Equipment
Driver vs. Driver: Can a GolfWRX Editor design a better driver than what’s on the market?
Designing your own driver is like running a race through a jungle that’s littered with booby traps. No matter how fast you are (or in this case, how good your idea is for a driver), you’ll need help navigating through the obstacles or you’ll never survive.
Myself and 18 contestants on Wilson Staff’s new TV show, which documents the driver design process in a competitive Shark Tank-esque format, found out just how many booby traps lay unseen in the jungle of driver design.
Golf Channel’s “Driver vs. Driver” reality show, sponsored by Wilson, airs October 4 at 10 p.m. EST and pits driver designs from novices against each other. Nearly 300 submissions were accepted from “bus drivers, engineers, college students who have never played golf… real people,” says Michael Vrska, Global Innovation Director at Wilson. The 18 contestants were a part of 11 different teams, and they worked with professional golf club designers from Wilson to refine their designs. The winner not only earns $500,000, but the distinction of having his or her driver brought to market for the golfing public to purchase.
Judging the driver designs on the show are former NFL linebacker Brian Urlacher, former USGA Technical Director Frank Thomas, Wilson Golf President Tim Clarke and PGA Tour player Kevin Streelman. The show host is Melanie Collins, who also co-hosts on Golf Channel’s Big Break.
As I learned — and I’m sure the contestants on the show did as well — the driver-design process has some serious and unexpected challenges. Personally, I needed major help along the way from Wilson’s design team to not only make an awesome driver, but make a legal driver. Below, I detail the process of my driver design from start to finish, including photos and real feedback from along the way.
GolfWRX Driver
My first challenge in designing a new driver was answering the question, “What hasn’t been done already?” Think about for a second. Not so easy, huh? And it’s especially difficult when you need to sketch something up, and send it to professional driver designers knowing the sketches will be on GolfWRX for the world to see.
No pressure.
Here’s what was going through my amateur-driver-designer brain during the design period.
The best-performing drivers have low CG and high MOI, right? So I’ll sketch up a driver that has extremely low and rearward CG. Duh.
So I slapped some carbon fiber on the crown to save some weight up top, and threw a rear extension low and back behind the club to drag weight all the back away from the face.
Looks good enough.
And we need some adjustability, too. Hmm… I got it! Let’s put the gear from GolfWRX’s Gear Trials logo, make that dual-weighted — half aluminum and half tungsten — and spinning that gear will allow golfers to shift CG.
There’s also some more room in the back of the sole. Might as well add some additional adjustability. And a speed channel behind the face, too, because… why not?
I figured the weights could be made of different materials of varying weights, and you’d interchange them depending on whether you wanted neutral, draw, fade, and could adjust head weight, too.
Brilliant!
OK, about a year’s worth of R&D done in 15 minutes. A great-looking, and probably awesome-performing driver. Maybe this really is easier than it looks.
So I sent my very amateur sketches off to Wilson and got some lunch. I may or may not have been thinking I’d have a new career in designing drivers when I came back.
A few days passed and I received an email with feedback from Wilson. It was much like checking an exam grade that you thought you absolutely knocked out of the park.
And… I failed. Miserably.
Initial Design Feedback Summary
- Little chance the carbon fiber inserts and face-to-skirt radii would pass durability.
- Front-to-back length must be less than heel-to-toe length, so the driver is non-conforming under USGA rules.
- Volume is 478cc, which is also non-conforming under USGA rules, which set 460cc as the mass limit.
- The gear is too large, and is estimated to be too heavy.
- The four weight inserts would likely add even more mass to the design, which already weighs too much.
I didn’t think about the USGA, nor did I consider mass, durability… and reality. The gear design and rear extension might work after all, though, even though the four weights probably wouldn’t. There just wasn’t enough weight to go around, especially when saving weight is the goal.
Here’s the second round of designs after a few back and forth conversations via email with the Wilson team.
Click to enlarge.
Round 2 Feedback Summary
- Club is now USGA conforming, with a shorter front-to-back dimension and 458cc volume.
- CG is 0.130 inches toe-ward.
- Overall head weight is still too high, and that’s before the hosel adaptor or interchangeable weights are added.
- The lip structure for the carbon crown will also add additional weight.
It was still too heavy, and CG was toe-ward, which is less than ideal. But at least it was USGA conforming!
Wilson’s team asked for my thoughts on how to reduce size, weight and reposition CG. I was stumped. Luckily I was invited to Wilson’s headquarters in Chicago to play lead driver designer for a day, and sat over the shoulders of design experts, helping making final decisions on every aspect of the design.
Truth being told, however, I was just along for the ride. Wilson’s team took what was an obviously amateur — and frankly, a non-commonsensical driver design — and turned it into something that looked really cool, and might perform decently in the real world if it actually went to production.
A special thanks to Mark Spencer, Mark Kerscher, Kevin Mayoux, Rich Hulock and Michael Vrska for all of the time and assistance!
Final Design
Finals stats:
- CG with gear weight max toe = 0.034 inches toe-ward
- CG with gear weight max heel = 0.038 inches heel-ward
- Total CG movement with gear weight = 0.072 inches
- CAD MOI = Over 4100 for all gear weight positions
According to Wilson, MOI would probably be about 4300-4400 if it were actually to be produced. Also, with the amount of CG shift, the gear design would likely be enough to make a real impact on ball flight. Saving weight from various portions of the head made that possible.
Would it be the best driver on the market? Definitely not. But having the final product be USGA legal, and not a complete disaster was a success.
Final Thoughts
It would be a drastic understatement to say I have a newfound respect for driver design.
So much goes into designing a driver that it’s frankly overwhelming. Not only do you have to worry about conformity, durability, cost and production, but you need to highlight technologies in order to have a marketable driver, attract your intended consumers, and obviously, build something that performs better than not only your company’s predecessors, but other drivers on the current market. Oh yeah, and you only have about a year to do it.
As GolfWRX Senior Editor, I think it’s best I stick to reviewing the newest equipment rather than designing it.
Enjoy the gallery below featuring all of the sketches, CAD designs, FEA tests, etc., and don’t forget to vote in the poll below!
Poll
Loading ...[wrx_retail_links productid=”112″]
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- Max Homa what’s in the bag accurate as of the Masters.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Red 80 TX
5-wood: Titleist TSR2 (21 degrees @19.25, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 9 TX
Irons: Titleist T100S (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 620 (6-9)
Shafts: KBS $ Taper 130 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 50-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60)
Shafts: KBS $ Taper 130 (46) KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X (50, 56), KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 125 X (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5.5 Proto
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
More photos of Max Homa’s WITB in the forums.
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Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro (6 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75g 6.5
Mini driver: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver (11.5 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75g 6.5
- Unconfirmed. We are working to gather details.
5-wood: Krank Formula Fire
- Unconfirmed. We are working to gather details.
Irons: Avoda Prototype (5-PW)
Shafts: LA Golf Prototype
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (46-12S @45, 50-12S, 56, 60)
Shafts: LA Golf Prototype
Putter: SIK Pro C-Series Armlock/LA Golf Proto
Shaft: LA Golf C2L-180
Grip: JumboMax JumboFlat 17
Grips: JumboMax UltraLight XL
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash
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Accra Golf shafts have long been synonymous with fitting, and the new GX line of driver, fairway, and hybrid shafts continues that legacy.
Since 2004, Accra has been making high-end performance golf shafts that use the latest in materials and design philosophy. Their group of around 350 fitters are some of the best and most highly ranked in the world. While you might see other brands on professional tours more often, there are plenty of touring pros using Accra products and winning.
Accra’s new GX line of shafts is designed to offer a consistent and accurate shaft to a wide range of players. The GX line consists of 3 different shafts in driver, fairway, and hybrid designs.
The Accra GX shafts are designed for fitters to dial in golfers to the perfect shaft for their swing. Accra included a ton of technology into the GX line including their S3 profiling, DyMatch, and Constant Flex technology. DyMatch has been Accra’s quest to ensure that all shafts in a family feel and perform similar from driver to hybrid or iron shaft. Typically shafts get stiffer as they go up in weight, but Accra’s Constant Flex keeps the flex of the shafts consistent so fitters and golfers can dial in the weight that the golfer need without have to work around a stiffer or softer flex. Accra worked with Cool Clubs to build out its S3 Shaft Profiling system that not only allows a quick and easy EI profile of any shaft, it helps with quality control to ensure shafts come out of production exactly as they were designed.
Accra GX Red 300 Series
GX Red is lowest launching and spinning option in the GX line. Driver shafts have fewer options with just the 360 and 370 models that come in at 63 and 71 grams. The GX Red is made for faster swinging, or stronger, players who require a stiff (M4) or x-stiff (M5) shaft for their swing. Fairway and hybrid models are also on the higher weight side with the fairway clocking in at 80g and 90g for the hybrid. Accra designed this series with one of the stiffest tip sections of any Accra shaft in the current line, and while it is built to control launch and spin, the Red 300 Series will still offer that smooth feel.
Accra GX Green 100 Series
If your swing usually works best with mid-launch and spin, then the GX Green 200 series might be the right shaft for you. Offered in more weight and flex options, you can get a GX Green in 52 grams and all the way up to 70 grams in regular, stiff, and x-stiff flexes. GX Green will give the player a smooth feel and transition from the handle down to the tip section while still providing great stability and consistency. Accra also focused on the energy transfer of this shaft, and golfers can see some increased ball speed compared to other shafts.
Accra GX Blue 200 Series
While the GX Blue 100 Series is the highest launching and spinning option in the GX lineup, it will still give golfers the control and consistency they need. Starting off at 40g, the GX Blue series puts an emphasis on lighter weight to allow players to swing the club faster, promoting more distance. Accra touts the stability of the GX 140 Blue driver shaft by stating that some long driver competitors have put it in play to try and gain every MPH they can. Matching fairway and hybrid shafts are both on the lighter side at around 60g for the fairway and 65g for the hybrid depending on the flex.
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Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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Max Homa WITB 2024 (April)
Max Homa what’s in the bag accurate as of the Masters. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, D1 SureFit setting) Shaft:...
Bryson DeChambeau WITB 2024 (April)
Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro (6 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75g 6.5 Mini driver: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver...
Scottie Scheffler’s winning WITB: 2024 Masters
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (8 degrees @8.25) Buy here. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (45 inches) 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy...
WITB Time Machine: Danny Willett’s winning WITB, 2016 Masters
Driver: Callaway XR 16 (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 60 X Length: 45.5 inches 3-wood: Callaway XR 16 (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi...
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Jeremy
Oct 17, 2016 at 8:56 pm
The TV show is a trainwreck so far. None of the contestants really understand or seem to play golf. There is little drama. It’s not interesting-bad, but boring-bad.
Dave r
Oct 9, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Great article was going to pass right by it but glad I read it very interesting in deed .
RAT
Oct 6, 2016 at 12:16 pm
I like the idea of a contest on designing a driver and giving all that money away. This gets other ideas and involvement from people that just may have a great idea that is out of the box ! I bet there would be a lot more discussion if some other mfg. came up with this (Callaway )(TM)(Titleist) .It would be sooooo super and the greatest driver ever with 17 yards gained. But it isn’t and that’s the thorn in the side. At least it’s got people watching how designs are turned into a product. It’s certainly not easy and designs are so close to copying some others that one has to be very careful . I hope that it’s a great driver and a great show. Time will tell.
Z
Oct 6, 2016 at 2:40 am
Somebody squash this idiot like a bug
Wesley
Oct 5, 2016 at 10:45 pm
Thanks for an insightful article. Interesting look at how it really is to design a modern driver. It looks cool to me. Any driver that allows the user to have a ‘Fade’ position is a real win.
Ronnie
Oct 5, 2016 at 1:36 am
I like this show it was a break from BIG Break….Wilson is getting more and more back into golf, loosing Nike should help keep them around……Still remember when Wilson tossed out John Daly soon after he won the British Open with their odd looking driver….it was said they would never sell another driver after that….I think they are still trying to regain that part of the market…they should just re-sign Daly he is the longest on the Champions Tour now.
rymail00
Oct 4, 2016 at 11:20 pm
Andrew—-
Are you on the actual show? Or was your WRX design driver just looked over by the Wilson team to help promote the show (just curious, regardless enjoyed the this article a lot).
James
Oct 4, 2016 at 4:19 pm
Is Brian Urlacher an avid golfer? Maybe they trust a gritty Chicago opinion? I’m so confused why he is involved in this show?
VL
Oct 5, 2016 at 12:53 am
Because, doofus, he represents the 90% of hacker golfers in the world with a swing like his who seek a club helps them hit it long and straight. So him being a celebrity helps the show as well.
The Real Swanson
Oct 4, 2016 at 2:56 pm
Wilson should try and make a decent blade like they last did in the 80’s and early 90’s.
Stephen Tomlinson
Feb 13, 2019 at 10:47 am
#staff Proto is live! you were 18months ahead of the times
Rich
Oct 4, 2016 at 10:01 am
Looks absolutely crap!
CHip
Oct 4, 2016 at 8:48 am
The rear extension is very smart, so is the clicking gear to change weights around. If I had one request to new driver designer it would be to go the way of the R11 and make the lie angle adjustable. That adjustment plate was genius. Change the loft on the hosel, change the lie angle on the sole plate.
Matto
Oct 5, 2016 at 6:13 pm
Yeah………unless you hover your driver at address, which a lot of people do. And then it’s pointless. Which I believe was why that system was done away with.
Ti
Oct 4, 2016 at 2:20 am
Well Andrew, one idea to be able to make this heavier head work would be to use it on 43 or 44 inch shaft with a slightly heavier grip-end set up where you could use some counter weight or something to offset the heaviness, and make yours a better player driver (which it would be with all the adjustable tuning that lazy amateur high-handicappers don’t really want to deal with), with a heavier, stiffer, more tip-reinforced shaft. Might be interesting to try it
Adam
Oct 4, 2016 at 12:51 am
Based on the fact that the parameters for production are so strict, is there the real possibility that drivers could be made THAT much better if they were non-conforming? One of the biggest issues in golf today seems to be getting people interested in “having fun” aka hitting it like the pros. Personally, I could care less if your average weekend golfer used a non-conforming driver.
Based on your experience, Andrew, do you think the designers at the major club manufacturers could provide normal golfers with leaps and bounds performance enhancements if they weren’t constrained by the USGA regulations?
It makes sense to me that people should play with what they want. If you’re not even thinking of playing in anything competitive, who cares what you use? Enjoying the game is what matters most, and allowing players to hit it longer and/or straighter seems like it could help draw players to the game.
All that said, I love your design, and the gear is a masterful idea. Similar to the R1 a bit, but great use of the space available.
KK
Oct 3, 2016 at 9:30 pm
One of the best golf articles ever.
Sean Hoffman
Oct 3, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Why you walkin?
Kurren
Oct 3, 2016 at 6:56 pm
This is so cool! Really looking forward to this show. I’m curious to see if there will be a HiBore type design. I made a thread last year asking why that shape wasn’t ever used again. It seems to tick all the boxes, you are saving volume with the scoop, so you have more room to make the driver have a bigger footprint to push CG rearward. Also since the crown weight is lower, the CG would also be lower. Seems great to me?
Des
Oct 3, 2016 at 5:18 pm
i think it’s a very cool design concept. I would love to hit it. I hope it at least makes it to prototype so we get to see how it performs. I think you’re on a very good track with this
yMH
Oct 3, 2016 at 8:27 pm
yEAH yOUR mUM’S hEAD IS ON IT
Jake
Oct 3, 2016 at 4:52 pm
So once I saw this article and saw how overly complicated the process is and what is trying to be achieved through this show and what was designed here in by the author all I can think about is how about we just follow a couple of trends that are apparent across the OEMs producing top tier drivers.
1. Carbon gives you freedom to move weight around a little more freely
2. move able weight is a good thing when moved correctly….
3. Stick with a familiar shape… Like TM, Titleist and some of the Cally drivers. Weird shapes have came and gone already a few times. The market has already told these companies that doesn’t work.
Solution: Use a carbon crown that can easily be removed, you could use the same screw for the hosel loft adjustment. Maybe I’m not an engineer. Use hot melt for the move able weight. This is already a proven method of modifying weight dynamic and gives the driver better acoustics. Train fitters on where allocating the hot melt weight would best benefit the fitee. Doing this would increase the number of people buying at full retail and would encourage people to get fit to get the most out of the driver they are buying, do to restricted access to people able to hot melt.
There you have it a truly customized move able weight driver without all the ugly cosmetics of trying to find out how to move the weight around also cuts down on people like me and lots of golfwrxers who buy off ebay or other outlets to get the same driver at a discount.
G
Oct 3, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Why don’t you have a nice cup of STFU if you don’t know anything at all. You’re just clutching at straws like everybody other idiot pretending to know something they know nothing about.
Every metal wood and hybrid all have some amount of goop in them. Beyond that, having adjustable removable weights is the norm. The design on this page needs to have that component instead of having to hot metal anything at all.
Go play tennis, if you don’t want this stuff
Jnak97
Oct 3, 2016 at 3:19 pm
I would be interested to see what the tails does in a wind tunnel, but the top view is a little hard to look at. The gear is an interesting advent and pretty unique compared to other cg shifting techniques in the market now. So it would have a carbon fiber crown?
Sean
Oct 3, 2016 at 2:48 pm
Nicely done Andrew! I would certainly give it a “shot”. Good luck!
MIKEYP
Oct 3, 2016 at 2:30 pm
An honest question, if there was a way to make a driver better, wouldnt the R&D departments at all the large club manufactures have figured it out by now? I hit my 2005 Cleveland as straight and as far as my M2 with the same diamana shaft and golf pride grip.
Ummmm
Oct 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Yes – there is no more innovation left only cosmetics
Eej
Oct 3, 2016 at 3:50 pm
No.
Because you’re an eejit
Get air
Oct 3, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Great article, and I like your design. Already set the DVR for the show. What a great idea for Wilson. Hope this gets their name back out there again. Even my kids who aren’t really into golf yet are super interested in this show.
Matt
Oct 3, 2016 at 12:10 pm
That thing is hideous.
Phil
Oct 3, 2016 at 11:12 am
How many episodes did you just ruin by posting this? Do I even need to watch the show?
Mouldfan
Oct 3, 2016 at 11:36 am
Did you fail third grade reading comprehension? The article was about the author’s personal experience attempting to accomplish what the show’s contestants were being asked to do. It mentions nothing about the show other than noting its name, sponsor, air time, host, judges, and the ultimate reward. It reveals nothing about the show’s actual content, divulges nothing about specific episodes, and, therefore, in no way “ruins” anything. Do you really think the folks at Wilson and/or the Golf Channel would be that dumb to provide specific details about the show before it even airs? Please do us all a favor and step away from your computer and out of your mom’s basement.
Mike Honcho
Oct 3, 2016 at 12:36 pm
I thought you were too busy making snide remarks at the Ryder Cup to have time to come on here and do the same.
Boobsy McKiss
Oct 3, 2016 at 10:45 am
Telling story of the state of the golf industry when they are asking randoms to design the next gen gear?
the guy
Oct 3, 2016 at 2:16 pm
This article proves that what they are looking for is not a new golf club engineer, just a simple good idea. They took Andrew’s hideous and kind of silly idea and turned it into something sort of workable that looked like a driver you might see (that nobody would ever buy thanks to that tail).
The Wilson engineers are going to do the heavy lifting.
Ummmm
Oct 3, 2016 at 3:46 pm
Yeah because they have such a solid track record creating golf clubs that do well at retail 🙂
Every single one of them should be fired