PowerBilt Air Force One Driver Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, March 31st, 2015
Categories: Golf • Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: PowerBilt

After this past weekend’s round I felt it was time to post my review of the PowerBilt N7 “Air Force One” DFX Tour driver. Yes, the name is more cheesy than a pound of Velveeta with cheese on top, but I don’t care.

I’ve been gaming this driver for a couple of months now and I’m thrilled with what this driver has brought to my game: distance, accuracy and confidence.

Features

The “N7” in the name of this driver represents the gas nitrogen. You see, the head of this driver is “charged” with it. So if the Terminator T1000 is coming at me, I can crack open my driver head and cover him with nitrogen. According to PowerBilt, the nitrogen charge reinforces the club face without adding weight to the club. This allows for maximum trampoline effect and the thinnest legal club face, but still has great strength. The nitrogen is also not susceptible to temperature changes so regardless of conditions it remains consistent. The result is increased ball speed, which I can’t believe I’m verifying, but I am. It sounds like such a gimmick I know. But once again, I’m about results so if the lampshade on the head thing helps my score, I’ll do it.

The nitrogen isn’t the only notable feature in the “AFO.” The body is forged titanium with the popular cup-face design. Cup-face design is very popular among many drivers. The cup-face shaped front is welded onto the body. The head is aerodynamically designed to reduce drag and allow more club-head speed.

Deep Face in the Air Force One

Speaking of the face, the AFO features a “deep” face as seen above. This means the height of the face is where much of the square footage is, rather than the width. If you hit a lot of shots thin or high on the face, this may be a better choice.

Specs

The AFO DFX is available in four lofts: 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, 12.5°. All come standard with a 45.5″ shaft and a 58° lie.

There are roughly 25 shaft options available. The shaft in my 10.5 degree test unit is a Fujikura Pro 63.

On The Course

What REALLY counts is how this thing performs on the golf course. I don’t have an Iron Byron (robotic golf swing machine), nor do I have a Trackman to capture exact launch angles and spin rates. My reviews are more tactile and personal in nature than those gear-heads who are trying to get one less revolution per minute in sidespin and refuse to play driver-x because its launch angle is .000003 degrees the wrong direction. I wonder when Iron Byron will finally find the perfect club for his perfect swing anyway? Lots of places seem to test for him and not the average hack like me who hits the center of the club face a couple of times per round, if I’m lucky.

10.5 degrees of nitrogen charged titanium POWER!

The feedback this club gives is great. In golf “feedback” is the feel and sound of the club. I really like the pinging sound and on that rare occasion the sweet spot is hit, the sound is even better. You know when you nutted it. I can tell through the feel of the club when I hit one thin, on the toe, on the heel or high on the face. Most of my mis-hits on this club are toe shots. The technology helps me keep plenty of distance on those toe shots, with a slight draw.

I almost always draw this club, or hit it straight. I seldom hit it right or fade it. I haven’t tried too many times to carve a fade out of it. I haven’t wanted to mess with something which works. I’m sure eventually I will try to work the ball more, but since I know the straight ball or slight fade is pretty consistent I see no need to change anything.

Right now I’m seeing some very sizeable distance gains. I’m just about to the point of humiliating a regular golf opponent who just last year was out-driving me. Now I’m “Wal-Marting” him. He’s pretty demoralized. I have several glory stories with this driver already. I’ve driven a OVER the reachable par-4 14th at one of my home courses, River Oaks. The extra length has really made par-5’s more reachable for me. In my last round I made birdie on ALL four of the par-5’s, and just missed an eagle putt on the last one. Stats for my last round were pretty awesome. I had a couple of drives in the 330 range on two par-5’s, and a couple in the 280 range uphill. Average was 303. Even better than that was my fairway percentage, 12/16 for 75%. It’s not like that every round, but even when I’m off the numbers are still pretty good.

AFO at address…

Critiques

My only critique is a bit of a jab at the cheesy name, “Air Force One.” I often refer to my driver as “Snakes on a Plane,” another terrible airplane move like Air Force One was.

Conclusion

I get so sick of golf marketing and their “more distance” claims. Most are bogus. If they were right, we’d all need to play 10,000 yard courses and our drives would be going 500 yards. That said, I’ve picked up quite a bit of distance with this club. Is it the nitrogen? Is it the cup face? Hell, I don’t know. For all I know it is the shaft. Since I most often draw this club, the ball is probably rolling farther. Whatever the reason, I’m killing the Air Force One and hitting a very good fairway percentage.

Until I find a driver that outperforms this one my gamer driver is Snakes on a Plane… oh sorry… Air Force One.

Related

For more images, check out the Hooked On Golf Blog PowerBilt photo gallery.

$173 Score Band Pulse Golf Laser Rangefinder Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, March 30th, 2015
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Golf Laser Range Finder • Score Band

I’ve been gaming the new Score Band Pulse golf laser rangefinder for about 10 golf rounds now. You can surely enjoy the rest of my review below, but I’ll start with saying the Pulse is by far the best value in golf laser rangefinders by a long shot (pun intended).

ScoreBand Laser Rangefinder – click to buy

What I need from a golf laser rangefinder is pretty simple: quick and dependable yardages to the pin, and whatever else I shoot with it. The Score Band laser nails the pin quickly and gives me ONE solid number I can count on. The reason I highlighted the word “one” in the previous sentence is that I’ve had other lasers which seem to play a random number game. I can shoot the pin four times and get four different numbers. Not the case with the Score Band laser. One number.

I love to use the unit to shoot no only the pin, but other very important target areas, or areas I need to avoid. I’ll shoot the top lip of a bunker I need to be sure to carry. I’ll shoot the front edge of a false-front on a green. If I see a player in front of me on a par-4 or 5 who looks to be in a perfect position in the fairway, I’ll shoot him or his cart with the laser so I can know exactly how far and what club to hit off the tee for that position.

Golf GPS’s are great, but I could not survive a round of golf without a laser.

Features

The Pulse can shoot objects up to 400 yards away, for you big hitters who are debating between clubs on a shot that’s 387 yards. The flag-lock feature is good for up to 250 yards.

Accuracy for this golf laser is plus or minus one yard.

The viewfinder is 6x magnification. I’ll often look through the viewfinder to see where my ball sits on a long approach shot.

Measurements are taken in yards or meters.

Unit comes with a carrying case. The case is a bit on the weak side, but I just put the unit in a pocket in my golf bag.

Conclusion

At $173 on Amazon, I’ve not seen a better value in golf laser rangefinders. Not even within $100 of that price. My previous laser was $299 and not as accurate.

The Score Band Pulse laser is a no-brainer. If you’re shopping for a golf laser, check out the Pulse.

Today’s Golf Shorts Script: Dunning Stretch Performance Bottoms

Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, March 29th, 2015
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear • Golf Lifestyle
Tags: Dunning Golf

I’m almost more excited for today’s golf short apparel script than I am for the day’s golf round. Today I’ll be putting these Dunning Golf Stretch Performance Bottoms.

Dunning Stretch Performance Bottoms (Golf Shorts)

I’ll be testing these for a few rounds on the course and around town, then posting my final review. I’m confident I will not be disappointed. Dunning Golf makes some of the best golf apparel I’ve ever experienced.

Below are links to a few of my previous Dunning Golf apparel reviews. Check them out:

Dunning Stretch Pique Multi Stripe Polo

Dunning 1/4 Zip Outer Layer

Jersey Button Down Polo

Player’s Edition Sweater

Ben Hogan Golf Now Taking Orders on New Irons and Wedges

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, March 27th, 2015
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear
Tags: Ben Hogan Golf • Eidolon • SCOR • Terry Koehler

I usually reserve golf press releases for the Hooked On Golf Blog sister site HogWire.biz. I get so many press releases submitted it is quite stunning. I decided to build the HOGWire site just as a golf newswire. That said, I have a special place in my golf heart for Ben Hogan irons. As many of you probably already know, I’m still gaming a set of 2002 Ben Hogan Apex Edge Pro’s. I’ve had those in the bag for two club championships, 2nd in the city amateur, and countless $2.00 nassau victories.

This PR below is “special” enough to warrant a mention here. I’m excited to see the Ben Hogan name back in the game, so to speak. I have a now 10+ year golf business relationship with Terry Koehler, President and CEO of Ben Hogan golf. Terry is a pioneer in golf club design. I’ve reviewed his Eidolon wedges and SCOR wedges in years past. I’ve had at least two of Terry’s club designs in my gamer bag ever since 2006. No other club or club designer can claim that honor.

With that all said, I’m excited to hear this news about the new Ben Hogan Golf irons and wedges. I’m hoping, as such a loyalist of the brand, and one who has had such a great relationship with Terry, to be one of the first to review these. I’m working on that.

These clubs employ a concept I’ve lobbied for a few years now, putting the loft numbers on the clubs rather than an arbitrary number like “8.” Golf companies have juiced up clubs so much, an 8-iron is no longer an 8-iron.

The last great reason I’m anxious to get my hands on these Hogans? The model number of the wedges: TK-15. As in “Tony Korologos – 15.” Yes, I’m sure that’s why they came up with that naming convention.

Ben Hogan Golf Press Release Below

Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company is pleased to announce that we are now taking orders for the new Ft. Worth 15 irons and TK 15 wedges – allowing golfers to once again become a “Hogan Player.”

“Everybody is well aware of the stories of how committed Mr. Hogan was to producing high quality golf equipment,” said Terry Koehler, President/CEO of Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company. “We continue this commitment today. We also understand that while golfers are extremely excited about new products, buying a set of premium irons and wedges is a large purchase, so we want to assure them that we will stand behind our products to provide them with the best experience possible.”

“We encourage every consumer to go through our revolutionary HoganFit™ online analysis and fitting system,” said Koehler. Unlike anything in the industry, the HoganFit™ online analysis and fitting system provides golfers with their own unique loft matrix, aligning precision gapping throughout the set.

“The HoganFit™ system was created to give golfers a way to determine their own unique and perfect loft matrix that will optimize their precision and distance control,” added Koehler. “With 44 loft options available, only Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company will provide the most accurately custom-matched set of irons in golf. It’s the only way to bring precision back to iron and wedge play.”

Phil’s Club Head Breaks Off in Bunker – Silly Rules Question

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, March 27th, 2015
Categories: Golf • Golf Rules and Regulations • Golf Videos • Miscellaneous • PGA Tour • Pro Golf
Tags: Phil Mickelson

Yesterday at the Valero Texas Open Phil Mickelson broke his 8-iron hitting out of a fairway bunker on the 12th hole. Video is below.

Silly rules question: If Phil Mickelson’s ball ends up back in the bunker along with the club head which broke off, is that a penalty for grounding his club in a hazard on the next shot? Or is the shaft now “the club?”