“Whoa, that’s the coolest driver I’ve ever seen,” exclaims a passing wide-eyed 12-year-old when I remove the cover off of BombTech Golf’s gunmetal black 460CC head and take a few practice swings at the driving range. Sharply accented by a lime green shaft, this wild wood packs a visual payload fitting of its name. Co-designed by faculty and students in the University of Vermont’s Engineering department, the world’s first dual cavity driver tends to evoke an almost pheremonal love it or loath it reaction at first gander.
Tech highlights
While they look nifty, the deep triangular air pockets in the clubhead’s underside are no mere aesthetic flourish. The cavities raise the center of gravity by a smidgeon to diminish ballooning, cut back on drag by 48% which should coax an extra mile per hour of swing speed, and contribute to tighter dispersion on off center hits. The Grenade is also constructed with a two-piece plasma welded cast, a much pricier but more durable production process than the four-piece forge most manufacturers utilize and the stock shaft is an aftermarket quality custom Matrix. Launch monitor data culled from Golfballed.com pitted the Grenade head-to-head against the TaylorMade R1 and three other leading clubs and the Grenade fragged the competition in back spin, carry distance, and total yardage off the tee.
Fire in the hole
Every new fangled driver purports to be straighter, further, and more forgiving on off center hits than its predecessors so when I teed up my first range ball, I did so with a healthy dose of skepticism. But that sweet spot music on a flush hit is a satisfying “Kapoom” that’ll leave you itching to rip another one. My ball consistently sailed well past the two hundred yard marker before plunking down which made this high handicapper, as Phil Robertson says all the time on Duck Dynasty, “happy, happy, happy.” Rotating back and forth between my go-to TaylorMade Burner and the Grenade, a distance edge wasn’t measurably appreciable. However my off-center hits did appear straighter on the Grenade and when it comes to shaving points off your scorecard that is a much more important game improvement variable.
Bottom line
This explosive USGA legal big stick has minimal blowback on impact shy of the sweet spot and will detonate the competition in your next foursome when it comes to club chatter. The Grenade currently retails factory direct from Bombtech for $299.
