Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
I remember when the first Nike driver came out- the Ignite that was like a cobalt blue- it was totally fine, but also not revolutionary or anything. I didnt think it was great, but I also dont remember it being terrible. This was when I was in college and golf was both my life and projected future...like late '02 or early '03? I remember some friends came back from internships with Ignite drivers and it was just before the driver was released to the public...we all thought that was awesome. I hit the Nike driver a bunch and it felt similar to a Titleist 975J that had come to market a year or two earlier.
Anyways, I never really thought much about that first Nike driver after it was initially released- it seemed quite middle of the road- some loved it and some didnt like it as much as whatever they had in their bag. Pretty typical driver.
Now the Nike SQ that came out in maybe '07 or so? That thing was an abomination. The square shape, the yellow paint, and most of all that awful sound it made- just terrible. A buddy had an equipment deal with Nike to help sell their stuff at the club he worked at and when a group of us got together in '06 or '07, he had one before it was released to the public. Once again, it was the center of discussion, but once he hit it, reactions were a mix of jaw dropping silence and rolling on the tee box laughter. Nobody could believe a club with such a horrible sound was actually going to market.
One of those years around 2002, I caddied for a guy down from the PGA tour. He didn't have enough status that week for the PGA event, so he was down on the triple A version whatever it was called that year. He was head to toe TM. That was when the copper colored woods had replaced the grey System 2s or whatever they were called. On the range he got the whole treatment with the launch monitors going through his clubs. It was neat. Then we head out for a practice round with a couple of his buds. One of buds has a new Bridgestone prototype driver. They're smoking it talking about how much better it is than what they play at the moment. Then they get to talking about the Mizuno T Zoid VJ Sinjh was playing and how long it was. Evidently it was a whole lot longer than anything else. Must have been the trampoline face. That week we had the tournament leader/eventual champion and the local pro/hero in the group in front of us the first two rounds. They were stuffing every approach close and the crowds were great. We entered the final round in a tie for 5th only a couple of groups in front of the the final group. The putts didn't fall in the final round. I think we finished in a tie for 12th. Those were good times. I wouldn't want to do it for a living day in and out, but a few times a year was awesome!