MARU SPEC

[PxExG]

Well I finally got to hit it tonight - brought out a dozen Pro V1s on Lahinch and played off a few different tees all with different wind directions. First off let me preface this by saying I am not playing..... I am not the best golfer in the world but I would say I am pretty good, I play off 5 and on any given day can shoot around par. However, I am the type of player that needs to practice every week to remain sharp. This year I have been away at school too much & have only played like 36 holes since August. Indeed tonight was my 2nd time hitting balls since Christmas :'(

Everyone has heard that the MARU is a beast of a club, suiting only the best of players & is too tough to handle for mere mortals. With all this in mind, I did approach this club with some amount of trepidation. Yet, its only a golf club right?! Surely it can not be that hard to hit!

If looks could kill - this driver would be in prison. Seriously like, I do get sick of hearing the words "beautiful club" "pear shape" et all but its so true about this club. My old driver (983E 9.5* with 661 Speeder) was a good looking driver, but after seeing this I know what Ari meant when he said a "funky" toe. The entire head of the MARU is a work of art - perfetly sculpted with just the right mixture of understated curves and sheer in-your-face perfection. It has quite a deep face but at address it does not appear overtly so. I love the lack of alignment aid on top & the jet black finish screams quality. My normal loft is 9* and I was worried that this might look a bit off at 8.5* but my worries were unfounded.

A little about the club: I know deep face, solid feeling, lower spin drivers are the ones for me. The MARU was always a good bet then, however I do not want, nor need, a 4* open face or a 90gram shaft. My driver happened to be hand picked from the Tourstage Tour Van for its square head (absolutely dead square to my eye) actual loft of 8.75* (some vary from 8* to 9*)

I had it reshafted with a Fujikura Speeder 652 Stiff, and installed at 44" D4. This happened to work out perfect & also happens to be my preferred playing length and SW. (Work done my Tourtunedgolf FYI)

Performance: As I have said, I am not 100% up for the review but I just had to write something! I started off with a few pitches as a warm up & then hit the driver up the 3rd in Lahinch. It was into about a 15-20 mph wind from the right. I like that wind actually, even if its a short wind. Anyways first few shots were nothing to write home about to be honest. I was hitting the ball well out on the toe & not really doing anything (as was to be expected) But after all 12 balls I noticed something: Yes I had only really connected with one, but 8 were on the fairway at about my normal distance. Regardless of how they got there - low "weak" flighted shots - they were still out there & in play. And no ball had missed left. We might be on to something here fellas!

Next hole was the 10th - a dogleg right to left with the wind off the right & hurting. I decided to play a draw (my normal shot at this hole) and man was a I surprised. QUACK QUACK QUACK!!! I hit 4 balls in a row about 210 snap hooked. Really ugly shots now - not good at all. I couldnt understand it because I felt I didnt but that bad a swing on them. So I stopped, chipped around for a bit & started afresh. Went back to just my normal stock shot (few yard draw) and it was ok again - getting the ball out there. Then out of frustration/boredom I decided to hit a BOMB. For this I always play the ball outside my left toe + move 65% of my weight onto my right side, swing wide and make sure to get a full transfer on the through swing. BOMB indeed! the ball actually took off. I was like - hey John Daly look out! What actually made that shot was the ball placement. I played to next few between my left heel and toe and they were all good. Some were very good indeed, and all were out there on a good neutral ball flight.

On to the 13th - a driveable par 4 of some 270 yards. I hit the green! can I say more? I hit a few more balls and a few broke off left into bunkers & I did block one well right, but nonetheless I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

So overall, this club is good looking & set up just the way I like it. I find it inspires confidence at address. However so far the performance has just been good - on par with my 983E to be honest. The ball flight is flatter & I would say with less spin than the E. Workability I can not really comment on for now, I am just not that good/confident yet. Distance is much the same too.

Final verdict - certainly lived up to its billing as a great head. I shall not be selling just yet, but I have always been a very good driver of the ball & if it doesnt perform.... can I hear $600?

[PxExG]

Oh I do have pics if anyone wants them! i will email to Tourspecgolfer in the morning if need be. Any questions just ask - hope i didnt bore ye!

[+TourSpecGolfer]

Great an Awesome review there my friend :) . I think 600 is a great price for a tour van square face 8.75 degree maru. There is a good guy here his stage name is preppygolf4r he just recently got a tour van maru 2 degrees open 45 inches M85 X flex shaft, his swing speed is 117mph he hits long small draws usually about 295-315yds out but this driver is the best club Ive seen him hit or he himself has hit. I really think its all about powering through the ball with this club and also a right to left ball flight. I wasn't able to hit it for beans low worm burners fading right so what i did was pick up the non conforming 9.5 model. The 9.5 was everything i wanted the Maru to be and more easy to hit, higher ball flight than the maru, easier to work in my opinion with even less neutral weighting than a maru. Let me know if you want a used head bro P.

Thanks for the honest review sounds on the money when your talking about this club being not so user friendly. I look forward to hearing about a more successful round you have with it in the future.

[corky3]

an MR23 9deg not a tour van example (thanks Chris!) that I've installed an NV75S in...... and while I agree with your findings you haven't mentioned the feel........ The MR23 is the BEST feeling driver I've ever had..... just sooooo solid. I'm 'stick'ing with mine for now...... An yes it's also the best looking :D

[PxExG]

to be honest I have not noticed an "amazing" feel with this club. solid hits feel good, but not much better than my old 983E. perhaps im simply not hitting the ball well enough... yet!

[Me_Smells_SMOKE]

Keep in mind that club has the highest COG on the face of any driver and also the COG is closer to the face than ANY other driver except those spec'd for certain individual tour players. Accordingly you might find you will need to zero in hitting just a tad higher on the face than other drivers. Plus as Chris mentioned, since the COG is so close to the face, you really need to power thru the swing. It will not do the work for you like most other drivers. That COG placement also reduces the MOI significantly. So your offcenter hits might not be as "forgiving" when comared to other drivers.

Sounds like you can handle this one easily though. It is, by far the best performing Driver on the Market today. And Chris can hook anyone up with it to any particular spec requested.

[PxExG]

yeah i hear what you are saying. I will not give up just yet, I have a week of golf in front of me now & I will certainly give it my all. However, I am not coming from the "easiest" to hit driver in the world (983E) and my current clubs, that I am hitting well, are hardly idiot sticks. read blades, MR-23 CB and SS-03.

[FairwayFred]

Great review!

The Maru is definetly demanding but IMO it is also one of the most rewarding drivers out there if you have the game for it.