Joel Tadman

Joel Tadman discusses Wilson Golf’s Driver vs Driver 2 TV show and how it provided a fascinating window into driver design, plus Rick Shiels’ unique perspective as one of the panel’s three judges

Our equipment editor shares his thoughts on Wilson Golf’s Driver vs Driver 2 TV show

he development of new golf clubs usually takes place in total secrecy. All you see is the end product, with little insight into where or who the idea came from, the evolution from sketch to the finished article and the challenges encountered along the way. It is understandable, as leaks can be costly and the more people brands expose the process to, the higher the chance of something getting into the open too early, wreaking havoc with demand, marketing plans and so on. But this confidentiality is quite frustrating, which is what made Driver vs Driver 2 so refreshing. It provided a window into the process that both entertained and left you gagging to try the winning design.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, designs from 14 budding engineers were selected from hundreds of applicants, with the 14 then given the chance to pitch to a panel of expert judges. We saw everything from rotating bars, detachable crowns and square heads to magnetic face plates, rods and spoilers. There was even a moveable fin that supposedly adjusted the air flow over the clubhead. Wow.

Half were selected to progress into the prototype stage, and the models then got whittled down over the weekly

Tepisodes via various robot, tour pro, celebrity and judge testing, until the winner was crowned.

Victorious this year was Cortex, designed by Evan Hoffman from San Diego, who took inspiration from his love of motorbikes and also scooped a $250,000 cash prize. It’s Wilson’s most adjustable driver and hopefully you’ve already read my review of it on page 92.

For the first time, all seven episodes were broadcast on Youtube, giving UK viewers the chance to observe the process. Another reason for interest this side of the pond was that one of the judges this time around was Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Rick Shiels, who has become one of the most watched golf personalities on Youtube.

“It was fairly hectic but a fascinating experience,” Rick told me. “It involved multiple trips to different parts of the US, sometimes just for one day.

“I will hold my hands up and say I’ve been quite naive when it comes to the design and manufacturing of golf clubs. Seeing what goes into it – all the tools and technology Wilson uses to design, build and test prototypes – completely blew my mind.

“The biggest thing for me was seeing how you can put a driver shape into a CAD design and simulate what it will sound like when you hit it. Another was how much reigning in of the designs was required so they could withstand the strains and stresses of hundreds of thousands of golf balls. That’s an area golfers often don’t think about, but it’s so hard to make a fast driver that is durable over a long period of time.

“The two that stood out to me from the start were Roswell, which made it to the final, and Launchpad, which had internal weights you could adjust by unclipping the crown – although it did fly off once during testing! Cortex ultimately won because it ticked the most boxes. It looked great and it performed very well for the majority of golfers who tested it.”

I really enjoyed seeing how the designers overcame the challenges they faced. The series also demonstrated how serious Wilson is as a club maker and also how frustratingly limiting the rules are when it comes to driver design!

Perhaps there was one too many episodes, but I think there was enough variety in the content, as well as the personality and perspectives from the judges, to keep you entertained. At the end, you were left with no doubt that Cortex was the best all-round package. We’re already looking forward to DVD3.

Joel Tadman is GM technical editor

“We saw rotating bars, rods, detachable crowns, magnetic face plates, fins and spoilers”