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Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P) announced a new 460cc Beta Titanium Driver at the end of April and I jumped all over the chance to review one.

Specifications

The driver sells for $129.95 which is nearly giving the club away for free compared to the prices of similar drivers on the golf market which usually sell for $300 or more. The club is available with 9, 10.5, or 12 degrees of loft with the shaft length of the first two being 45.25 inches and the third at 45 inches. In addition to a choice in lofts, you also can choose a shaft made of graphite — regular, stiff flex, senior flex, lady flex — or true temper steel. These options should be enough to satisfy any amateur golfer in the market for a new driver except the lefties; the driver is only available in the right hand model at this time.

Photos

About the Driver

Directly from the web site…

The Craftsmanship — Aerospace-Grade 460cc Beta Titanium
Our G.R.I.P. Driver offers an enormous 460cc beta titanium clubhead, the largest allowable by the USGA. It is constructed using aerospace-grade, beta titanium, with the maximum allowable COR (Coefficient of Restitution), enabling the clubface to give slightly at impact and spring back.

Additionally, the clubface’s generous sweet spot produces exceptionally long and straight drives, and fewer mis-hits. Its deep clubface also promotes a high launch angle and low spin rate to maximize distance.

Elevated MOI
The G.R.I.P. 460cc Driver’s innovative design boosts its MOI (Moment of Inertia) by moving the club’s weight from its center, decreasing side spin and increasing ball speed. The elevated MOI also significantly reduces twisting of the clubhead, allowing for straighter shots even on off-center hits.

Rear-Sole Weighting
The GRIP 460cc Beta Titanium Driver features swing-correcting, fixed weight ports in the club’s rear sole, providing for a lower, deeper center of gravity that helps you close the clubface at impact and eliminate or reduce slicing. The G.R.I.P. fixed weighting system also reacts effortlessly to off-center hits by squaring the face during contact, making it the benchmark in fixed-weight driver technology.

G.R.I.P 460cc Beta Titanium Driver

The Look

The craftsmanship and design of the G.R.I.P. driver really shows when you pick it up and look at it. At 460cc the head is obviously going to be large, but it’s shape and construction don’t make it look odd like a lot of the drivers taking advantage of new technology. The shape of the head stays along the same lines of traditional drivers from 2-3 years ago. As you address the club it is very visually appealing next to the golf ball on the tee. The top of the club and the shaft are an attractive blue color which doesn’t show in the photos from the G.R.I.P. web site. For full disclosure, blue is my favorite color. I didn’t care for the grip on the shaft, which was kind of navy blue and black design if I can remember correctly. I don’t use normal size grips, so after testing out the club, I quickly had a new shaft (Winn Grip 6G8X-BBL which is a midsize with 3 layers of tape) put on to match my other clubs.

The Feel

As you swing the club everything feels very balanced. I like to start with a slow back swing and then really come at the ball on my downswing with an agressive weight transfer. With GRIP’s driver I feel like I’m in control of my swing.

In Action

The driver was delivered last Thursday, so I took it to the range before golf league. I wanted to determine if I should put it in my bag. After a couple of minutes I had my mind made up; I was giving the club a try in my bag. I was hitting pretty consistent shots that were long and straight. When I looked at the club face, I wasn’t even hitting the sweet spot yet. Every ball was high and towards the toe of the club, so the driver really is forgiving on off-center hits. On the course was a bit of a different story but not because of the golf club. I’ve been struggling with my swing timing on the tee, hitting some dead pulls or nasty pull hooks. When I did correct things I bombed a few down the fairways.

On Friday I went to the driving range to fix my swing and compare the G.R.I.P. driver to the 10 degree Makser AS440 I’ve played the last two years. When comparing the two drivers side by side, the new GRIP driver has a larger head and the shaft was over an inch longer. This year I’ve had a problem topping the ball on a lot of drives and this seems to have been resolved with the longer shaft. I hot both drivers, switching back and forth. I only hit a few slices using the G.R.I.P. driver and it played a lot more consistently. When the ball comes off the face of the club it has a nice rising ball flight and it goes long and straight.

On Sunday I played 18 holes at Bay City Country Club, using the driver every chance I could. The first few holes found me just off the fairway because I’ve been so used to compensating for a slice or slight fade. Once I learned to trust the club and aim down the middle, I was hitting bombs over the fairway bunkers. I don’t think I’ve ever hit so many fairways with a driving during one rough of golf in my life. I was hitting it 270-300 yards right down the middle nearly every hole. I only hit one bad slice all day long. My Dad took the old Makser driver home for my brother to try out since I have no use for it anymore.

Today I played 9 holes at Twin Oaks Golf Course and my swing was horrible. I didn’t make solid contact once off the tee, so I can’t say how the driver performed.

The Verdict

I’ve never felt more confident in a golf club in the 8 years I’ve been golfing. I’ve never hit a driver as consistently long and straight as I can hit the G.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium Driver. For only $129.95 you won’t find a better buy on a quality driver anywhere. Is there a driver out there I can hit just as straight and will give me another 10 yards off the tee? Probably, but it’s not worth the $300-500 it would cost. I can’t wait to get out for my next round of golf and hear the “ooohs” and “aaahs” after I hit a drive.

I received the G.R.I.P Sweetness Putter a few weeks ago from Rob at Golf Research in Play and The Savvy Golfer. I was impressed with the look and feel of the putter as soon as I took it out of the box. I used it around the living room for a bit, but knew I couldn’t take it out on the course with me. I’ve been using an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball putter for a couple of years now and it’s done wonders for my game. As impressed as I was with the Sweetness from G.R.I.P. I just couldn’t mess with my putting game. I showed the putter to my friend Dave and he said he’d test it out. Following is his review.

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The G.R.I.P. Sweetness Putter features an oversized, two-bar design, with a center aiming line between the two “Dual Tension Rods” to help make alignment easier. The double insert in the club face is comprised of a soft, CNC-milled aluminum center surrounded by a soft polymer. This putter is aimed at the casual golfer looking for the latest technology but at a lower price point ($69.95).

I currently use a Ping Anser and am generally happy with it. I use a pendulum stroke and push through the ball toward the hole. I feel that this gives me more control over ball release and trajectory. I had to change my stroke somewhat to get good results with the Sweetness. I found my push was causing me to go past the hole and offline. I altered my stroke to eliminate the push and let the club do the work. After that I was able to zero in the distance much better.

The club shaft has a double bend that gives the club a slight offset. Initially, I was holding the club improperly and getting too much loft. Once I adjusted the position, I got much better roll and accuracy.

Things I like: Very nice grip, excellent visual cues, good weight, and nice fit and finish.
Things I didn’t like: Nothing
I would recommend this putter for someone who wants to try this style without dropping a fortune.

Anyone want to buy a used Ping Anser?

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Dave seems to like the putter and like he said, you can’t beat the price for a quality putter. The grip on the putter is actually something I loved about it.

The shaft is wrapped in an ultra-soft, all-weather polyurethane two-piece grip.

Ultra-soft doesn’t even begin to describe how the grip felt. I love my 2-Ball and the feel of it, but the grip is one area where I think I could get a little bit better feel by using a softer grip.

“TurfTee is a revolutionized way of hitting golf balls versus the old fashioned rubber tees.” The idea behind the tee is great in theory and something I’ve always wished for. Hitting off the standard rubber tees at a driving range has never been one of my favorite ways to practice and never will. With TurfTee I thought those days might be over.

Savvy Golfer, sent me a TurfTee to give a little test drive about a month ago and I was finally able to give the product a try. At first it took me a minute or two trying to figure out who the tee actually worked. It didn’t seem to want to go into the longer whispier matt surface, where the rubber tees are, so then I tried the other part of the driving matt and it stuck in right away. I tucked the green end of TurfTee under the matt and teed a ball up. After two swings with my driver, the shorter yellow tee had broken. The little plastic tie down at the bottom of the tee where the string is held in place snapped. My TurfTee testing was over rather quickly because the taller blue tee puts the golf ball much higher than I like it for driving.

If the company behind TurfTee could come up with a better design for the leashes and holder, I think they’d have a great product. The current system doesn’t work though. I’d be pretty mad if I had purchased the item and had it break after two swings of the club.

Thanks to Savvy Golfer for the opportunity to try out TurfTee.