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Top 25 Golf Drivers
 The number 1 big stick on oobgolf. By Ray Snarski III, oobgolf intern
Did your driver make the cut? Here are the top 25 drivers by average fairway percentage, popularity and average member star rating! Percentage of fairways hit had the most pull. This accounted for 50% of the scoring model. Popluarity, which was based on how many people carry a specific club in their their bag was 25%. The final 25% was based on user ratings given to the drivers in oobgolf's equipment section. These three scoring perspectives where averaged together with the corresponding weights to get a total score and produce these top 25 drivers:
More Details The average of the fairway percentages for each driver were computed in order to get one number for each driver so that they could be sorted from highest to lowest and rated on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest). The drivers were put into 10 groups of 27 for average fairway percentage with the highest average fairway percentages getting a rating of 10, the lowest getting a rating of 1 and everything else in-between rated accordingly. The next part of the scoring model was popularity. Due to the fact that some drivers had less statistics from game play (and possibly unfairly higher fairway percentage) it was appropriate to give 25% of the scoring weight to popularity. This was done because of the belief that the more statistics there were from game play the more legitimate the average fairway percentages were. This part was graded the same as average fairway percentage with the most popular drivers getting the highest (10) rating and the rest scoring accordingly. The last part of the scoring model, and the final 25% of the scoring weight, looked at what members of oobgolf thought about the specific drivers! Members can grade equipment from 1 to 5 stars. The average member star rating was sorted from highest (5 stars) to lowest (0 stars) and graded in the same 1 to 10 rating scale with 10 being the highest. All the 5 star ratings received a 10 rating and then for every .49 change in star rating there was a drop in the 1 to 10 rating scale (example; 4.99 to 4.5 got a 9 rating, 4.49 to 4 got a 8 rating.. etc). [ comments ]  klangdon says:4 of the top 25 are TaylorMade. 3 of which are just variations on the Burner. Pretty good showing for them. 7/28/08
 Josh says:Definitely, I'd be interested in seeing this sorted purely based on fairway percentage. It would also be cool to see average handicap for the people who have that club. Actually, I just gave myself an idea. How about 2 rankings, 1 based purely on a drivers fairway percentage and nothing else, then the other based on a score derived by dividing average fairway percentage by average handicap of the people who have the club. That way you end up with the best fairway to handicap value. 7/28/08
Josh says:I may have explained that wrong above, actually it should be average handicap divided by average fairway %. So a club that was 90% fairway hits that was owned by people with handicaps averaging 10 would score .11 (10/90) if you took a club that had 90% fairway hits but with people who had average handicaps of 20 it would score higher .22 There may be a better way to express it. Just an idea 7/28/08
 Kickntrue says:What I like about this is the unbiased ratings. It doesn't matter who markets the best (though i guess it does a bit on popularity). For instance- who would've forseen the Dunlop Loco Crazy Long on a list like this? 7/28/08
 merlin2driver says:Thanks Josh, now I have a splitting headache with all those numbers rattling around in there. I have the Burner and I love it's accuracy. It's longer than my Wilson Deep Red II also. See if you can Demo one for a round. 7/28/08
 theredmission says:I only have a Burner 3W and love it-once I actually 100% cure my stupid slice I'll prob. get the drive as well. 7/28/08
 mbills1015 says:Taking this info and just a general opinion, probably biased b/c it's the only brand I play with.... but one could suggest that Taylor Made makes the best clubs in golf, for all different skill levels. They have beginner equipment and obviously advanced stuff as well, but pound for pound I'm going with TM. 7/29/08
sshadow2 says:
I have the Burner Draw and it is great. I'm changing my swing though and now I can't stop hooking with it (I'm a slicer normally, and my swing change dramatically straightens the flight). I hit it a little short compared to the Tour Burner but I refuse to take it out my bag. Really nice to see its number 1 here at Oobgolf.com. 7/29/08
 rymerritt34 says:I just bought the TM Burner Draw about two weeks ago because I've had a slice ever since being a kid. I hit a bucket of balls with it and hated it; absolutely couldn't believe I bought it. I was still slicing the ball as badly as ever. I played in a scramble about a week later and decided what the heck, I'll give it one more chance before I hawk it on ebay and I absolutely crushed it. I'm sure it had a lot to do with working on some mechanics, but I absolutely love the club. I agree, TM makes the best drivers and fairway woods in golf! 7/29/08
 birdieXris says:Cant believe the Srixon W-506 isn't on there. nothing by the Srix at all. :( booooo. 7/30/08
 TaylorFade says:No surprise here. The Burner was top rated by Golf Digest's hot list earlier this year. If Ping had a draw model G10 at press time it would be right up there too. But aside from that, I have it and love it, but I have been hitting TM forever. It's just more accurate than any other driver I have hit. Probably more to do with the shaft than anything else. Acushnet owns golf. 7/30/08
 SingleDigits says:It would also be useful to see the actual Driver counts. If the actual counts are low, a couple players with good fairway accuracy could skew the results. 8/4/08
terrypeeples says:
i just wonder, if taylormade drivers are so good, then why arn't they used in or win any long drive competitions? after all, thats where distance and accuracy is a must. 4/4/09
JWHpurist says:
The stats. & info are all well and good for "Those Who Care" and desire new items to improve their game. I have over 20 Drivers to choose from and nothing gives me grater pleasure than to get on the tee with a 8.5*-9*, 200cc +or- (Vintage Driver, either metal or persimmon), hit a shot where I call it(Center 250 to 275yds.), and watch my companions hit "Wild Shots" with their 10.5*, 450cc Giant Tin Cans that endup OB or in the hazards when they try for 290" to 300' results. I have a 450cc Custom La Jolla from House of Forged that only produces about 15 more yards, but why use it when I don't have to, to post a lower score!! JWHpurist 6/2/09
JWHpurist says:
It makes no difference to me that none of my many drivers aren't on that list because I like what I have and they all work well when I hit them properly!! For terrypeeples: My Custom 450cc La Jolla Driver came from "House Of Forged" because Robert Kent knows Clubs and Shafts and how to build the Best!! The results of his long drive team in competition indicate that!! House of Forged is located in San Diego, CA and can build you anything you want to suit your skill level. This is the kind of service and Custom Clubs I received from Stan Thompson when he was alive and well many years ago!! I have some Thompson clubs over 30 years old that still play quite well. Believe that or not!! JWHpurist 6/2/09
Shivas18 says:
Did you notice that most of the drivers listed are from big budget, high advertising companies? Hey, nearly ALL golf equipment sold in the USA is made in China. For a great "no-name" driver, try Alpha Reaction ... I've been out driving people with their C830.2 for a long time. Of course, it's not listed in the "Top 25"... are you surprised? Probably not. 6/22/09
Kickntrue says:@shivas18- I agree with you that it is easily possible that there are better drivers out there for your game. This is not an "editorialized" list though, it is objective based on stats and ownership numbers. Because of that second part- the big names are going to dominate it, but it's not like oobgolf is ranking these drivers based on opinions. This is what people play and hit the best with the most often. 6/24/09
 esixx says:when are they updating the rankings? looks like this is at least a year old and I'm sure people want to see where the R9, 909, Diable and others all rank. 7/25/09
 CDS2008 says:What about the r7 460? Theres over 300 users who have that club compared to the less than 100 with the TP. Ive never heard of the TP and I have a 460. 8/3/09
 TomPong says:I wonder why there is no Cleveland Driver on the List . They are cheap, long , and easy to hit! 8/16/09
 KVSmith59 says:it should be based purely on FIR and then broken down by handicap. Popularity is based on how well a company markets the product and user rating is too subjective...jmho 8/24/09
 banatmfees says:i think the Cobra l4v and l5v should also be mentioned...incredible equipment in my opinion! 9/2/09
 Smeltn says:I am kinda lost as to how the Nike Sumo didn't make the list. 378 people have it listed in their bag, and the Taylor made burner only had 93 people. It has the exact same rating as the Burner does. 9/23/09
 Gabriel Moreno says:yeah i know list is old but my driver is no 2. Thats why I havent changed it since I bought it in 2007 while my other friends have bought three different drivers during the same span. The tp burner was and still is fantastic. 10/14/09
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