Alpha Golf Driver Test

The folks at Alpha Golf have been kind enough to send me a driver to test. Never heard of Alpha? You'd know them if you followed long drive competition. In 2006 Alpha drivers won four of the major long drive tournaments against the likes of every big name stick you can think of. If you read a lot of golf articles, you may have seen their driver referred to as the 'best driver you've never heard of'. What I want to know is can a lessor known brand driver hit the ball just as far as the ones that do all the advertising, or maybe further?

I just received the Alpha V5. Having never even seen a picture of the club before it arrived, I was impressed to find one of the best looking drivers I've come across in a long time. I'm not a big fan of all the modern graphics and paint jobs on many of the new clubs. For a traditionalist, the V5 is a welcome return to a classy, elegant and understated look. There's nothing cheap about the looks of this club. I'd put it in a beauty contest with any club on the market! Call its look 'cool stealth'. This thing will definitely turn heads on the first tee. This is one club where you don't have to close your eyes when you hit it.

As soon as the weather warms up a bit in New England I'm going to put this club through the paces in a one person golf test. After all, this is what it finally comes down to for any of us. You go out and hit clubs, compare to what you have and decide if it's a go or not. Regardless of what reviewers say or golf club tests show, any club has to work for you. I figure the best and fairest way to do this is to take the club to an outdoor practice range and compare it against the club I'm currently using. Joe Simon of Alpha Golf swears I'll get an extra 20 yards - time will tell. To be fair, I'm planning on alternating between the Alpha V5 and my existing driver, hitting groups of five shots with each. By using different color coded golf balls I'll be able to walk out on the range and judge for myself the difference between each club. To make it even fairer, I'll try the same exercise on at least 5 different days.

No test is perfect, but I hope to get a true comparison between the two clubs and create some information you can add to your own experiences. Both clubs are set up the same way, are the same length, fitted with a firm shaft and have a 460cc head. I like my current driver so I'll be surprised, pleasantly, if the Alpha gives me more distance or greater control or both. So far it gets top marks for appearance.

One more thing, it came with the best head cover I've ever seen. It's not a sock or a zip or just plain open. It's a leather cover that uses magnets to close the seam on the underside. It's simple and foolproof and there's no struggling to get the cover off or on. It also looks great. Check out the head covers on their site. Regardless of the test results I'm going to get myself a head cover.

For now I'm praying for some warmer weather so I can begin the club test. Stay tuned as I'll blog my way through it.