The only thing our 2005 Golf Company of the Year was missing was a driver. Our testers have really enjoyed their other products (see reviews of the RLS irons, RLS hybrid and RLS fairway wood) and were eager to see what the new CFD driver could do.
Innovex has done a nice job of keeping the CFD appealing to the eye. There are no weight screws, weight ports or funny sole designs. The CFD is a clean looking 460CC head that actually resembles an Innovex RLS fairway wood on steroids. The head is a combination of a thin Beta titanium face and a forged titanium body. Forging the body keeps the club walls very thin and this allows for more weight to be moved. The more weight you can move inside the club head, the more you can increase the launch angle and MOI (performance on miss hits). The result is a forgiving driver that is easy to hit. The driver is offered in two lofts… a 10 degree with a square face and a 12 degree with a face that is 1 degree closed. The stock Graman shaft is a decent choice for the majority of golfers and Innovex has increased their custom shaft options to include choices like the UST V2, Aldila NV and NVS, Fujikura Speeder and AccuFLEX Evolution.
First off… I’d like to thank all of our testers for their work on this one. It’s getting pretty cold around here (we really need to move somewhere warm) and the golf season has come to an end but we still managed to round up a group of people willing to test a few more clubs. The majority of our testers really enjoyed the CFD driver. Many commented on it’s clean look and how it sets up at address. The club is also very forgiving and performs very well on miss hits. Many testers brought their own drivers along and the CFD was one of the longer drivers on the range. Our better players enjoyed the square face and most had no problems with working the ball. The ball flight was mid to high… I wouldn’t say that the CFD hits the ball exceptionally high but I don’t think that anyone really complained that they couldn’t get the ball airborne. Don’t be afraid to look at the 12 degree head if you are a mid to high handicapper. The new shaft options are a bonus… as is the “live chat” customer service feature on the Innovex website. It’s not everyday that a consumer can contact a manufacturer directly and ask questions about a club. I tried it for myself and it was very easy to use and my question was answered right away. One of the biggest upsides to the CFD driver has to be it’s price. It’s a quality club at a great price. Golfers can even upgrade the shaft and still create a driver that comes in below those offered by most other companies. The only real knock had to do with the sound. Some testers noted a fairly loud “ting” on contact. There are a lot of drivers that do this… it’s a byproduct of thin walls and even thinner faces. Not a huge deal but it should be noted. In a nutshell… easy to hit, very forgiving, nice looking, excellent shaft options and a great price. This one is worth a look!
Overall Rating – 90%
Target Handicap – Anyone
Ball Flight – Mid to High
Offset – None
Stock Shaft – Graman CS230 graphite