Going for a test drive

It's a tough job to get decent, honest men who'll give up their precious time to take the latest equipment in their hands and go out onto a course to tell us about their experiences. Honestly, we had to force guys up against the wall and then coerce them into taking up the challenge. Not. After all, if Tiger Woods can belt a ball 350 yards down the fairway . . . and Darren Clarke can hit the flag with his irons . . . and Colin Montgomerie can excavate himself from the rough (if he ever finds it) . . . and Lee Westwood can sink putts with his eyes closed, why can't the rest of us do it?

So it was that our three intrepid Irish Times testers agreed to spend time on the course (with waterproofs close to hand) in recent months to play different clubs and reveal all.

The confessional heard various tales of joy and sorrow, good, bad and sometimes the ugly, as the players related their experiences; but all admitted to living up to the job description instructions - to "have fun" - which is what the game of golf, as any sport, is supposed to be all about.

In the first of our occasional series on equipment testing, Aonghus McAnally, a nine-handicap member of St Margaret's; Paddy Cullen, who plays off 18 at Hermitage; and Brendan Mullin, an 18-handicapper, were asked to play with the Titleist Titanium Driver.

Over 80 per cent of club players have handicaps of 18 or greater, and, in choosing our personalities, we've attempted to relate their experiences with how most golfers feel when the moment comes to hit the ball. Rather than merely hitting balls on the driving range, our players used their new clubs in actual play to get a truer picture.