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Photos of Nike “VPR Strike” drivers that apparently would have come out in 2017 (updated with info and more photos)

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Updated 10/10/18 at 10:32 a.m.

Photos of two other Nike VPR drivers added to Instagram

Updated 10/9/18 at 10:10 a.m.

Instagram user @oli_willson shared some of his knowledge about the Nike VPR driver that he photographed; he says the info is based on his time at Nike, and is not confimred technology stories that were gonig to be released.

“There was going to be 2 drivers, the Vapor Strike and the Vapor Strike Elite. The theme was angle of attack as most higher handicappers are steep so the VPR Strike was aimed to launch high off a steep angle of attack. The Vapor Strike Elite was a RZN head and the ball speeds were incredible. It was aimed more at the guys who sweep the ball and better players. Rory loved it and wanted to put it in play following final testing at The Oven, but Nike wouldn’t let him. I heard an extra 8 mph of ball speed vs. the blue Vapor FLY Pro. One interesting technology I heard this driver had, was that it was illegal in certain parts of the driver face, but legal in the parts where COR was measured. Was going to be marketed potentially as ‘The legal, illegal driver.'”

— original story —

An Instagram post by user @oli_willson, an “ex-Nike Golf employee” according to his Insta bio, shows a Nike “VPR Srike” driver that apparently would have come out in 2017 had Nike not decided to exit the hard goods section of the golf industry.

That is one thick “speed channel,” isn’t it?

In the Insta post, Wilson included 4 photos of the driver. Here’s a look at the crown, which seems to show some kind of carbon fiber-type technology.

Check out our TG2 video review of the product photos here.

It’s interesting to see Nike was going back to a black-and-red colorway instead of the electric blue or volt colors the company was becoming known for. What other takeaways do you have from these photos of the Nike driver that never was?

Check out our TG2 video review of the product photos here.

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19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. H?ng Phát Blue Star

    Oct 23, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    The content is great

  2. Emboom

    Oct 12, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    I always find it funny how people will slam something they know nothing about. I also find it interesting that several golf companies were interested in purchasing Nike technology after the Oven was shut down. If memory serves me correctly, Taylor Made was the eventual winner in acquiring the tech. Must have been something cooking in the oven that smelled pretty good.

  3. Curt

    Oct 12, 2018 at 12:55 pm

    They quit making clubs I quit golfing.

  4. ~j~

    Oct 9, 2018 at 11:19 am

    This driver wouldn’t even make the cut for the driver vs driver show. At least they gave up on the square head and yellow shafts though. (smh)

  5. Greg

    Oct 9, 2018 at 9:30 am

    Would have been in my bag . I still love my covert driver

    • Simms

      Oct 22, 2018 at 11:45 pm

      As if the DVD driver is going to be any good, try one of the DVD Triton from the first show…if Wilson had any faith in the second DVD they would offer to trade them for the first DVD, which is worth about $25 dollars in trade at the most…..

  6. Pablo

    Oct 9, 2018 at 9:21 am

    So over Nike.

  7. Brian McGranahan

    Oct 8, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    KABOOM!!!!

  8. Tom

    Oct 8, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    Nike golf equipment? Nobody cares!

    • Kris

      Oct 9, 2018 at 9:44 pm

      Yet you just read about it and felt it important enough to you to lie in a comment.

      • Jarrod Calloway

        Nov 9, 2019 at 12:34 pm

        Exactly! So many idiots show up with their opinion like someone cares about their negative viewpoint. If you read something and don’t like it what makes your mind go to the comment section and drop ignorance. Only a miserable person acts that way…

  9. DJ

    Oct 8, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    best driver Nike came out with was the Ignite

  10. Brad

    Oct 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    Funny how the average driving distance on Tour jumped significantly after Nike bowed out of making golf clubs and most Tour Players stopped using Nike drivers. Coincidence or not? I’d say not.

    Probably best that this one never made it to market.

    • Scott

      Oct 9, 2018 at 10:16 am

      I think that you are on to something. The last Nike one I hit 5 years ago was pretty accurate but substantially further behind my driver. Maybe 20 to 30 yards behind. I am not sure how any of the Nike stable of players could be near the top in driving distance, unless they were playing another brand painted to look like a Nike.

  11. 2putttom

    Oct 8, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    so that’s the piece of equipment with R&D that put em in the red financially

  12. Stump

    Oct 8, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    I think Nike was pretty good at irons but their woods were cheesy. They remind me of the less expensive brand Rick Shiels has on his channel sometimes…Ben Ross I think.

  13. Ardbeggar

    Oct 8, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    Who knows? It might be the best driver nobody ever hit.

  14. Scheiss

    Oct 8, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    Looks like a great driver for Target, Walmart and Costco. It was the right decision to quit

  15. Tim

    Oct 8, 2018 at 11:50 am

    Might have been a better choice in 2016 vs the butt ugly blue. Nike Golf Equipment may have lasted 1 more year?

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Streelman WITB 2024 (April)

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  • Kevin Streelman what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

5-wood: Ping G (17.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 X

Irons: Wilson Staff Model CB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Wilson Staff Model (48-08, 54-08), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-L @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54, 58)

Putter: Scotty Cameron TourType SSS TG6

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Streelman’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Choose Your Driver: Which 2012 driver was your favorite?

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The year was 2012. Gangnam Style ruled supreme, its infectious beats and ludicrous horse-riding dance moves hypnotizing us with their stupidity. Everyone was talking about the Mayan calendar, convinced that the end of days was near. Superheroes soared on the silver screen, with the Avengers assembling in epic fashion. Katniss Everdeen survived The Hunger Games. And the memes! The memes abounded. Grumpy Cat triumphed. We kept calm and carried on.

In much the same way that automotive enthusiasts love classic cars, we at GolfWRX love taking a backward glance at some of the iconic designs of years past. Heck, we love taking iconic designs to the tee box in the present!

In that spirit, GolfWRX has been running a series inspired by arguably the greatest fighting game franchise of all time: Mortal Kombat. It’s not “choose your fighter” but rather “choose your driver.”

Check out some of the standout combatants of 2012 below.

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)


Nike VRS

Often harshly critiqued during its years releasing golf equipment (right, Phil Mickelson?), Nike’s tenure in the club-and-ball business gets a gloss of nostalgic varnish, with many of its iron and putter designs continuing to attract admirers. Among the company’s driver offerings, the 2012 VRS — or VR_S, if you will — drew high marks for its shaping and toned-down appearance. The multi-thickness, NexCOR face was no joke either.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Callaway RAZR Fit

Callaway’s first foray into moveable weight technology (married with its OptiFit hosel) did not disappoint. With a carbon fiber crown, aerodynamic attention to detail, and variable and hyperbolic face technologies, this club foreshadowed the tech-loaded, “story in every surface” Callaway drivers of the present, AI-informed design age.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Cleveland Classic 310

Truly a design that came out of left field. Cleveland said, “Give me a persimmon driver, but make it titanium…in 460cc.” Our 2012 reviewer, JokerUsn wrote, “I don’t need to elaborate on all the aesthetics of this club. You’ve seen tons of pics. You’ve all probably seen a bunch in the store and held them up close and gotten drool on them. From a playing perspective, the color is not distracting. It’s dark enough to stay unobtrusive in bright sunlight…Even my playing partners, who aren’t into clubs at all…commented on it saying it looks cool.” Long live!

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Titleist 910

While there’s no disputing Titleist’s “Titleist Speed” era of drivers perform better than its 2010s offerings, sentimentality abounds, and there was something classically Titleist about these clubs, right down to the alignment aid, and the look is somewhere between 983 times and the present TS age. Representing a resurgence after a disappointing stretch of offerings (907, 909), The 910D2 was a fairly broadly appealing driver with its classic look at address and classic Titleist face shape.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

TaylorMade RocketBallz

The white crown. The name. You either loved ‘em or you hated ‘em. TaylorMade’s 2012 offering from its RocketBallz Period boasted speed-enhancing aerodynamics and an Inverted Cone Technology in the club’s titanium face. Technology aside, it’s impossible to overstate what a departure from the norm a white-headed driver was in the world of golf equipment.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Ping i20

Long a quietly assertive player in the driver space, Ping’s i20 was more broadly appealing than the G20, despite being a lower-launch, lower-spin club. Ping drivers didn’t always have looks that golfer’s considered traditional or classic, but the i20 driver bucked that trend. Combining the classic look with Ping’s engineering created a driver that better players really gravitated toward. The i20 offered players lower launch and lower spin for more penetrating ball flight while the rear 20g tungsten weights kept the head stable. Sound and feel were great also, being one of the more muted driver sounds Ping had created up to that time.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

GolfWRXers, let us know in the comments who “your fighter” is and why!

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/29/24): Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Krank Formula fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft.

From the seller: (@well01): “Krank formula fire 10.5 degree with AUtoflex SF505.  $560 shipped.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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