Customer Reviews 5 item(s)
- Excellent Thriver upgrade
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As a long time DTG customer, I purchased 10.5 Grand Hawk Thriver from DTG about five years ago and was satisfied with its performance. The concept was simple; build a driver that had the same weight and length of a 3-wood in order to get the same exact accuracy of one. I still have my old GH Thriver which has been ultra-reliable in terms of driving off the tee and because of its weight, it allowed me to slow down my swing and concentrate on impacting the ball cleanly, (smash factor), providing long and straight drives.
After several dozen rounds of golf and couple of re-gripping of this club over the years, I thought it was time to seek a replacement. Having worked with this club over the years, one can get attached to a club because one knows exactly how it is going to perform when one hits a ball with it, (and many of you long time golfers know what I am talking about).
So I decided to start looking for a replacement driver head starting with DTG and discovered that DTG had a newer version of the same GH Thriver driver head available. I purchased one and built it to the same specs as my original Thriver and was not disappointed at all as this driver head performance mirrors that of the original thriver head. From point of view, for those who may have an older GH Thriver driver in your bag and you want to upgrade; do it because this is an effective upgrade.
While most like to work the ball using their driver; I prefer to use my Henry Hatton traditional blades to do that as it can be notoriously difficult to work ball with a driver. I just want to place the ball in play with driver and a straight drive off the tee is all I need.
If that is what you are looking for in a driver, my suggestion is that you by this one.
Playability Feel Price/Value - A great club, and an amazing value!
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A little about me:
In my early 30's I could swing a 9.5-degree driver at 98mph and average about 250 yards off the tee. Not a huge hitter, but I could get the ball down the fairway pretty well. Now that I'm 53 (and a little out of shape) my swing speed has gone down to 93mph, and my average driving distance has gone down to around 230, even though I switched to a 10.5-degree head and a mid-kick shaft a while ago.
I've been buying different drivers (TaylorMade, Callaway, Cobra, etc.) trying to regain some of the ball flight and distance I once had. Most of those clubs were the big 460g titanium driver heads with long shafts, and my consistency went out the door with them. Snap hooks and big slices crept into my game (something I never had a problem with when I was swinging the older, smaller heads on shorter shafts.)
So when I read about the Thriver my interest was piqued, and I just had to build one for myself. Three-wood weight and a traditional look at address sounded intriguing to me. So I bought the 12.5-degree driver and the Aldila Habanero shaft (firm flex for 90-100 mph swing speed.) My launch angle was simply too high with this combo, so I bought the Aldila Wasabi shaft in stiff flex, and reshafted the same 12.5-degree head, setting it at 45" and doing a simple spining.
The Habanero is a high-launch shaft, while the Wasabi is advertised as a low/mid launch shaft.
Let me tell you that the combination of the 12.5-degree Thriver head with the Wasabi shaft is simply AMAZING. I've played several rounds with it now, and it just keeps getting better and better. I still make the occasional bad swing (with predictable results) but overall, the feel and performance of this club is the best I've ever experienced. I can feel the ball explode off the face - it's a very 'clean' feel (if that makes any sense.) There's no sense of heaviness, even if I hit off center, and yet, I can feel the hit much more than with some of the big titanium drivers I've used. As for performance, I just keep shaking my head and proclaiming how much I love this driver as my playing partners compliment me on another long, straight shot that splits the fairway.
I've never worked the ball much (I've always just tried to hit the ball straight) and this Thriver does that so effortlessly. I mean, the ball just launches and goes straight, straight, straight. The higher-loft head, combined with the built-in bulge/roll, does it's job, and with the lower-launch Wasabi shaft, I'm getting beautiful, piercing mid-launch shots. No ballooning at all, as long as I tee the ball low enough to make contact in the center of the head.
If you, like me, are getting older, and losing some of the moderate swing speed you had in your younger days, BUY THIS CLUB! If you want a little softer shaft, try the 10.5-degree head with the Habanero shaft. If you like a slightly stiffer shaft, but still want some help getting the ball airborne, try the 12.5-degree head with the Wasabi shaft.
I really like those Aldila shafts, especially the Wasabi. Very stable shaft with beautiful feel.
Again, for $130 I'm amazed at the magic I found. I could have easily been disappointed in this totally impulsive purchase, but I feel like I struck gold.
Thanks, Diamond Tour Golf.Playability Feel Price/Value - Very cool
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I matched this head with a good quality stiff graphite shaft,cut it to 43 inches , I'm swinging slower because of the head weight, but it's great. The slower swing allows me to just concentrate on hitting the sweet spot. Today I was hitting the 250yd. sign at the range.
Playability Feel Price/Value - Great Sound, Feel and Accuracy!
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This club finds the fairway! I built it to 43 1/4" with a 14* head. It's easily 15 to 20 yards longer than my 3 wood and more accurate off the tee. The sound and feel are great. Highly recommended !
Playability Feel Price/Value - DOWN THE MIDDLE...
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IF YOU LIKE TO SPLIT THE FAIRWAYS THEN THE DTG THRIVER SHOULD BE IN YOUR BAG! BUILT MINE WITH 10.5* HEAD AT 43.5", DEAD STRAIGHT AND NO LOSS OF DISTANCE.
Playability Feel Price/Value
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