Since I have nothing going on I figured I’d start this up now. I had an “ interview” at a private club near where I test all the new equipment so I ran in there for an hour afterwards. I hit everything at 9 or 9.5 degrees. The Ping LST was at 10 degrees.

Callaway Mavrik sub zero: $499
Ball Speed 160
Launch 16.4 degrees
Spin 1950
Carry 283
Total Distance 305

Callaway Flash Epic sub zero $539 was basically the same as the Mavrik but still just sounds hollow.

Cobra Speedzone $449
Ball speed 160
Launch 15 degrees
Spin 1586
Carry 285
Total Distance 312

Cobra F9 $349 ( demos for $249)
Ball Speed 164
Launch 13 degrees
Spin 2009
Carry 283
Distance 306

Ping G400max $349
Ball Speed 164
Launch 15 degrees
Spin 1786
Carry 290
Distance 318

Ping G400LST: $299
Ball Speed 165
Launch 14 degrees
Spin 2300
Carry 284
Total Distance 305

The Taylormade SIM was not on the sales floor yet, I’ll do that when I can vs.the M5.

So...
Callaway: The Mavrik is a better looking head. Sits better on the heel to square up the club face . That line the went from toe to heel on top of the Epic flash clubheads is gone. So the crown looks nice and clean. Just the alignment chevron. Mavrik sounded solid. Epic Flash just sounds hollow and terrible. The hollow sound translates into a hard feel. On the flip side the Mavrik had a pleasing muted solid sound which translated into a softer feel. Surprisingly the Mavrik is cheaper... I’d give the win to the Mavrik even if they were the same price. No performance gains but sound is a world of difference.

Cobra:
Speedzone took a while to dial in. The F9 was easier to hit straight. Both clubs were hit with the heavy weight forward. Speedzone’s lack for control might have been due to the spin being too low. Clubhead looked fine. Where the milled face piece meets the crown was a little off putting at first but after a while it was unnoticeable. The F9 is a steal right now at $349. Virtually no advantage to the Speedzone. F9 wins.

Ping:
Since I have the G400max and rave about it here I felt the need to grab the demo they have and hit it as well to see how it compared. It had the stock Alta cb shaft from the 410 in it somehow. The G400max continues to impress me. You heard a lot of talk about too much spin, less ball speed...only good for going straight. I hit it most of the year and disputed all that talk. I killed it. Hitting it here in this test, I got the best numbers too. The LST supported its claims of having the most ball speed in the Ping Line, maybe that is due to the smaller head size like they say. For some reason I never saw crazy low spin numbers for it, and this round of testing showed the same.

So, as usual, you really won’t see any benefit from one year to the next. If your driver is 5 years old, then yes....but, it looks to me from what I just did that you can buy last years model ( G400max or F9), save some cash and get just as good performance as this years models.