Add another entry to the square driver category.
Nickent Golf, the company that has received a lot of attention this year with the success of staff player Jeff Quinney, sent a few of its new 3DX Square drivers out to key retailers last month and are pleased with the response.
"We picked a few select retailers to do a test market on the 3DX Square and it turns out we have never had a hotter product," said Ian Zubkoff, executive vice president of sales for Nickent Golf. "They say it looks better, sounds better and performs better than the other square- or high-MOI [moment of inertia] design drivers on the market."
Like other square drivers on the market, the 3DX Square performs well at helping players hit the ball straighter. The square shape lets engineers move more mass to the back corners of the clubhead, which works to slow down the twisting of the club at impact.
In technical lingo, it has a higher MOI than a more traditional shaped clubhead. Plus, the entire clubface is larger and more forgiving on off-center hits.
"We wanted a club that had limited twisting at impact," said John Hoeflich, Nickent senior vice president, who drew his initial ideas for a square driver design on a napkin. "This keeps the ball straight, even when you make a bad swing."
But there are some issues with square drivers. Tiger Woods has talked about how he would like to play a Nike Sumo2 -- Nike's square driver - but the launch angle is a little too high.
Nickent's engineers have been working on that problem in its square driver and have focused on making a club with a more penetrating ball flight.
"(One) thing we wanted to accomplish was an optimum trajectory," Hoeflich said. "Others have not taken into account that this design makes the ball go very high and produces a lot of spin, even for high handicap players. We wanted straight rocket launchers and that's what we are seeing from the 3DX Square."
With a lower launch angle, golfers won't give up any distance to gain accuracy. Nickent's tests with an Iron Byron-style robot indicate that the 3DX Square's yardage equals that of Nickent's more traditional drivers.
"Sometimes you just get lucky," said Michael Lee, Nickent's CEO. "We wanted to try the square design out after John Hoeflich did a design idea on a napkin. We rushed the project, but we weren't sure how the others were doing in the marketplace.
"We did a test with our retailers and we found there really is a serious demand for these straight hitting drivers."
The club's head is made of forged titanium and it ships with a UST V2 graphite shaft and Lamkin NNG grip in 9-, 10.5- and 12-degree versions. The 10.5-degree model is available for left-handers.
The club, which may already be available at some retailers, will be available in June. Suggested retail is about half of what Nike and Callaway square drivers sell for -- $199.
For information, go to www.nickentgolf.com.
