Golf Research In Play is a good friend of Hooked On Golf Blog and The Golf Space. GRIP is a fairly new manufacturer of golf clubs including putters, hybrids, irons, wedges, fairway woods and drivers. GRIP founder Rob Blumberg has been kind enough to be a sponsor of the HOG Space fantasy golf league by donating clubs for the winners of each half of the season.

460cc Beta Titanium Driver

It took a while to get this driver review in the bag due to a few reasons. The first unit I had was one of 2-3 beta test units in existence. The shaft wasn’t the final production shaft and the loft not optimum for my setup. Add that to the fact that Point1Golf’s TomGov knocked the head off the shaft when we were testing it out in Orlando! Don’t worry. The head issue isn’t a production issue for GRIP. It’s just what happens sometimes when you are testing new equipment.

When final production units were available we were so excited to get this review going that we didn’t wait for the right unit. I ended up trying to test a regular shaft and 10.5 degree loft driver. Both of those were wrong for my typical stiff shaft and nine degrees of loft and resulted in one shot: high right. Use GRIP’s free fitting to make sure you get the right club for your swing!

Finally I got the right configuration in my hands (stiff shaft and nine degree loft) and boy does it work well!

Looks & Feel

I’m a fan of GRIP’s designs. GRIP’s clubs are aesthetically pleasing, easy to hit and high performance. The GRIP driver is no exception.

The first thing people say when I ask them to try out my GRIP driver is “It’s sure pretty.” It really is. The deep blue finish and nice traditional club head shape (not that ungly square style) look great standing over the shot.

The club is very well balanced and feels great during swings. You can tell right where the club head and club face are at any time during your swing.

The next thing people say is after they hit the thing: “Wow!”

Technology

GRIP drivers use an aerospace grade beta Titanium. What does this mean? High performance, maximum distance and the maximum allowable COR (coefficient of restitution) which allows the club to give a little at impact.

Like most of today’s drivers the huge sweet spot, combined with high launch and low spin produce tons of distance. The low spin also helps in the accuracy department.

High MOI

“Moment Of Inertia” is a golf buzz word. The higher the MOI the better. MOI is essentially a measurement which tells you how much the club head will twist or go off line in the swing and at impact. The GRIP 460cc has very high MOI and thus helps decrease side spin and give you more distance and more fairways hit.

The rear of the club has some weights, but they’re “fixed.” I’ve taken them out for the heck of it but they’re primarily for moving the clubs center of gravity back and down. That helps prevent “horizontally challenged” shots (slices and hooks).

The weights are also a bit for show and are not movable like a Taylormade r7 or other movable weight drivers.

On The Course

A pal of mine and I hit the range fairly often. My pal has really been struggling with his swing and hasn’t even carried a driver as he’s waiting for a replacement for his Mizuno driver which caved in. When my pal hit the GRIP 460 he wouldn’t give it back to me for about 1/2 an hour. He said it was the best driver he’d hit and this guy hits so many balls he wears the lettering off the soles of his irons. He was really blown away when I told him this driver was only $129.00. His $400 driver was broken and out of warranty and I get the feeling he’ll be replacing it with a GRIP.

When I finally pried the thing out of my pal’s hands and threw it in my bag I’ve loved the performance. I’m able to hit just about any kind of shot I want and they’re as long as any other driver I’ve hit. I can work the ball either way. I can hit high or low shots and my accuracy is great. I’m hitting way more fairways than Tiger Woods does. (No need to talk about the rest of my game though).

Conclusion

Once again GRIP has proven that you don’t need to spend a ton of money to get high performance, quality design and nice looking clubs you can show off to your buddies. The GRIP Beta Titanium 460cc driver is just as good as any $500 driver on the market for 1/4 of the price.

Here’s a tip for you to really shave some strokes off your golf game: Take the $500 you were going to spend on a driver and buy the GRIP 460cc for $129.00. That leaves you $371.00 you can spend on lessons. THAT would be a real way to improve your game.

I have many more pictures of Golf Research In Play’s clubs in the HOG GRIP Gallery.

GRIP’s Golf Space profile: http://www.thegolfspace.com/gogrip