TG TBT #2: How good is a £15 driver?

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Hello, and welcome, to the second instalment of Today’s Golfer Throwback Thursdays, our weekly trip down memory lane. 

In last week’s inaugural TG TBT, we took a journey to December 2010, a strange world where Lee Westwood was world number one, Jordan Spieth was a fresh-faced 16-year-old, the Ping I15 was the longest driver in town and golf balls cost £329. 

This time, we’re going all the way back to December 2000. In that issue, we tested a £15 driver to see whether it warranted a place in your bag, copied the warm-up routine of a certain 24-year-old Tiger Woods, and looked at some possible cures for slow play. 

How good can a £15 driver be?

todays-golfer-2000

When we received a letter from a reader, praising the Donnay Titanium Evolution, our first thought was to question his sanity. After all, in a market dominated by £300-plus drivers, how could a £15 model cut the mustard? However, when a similar letter arrived a few days later, quickly followed by several more, we realised that either we were missing something, or the Donnay PR team were putting a shift in. We decided to find out for ourselves. 

Here are snippets from a few of the letters we received:

“I was pleasantly surprised. It felt great and I regularly hit the ball 250 yards with it.”
Stuart Bell, Kent 

I’ve tried many of the other, more expensive drivers, and the results are just as good with the Donnay.”
Gordon Stansfield, Rochdale (18-handicap) 

“I can’t understand why people spend hundreds of pounds when a £15 driver produces the same results. I just wish I’d discovered it sooner.”
Nigel Shilletto, Stockport (22-handicap) 

And here’s what two of TG’s staff members back in 2000 thought of the Donnay Titanium Evolution:

Tony Dear, TG Equipment Editor, 7-handicap

“I want to jump on this Donnay bandwagon and say it feels great, that it sends my ball as far as any of the big-name titanium drivers on the market. I want to scoff at the Callaways, Pings and Titleists of this world who make what many seem to think is much the same but for twenty times the price. 

But I can’t. I just don’t like it. It looks fine and sits quite nicely at address. It also hits the ball forward and in the air. But it feels terrible at impact. For me, the ball flight is less than penetrating and the distance is quite a bit shorter – 15 to 20 yards, on average – than with my own driver. 

But Donnay are making it possible for people previously priced out of the game to give it a go. So I welcome their arrival. But if you think I, or any other golfer with a handicap under 20, should be shunning the superstar drivers in favour of Donnay, you’re very mistaken. 

The Evolution will prove a massive hit with folk who’ve often wondered what it would be like to play golf but have always been put off by the cost. If you already know what it’s like to play golf and can afford to spend more than £15, however, I suggest you give it a wide berth.”

Quality: 1/5
Value for money: 5/5 

Paul Mahoney, Features Editor, 20-handicap

“Having recently fallen in love with my new £395 Ping Tisi driver, it was with intrigue rather than thoughts of a trade-in that I picked up the Donnay. Expectations weren’t high. I was half-expecting the head to fly off after 10 minutes. 

I thought it looked like a budget club, which, frankly, is what it is. But it works. It sits solidly and squarely behind the ball, and has a confidence-boosting V-shape to help you line up the ball with the sweetspot. 

Okay, the tinny clunk of club on ball through impact doesn’t fill you with awe but the good drives were bounding on to about 220 yards, which is fine for me. 

My low handicap buddies will complain that there is no feel from this club and that they can’t work the ball – whatever that is – but for those who want a driver and can’t justify £400, this could be the answer. The Donnay will get you off the tee and into the game. 

I’m going back to my great big Ping. I can hit it further, and hell, it makes me feel good. 

Quality: 3/5
Value for money: 5/5

Slow play isn’t a new problem. Here’s what we were saying in December 2000 

golf-slow-play
The depressing thing is that slow play was a problem then, it’s a problem now, and the solutions haven’t changed. We’ll be tackling it head-on, in a big way, in 2016. Watch this space. 

We looked at Tiger Woods’ warm-up

tiger-woods-2000

tiger-woods-2000

What was in your golf bag in December 2000?

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