Golf Monthly reviews - for real?

[Hacker Khan]

I use a SLDR and I really like it. Now you have said it is not very forgiving that makes me think I'm either a better driver than I thought I was or perhaps I need to spend some serious sponds on a new big dog

The SLDR was the first of the 'low spin' drivers (and fair play to TM for starting this trend) which of course increase distance if you nail it. But if you don't then then the forgiveness was not great, which will lead to a big drop off in distance as it falls out of the sky. Nowadays every manufacturer has a low spin model that has more forgiveness than the SLDR. And even models from a year or so ago will be just as good for a lot less money.

 

[Bigfoot]

I bought my last car without test driving. Also bought my driver, 3 wood, hybrids, wedges and putter. Did try the irons out though.

My last two cars have been demonstrators and the only miles on them (54 miles and 45 miles)
have been those of my test drive.
I could not buy a car without knowing whether I can drive it for a good distance without being comfortable.

 

[big_matt]

I find that the youtube reviews from my favourite reviewers tend to reflect my own feelings when i try new clubs ("numbers are good but no better than last year. If you have last years model no need to upgrade" etc), whereas the print media reviews tend to be closer to the marketing material ("significant improvements", " impressive technology", etc).

This could be down to the level of fitting and advice the print media get from the manufacturers to get every last drop of performance out the new clubs.

Think a lot of it is what an individual experiences on the day and the confidence they have with each club. As mentioned earlier i hit my longest ever measured trackman drive with a 910 d3 which is an 8 year old club, so its hard for me to convince myself that any of the new clubs are worth £450.

 

[Hacker Khan]

My last two cars have been demonstrators and the only miles on them (54 miles and 45 miles)
have been those of my test drive.
I could not buy a car without knowing whether I can drive it for a good distance without being comfortable.

I hadn't even got in any version of the last 5 company cars I've had before I had them delivered to me. To me it's part of the surprise and excitement of getting a new car, will it be any good.