Philippines Golf Academy

Read the product brief of the Callaway Diablo Octane drivers and it’s clear the designers had one design goal in mind – distance. While the new 460cc Diablo Octane and Diablo Octane Tour share some features with their predecessors, the Diablo Edge and Diablo Edge Tour drivers – like a chemically-milled hyperbolic cup face and titanium sole plate – the biggest difference between the clubs is the use of a new material Callaway calls Forged Composite.

Forged Composite is the lightest, strongest, most precise material Callaway has ever employed in the manufacture of golf clubs. Encompassing more than 500,000 intertwined turbostratic fibers per square inch; this material features an incredibly high threshold for withstanding the extreme forces encountered in a golf clubhead. Forged Composite is one-third the density of titanium, yet features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass in bending.

That leaves you with a material that’s lighter and stronger than any composite ever used to make a golf club. This allows Callaway to do two things; first was position the center of gravity (CG) more precisely in the clubhead than ever before to produce the flight characteristics sought by the golfer. Secondly, the lighter head weight allowed them to make a slightly longer club to create additional distance for the golfer.

In the case of the Octane series of drivers, it is the crown of the club which is created using this process. The weight saved using Forged Composite instead of titanium allowed designers to move weight lower and further away from the face, lowering the CG and making it easier to get the ball up in the air. Although this technology is visible in the Diablo Octane driver, the slightly smaller 450cc Diablo Octane Tour has a plain black crown because better players want as few visual distractions as possible. The overall look of the Tour driver is perfect at address. This one’s a looker!

The Project X shaft in the Diablo Octane Tour has a good bit of heft to it, but the flex profile is actually on the soft side. It’s a very good shaft for a sweet swinger but hitters will have to go up a flex. Upside is that the tip is very stable which yields a high ball flight with a boring trajectory. Only the strongest golfers will want a stouter shaft.

The clubface of the Diablo Octane Tour visibly larger than the similarly sized R9

Normally a golf product with the word “Tour” in its name is a signal for most golfers to stay away. Not so with the Diablo Octane Tour. The Hyperbolic Cup Face is of immense size, equal to that of its larger 460cc sibling; belying the Tour’s smaller 450cc head. This makes it quite easy to hit but the shallow pear-shaped head shape keep the center of gravity closer to the face allowing the skilled golfer to shape the ball.

Feel is typical for a graphite head – very satisfying but muted at impact. Of course some prefer a more metallic feel, but I can get used to either as long as the overall results are good. The face feels hot; you can feel the ball shoot off the clubface with authority. Ball flight was higher than I was expecting from a Tour-stiff shaft but spin was well controlled and the results were quite good compared to my gamers.

In conclusion then, the Diablo Octane Tour is a great driver for the aspiring-to-accomplished golfer. It’s reasonably priced at just under P20,000 and offers more performance than you expect. It’s long off the tee, as promised but it’s not demanding to play. Callaway’s got another winner.

Read the whole story on:http://pinoygolfer.com

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