And while this isn't a reason for anyone to choose one club over another, we'll go ahead and say that the drivers Tait sent us came with the coolest headcovers we've yet seen. One word: magnets.
455 Deep Bore
The 455 Deep Bore clubhead is a striking deep red in color. It features a very deep face. The deeper-than-standard head produces a very low center of gravity.
Another striking feature about this clubhead is that there are no scorelines on the vacuum-forged Beta titanium face. That, SMT explains, is a result of form rather than function: "Our goal is to make all of our heads play as close to the .830 USGA allowance, and that called for a very thin face, so thin, that if we were to score the face in a traditional manner, it would weaken the structure of the head and compromise our high quality standards."
Our 455 Deep Bore came outfitted with an AccuFLEX Assassin World Championship shaft, also in deep red. The Assassin is one of two shafts that SMT recommends for this clubhead; the other is AccuFLEX Eon Ultimate (all of SMT's recommendations are for AccuFLEX but, of course, you can purchase any shaft you want to pair the clubhead - one of the benefits of going the components route).
The 455 Deep Bore is available in right and left. Lofts are 4 through 12 degrees, plus 14 degrees, for right-handers; for left-handers, available lofts are 4 through 7 degrees, plus 9 and 10 degrees. The face angle is square at the lowest loft, a half-degree closed with the middle lofts, and 1 degree closed at the highest lofts.
All SMT driver heads are USGA conforming.
The 455 Deep Bore clubhead carries a manufacturer's price (at time of writing) of $135, which includes the headcover (magnets!) and ferrule.
The SMT Spectrum driver head also lacks scorelines on the face. This clubhead is smaller than the 455, coming in at 391cc. Our clubhead was matched with the Eon Competition shaft. SMT's recommended shafts are the Icon V.2 and Icon V3 (all AccuFLEX).
What immediately jumps out about the Spectrum is what SMT calls the "the first-ever full three-sided wraparound soleplate design."
"Due to the manufacturing process, it is almost impossible to have a soleplate that covers three distinctive sides of the head. Sole, backskirt and crown," Tait writes.
"This unique design afforded us the luxury of both deepening the center of gravity and at the same time, raising it. This gives us the best of both worlds. Amazingly solid feel at impact and a trajectory that is not too high to promote roll."
The Spectrum is advertised to offer a deep, penetrating ball flight, which is exactly what we liked most about it. Well, that and the fantastic, solid feel (and sound) at impact.
The manufacturer's price (at time of writing) for the Spectrum clubhead is $109, which includes the headcover and ferrule.
Other SMT Clubheads
SMT's other clubheads in its 2004 catalog include the Shinnecock, Nemesis, Nemesis Offset, Babylon, O2 and Solitaire. The Solitaire is a fairway metal head.
The Shinnecock and Nemesis have both been used to win World Long Drive Championships.
The Babylon features what SMT calls "Titanium/Graphite Matrix Technology." It features a titanium face and body, carbon graphite composite crown and a tungsten copper insert in the back heel.
