To think that I felt "weird" when testing that big, ugly and "boxy" 460 Cleveland Launcher a few years ago...I really dont know what to expect next. Having avoided the carbon offerings from Callaway since the terrible C4, I must say that hitting the FT5 was actually quite a rewarding experience. But then came the day when me and the FT-i finally got together for a ride.
More coffee over here, please...
I have been able to get past the "weird looks shock factor" a long time ago. And to be perfectly honest with you guys, I really did not care about much for ANY of the Callaway drivers for one reason or another. The FT-3 ringed my doorbell a few times, but after a couple of testing sessions I found that they were too expensive, too weird feeling, and not too great performers. Personal taste was much a factor, as I prefer meatier feeling, solid sounding options at the time. However, I have been reading and hearing A LOT of positive comments on this square Cally bomber. The event that really moved me to TRY it, was looking at some video of Ernie Els hitting the chocolate pudding out of this square creature last week at the PGA. Wow. 340 yards?
I had been scratching my head about the SuMo2 from Nike, because I think KJ Choi has his square yellow driver pretty much tamed to perfection (ok, a few shot stray out to the jungle, but hey: who doesn't? anyways?), but every time I see it....uhgggg...I just dont feel like hitting it!
Breaking down the (square) beast.
I tested a 10 deg neutral S flex with the stock Fujikura shaft. The shaft is nothing short of fantastic, as you can always feel the head during the whole swing, something I like VERY much. Some say the face looks closed, and I have to agree just a little bit, for me it simply does not look SCARY closed. Since I favor a mild draw in my drives, I immediately felt that hitting this one was going to be easier that I thought. One more thing I love about this shaft, is the relatively lower kickpoint and "sensitive" flex (what?), that to me, feels like a stiff flex shaft that is not boardy...surprisingly responsive, I may say.
My first drive with the FT-i was memorable: I hit THROUGH a 50 yard sign about 30 yards LEFT of me. made a hole on the thing. My embarrassment was only surpassed by the fun of a few on-lookers. Where is my sand wedge? The ball was too low and too far forward in my stance. Note to self: check your stance, this is NOT your usual driver.
Not 20 balls into the bucket and I am absolutely having a blast: STRAIGHT as the railroad tracks in Oklahoma. I will not contradict the many people saying this driver launches the ball high because it DOES. I guess I was very lucky to test it with a shaft and loft that suits my swing just perfect. Distance was not better than my current driver (Mizuno MX500), but it was tremendously more forgiving. The feel is not as bad as with previous Callaway carbon drivers, but I can live with this one. I had to try hard to draw this head, but I am not much of a fan of working the ball either, I much rather have a driver that is just so hard to hit wrong.
FINAL thoughts.
I see the biggest benefit of the FT-i as one simple word: CONFIDENCE. I can trust this driver to be dead straight and quite long every time. I cannot say this about my MX500. Or my Hi-Bore XL...and my R7 Superquad can only dream of such forgiveness. Ok, they are not meant for the same player profile, or at least that's what I thought. If Ernie Else can hit so good with it, that means more Pro's can. But hey, it is really like dancing with the wierdest-looking girl at the dance: perhaps you feel funny at first, but you end up having so much fun that everything else just falls to the side.
I feel this FT-i is a wonderful, reliable, confidence building driver. Looks funnny, sounds even funnier, but I really, REALLY dont think that you will care about it when you just keep landing drive after drive in the middle of the fairway. The other members of your foursome can laugh all they want, but I can bet that every single one of them will shut up and ask you to try it. I did...LOL!
This is perhaps the first driver that I can absolutely say: Gramps will love it as much as Els does! But...
$500 dollars a pop???? Only you will know if it is worth it ..or not. But by all means, TRY IT. Don't buy it without a try out first.
The FT-i driver from Callaway Golf represents a quantum leap in driver design. With the revolutionary 460cc Complete Inertial Design, the FT-i Driver ...More at Golfio.com
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