Best Draw Bias Driver 2015

Who should create the list of the best clubs in golf: members of media, or the best golf club fitters in the world?

That's NO to members of media and YES to the best golf club fitters in the world, right? At GolfWRX, we put our faith in the best fitters, and we think you should, too.

To create this year's 2015 Gear Trials: Best Drivers List, we polled six of the best golf club fitters on the planet. That's not our opinion. Four of the six are rated top-100 club fitters in America by Golf Digest, while the other two (Modern Golf and True Spec Golf) are top international club fitters.

The2015 Gear Trials Panel includes:

• Carl's Golfland (Michigan)
• Cool Clubs (15 locations in 4 countries)
• Haggin Oaks (California)
• Miles of Golf (Michigan, Ohio)
• Modern Golf (Canada)
• True Spec Golf (Bahamas/Miami/NYC)

Each of these six club-fitting staffs performs in excess of 1,000 professional fittings each year, and they can attest to this:

There is no single "best" driver of 2015, but there is certainly a best driver for you.

So how do you know which one it is?

The preferred method is to go through a custom fitting with a top club fitter, but even then it can be difficult. There are a head-spinning amount of new drivers on the market, and for a variety of reasons, some people aren't able to visit a top-rated club fitter.

what if GolfWRX could create a short list of drivers that perform better than all the other drivers on the market?

What if that list was backed BY six of the best club fitters in the world, and verified by independent testing?

Well, that's exactly what we did.

For this year's list, we asked our Gear Trials Panelists to rank the top-6 performing drivers in three different categories:

1. Distance: The drivers that go the farthest. These tend to work best for golfers with high swing speeds and/or golfers who need to lower their spin rate to create more distance.
2. Forgiveness: The drivers that are the most consistent, and fly the straightest. These tend to work best for golfers who struggle to hit the center of the face consistently.
3. Best Overall: Our most stringent category. These offer the best blend of distance and forgiveness.

We could have stopped there and published our results, but we knew our readers would want us to go a step further.

Click here for more information about Gear Trials and FAQ

To confirm the performance of the clubs selected by our Gear Trials Panel, we hadMiles of Golf in Ypsilanti, Mich., perform a comprehensive Trackman-based club test of all the latest models. We saw a direct correlation between the Panel's top-6 picks in each category and the test results.

That wasn't a surprise.

There was a shocking amount of overlap this year in the votes cast for 2015's Best Drivers. Of all the drivers our Gear Trials Panelists could have voted for — and each Panelist could have voted for any driver it felt was worthy — seven drivers received an overwhelming majority of the votes. Furthermore, five of the seven drivers secured a place in each of our three categories (Distance, Forgiveness and Best Overall), a testament to just how well-rounded today's drivers truly are.

So here it is, our 2015 Gear Trials: Best Drivers list.

It's backed by the experts, verified by independent testing, and in our opinion, the most important best driver list in existence. You could test every driver in your local golf store, but in the end, we're confident that these seven choices (or their lower-spinning equivalents) will perform best for you.

The Ratings

Below are the distance, forgiveness and overall ratings for each of our 2015 Gear Trials: Best Drivers. The ratings (scaled 1-10) represent the votes of our Gear Trials Panel in each category.

Note: The list below is in alphabetical order.

Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 4-degree loft range
• Price: $449.99

What you need to know: The strength of Callaway's Big Bertha Alpha 815 drivers lies in their lightweight chassis, which use eight different materials — including a forged composite crown — to allow engineers to move more weight low and deep in the clubhead. That leads to high-launching, low-spinning drives and great ball speed — even if you miss the sweet spot.

The Big Bertha Alpha 815 is also a leader in adjustability, offering golfers complete control over launch angle, spin rate, and trajectory bias.

The coolest feature is Callaway's "Gravity Core," a removable stick that fits vertically inside the middle of the driver head. "Flipping the stick," so to speak, allows golfers to manipulate the driver's spin rate independent of launch angle. There's also two adjustable weights on the sides of the heads — one lighter, one heavier — that can be swapped for more draw or fade bias.

Need less spin? Callaway's Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond driver ($499) has a deeper, 460cc head shape that works for better golfers who want to maximize distance on their best shots. It's one of the lowest-spinning drivers of 2015, and while it's not as forgiving as its counterpart, it can help golfers create even higher-launching, lower-spinning drives.

• Click here to learn more about the Big Bertha Alpha 815 drivers.

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Callaway XR

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 4-degree loft range
• Price: $349.99

What you need to know: Callaway's XR driver doesn't have all the adjustability of the company's Big Bertha Alpha 815 drivers, but if you're not into adjustability, this could be a better choice — especially if you're looking to save $100.

The XR has the same R-Moto Face Technology as the 2015 Berthas, which removes weight from the face of the club to deliver more forgiveness — and quite forgiving the XR is.

Our club fitting panelists says that the XR works especially well for golfers who need higher-lofted drivers — it's offered in both 12- and 13.5-degree models.

The XR also has Callaway's new "Speed Step Crown," bumps on top of the driver head that help make the driver more aerodynamic. It can lead to gains in club head speed and ball speed, which of course, lead to more distance.

• Our review of Callaway's XR and XR Pro drivers.

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Cobra Fly-Z

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 4-degree loft range
• Price: $329.99

What you need to know:Making a top-performing driver is all about putting weight in the right places. Cobra's Fly-Z driver was designed to move as much weight as possible low and rearward in the club head. That makes it Cobra's best model for golfers who want a low-spinning driver that delivers maximum forgiveness.

If you must buy a driver off the rack without being custom fit, the Fly-Z is likely the safest option on this list. Its MyFly8 adjustable hosel and SmartPad sole technology work together to allow golfers to pick one of five lofts from 9 to 12 degrees and still retain the neutral face angle that most golfers prefer.

The Fly-Z also has a "Speed Channel," which looks like a moat around the club face, and it helps improve ball speed on off-center hits. And if you're into colors, the driver is available in six of them.

Want more control over launch conditions? Cobra's Fly-Z+ driver ($399) has what the company calls "Flip-Zone Weighting," which allows golfers to slide the driver's sole weight forward if they want a higher-launching, lower-spinning trajectory. The lower, more forward center of gravity causes the driver to become slightly less forgiving, but some golfers need the weight more forward to hit longer drivers, while others may prefer the Fly-Z+'s more compact appearance at address.

• Click here to learn more about Cobra's Fly-Z driver.

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Ping G30

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 2-degree loft range
• Price: $349

Ping's G30 is hands down the most forgiving driver in golf. That's thanks to its large club face and extremely low, rearward center of gravity, which give it the highest ball speeds we've seen on mishits.

Even if forgiveness isn't a primary concern, the G30 will likely still be a top contender to be the next driver in your bag. It launches impressively high for its low level of spin, making this G-Series driver a potential candidate for golfers who needed Ping's lower-spinning I-Series drivers in the past.

Most golfers recognize the G30 for its "Turbulators," four ridges on the front of the driver's crown that lead to better aerodynamics for increased club head speed.

Still need less spin?For you, Ping created the G30LS Tec driver ($349), which has a slightly lower, more forward center of gravity that reduces spin roughly 300 rpm compared to the G30. The LS Tec looks the same as the G30 at address, but it's slightly more workable, and is a better fit for golfers who want more fade bias than the G30 offers.

• Our reviews of Ping's G30 driver, and G30 LS Tec.

TaylorMade AeroBurner

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: No
• Price: $299

What you need to know:The AeroBurner driver combines TaylorMade's new aerodynamic head shape with the company's latest Speed Pocket — a deep slot that runs along the entirety of the sole — to reduce spin and improve ball speeds across the face, particularly on shots struck on the bottom half of the face.

If you're looking for a lightweight driver, which can help some golfers swing faster and create more distance, the AeroBurner is our top pick. Fully assembled, the AeroBurner driver weighs less than 300 grams, making it the lightest driver on this list.

Like all recent drivers from TaylorMade, the AeroBurner has a low, forward center of gravity, which helps golfers hit the high-launching knuckleballs that lead to more distance. While the AeroBurner is not adjustable, it's offered in four different lofts (9.5, 10.5, 12 and 15 degrees).

Need more fade bias? TaylorMade's AeroBurner TP driver ($399) has a face angle that's 1-degree more open, and a lie angle that's 2 degrees flatter, which creates the neutral ball flight most better players prefer. It also comes stock with a stiffer, heavier shaft stock shaft that are often a better fit for stronger golfers.

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TaylorMade R15

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 4-degree loft range
• Price: $429

What you need to know:When it comes to reducing spin, few drivers can match TaylorMade's R15, which is likely the lowest-spinning driver on this list. The R15 has an extremely low, forward center of gravity that helps golfers hoist their drives higher and with less spin than any TaylorMade driver in the past.

What our fitters love most about the R15, however, is the unparalleled control it gives golfers over trajectory. For that reason, TaylorMade earned a top spot in our "Forgiveness" category for the first time.

[quote_box_center]"When you get the right loft, the right shaft and the weights in the right position, it's like magic," said one of our Gear Trials Panelists. [/quote_box_center]

Need more fade? Slide the two weights on TaylorMade's R15 Front Weight Track more toward the toe of the club. Need more draw? Slide them toward the heel. And if you're looking for more forgiveness from the club, you can split the weights across the weight track, which improves the driver's moment of inertia (MOI), a measure of ball speed retention on mishits.

Need freakishly low spin? TaylorMade's R15 430 driver ($429) will give it to you. It's 30cc smaller than the standard R15, which gives golfers enhanced workability and the smaller head shape that purists prefer. Golfers will pay a noticeable penalty in forgiveness with the R15 430, but if you're looking to hit your best shots as far as humanly possible, this is often the driver to do it.

• Our review of TaylorMade's R15 and R15 430 drivers.

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Titleist 915D2

• Headsize: 460cc
• Adjustable Hosel: Yes, 2.25-degree loft range
• Price: $449

What you need to know:Our biggest knock on Titleist drivers of the past? They spun too much, causing many high-spin golfers to look elsewhere. Thanks to the 915D2, that's no longer the case.

With the 915 series, Titleist's added its "Active Recoil Channel," a deep slot that extends from the heel to the toe of the driver to increase ball speed on mishits and substantially lower spin rate. Most impressively, Titleist was able to do this while maintaining the forgiveness that we enjoyed from the 913D2 driver.

Like previous versions, the D2 comes in a staggering amount of lofts (7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12), which are enhanced with the driver's SureFit adjustable hosel. It allows golfers to make the small tweaks in loft, lie and face angle so they can get the exact launch conditions and look they need to play their best.

Titleist also leads the way with six premium stock shaft options, including Mitsubishi's Second-Generation Diamana Plus Series and Alidila's Rogue shafts.

Prefer a smaller driver head?Titleist's 915D3 driver ($449) performs quite similar to the 915D2, but it has a 20cc smaller head that that makes the driver more workable and slightly lower spinning.

• Our review of Titleist's 915D2 and 915D3 drivers.

Drivers also receiving votes

Is your favorite driver not on the list? The models below also received votes for our 2015 Gear Trials: Best Drivers list, but not enough to make our final list. They are:

• Callaway Big Bertha V-Series
• Nike Vapor Speed
• Nike Vapor Pro
• Nike Vapor Flex
• Srixon Z545
• Tour Edge Exotics E8/ E8 Beta
• Wilson D200

Related

• 2015 Gear Trials: Best Fairway Woods
• 2015 Gear Trials: Best Hybrids
• 2015 Gear Trials: Best Game-Improvement Irons
• 2015 Gear Trials: Best Players Irons

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Best Draw Bias Driver 2015

Source: https://www.golfwrx.com/288143/2015-gear-trials-best-drivers/

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