Innovex CfD Driver

The Innovex CfD Driver doesn't try to overwhelm the consumer with ultra-high-tech gadgetry. Instead, with this driver, Innovex sticks to its pledge to golfers: great clubs at great prices.

There are a lot of drivers on the market these days, and many more on the way, that incorporate composite crowns, tungsten weight plugs or other weight plugs visible on the sole or rear of the clubhead, or weight ports with interchangeable weighted screws.

Such drivers might be great choices for many golfers. If you try one and like the feel and performance, know what to do with those weighted screws, and can afford the price, then such a driver might be the one for you. It's all about finding the club(s) you have confidence in, can hit well, and can afford.

But nobody should get the idea that a new driver must have interchangeable weights or other such things to be a great driver. A more "basic" driver can be the perfect choice for a golfer when done well, or a much better choice than those ultra-high-tech whiz-bang (and high-priced) sledgehammers if it meets your criteria.

The Innovex CfD driver is done well - very well. It's not fancy - no weight ports or composite crown. It's "just" a 460cc titanium driver with a traditional shape and three very good things going for it:
1. It looks great;
2. It feels great;
3. It plays great.

"With Innovex, we wanted to bring the price down on premium equipment, while making sure that our products were 'leading-edge' from a technological point of view," Innovex founder Kevin Downey told us a while back.

We're not saying the Innovex CfD driver resembles, in its technology, those $39.95 drivers you see in bins at big-box retailers (although its price is much closer than other big-time drivers). Far from it.

But before we get to the specifics of construction and performance, let's point out something that might be just as, or even more important, to some golfers: the price. The Innovex CfD driver carried a price tag of only $169.95 when it first hit the market in October of 2005. The special rate disappeared a couple months later, but the driver still is a hair below $200. (UPDATE: the price has since risen along with the rising costs of titanium used in its construction.) That makes it, at the time this is being written, anywhere from $50 to $400 less in price than any other of the best drivers on the market.

The Innovex CfD driver features a cup-face design (hence the "CfD" part of its name), which helps enlarge the sweet spot and increase forgiveness on off-center strikes.

The 460cc head features a forged titanium body and beta titanium face. Forging the body helps minimize the wall thickness, and of course the face is very thin as well. Among the benefits of thinner walls is the ability it gives a club designer to manipulate the weight saved (compared to thicker walls). That "saved" weight can be added back to the club in a position more advantageous to the desired ball flight.

The cup-face design also helps move weight rearward, away from the face. These attributes of the CfD driver combine to effect a high launch for a more optimum trajectory and greater carry.

Does that translate to the fairways? Based on what we experienced, and what those golfers who test-drove the CfD with us experienced, we'll give a resounding "yes."

The Innovex CfD sets up great, with a traditional and very clean look that inspires confidence. The 10-degree model features a square face angle that appeals to better players, and the high-launch characteristics make this plenty of loft for most lower-handicappers.

Higher-handicappers will want to go with the 12-degree model, which has a face-angle 1-degree closed to help combat a golfer's fade or slice tendencies.

The 10-degree model we were using, in addition to launching the ball high with excellent distance and dispersion performance, also proved easier to work than most other 460cc drivers we've tried (the square face angle certainly contributes to that - many 460cc drivers are built with a draw bias).

This driver appealed to golfers from all handicap levels, however. As we said above: great look, great feel, great results. And the price? Among top-of-the-line drivers - and we feel the Innovex CfD is a top-of-the-line driver - you can't beat it.

More information, including shaft options, is available on the Innovex website.