Forum > Golf Equipment

Paul Heath

After reading a previous post where someone had purchased a driver from Ivan at Sanders Longdrive and having given the driver a very good review, I decided to give Ivan a call as I do not live to far away from him to test drive a few of his drivers and shafts.

I currently own a Taylormade r9 driver so i took that along also so i could compare the difference.

So off we went to the local driving range, first off i tried a different shaft in my driver, yes it was slightly longer and felt better but not perfect.

Next was the Ralph Maltby 9 degree with a Nippon NS Pro GT 800 Stiff at 46.50 long, this was so much better than my R9 by at least 30 to 40 yards, even with my inconsistent swing which can be confirmed by Ivan himself, went on to try another two drivers but the 9 degree Maltby gave the best results I was really impressed with the club so I bought it.

I was a bit skeptical when i read a previous post where someone else had some really good results after purchasing one Ivan’s drivers but after seeing them and trying them myself I was really impressed with the equipment and the service he provided; nothing was too much trouble for him.

We don’t realize how inferior these of the shelf drivers are compared to specialist equipment maker’s drivers; I will not buy another off the shelf driver that’s for sure.

PS I didn’t tell Ivan I was a member of golfshake and read the previous review I just wanted an unbiased testing session, full marks to Ivan couldn’t fault it.

Wayne Santorini

Glad you have joined the band of happy members Paul that have had benefit from the more experienced of members on here.

The heads of "off the shelf" drivers are acceptable but it's the shafts they put in them that let you down.

Loud Mouth b.a.

Thanks Paul.

Indeed I did not realise that you were working undercover!

I'm sorry that I could not find you the 50 extra yards that Matt says I found for him, but then I had longer to pray over his driver.

Anyway, (unbeknown to you) I left you some stolen range balls in your boot so hopefully that will go some way to making amends?     

I'll try to  find you the balance of yardage owed when we jointly look at your technique sometime soon.

Thanks again.

P.S. Be careful driving through the back of the range with your 'big dog!'

Jamie C

Now i know why my driver is better than the previous one! Few months ago my driver shaft broke off from the head therefore needing a shaft replacement. My local golf shop (I know the manager very well) He sent it off for free and when it came back, it was a different shaft from the original. I never thought much of it but i was hitting it beautifully with extra 30 or 40 yards.

 My next driver will definetly be custom made

Loud Mouth b.a.

Jamie,

Some heads are made better than others but, yes, the shaft is what either makes a driver great or otherwise. Once one has the right shaft for a player then one 'tunes' its performance with a carefully selected head.

In the main chosen components are tailored to the player. Everyone agrees with this concept.

But, they also need tailoring to each other. 

That's a process which is work in progress and which I may take to the grave, and it's a process which Wayne astutely mentioned above.

There is no point in a golf manufacturer making a superb 9 degree head and then sticking a shaft in it labelled 'Stiff,' when in fact it only flexes through 9" of its length and such flexing arguably creates an XX shaft. Players who use 9d heads cannot use XX shafts! 

Golfers often hand me drivers on the range with very high head lofts, but even with my swing speed I can make virtually no impression on the shaft. Often when I hear what they have paid my heart bleeds.

There's no genius in my drivers simply careful thought, a reduced profit margin which allows quality components to be used and carefully blended,  two ha'p'orth of sense, and a good amount of prayer.  Marketing lies cost a lot of money to fund, and corners are consequently cut with the mass produced stuff.                

Matt Simmons

Blimey! You shouldnt ever listen to anything I write!!!

Quick update. I had the stormtrooper out in anger yesterday. Best results Ive had on the course with a driver, which ok isnt really difficult  (except for one hole which was dog poo).