don't know. i tried out the x460 yesterday and that was really something...every hit felt solid...like i was making good contact. i want to try the fusion, and give the sq another try before i do anything hasty, but if things stay as they are, i'll probably trade in the sq for the x460. i hope this helps some...

A lot of golfers never demo the Tour Edge clubs. If you haven't hit the Exotics Driver, I suggest you give it a try. I have demo'd them ALL! Exotics is as good, or better than the name brands. Give one a try!

Check out PING drivers. I love PING clubs, but never could afford a whole set brand new.

Speaking of PING, today at lunchtime, I just picked up a used (but in mint condition!) PING Si3 9* driver with PING Si3-S (stiff) graphite shaft. Black dot. Orange grip code (1/16" oversize). I fell in love with this driver!

The used golf store (buy/sell/trade) is called "2nd Swing" and they are pretty new and recently opened for business a few months ago. They have two indoor range mats with nets. The PING Si3 driver felt very balanced, smooth and forgiving. I can't wait to get home from work and hit the range with it to really try it out!

Sale price used???? $54 bucks. Honest.. $54 bucks... I couldn't believe it, so it is coming home with me....

Sounds like a nice grab...I've hit the G5 and for some reason the set up of the club just doesn't work for me. Never could get comfortable with it, and after my last mistake (purchasing a club I thought I could get comfortable with and never did) I figured I'd stick with the ones I know hit well for me. Sometimes there are just too many choices.... So far I'm really starting to look into the FT-3 or the R7 460. I guess at some point they are all pretty much the same except for the shafts. Does anyone know if the NVS shaft plays stiffer than normal OEM shafts. The stiff Aldila NV65 shaft was way too stiff for me, which is a big reason I didn't like the other driver. Is the NVS the same way?

Thanks... I too hit the PING G5 in the store and loved it. But the $$$ tag is what made me go " "

Here's an update on my new/used PING Si3 9* driver for $54 bucks. I took it to the driving range after dinner last night and just got a small bucket of balls to sort of "get to know" the driver.

Driving range length: 250 yards (but there is a homemade sign nailed to a tree at the edge of the woods that reads 260). Normal swing, normal drive with knock-off PING driver = 250 with a roll.

PING Si3 (first swing): 230 yards straight. {whoa, where's my distance?} Then remembered the PING shaft is "S" (stiff) and I was doing an uncertain, easy, swing (duh!) . But still, the club felt wonderful and extremely easy to hit. I probably used an easy 75-80mph swing speed.

...after a few more practice swings to figure out the driver, and picking up my tempo (increase swing speed for the stiff shaft)...

Distance: 260 into the trees
ball flight: medium with slight fade

After understanding the club and getting comfortable, I tried "going for broke" to see what happens. (i.e... can I break a 100mph with my swing? What will happen?) So, I totally cranked down on it with all 215 lbs of my 6' body! The ball rocketed off the clubface and went 250 and then did a huge banana slice for another 50 yards to the right edge of the range, and I almost spun out of my shoes! ....D'oh!

In a nutshell: I think the used PING Si3 is a great driver for the measily $54 bucks that I spent. I gained 10 yards with it and can hit it straight with a slight fade, as long as I increase my swing speed but not go crazy with it. Not too shabby!!

Well after narrowing it down to three, FT-3, X460, and the TM 460... I decided to go with the FT-3 Neutral 10*. It was just a huge difference off the face, the FT-3 had considerably more carry and just felt really solid off the face. After hitting the TM and the X460, they both felt really hard off the face although the TM seemed to have about the same distance. Problem with the TM is that is seemed to become a hook machine for me at times... Now off to find one at a good price....

is the ft any lighter than the 460??

The FT-3 felt like it had a heavier clubhead which is exactly what I like. They also had two very distinct sounds...the FT-3 to me didn't have a muffled, towel in a coke can sound...just a different one altogether. After hitting it about 5 times, I didn't even notice the sound b/c I was too busy watching the ball flight in satisfaction. For me the FT-3 was just a smoother all-around club than the X460. I was doing all I could to convince myself to save the extra money and go with the X460, but hitting them back to back, I couldn't bring myself to like the X460 over the FT-3. If I was to rank them I would have gone,

FT-3
X460
TM R7 460

And one can't say I'm biased b/c I have an R7 and was looking forward to either the 460 or 425. I just wanted to mess around with a few other manuf. to make sure those were the best choices and found out for me, there is a better one out there. On the monitor, the FT-3 gave me the same mph as the SQ, TM 460, and slightly more than the X460. I also liked the way I was able to control the ball with either a slight fade or draw/straight. With the TM b/c of the closed face, it just gave me that feeling of I might hook this thing. The X460 was almost the same way as the TM but not as bad. The biggest difference I noticed between the X460 and the FT-3 was the fact that mishits on the FT-3 still go in the air and went straight or slightly on way or another. Mishits with the X460 were about 20-40yards shorter and varied offline farther.

Well I will have to vote for the SQ. It is the longest driver I have ever hit.