The big dog is the one club in the bag that golfers dream of smashing ever longer and straighter, as evidenced at nearly every driving range on the planet.
So it begs the question: is there anything more anticipated in golf than the release of a new driver?
Drivers tend to hog the limelight in the new equipment landscape and this year has been no exception, with new models from all the major manufacturers effectively making 2019 the Year of the Driver.
But which one will suit your game? And which one can you take advantage of to bomb it long and straight like never before?
The Best Golf Drivers of 2019 guide will put the question to bed once and for all. Until next year, of course.
THE TOP DRIVERS OF 2019 (in no specific order)
– TaylorMade M5
– Callaway Epic Flash & Sub Zero
– Cobra F9
– TaylorMade M6
– Mizuno ST190 & ST190G
– Ping G410
TAYLORMADE M5
WHAT’S FRESH
Following on from the Twist Face technology that was introduced in the M3, the TaylorMade M5 continues in a similar vein but literally gets an injection of new technology.
A new process that injects resin behind the club face is responsible for a dramatic performance boost in the M5.
The adjustable sole weighting system gets a makeover, with a new ‘inverted-T’ track offering more variations to ball flights and shapes.
A revised Hammerhead slot boosts ball speeds, particularly on low strikes, and a new carbon fibre crown has saved more weight from up top so it can be redistributed lower to optimise the CG (centre of gravity).
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
Resin has been exploited for many purposes, with huge amounts of the stuff being almost exclusively used to patch up rusty Ford Falcons since they first hit the road.
With Falcons now sadly extinct, vast quantities of resin are probably waiting in a warehouse to be redeployed.
The good news for resin merchants is the new TaylorMade M5 driver has taken over the mantle, with the filler now being used to tune the M5’s face to achieve the ultimate coefficient of restitution (COR).
The face of every single M5 is actually too hot (it exceeds the official limit of COR) until the resin is added, which stiffens it just enough until it hits the legal range.
The result is higher ball speeds out of a bigger area of the TaylorMade M5’s face for longer drives.
Two shiny red screws cover up the ports through which the resin is injected, a nice reminder of what’s behind the M5’s face.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The TaylorMade M5 comes in 9, 10.5 or 12 degree lofts, with a choice of Mitsubishi Tensei CK 60 or Project X HZRDUS 70 shaft.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
If you’re a tinkerer, the new ‘inverted-T’ track offers 1770 possible weighting combinations (in comparison, the M5’s predecessor, the M3, had only 1000). So there’s a fair chance you’ll find the ball flight or shot shape you’ve been looking for.
The double shot of resin helps the TaylorMade M5 achieve greater ball speeds and distances, which no doubt will be gladly accepted by all golfers.
And the revised hammerhead slot also plays a critical role in the M5’s performance, enlarging the sweet spot a whopping 66 per cent compared to the M3.
CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH
WHAT’S FRESH
The Callaway Epic Flash driver has taken driver design down a completely new path with its Flash Face technology.
In a world first, the face of the Epic Flash driver has been designed by artificial intelligence and works together with Callaway’s Jailbreak technology to boost ball speeds out of the middle of the face.
A lighter carbon fibre crown has also been fitted while a new sole weighting system adjusts the centre of gravity to deliver a draw or fade bias.
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
If you were to look at the architecture on the reverse side of the Flash Face, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense – it appears to be just a random maze of plateaus and valleys.
However, the AI that designed it really needs a pat on the backspace because it manages to increase ball speeds off the face for extra distance.
Callaway’s proven Jailbreak technology, which braces the Epic Flash’s body, works with the new Flash Face to optimise the driver’s COR (coefficient of restitution), particularly in the sweet spot.
A lighter crown sees more mass shifted lower to optimise the CG and improve the launch angle.
The result is smoking hot drives out of the centre and shorter approach shots, presumably from the middle of the fairway.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The Callaway Epic Flash comes in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 13.5 degrees with a choice of three shafts – Project X EvenFlow, Project X HZRDUS and Mitsubishi Tensei AV.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
Firstly, if you like a green and gold (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie) colour scheme then the Epic Flash is definitely your next driver.
But seriously, the Epic Flash is a great club and the ability to bias shot shapes with the sliding weight setup – not featured on the previous Callaway Rogue driver – is a bonus if you need some sort of correction.
And if you like boasting about the tech that your driver has, you can happily drone on about how the Epic Flash was the pioneer of artificial intelligence in golf club design – there really hasn’t been a story this entertaining since the TaylorMade Twist Face of 2018.
There is also an Epic Flash Sub Zero driver that features all the same attributes as the Epic Flash but spins less than the original by sporting a permanent sole weight situated just behind the Jailbreak rods.
COBRA F9
WHAT’S FRESH
A follow up to last year’s excellent F8 driver, the Cobra F9 driver builds its case around a new design called Speedback, which strikes the perfect balance between aerodynamic efficiency and optimal centre of gravity.
The F9’s CNC-milled face has been made thinner and lighter, with 3 and 10 per cent gains respectively, and a new carbon fibre crown has been enlarged, encompassing more real estate on the driver.
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
Speedback manages to balance CG and aerodynamics, the two most vital components of driver performance, through some genius design and engineering.
A new head design slides through the air 17 per cent more efficiently than the Cobra F7 driver of two generations ago. A complete overhaul of the front and trailing surfaces and refined speed ridges on the crown help the F9 achieve higher club head velocity.
But the other piece of the puzzle, the CG, has been kept low and deep through a new structure on the rear of the driver that is implanted with some tungsten weighting.
The thinner CNC-milled face has been designed with a slight bulge and roll to correct and improve heel and toe strikes, with heel strikes biased for a low draw and toe strikes receiving some high fade bias.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The Cobra F9 comes in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees, with an additional Juniors/Womens model in 12.5 degrees, and a selection of four shafts – Helium 50, Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec Blue 6, Project X HZRDUS Smoke 60 and Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec Black 7.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
The Cobra F9’s aerodynamic efficiency doesn’t only assist high-velocity swings to reach even higher speeds: Speedback will add pace to any golfer’s game, no matter how fast they swing the club.
And the F9 is forgiving, with the face straightening out heel and toe strikes and maximising distance on high and low strikes.
It has a flatter crown than other drivers on the market but it looks stylish and with the option of a black and yellow colour scheme with a high gloss crown or black and polar white with a matt finish on the crown, its appearance will suit the eye of just about every golfer on the planet.
The Cobra F9 also has forward and rear sole weights (14g and 2g) that can alter the flight and launch characteristics of the driver.
Placing the 14g weight in the front position will produce a lower-spinning and lower-launching ball flight.
MIZUNO ST190
WHAT’S FRESH
It’s out with the blue and in with the black: the ST190’s club head is now a highly polished shade of darkness.
Mizuno’s Amplified Wave sole, which debuted in the previous ST180, has been tweaked for an extra dash of performance.
And did we mention ribs? Mmmm… ribs. Mizuno have added internal ribs that limit energy losses at impact and make the ST190 sound like a symphony when pummelling drives straight down the centre.
A lighter carbon fibre crown, weighing only 12g, is added to enhance the CG and there is also a variant called the Mizuno ST190G that features two sliding sole weights for flight and shape adjustability.
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
The focus has been on expanding the area of maximum COR in the ST190’s club face and a refinement to the Amplified Wave sole has done exactly that.
First featured in the ST180, Mizuno’s Amplified Wave sole technology now has a larger first ripple that expands the sweet spot and boosts the distance of off-centre strikes.
The internal ribs support the structure of the Amplified Wave sole, stiffening it at the most crucial points in order to direct energy into the ball rather than losing it in the club head.
The CG (centre of gravity) has been shifted lower for high launch/low spin characteristics through a lighter carbon fibre crown and a redesigned internal structure that supports the hosel.
The standard ST190 has its single 6g sole weight located further back to make the driver more stable by boosting the MOI (moment of inertia), especially when a strike isn’t out of the middle.
The weight adjustable ST190G has two parallel sliding weights for ball flight shaping and launch adjustability.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The Mizuno ST190 comes in lofts of 9.5 and 10.5 degrees, while the ST190G is only available in a loft of 9 degrees. A suite of Atmos shafts is available to choose from: Blue 5S, Red 5R, Red 5R2, Red 6R and Black TS 6S.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
The change from a blue head to a more conservative black colour scheme is bound to be less contentious among driver aficionados.
Regardless of the colour, the ST190 is a cracking driver with an impact sound to match its performance; Mizuno have paid a significant amount of attention to perfecting the driver’s acoustics.
And it’s long too, thanks to the revised Amplified Wave sole and improvements made to the CG.
It’s got all the hallmarks that Mizuno clubs are renowned for: precision craftsmanship and performance, with an emphasis on feel.
TAYLORMADE M6
WHAT’S FRESH
It’s full speed ahead for the TaylorMade M6 driver, with new “Speed Injected” Twist Face technology the big selling point.
A new carbon fibre crown that saves weight is also added to the M6, while an ‘inertia generator’ is buried deep within the M6’s club head to provide a significant performance boost.
TaylorMade’s speed-enhancing hammerhead slot has also been revised.
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
A shot of resin is just the tonic for faster ball speeds off the TaylorMade M6’s face, which has the same Twist Face characteristics as the previous M4 driver to straighten up heel and toe strikes.
Like its M5 sibling, the M6’s face is made too flexible to be legal in COR terms (that’s the coefficient of restitution, or trampoline effect).
But adding a shot or two of resin will stiffen the face sufficiently until it becomes legal and an automated algorithm means TaylorMade has complete control of the COR of each individual M6 in the production process: the algorithm tests the COR before injecting the correct amount of resin to achieve the maximum legal COR.
The inertia generator, a 46g weighted assembly located at the rear of the M6’s sole, lowers the CG and moves it further back to boost the driver’s forgiveness.
And with the increased use of carbon fibre in the M6, the effect of the inertia generator is even more pronounced: its weight is almost a quarter of the total M6’s total.
The Hammerhead slot has lost one of its teeth, with the injected resin bracing the M6’s face sufficiently so that only one supporting bar was needed, instead of the two seen on the M4.
With more flexibility, the Hammerhead slot enlarges the sweet spot and boosts ball speeds for strikes that are low on the face.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The M6 driver has a men’s and women’s version, with lofts of 9, 10.5 and 12 for men and 10.5 and 12 for women.
A selection of two shafts – a Fujikura Atmos Orange 5 or Fujikura Atmos Black 6 – is standard for the men’s M6, while the stock shaft in the women’s M6 is a TaylorMade Tuned Performance 45g shaft.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
Two shiny scarlet screws are the only clue to what lies under the bonnet of the TaylorMade M6 driver but they are sneakily effective for advertising the M6’s wares.
The new resin makes the M6 longer than the M4 by enabling TaylorMade to tweak the COR as close as possible to the maximum and boost ball speeds.
And the new manufacturing process virtually guarantees there shouldn’t be any duds in the M6 batch.
The new inertia generator makes the M6 extremely forgiving and contributes to the driver’s spin and launch characteristics that should suit a lot of golfer’s swings.
PING G410
WHAT’S FRESH
It’s been a long time coming but PING have finally introduced weight adjustability into their drivers, with the PING G410 driver the first to feature a customisable CG system.
The driver also adds an eight-setting hosel and a new ‘creased crown’ that works in conjunction with the Dragonfly technology that PING have successfully rolled out in previous drivers.
And for those golfers who love a good turbulator atop the crown, the PING G410 has revised its cluster to be more efficient while also aiding alignment.
HOW IT MAKES YOUR DRIVES LONGER AND STRAIGHTER
Locating the weight track channel to the extreme edge of the G410’s head boosts the stability of the driver and its MOI exceeds the previous G400 driver – a significant achievement given that weight adjustability systems inherently have the opposite effect.
With three locations on the track to accommodate the 16g removable tungsten weight – neutral, drew and fade – the G410 is good for 10 yards of bias in either direction, which should be more than enough to straighten out existing ball-shaping habits.
And the creased crown and Dragonfly technology combo stiffens and thins out the head of the driver to improve the CG and make launching high, low-spin drives a pleasant reality.
LOFT AND SHAFT OPTIONS
The PING G410 comes in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees with a choice of four shafts: PING Tour 65, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 60, Project X EvenFlow Black 75 and a new PING Alta CB Red 55 that has an 8g counterbalancing weight in the grip end of the shaft.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE IT
PING wanted the G410 to surpass the MOI of the previous G400 driver, but to achieve that feat presented quite a task; especially when the driver was to be saddled with a weight adjustability system.
But PING found the answers and the G410 has become one of the hottest drivers on the market.
Exceptional forgiveness and distance along with shot-shaping bias make the PING G410 the new triple threat driver that should deliver impressive results in the bags of almost every golfer.
And for those who need a bit of extra help, there’s the PING G410 SFT (straight flight technology) driver.
While it isn’t adjustable, it features a static tungsten weight on the back that produces an even greater draw bias by helping to shut the face quicker at impact.
The new G410 hosel expands from five to eight options, with additional loft increments of plus or minus 1.5 degrees and three new lie angle adjustments offering greater versatility.