RomaRo Alpha Driver 2015

[+TourSpecGolfer]

RomaRo Alpha Series - RomaRo Sports has come out with an entirely new line up labelled "Alpha" Today after about 3 rounds and some help from playing partners we can review their new flagship driver. Available in Silver or Gold with the difference being the Gold is non conforming aka HOT and only available in 10.5 with a 0.5* closed face angle.

The Alpha SLE (silver) also has a 9.5* loft and comes standard at square face, both are 460cc's with a 58* lie angle. So far we have tested the new RomaRo Alpha Silver in a couple of different shafts including the new TRPX Aura Stiff and also the Basileus AAA 60 Stiff so as far as premium shaft options go we have tried them.

Who is this for? It's geared to the player who wants a full size 460cc mid/high launch semi low spin driver. Who is that? It's the usually a mid handicap player who swings under 100mph the lower spin will help straighten the shot and reduce ballooning while at the same time it's shallow face aids in getting the ball up.

The face seems a little small and shallow in size for a 460 but what's interesting is how straight mis-hits fly, overall it's incredibly forgiving across the majority of the impact area. This is one of the key features as the face is a new Forged Cup TVC Titanium and what RomaRo has done is completely re-design the behind the face structure so it's thicker in the center and across symmetrical beams to the toe and heel what this does is spread forgiveness across the entire hitting zone helping you stabilize mistakes made.

The rest of the head consists of a forged thin crown made of 15-3-3-3 which is a rather common material as well as a 6-4Ti body which we also see often but the crowns three-piece structure is a very thinly forged making it only 0.4mm thick which causes the crown to flex creating an almost spring-like effect for a high launch and low spin for more distance. The excess weight by having such a thin forged crown allowed RomaRo's designers to place more weight deep and low.

I don't know how all that plays out in the real but I can say the entire face seems forgiving, the driver has great distance and RomaRo has played a very smart move in creating what seems to be what most golfers need most, a driver that launches high with low spin and a face that is forgiving from most spots struck. The shallow back that lifts high off the ground is a cool technique hidden to help raise the CG so really this driver is not only designed for the player who needs game improvement like performance, the new RomaRo Alpha does a nice job at hiding low spin, higher CG characteristics very well so you feel comfortable with all aspects of it's design and ultimately it's performance.

We paired it first with the Basileus AAA 60 Stiff Limited 2015 version, very straight and slightly too low but the roll itself was an easy 20yds. still we felt we could get more out of it so we installed the new TRPX Aura which is much like this driver, designed for a more aggressive swing but has some very player friendly attributes this shaft is one of the best we found for the Ryoma Maxima and many other heads so putting into the RomaRo was something we knew we would do eventually and we are glad we did the launch I would describe as mid/high where as the AAA was just mid, the kick the Aura gives in the tip is active yet it's considered a tip stiff shaft, the result was about 5yds more carry than the AAA and a little less roll so distance wise it was a wash between the two shafts but the trajectory just seemed "right" with the Aura.

Tested with my swing approx 99mph and my coaches swing 115-120mph it was obvious that his speed could easily overpower the Aura yet with the AAA it help up better for his power so while both shafts worked better for me it was good to see that this head did very well for faster swingers with no ballooning whatsoever.

Distance: A - The combo of low spin and high launch make the new Alpha a pleasure to hit, watch the ball fly high off the face with a tighter dispersion and together it equals great distance given the shaft and build is ideal for your swing.

Forgiveness: B+ - Almost the entire face felt like a sweet spot, the least forgiving zone was the toe, but still better than most! off the heel distance and dispersion was still tight.

Feel: B - One of the better feeling drivers, the forged cup face and forged crown just sends the right vibration up the hands, it's sound is a soft metal crunch with a slight hollow accent to it. Really nice feel at impact.

Trajectory: A - High launch with low spin is where driver design needs to go for most players and RomaRo has dialed this in, Depending on the shaft you choose you can turn this into a high or mid trajectory driver or somewhere in between, some of us have been getting too low with Jbeam or too high with Ryoma as those two heads can be a bit deciving when it comes to trajectory/loft/shaft selection but with the new RomaRo Alpha it's in the middle and you can rely on a mid/high for most swings with no ballooning.

Dispersion: B+ - not ZY-11 tight but it's straighter than most and thank the low spin for that.

[bk24bk]

This whole Alpha series is a winner. High, forgiving, and long. The 18* fairway is a joy to hit.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

This whole Alpha series is a winner. High, forgiving, and long. The 18* fairway is a joy to hit.

Your not the only one, the crowd wanting high launch / low spin and straight have had the same feedback as you on all of RomaRo's woods from driver to fairway and utility.

Type-R was low spin / mid launch / for better amateur player

HX Black & Gold were really good for all levels

The new Alpha is all about ease of use, I wonder how it would do with a 7D.