Alpha V5 Driver Review

Back in February I received a brand new Alpha Golf V5 driver and wrote a blog about my intentions to review it. The weather in New England finally eased up in April and I have completed my tests.

Initial Impressions and Unique Head Cover
First, let me recap my initial impressions; it's a gorgeous club, elegant but not showy and comes with the best head cover I have come across. It's important to protect the graphite shaft on a new driver, but trying to put the long necked head cover on can try your patience enough that you decide to leave it in the car. That's great for the short term, but bad for the long term. It only takes a small nick on the fragile shaft to weaken it enough to break in the middle of a round. For my money, Alpha has solved the problem with a slick design that uses magnets to control the opening in the head cover. It's so easy to use that there's no excuse for not protecting your driver. Even if you don't need a new club I encourage you to check out these great head covers.

Now on to the club test. I compared the Alpha V5 to my current driver. I have a range where I can hit my own balls. I used the exact same balls, marked red and black and hit both drivers in alternate sets of 5 over numerous practice sessions. I also took the club out on the course to try it where it actually counts.

It's not easy to test drive a new club and really know whether it's right for you or not for a number of reasons. A new club is usually setup differently - you are looking for something different aren't you? Accordingly it's going to feel different while you learn how to swing it. If you can't test it over an extended period against what you're currently using, how do you know the results aren't colored by your swing on that particular day.

Configuration
The Alpa V5 came in the same length as my current driver and with a similarly configured stiff shaft. They sent it with a normal size grip. While I use mid size grips on my clubs I wanted to test it first with the normal size as this is what you're going to find on most demo clubs. I found that it definitely affected my ability to hit the ball. So be careful in evaluating a new club if the grip is different from what you normally use. After a few days with the normal grip I replaced it with a mid size Golf Pride Decade Multi-Compound Cord grip. (I not reviewing grips here, but I have to say that these grips are incredible-though expensive.) I noticed a difference immediately. Without the change I don't think I would have given the club a fair evaluation.

Aesthetics
Let's look at aesthetics for a moment before getting to the results. I've talked about the great look of the club which is important for building confidence. I also want to mention sound because this is important to many golfers when considering metal woods. When I first hit the V5, the sound was a definite surprise. It wasn't bad, but it was just different from what I am using. Where my current club makes a clank, this club makes a clink. The more I hit the club the more I got accustomed to the sound, to the point where I actually forgot about it. If you find the sweet spot the sound almost disappears, which is quite pleasing - in a biofeedback sort of way.

At The Range
What about the results? On the practice range I found the Alpha V5 to be, on average, between 15 and 20 yards farther on solid center hits. I didn't check off center hit distances as carefully, but my impression is there was little difference there. The results can't be an absolute number because this was not an exact scientific experiment. I'll leave it to the physicists and Iron Byron to come up with absolute performance figures. Golf clubs are hit by humans and this brings in a lot of variations, even with an individual golfer. I noticed that the biggest differences in distance came in the later tests. Maybe I was learning how to swing the club. Or maybe my confidence was increasing due to the results of the earlier tests.

On The Course
Finally, I took the club out on the course. After all, this is where any club has to perform. No two days on the golf course are ever the same, but when you've played a course enough you have a pretty good idea of how far your drives go. I was definitely hitting the ball at least 10 yards past my normal landing spots and this in cooler spring conditions. There's a 292 drivable par 4 - at least for some - on the course I used for my test. My previous best there was about 10 yards in front of the green. I don't remember the conditions, so I can't say if mother nature helped or not. I'm delighted to say that I was able to put one of my drives with the Alpha V5 on the front fringe. It's important to note that the last 15 yards of the fairway rise about 12 feet up to the green. There was no helping wind with the V5 and the ball ran up the slope. Regardless of what happens on the practice range, it's those kind of results that 1) make it easy to covet the club and 2) get you psyched up to try it on your favorite driving holes. Now I'm anxious to see if I can repeat my 'longest drive' on a few other short par 4's that I've never been able to reach. It would also be great to reach the par 5's in two that have been impossible up to now.

After testing it myself, I whole heartedly encourage anyone who's looking for more distance in a new driver to give the V5 a try. Though it's not as universally carried in golf stores the way the most advertised brands are, you can buy it on line with a risk-free 30 day guarantee. Just a couple of last remarks. The club has customizable weight ports which I didn't mess around with. For those of you who want the club to help you change your ball flight, the option is there. I don't think the average amateur is really working his drive intentionally. I don't try to move mine much as the results can get scary. My natural shot is a draw. On the course, I was able to fade the ball a little with the V5. Hopefully it wasn't just luck, but I'm confident this club will not hold any skill level player back.

As soon as it stops raining here, I'm going to go out and play some more with the V5. I'll keep you updated on how the club performs. Right now the old club is confined to the trunk of my car! It's no wonder that Alpha Golf has won 6 ReMax World Long Drive titles.