Am I in love ? Ask my Taylor Made r9 Driver and 3 wood....

Earlier this year, I switched to Taylor Made's (revolutionary at the time) r9 driver. I wrote my initial evaluation of it in June (you can read it here), in which I was quite impressed. This post will focus on my "extended use" review of the r9 driver, as well as the r9 3 wood, which I put in my bag mid-summer. Since the initial post provided all of sorts of technical stuff, I'm not going to rehash all of that (you're welcome....). Rather, I will provide you my full impressions after playing the club for (most of)a full season - hopefully, for those of you who are looking for a new driver or 3 wood this Christmas (yep, I still call it Christmas...feel free to use your own terminology,tho) this info will prove helpful to you or to Santa.

The specs on the clubs are as follow:

• r9 driver, 9.5 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• r9 3 wood, 15 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• both are set with the weights "neutral", and the faces one degree open

Since my initial review, I've played over 40 rounds of golf with the clubs - much of it in a competitive situation (The Golf Channel Amateur Tour, primarily). I think this is relevant because one learns quite quickly in these situations that control of your driver and 3 wood is at least as important as distance. Having set the stage, following are my observations on the two clubs:

r9 Driver

• The r9 driver is the longest driver I've played to date, and as a long time TM driver user, this is a good sign for prospective buyers.
• The adjustable face technology really DOES work. As I have improved my skills on the course, and worked hard to learn a correct weight transfer, I had fixed any tendency to hit a tee ball to the right side (aka a slice). However, in the process I had overcompensated to the degree that my "misses" were now left - and those misses tended to lead to big numbers on the card. My efforts to use the movable weights (a hallmark of the r7 series) were fairly effective - however, the adjustable face angle REALLY nailed this issue. By setting the face 1 degree open (effectively de-lofting the club), I found that I was able to really go after the ball, swing as aggressively as I wanted, and rarely have to worry about snapping it left. On the days I was really in a groove, I could tell because my drives were long, with a boring trajectory, and a slight fade at the end. The point here is simply that between the movable weights and an adjustable face, anyone with a "consistent problem" can improve their ball flight.
• Since I settled on a "neutral weight,1 degree open setting", I have not made subsequent adjustments. While frequent adjustments are easy and straightforward, I was happy with my settings and never saw fit to change them. The tool that's included is easy to use.
• I'm a mid handicapper (fluctuating between 8 and 12 throughout the year) - and I found the r9 to be plenty forgiving. It's not what I would consider a "players club" in the sense that you must hit it exactly on the sweet spot to get good results. I did notice (after reading a great review on another blog) that shots hot in the center of the clubface flew the "expected" distance, but a shot hit above center ( a little high on the face) REALLY took off. Once I figured this out, I gained at least 15 yards on my tee shots. That being said, the club retains some workability if you need it - when I was hitting the ball well, I could draw or fade it on command....but on the days I wasn't striping it, I could just as easily play for the center of the fairway and generally hit it straight.
• The face and head still look good after much use - no unusual wear or premature fatigue. The sound is pleasant (no "aluminum baseball bat" like ping, or dull, muted "thud") - and this has been consistent since my first shot with the r9. If sound is important to you, this won't disappoint.
• As much as I liked the Matrix Ozik shaft in the r7 Classic, I've been very pleased with the Fujikura Motore that comes standard in the r9. It's lively, consistent, and looks good with the red and white paint. The only complaint I have with this shaft is that it tends to scratch easily. Hopefully,no long term damage here - but it's worth noting.
• Overall impression of the r9 driver after a full season is a resounding "thumbs up with a snap" (that's for all of you In Living Color fans out there)... I highly recommend this driver.

r9 3 Wood

The 3 wood has been the most frequently changed club in my bag (except for putters) over the past 10 years. Unlike my driver, I've played many different brands - Callaway,Ping,TaylorMade, Titleist, Sonartec ('memba them ?), and Orlimar. Prior to getting the r9, I was playing the TM Burner, and was pretty happy with it. However, my fondness for the r9 driver, and my propensity to experiment with 3 woods, led me to decide to give the r9 3 wood a shot. Oddly, when I got the club to the range for the first time, the face was already set at 1 degree open...a strange coincidence for certain. Here are my observations on the r9 3 wood:

• Initially the larger head was visually distracting - and I struggled to hit this club solidly off the deck. Accepting this as a temporary issue, I decided to hit some off the tee. After hitting 10 shots off the tee, WOW... a very similar experience as with the driver. Long, predictable, and right where I was aiming. I went back to hitting balls off the deck, and had some improvement - but still could see I needed to work on this.
• Taking the r9 3 wood to the course, I decided to use it on all par 4s that were less than 400 yards. My great results from the range carried over to the course - my tee shots were long, accurate, and I was able to go after the ball aggressively without worrying about hooking - thanks to the 1 degree open face. I was hooked...
• Throughout the remainder of the season, my shotmaking abilities with the r9 3 wood continued to improve. In tournaments, this became a real "go to" club when hitting the fairway was a must. I also found the distance with this club to be incredible. In some of the late season events, I was sometimes hitting this club 240 yards plus off the tee. No question, its long...
• I was also able to overcome the early problems hitting the r9 3 wood off the fairway - practice and a focus on tempo seemed to cure this - so it was obviously user error!
• The face and head had held up well, and remain in great shape.
• The issues with shaft scratching that I described above also presented themself with the 3 wood - not really sure of the cause here, as I'm pretty careful with my sticks. At any rate, its something that we hope TM pays attention to and addresses.
• My overall rating on the r9 3 wood is a big thumbs up. If you are in the market for a 3 wood, I highly recommend you give this one a try - I feel sure it will be among the finalists for the VP slot in your bag for 2010 !

As I've lamented before, there is no telling what the Golf gurus at Taylor Made are cooking up for 2010 - but for right now, the r9 driver and 3 wood had a secure spot in the bag at Bushwood. I've paid careful attention to the TM staff players, and practically all of them have switched to the r9 - so even the pros seem to agree with me here.

If any of our readers are r9 users, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them !

TaylorMade r9 Review - IT ROCKS !!!

The long awaited BCC review of TaylorMade's bangin' new driver, the r9, is finally complete. Since this was such a revolutionary product, I took a LOT of time testing and evaluation this club - thus the delay in completing my evaluation. If you have read this blog for very long, you know that I am a long time believer in TaylorMade's big sticks (see BCC's review of the r7 Limited here). I've tried Ping's G10, a few Callaways, Titleist, and Nike - but for me (and seemingly a bunch of guys who get paid to play), TM totally has the driver game wired. So wired in fact, that they continually churn out new gear at an astonishing pace - but, I digress.

About the r9:For those of you who don't know much about the club, it combines the "Movable Weight Technology" of the r7 series with a new feature - one which allows you to move the clubhead on the shaft. This allows you to rotate the clubface into 5 different settings - from 2 degrees open to 2 degrees closed. For a pro, this functionality is nothing new, as they can get their clubs "bent" to fit - but for the rest of the mere mortals,this a completely new feature. The r9 comes in a variety of lofts and is equipped with a rockin' Fujikura Motore shaft. For more on the technological intricacies of the r9, just go here.

Intro: I've played TM Drivers since the 90's , and since late 2008, I had been playing the r7 Limited, and really,really liked the club. So much so, that I went into the "evaluation" of the r9 fully expecting this to be a fairly short process. I figured I would hit some balls on the range, play with the adjustments, complete a few loops with it in my bag, and come back and write the review. Well, that's where it started to get interesting...

First Date: Out of the box, my first thought was that the r9 is a very good looking club. The head cover has some nice,updated graphics, it is plenty durable, and overall very well finished. The head of the r9 is relatively similar to the r7 Limited, with a bit of a "triangle" shape. The black metaflake pain looks nice - nothing too flashy there. One kind a weird thing I did notice - the little alignment aid seems to be off-center, closer to the heel of the club...not a big deal, but something I thought odd. The new r9 logo is prominently displayed on the bottom of the club. Adjusting both the weights and the face angle are simple, and are accomplished with a special tool that TM provides with the club. As previously mentioned, a Fujikura Motore shaft, all dolled up in TM Red,Black, and White comes standard in the r9 - a kick azz upgrade for certain. IT comes in a variety of lofts, and mine is a 9.5 degree version. Another nit - with the popularity of the Golf Pride Multi decade compound grips, it seems that TM could give some thought to stocking those on the club ( I put a white one one mine to match my set - it looks shweeet), as it currently comes with a TM branded grip.

Making My Move: So my first trip to the range with the new bat, and I was excited. A few practice swings and I was impressed with how solid the club felt when hitting nothing but air...hard to describe, it just felt good. I had been fighting a bit of a hook off the tee, so I decided to take advantage immediately of TM technological wizardry - I whipped out the wrench and cranked the face 2 degrees open (max setting), but left the weights set on "neutral". 10 swings later, and I had yet to hit a drive left... a good sign. However, I was not happy with the ball flight ( a bit to high), so I adjusted it back to 1 degree open. It only took 3 shots, and BANG, I knew I was onto something. Based on this, I decided to take my new toy to the battlefield. The first hole at my home track has always been a challenge to me - the fairway is super tight, and I had long struggled with pulling this shot left. BANG again - right down the middle, high and straight as an arrow. 18 holes later, I had hit 10 fairways, and only missed two of them to the left (one a bad miss, the other only slightly in the rough). Initial Thoughts - This evaluation will take longer than originally planned. I was very,very impressed.

3 weeks later, I have played 7 rounds of golf and continue to be impressed. The adjustability has really helped me (I've not changed the setting of 1 degree open) fully release on my driver swing and not worry (too much) about going left. Meanwhile, I have consistently hit the best drives of my life. Distance, trajectory,ball flight - it's all there. However, one of the really amazing things I have noticed about this club - and something that I have NEVER been able to do consistently or predictably, is "work" the ball. Whether it is the club, my confidence, my swing, or some combination thereof - I can now hit a draw reliably when needed AND hit a fade. Now, for those of you scratch golfers out there (HOLLA, Shane B.), this may not sound like a big deal,because you have been able to do this forever. ..but for a mid handicapper like myself this is a pretty big deal.

Not content to write this review with just my assessment, I let a buddy use it this weekend (he normally plays a Ping G10). He immediately started bombing it - first 4 holes he used it, 4 split fairways, way long. By the 6th hole that he used it on, he was ready to buy one at the turn !

Here are my ratings by "category":

• Sound: Consistently receive comments on how "solid" the club sounds, which I have never gotten before (including on other TM gear). Very pleasing overall. Grade:A+
• Distance: I'm killing it and so are my buddies. I know they say the r9 460 is longer, but I'm hitting it onto the downhill lie sections (which is further than you'd like to be) on a lot of par 4s so far. It's a bomber. Grade:A+
• Trajectory: With the multiple adjustments, you should be able to fix this to your liking. I certainly was, with only two adjustments. My only advice - go slowly o the adjustments, make one at a time, and make them in the smallest increments possible. Grade:A+
• Grip: As mentioned, I wish they would offer the Golf Pride Multi Decade Compound grip - the white one or the red one would look great on this club. The stock TM grip is sufficient tho. Grade: B
• Other: The movable weights and adjustable face angle are simple,well constructed, and easy to understand and use. No complaints there. Grade: A
• Overall Performance: I won't belabor this - this is the BEST DRIVER I have ever played. I like everything about the club (ok,ok, except the grip...but that is so minor).

Will He or Won't He ?: This is a great club, and a huge advance in golf technology. If you are in the market for a new driver, do yourself a HUGE favor - give the r9 a long,serious look. I've never had so many people borrow a driver, hit it, and absolutely LOVE it as with the r9. If you are already a TM fan, just go buy it....it completely rocks. Grade: A+

Postscript - Check back soon, I'm hoping to do a review of the TM r9 Fairway wood as well !!!

Frogger Golf - Better than a Sham Wow, No Nasty Stripper Beat Down Required...

If you watch very much Golf Channel programming, you have probably seen your share of infomercials/commercials pimping the latest new golf invention. Hell, TGC even had (has ?) a show focused on new golf related inventions. Even the industry gets in on the game, as each year the annual PGA Show awards a "product of the year" to some deserving outfit. Recently, I've seen several ads from a company called Frogger Golf - makers of the the Amphibian Towel and BrushPro that I thought were pretty cool. When I started checking this out a little closer, I saw that these guys have won the "Best New Product" at the PGA merch show for the last TWO YEARS RUNNING. That's right - the "Brush Pro" won in 2008, and the Amphibian Towel won in 2009. Now you know that we here at Bushwood run with the winners, so I felt compelled to check their gear out. I contacted the nice folks at Frogger, and my gear was soon on the way - The BrushPro, The Amphibian Towel, and The Amphibian Ball Towel.

About the Gear

Frogger's three products are all focused on one pretty simple premise - keeping your clubs and ball clean. They are all available in a variety of colors.

What We Thought

• Nice packaging on all three products - clear, easy to understand instructions for replacing the brushes,groove cleaner, etc.
• Pretty cool that they offer replacement brushes and groove cleaners - not a lot of truly reusable golf products out there.
• The BrushPro is a great product,period. The handle is easy to handle (good), but may be a little large for some (deal with it). It comes on a retractable leash, and attaches to your bag with a sturdy carabiner. The brush also has the aforementioned retractable groove cleaner - a nice metal gizmo that works a lot better than a tee. As mentioned above, both the brush AND the groove cleaner are replaceable. Also available is an all-nylon brush which you can slide on that's great for cleaning off your shoes or bag - a nice touch. Another nice touch is that all of these add-ons come in clear plastic storage boxes for secure storage. Grade : A
• The Amphibian Towel comes in two flavors - The "regular" size which attaches to your bag, and is for cleaning clubs, grips, etc; and the "mini" size, which is designed for cleaning your golf balls. The mini also comes with a small carabiner and can be attached to your belt loop (not my look, but if you want to rock it like that, go for it). Both towels work the same way - their design is allows you to keep the inside wet (for cleaning stuff) and the outside dry (for drying stuff off). WHAAAA ? Well, that's what I thought too. The towels are built like a envelope that's open on two sides, and the inside is a different,separate piece than the outside. To make them "work", simply wet the inside (I used 24 oz. of water on the larger one, and about 4 oz on the smaller one), and let the water get absorbed by the inner layer. As crazy as that sounds, it works. The large towel, which I attached to my bag as a replacement of my regular towel, worked very well - and kept my clubs clean all day. The inside stayed wet, and the outside stayed dry - as promised. The smaller towel, or "ball towel", was useful all day long - I just carried it to the green with me, and it did a great job of keeping my ball clean. I did have to re-moisten it mid round, but that is no big deal. Overall, I was pretty damn amazed that these products worked EXACTLY as the infomercial said they would (unlike the Sham-Wow - suck it, Vince) . The quality of the materials is very high - clearly the guys at Frogger Golf are in it for the long haul, and care very much about making a high caliber product. Grade : A+

My overall impression of the company and their products is very high. When you check them out (and you will want to), remember that they are a small shop - so be patient of you don't get a chirpy voice from Mumbai on the first ring ( actually, I got the Founder when I called - who is a super dude), just leave them a message or drop em an email at info@froggergolf.com. They will respond, and I think you will be delighted with their products.

Gotta run, Big Break PEI is coming on tonight - and I just know that Brian is gonna melt down hard...

Bridgestone B330 RX - Product Review

In late 2008, Bridgestone introduced a new ball - the B330RX. According to the media hype, this marks the first attempt by a golf ball manufacturer to create a "Tour" caliber ball that is specifically made for amateur swing speeds (85 - 105 mph). Up to this point, the only way for the average duffer to get the distance, spin, and feel of a "Tour" ball was to play one which was manufactured for swing speeds of 105 mph+ (Pro V1, Pro V1x, TM Red & Black, Callaway Tour, etc)

Bridgestone says the DNA of the B330 Rx has the following genetic traits:

* Driver Distance - LONGEST (6 on a 6 point scale)
* Drive Spin - LOW (1.5 on a 6 point scale)
* Short Iron Spin - HIGH (5 on a 6 point scale)
* Feel - SOFTEST (6 on a 6 point scale)

The 330 RX is a urethane, multilayer ball with a soft gradational core. The softer core is the reason for this ball is better suited to "amateur" swing speeeds - as it allows for the right amount (read "more") compression. This is also engineered to allow for a higher launch AND less spin off the driver. The soft urethane cover provides both the high short iron spin, and (obviously) the soft overall feel of the ball .

Having played the Pro V1x, TM Red and Black, and the Bridgestone B330 S in the recent past, I was quite interested in giving this ball a try. I like Bridgetone products, but always drifted back to the Pro V1x as my preferred ball. All of this sounded too good to be true for me, which is a sure fire way to get me to try it out. Here are the results after playing the ball for the last 3 months:

Off the Tee: I compared the B330 Rx to a Pro V1x, and a Taylor Made Red for 6 rounds of golf - my swing speed fluctuates between 90 and 100 mph, so I figured to be a good test subject. In terms of distance off the tee, the Bridgestone was equal to or slightly longer than the Pro V1x, and generally longer than the TaylorMade Red. The ball flight of the Bridgestone tended to be more penetrating than either the Titleist or TM. The lower driver spin is where the Bridgestone really distinguished itself, as I found the 330 RX to be significantly straighter and less likely go astray than either of the other two balls. Another measure, albeit relatively crude, but nonetheless accurate - the B330 Rx was much harder to lose than either the Titleist or the TM. I play on a tight, tree and woods lined course with plenty of opportunities to hit one 10 feet off the fairway and lose it in the leaves - and I found that the B330 RX was much less likely to offline than either of the other balls. Oddly, I did not initially think to "measure" this - I just noticed repeatedly that I would be on the 15th or 16th hole and still be playing with the same ball that I started with...and it would be in good shape. Overall score off the tee: A +

Mid Iron & Hybrid Play: The B330 RX performed comparably with both the Pro V1x and the TM Red on Mid Iron and Hybrid shots (3H thru 7I). Distance, trajectory, and feel were virtually the same, with the B330 RX feeling a wee bit softer than the Pro V1x. Overall Score on Mid Irons: A

Short Irons ,Wedges, and Spin: The B330 RX performed admirably on Short Irons and Wedbe Shots (8I thru LW). Trajectory seemed a bit flatter than the TaylorMade, and comparable to the Titleist. I was able to spin the B330 RX with all of my scoring irons, and I found the performance to be predictable. On "full" shots with my gap wedge through lob wedge (50 degrees to 58 degrees), the Pro V1x did a spin a wee bit more than the B330 RX - so if you value spin over all other things, the Pro V1x has a slight advantage here - otherwise, the Bridgestone is a great performer. Overall Score on Short Irons : A

Feel off the Putter : The B330 RX was comparable to both the Pro V1x and TM Red on the green, providing a great feel off the putter head. It has a nice alignment "line" , and felt nice on both long and short putts. I did not notice the cover to be susceptible to unusual wear - which is nice for a "Softer" ball. Overall Score on Green Performance : A+

Overall Analysis: I can't be anymore direct than this - I switched to the Bridgestone B330 RX as my preferred ball. I found that I gave up no performance, and gained greater accuracy (and perhaps some distance) off the tee due to lower driver spin. If you are a someone who is willing to pay for a "Tour" caliber ball ($38-$45 per dozen), and have a "normal" swing speed (85-105), I highly recommend these balls. Give 'em a try - I do not think you will be disappointed. Overall Score: A+

For more info on selecting the right ball, check out Bridgestone's online tool here.