Callaway Driver, The FT-5. Long Distance
Written: Apr 11 '07 (Updated Apr 15 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very forgiving but still retains it's distance.
Cons: $450, worth it after a good round, damned after a bad shot.
The Bottom Line: You get accuracy with this club without having to sacrafice distance. It sounds, feels, and looks great. You will be happy with it.
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| smallmouth's Full Review: Callaway Ft-5 Driver |
This is the Best Driver I have ever hit! A couple of months ago I entered the market of new drivers as a buyer. I tried just about every driver on the market, actually I did try out every new driver on the market. The boys at Edwin Watts were getting tired of me. I tried them one after another, thought it over, came back and tried them again.
For those of you not familiar with Edwin Watts, they are a large Golf chain store. They have a golf simulator to try out their clubs. You tee up the ball of your choice on a mat with a real tee and swing just like you would out on a course but you hit the ball into a screen. A computer records just about everything from swing speed, ball trajectory, ball spin rate, ball speed, distance, straightness, and anything else associated with a swing. If you are in the market for a new club or set of clubs, and are anywhere near this store, go and try them out.
I have to be honest, this wasn't the first driver I purchased in the last couple months, but it is the last.
I tried the square Callaway FT-i, and I tried the Cleveland Hi-Bore before settling on this one. I had great accuracy with the FT-i but it lacked distance and sounded flat. The Hi-Bore ended up being too light and I didn't have the accuracy I wanted. I could hit the ball a country mile with it but sometimes I would hit it a mile into the country. Callaway came to my local club for a demo day and brought all of their new clubs for us to try out. It was here where I really fell in love with the FT-5. I was reaching out over 300 yards every drive, and the sound was turning heads. I felt like Tiger Woods with so many people watching me. The local pro let me try his out for a round on the course after that and I was sold. The other two I recently purchased went on E-Bay. The FT-5 has everything I want in a driver; distance, accuracy, sound, and it just looks cool too.
Specs:
Weight and Feel: This driver weighs a little bit more than most drivers, tipping the scales at 50 grams, about 8 grams heavier than the standard driver. For a fast and hard swinger this is a good thing. The more muscle you put into it, the greater the reward. the best part about that 50 grams is that it is what Callaway calls discretionary weight, which means they put it where you want it. They have the Draw, Neutral, and Fade models. This is established with three different centers of gravity depending on which model you need and purchase. They call it the OptiFit Weighting System. Callaway put 25 grams at the very rear of this driver which lowers the center of gravity allowing higher and longer shots.
Club Head: The head is made of a couple different materials. Callaways exclusive technology of a Carbon Fiber body is mixed with the CT/VFT Titanium face. It is mostly black with red on the bottom, the face is silver along with some silver on the back and bottom. It really is a sharp looking club.
The Club face is maxed out to the legal limit for size which helps keep any miss hit off center shots playable. The club head is a combined 460CC, the maximum allowed by the USGA. The head is made in 9, 10, 11, and 13 degree lofts.
Shaft: The standard shaft is a Fujikura E-150 at 45 inches. This shaft comes in light, regular and stiff. I bought mine with a Fujikura 360 tip. My swing speed is 114 at average. This shaft helps me control the head and ball more. I use the stiff shaft. A couple years ago the 360 shaft was a $120 upgrade, now they offer it as a stock shaft.
Price: I paid $439 for mine. The MSRP is $450, you can find them at just about every golf store or chain store, Callaway.com, or E-Bay. I don't think Callaways used store has them yet.
Check out my other Golf Reviws:
Titliest Pro-V1 Best of the Field, Best in the Field
Callaway FT-i New Driver Technology"
Callaway X 20 Irons, Get better Clubs, Get Better!
Samoset Golf Course
Recommended:
Yes
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