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Golf: Comparative Analysis of Hybrid Clubs - Minor Brands |
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June 26, 2007 |
Interloper Golf
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8708 N. Royal Lane, Irving, TX, 75063, USA. Tel: 972-915-0600 Fax: 972-915-0601
Contact: Najee Khan
Tel: 972-915-0600 ext. 276
Fax: 972-915-0601
E-Mail:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
URL: http://www.interlopergolf.com
Golf: Comparative Analysis of Hybrid Clubs - Minor Brands
Irving, TX -- June 26, 2007 -- Interloper Golf announced the results of its testing on Hybrid Clubs from minor brands and the winner is Power Play Select 5000 Maraging. The results have been posted at http://www.interloper.com/reviews/golf_hybrids.htm and the golfing public is welcome to review them.
According to Najee Khan, spokesperson for Interloper Golf, every year, the multitude of golf magazines and web sites come up with reviews of golf clubs and by and large they do a good job. But they all review clubs from major manufacturers like Nike, Callaway, McGregor etc. There is nothing to guide the golfing public about minor brands. First most people don't even know that minor brands exist and even if they do, they have no way to read reviews, do a comparative analysis and make informed decisions. At Interloper Golf where we specialize in minor brands, we face this issue daily. How to help our customers make better more informed decisions. Left with no choice, we decided to take the plunge and do it ourselves.
The next issue was what to review first, drivers, woods, hybrids, irons or putters? Since we sell more hybrid clubs than woods, drivers, irons and putters combined, we decided to review hybrids first. The only thing that comes close to our hybrid sales are our wedge sets.
According to Mr. Khan, it is not easy to do a fair evaluation. One thing that is frustrating when reading reviews in major magazines is that the clubs come assembled from the manufacturers and all the testers can do is test what they receive. A key component of a golf club is the shaft and if every club has a different shaft, the testers cannot normalize their results. The same club head will perform differently with a different shaft. At Interloper Golf we have the luxury of being able to assemble our clubs with whichever shaft we want. We chose the Apollo Shadow Steel Shaft. The Shadow's low Kickpoint helps produce higher trajectories for improved distance and softer landings. It is not a very expensive shaft so the results are not skewed in favor of the affluent golfer.
What club # to test? We couldn’t possibly test them all from # 1 to 9, that would have been impractical. What hybrid do our customers buy the most? The # 3 hybrid and that is usually the iron they so desperately want to replace. So we decided to test the # 3 hybrid club from different manufacturers.
What about club length? Usually different manufacturers have different club lengths for the same club size. A # 3 Nickent hybrid may have a different length than a Taylor Made. So we decided to make all the same length.
Using the same shaft, same length and the same grip on all helped us achieve uniformity of flex, length and weight. We could not control the loft angle as different manufacturers have different loft sizes for their # 3. We could not control the head weight either. So out of a total of six variables, we neutralized four - shaft length, shaft weight, shaft flex and grip size. We also spine aligned the shafts even though every one is not yet convinced of the value of spine alignment.
What kind of shots to test? We decided on Tee Shots, Shots off the turf (fairway), Shots in the rough, cut shots, draw shots and flat shots. Every club was tested on the golf range as well as on the golf course to get a more realistic feedback. Not surprisingly, results vary. Besides it is not easy to simulate shaped shots on a range or hit a shot from the rough over water. The Cowboys Golf course and the Grapevine Golf course were used during testing.
Club head speed was measured using a portable Swing Speed Radar. The assumption is that the higher the swing speed, the greater the distance the ball will travel.
Results were logged on a scale of 1 to 10 on every shot and then averaged out. Bad shots, that is golfer error, were not recorded. The detailed results are posted online at http://www.interloper.com/reviews/golf_hybrids.htm .
For greater details, contact Interloper Golf at 8708 N. Royal Lane, Irving, TX 75063, USA. Tel: 972-915-0600, ext 276. Fax: 972-915-0601. E-Mail
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
. Website: http://www.interlopergolf.com
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Summary
Interloper Golf announced the results of its testing on Hybrid Clubs from minor brands and the winner is Power Play Select 5000 Maraging. The results have been posted at interloper.com/reviews/golf_hybrids.htm and the golfing public is welcome to review them.
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