# Nike's Covert VRS Driver first Review



## vkurup (Feb 9, 2013)

I had the opportunity to hit the Nike Covert on Thursday during the launch event (Disclosure: I was invited for the event and will be given a Covert driver).  Some thoughts from my 'testing'

1) First impression:  I liked the metallic red but it will be bit marmite-esqe for people.  Almost the same as when TM introduced the White. When you go to pick it up, it does look like only half a club. This can be demotivating at first, esp when this is probably the first thing you notice about the club (and on the first tee when you take the cover off). After you set up, when you look down on the driver, it looks solid and you will confident - thankfully, it has a 'traditional' shaped crown.  The words 'covert' is cleverly etched on the crown and it is the alignment line.  However, the words are in black and small, which means u will need to squint to see it. I am sure once you get used to it, it will be fine.  I havenâ€™t seen the size of the head cover, but there were a few oversized ones in Francesco Molinari's bag.

2) Options:  There are few things that you can play with.  There are 2 head options; the regular 460cc oversized and a tour 430cc tour version. I came across some video online where in the boffins from Nike say the tour version produces low spin and the pros prefer it. Another diff between the two is the shaft, the tour version comes in a 60g shaft while the proletariat version is a 50g version. (During his interview, Francesco mentioned that he initially used a 70g version, but after more testing he has moved to a 60g version). I assume both shafts provide the normal senior-regular-stiff options.  For both versions, the loft & face angle can be adjusted independently which is interesting.  The loft goes from 8.5 to 12.5 with 1 degree steps. The face can be set to open-neutral-closed. During my testing, the pros would make setting changes in under a minute. 

3) The money shot: My flightscope was showing club speed at anything between 88 to 92mph. I tried both the tour version and the 460cc heads. My first shot was a massive slice, which started in New Malden and quickly made its way across the A3 to Wimbledon. But this is a problem that I am struggling with so canâ€™t blame the tool.  It makes a very solid & loud noise on contact - again this is personal preference, though I kind of liked it. It makes the same sound even for non-centre hits, which is a bit disappointing. When I hear a big sound, I hope to see the ball explode and take off to outer space, so when it can be a disappointing when the topped shot just gets on to the fairway. Once I warmed up, I readjusted to grip to negate the slice and there I got my money shot. The ball flew off with a carry of about 210y - which was good for the rainy and cold night.  
I then tried various options on head size, loft and face angle.  I hit plenty of topped/thinned/fat/slice shots. But we were slowly seeing my dispersion reduce.  It looked like the best loft option was 11.5 or 12.5.  I have never played with an adjustable club, so mentally struggled to look down on a 'closed' face that I was holding square. The 460cc was the best option for me acc to the pro.  I did not have many opportunities to try the various shafts, but at my swing speed, acc to the pro, I was borderline between regular flex and stiff, and he would err towards regular.  Donâ€™t know if they do semi-stiff but I would love to look at that.  We only had about 15 mins of fitting time, and I would love to go back and try more. Overall the driver felt very solid and forgiving. 


4) Cavity back: My preference is to have a driver with weights forward and low (see my other thread on the subject).  The Nike as well as a few others have adopted this configuration.  This makes the back of the head almost redundant.  So Nike has taken the next step to chop it off.  This might be marketing masterstroke rather than an engineering one. Other big boys would be kicking themselves for not doing the same.   I am not sure if it adds anything extra into the mix.  My engineerâ€™s brain does wonder if this compromises the aerodynamics of a club head moving at over 90mph? (I would love to see a wind tunnel video of the head)


5) An aside:  Nike held a long driving comp, and someone managed to smash it past the 350y mark!!! Given the miserable weather, I think it is very impressive. Someone also managed to hit a 7 iron to a formidable 198y.  While waiting for the event, I picked up an R1 and set it on the ground for a swing (Disclosure: I currently play a TaylorMade Burner 2 driver).  Two things that I felt straight away.  While I love my White Burner, the new warpaint/ 70's wall paper on the R1's crown is not my cuppa.  More importantly, the weight on the bottom interferes with the setup. It does not let the club rest flat on the ground!! So a bit disappointed with the R1

*Final verdict:* The Covert VRS is a solid driver and a step up from my current driver. The colours & the sound is a personal preference, but gets a big thumbs up from me.  The cavity back may end up being a marketing masterstroke rather than an engineering one.  I canâ€™t wait for the mine to arrive and put it in the bag.


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## Piece (Feb 9, 2013)

Excellent review. Looking forward to trying it myself soon. 

Are you going back to the pro when you get your Covert to finalise the spec setup?


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## Imurg (Feb 9, 2013)

Good read.

Just got to ask.....

Huge White Swoosh on Red head - why?


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## vkurup (Feb 9, 2013)

Piece said:



			Are you going back to the pro when you get your Covert to finalise the spec setup?
		
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They said they will send me a stiff shaft and if I dont like it, they will replace it with a regular.  I will believe it when it happens.  I might go along to a demo day at my local anyways.



Imurg said:



			Just got to ask..... Huge White Swoosh on Red head - why?
		
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Nike is a marketing company, so dont be surprised if the try and put a swoosh on the moon.  On the club, it is on the side and you don't see it at setup (because is on the side facing the ground).  I did not notice it at all, but makes good pic when you pose with it.


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## USER1999 (Feb 9, 2013)

Tried the tour. Nice head, shockingly bad shaft. Â£350 for a head attached to soggy spaghetti. For that money, I want a decent, proper version shaft.

If nike really want to compete in the driver market, they need a fitting cart, with a selection of shafts. Especially as with their adjustment, they only need the two heads (tour and gi). A nice club head, loads of engineering, wasted totally by a bean counter specifying the shaft.

Grip is tosh too.


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## Canmore (Feb 9, 2013)

How do you get invited to these events?


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## GB72 (Feb 9, 2013)

Canmore said:



			How do you get invited to these events?
		
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Only guessing but suspect this was through a promotion that Nike were running on Twitter


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## Andy (Feb 9, 2013)

Canmore said:



			How do you get invited to these events?
		
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If your only getting 15 mins I wouldn't waste my time attending.  Of no use to anyone.


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## USER1999 (Feb 9, 2013)

Andy said:



			If your only getting 15 mins I wouldn't waste my time attending.  Of no use to anyone.
		
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Given that you can have a standard or tour head, and a kuro kage silver or black in regular or stiff, 15 minutes should be plenty. You get a free driver, worth Â£350, which must fetch Â£200 plus on eBay? 

Why would you not go?


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## Andy (Feb 9, 2013)

murphthemog said:



			Given that you can have a standard or tour head, and a kuro kage silver or black in regular or stiff, 15 minutes should be plenty. You get a free driver, worth Â£350, which must fetch Â£200 plus on eBay? 

Why would you not go?
		
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Free or not what good is something that does hehaw for your game?


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## USER1999 (Feb 9, 2013)

Andy said:



			Free or not what good is something that does hehaw for your game?
		
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Do you earn Â£800 an hour?


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## PhilTheFragger (Feb 9, 2013)

murphthemog said:



			Do you earn Â£800 an hour?
		
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Valid point Murph


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## Andy (Feb 9, 2013)

murphthemog said:



			Do you earn Â£800 an hour?
		
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Wouldnt turn over!


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## USER1999 (Feb 9, 2013)

Andy said:



			Wouldnt turn over!
		
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Fair enough!


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## Wabinez (Feb 9, 2013)

I've got the Covert, as I had pre-ordered it.  I will stick up a review of my on-course and range hitting after tomorrow's round if anyone would be interested in reading it...


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## vkurup (Feb 9, 2013)

Canmore said:



			How do you get invited to these events?
		
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It was run by Todays Golfer on Facebook.  I entered, but as expected & much like a lottery I was not one of the lucky winner.  Apparently one of the winners could not make the date, so they contacted those who entered to fill the slot.  I bit their hand off and off I went. 



Andy said:



			If your only getting 15 mins I wouldn't waste my time attending.  Of no use to anyone.
		
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15 mins of driving comp
15 mins of fitting (+ a free Â£250 driver)
15 mins of Q&A with Francesco Molinari (+ some goodies)
.. then the icing.. 15 mins of one on one session with Molinari on the indoor fitting room.  He analysed my swing and gave me a tip on why I should try and hover the iron to take my wrist out of the equation.
... absolutely priceless experience.


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## garyinderry (Feb 9, 2013)

sounds like a great time tbf !  happy days


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## triple_bogey (Feb 9, 2013)

Andy said:



			If your only getting 15 mins I wouldn't waste my time attending.  Of no use to anyone.
		
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vkurup said:



			15 mins of driving comp
15 mins of fitting (+ a free Â£250 driver)
15 mins of Q&A with Francesco Molinari (+ some goodies)
.. then the icing.. 15 mins of one on one session with Molinari on the indoor fitting room.  He analysed my swing and gave me a tip on why I should try and hover the iron to take my wrist out of the equation.
... absolutely priceless experience. 

View attachment 4524

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Yep, sounds like a complete waste of time that......:thup: Them grapes must be really sour 

I was really hoping the review of the Covert would be negative. But as I read other reviews around the world, it seems its going to be a massive hit. 
I've only played my Nike VRS driver no more than 10x.............................TEMPTED!!!:mmm:


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## drawboy (Feb 9, 2013)

Old Crossfield loves it and he's putting it in his bag. Good enough for me.


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## Oddsocks (Feb 9, 2013)

murphthemog said:



			Tried the tour. Nice head, shockingly bad shaft. Â£350 for a head attached to soggy spaghetti. For that money, I want a decent, proper version shaft.

If nike really want to compete in the driver market, they need a fitting cart, with a selection of shafts. Especially as with their adjustment, they only need the two heads (tour and gi). A nice club head, loads of engineering, wasted totally by a bean counter specifying the shaft.

Grip is tosh too.
		
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I'm struggling to see if you like this or not Chris, can you be more black and white please : whistle:

I'm hearing mixed bags on this but refuse to hit it as my bag is settled, but nice to see companies still doing decent PR jobs.


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## DjW (Feb 10, 2013)

Got a chance to hit the tour model yesterday and for my pennies worth really liked it...I got a great feeling from the club when hit well...nice and solid on contact.  And the ball took off like a rocket on a low penetrating flight.  Still wont be parting with Â£350 to upgrade to it but pretty tasty bit of kit non the less.


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## Piece (Feb 10, 2013)

I tried the Tour edition today at Silvermere. Not the most scientific or accurate of tests as it was hammering with wind and rain, plus I was not wearing golf shoes on a slippery mat! I thought the head looks fantastic, sitting very nicely and a traditional shape. In the hands it also felt well balanced. The shaft length was a bit long for me though. I can tell that these shock shafts are 'marmite' - you'll love them or hate them. I think the better or stronger player will need a.n.other shaft from a proper fitter.

I did hit a few. Not very well mind! That's not the club's fault as I don't play woods anymore! When I did middle it, it made a sharp cracking sound; not scary sound but a bit different.

This club is potentially very good from the few mins I had with it. It is clear though that proper fitting with proper shafts is essential.


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## shewy (Feb 14, 2013)

I hit both the tour and standard version in the simulator in AG Cardiff on launch day,first up they do look lovely,but I will have to agree that the stock shafts are not great,I took my driver in as a benchmark and can honestly say I was 20 yards longer with it.I did ask about custom shaft options but they did not have any at the moment. I think with a proper fitting this would be a good driver but nothing earth shattering.fwiw the R1 was longer as well.


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## TriggerTech (Mar 7, 2013)

Nice review


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## vkurup (Mar 8, 2013)

Update:  Nike kindly sent me the 460cc regular head with Stiff shaft. I put it in the bag immediately.  My current driver is a 10.5 loft, but on testing day, it was apparent that I needed more loft.  So have set it to 11.5. 

I have had it in the bag for about a month. The change is apparent, I am definitely longer.  My inconsistent swing and technique leads to variable results.  However, when I catch it right, it does travel far.  despite the higher loft, I am don't think I am hitting the ball that high.  Not too much slice or pull - though I continue to spray to the right or left, but not a high spinning slice/pull. I have also avoided the temptation to set the face to close to stop slicing, but staying on neutral. 


Proof of the pudding:  At the GM forum meet at West Hill, I was driving almost as long as MurphtheMog and GolfDub. So happy bunny - atleast till the next 'get longer' driver comes along.


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