Reviews
The Long Clubs
Recently, our pals at Vice Golf sent three “new” clubs for us to evaluate and test. Let’s dive in!
The usual housekeeping first… As always, no one pays us for the review, and in this case, there’s a Vice Golf invoice attached (if we keep them, we pay! Fair enough!)
*Also, we have no idea what Vice is doing with website-reviewers, influencers and YouTubers vis a vis the “compensation-for-review” model, but you folks know us…we aren’t in that game. Plenty are, and frankly, it’s a disgusting business model for an industry that’s based on integrity of the game. Editorial concluded.
We had three clubs to test, and they were:
- VGD01+ Driver set at 9 degrees (we did not test the standard VGD01 Driver…the more game improvement offering.)
- VGF01 5-wood
- VGH01 4-hybrid
Spoiler alert. Yes, they are all very competitive with major OEM offerings. But wait! There’s more… Like the review we published of the VGI02 irons, we were pleased with top-shelf quality control and attention to detail. Rare at this price point. That review is here: Vice Golf and the VGI02 Irons. Are they for you? – Grey Dog Golf
Testing Protocol:
We exist in a “primary research” world, yet our findings are also interspersed and jumbled together with anecdotal and observational comments. Our testing protocol has taken us ages to perfect, it’s unique, and designed to be revelatory. It highlights areas of excellence, and it equally exposes weakness. We really know what we’re doing for our audience. Why? We believe outdoor testing is essential for an outdoor game. So, we go on a course with our five testers, diverse in ability as well as age. It’s not just one of us, in a studio, banging onto a screen.
Our group, for this test included:
- 35 year old man, competitive 3 handicap
- 63 year old man, 12 handicap
- 47 year old man, 8 handicap
- 22 year old man, new player, >20 handicap
- 55 year old man, retired professional athlete, 17 handicap
Nb: Our testing involved shots from a fairway and for the driver, on a tee box. We use Trackman and our eyes. An old-fashioned notebook and a pen. We included two top-shelf OEM clubs (base clubs) to measure and our test subject club (Vice). We do a classic 3, 2, 2, 4 (base club, Vice, base, Vice) rotation. We adjust. We used new Callaway Chrome Tour balls. We removed two worst and two best from base clubs and two worst and one best from Vice. We chart every single shot. We use Bushnell Range Finder.
The VGD01+ Driver
This is a very low-spin bomber; caveated by the necessity to be “fit” correctly for the player. This is true for any club, by the way…Driver particularly! Some of our lower swing speed testers could not get full benefit and the necessary forgiveness on the stock setting. When we lofted them up and/or we changed the lie angle as necessary, we saw the magic. The club -like many- absolutely excels on center strikes. As with most (all?) Driver fittings, loft is key. It delivers remarkably well from low and heel strikes (important for the slower speed testers at ~87-92 mph club-head speed) and on high on face strikes, equal to or +/- 5% as measured against our three test clubs: Callaway Elyte, Titleist GT2, and Ping G430 Max10k. The VGD01+ does not suffer at all from high toe. Small normal drop off on high heel. It is a very good driver and probably a bit more targeted for the better player (under a 13 handicap, thereabouts). The VGD01 standard version addresses this, and we’ll test it as well.
Conclusion notes:
- I’m a touch longer than normal and it’s all to do with spin-control. It’s going in my bag …for a while! #FickleWes
- Three testers thought it sounded very much like the Titleist GT2 (to which it was very similar performance wise.)
- Two testers are ordering one and one is going to try the VGD01 max forgiveness version.
- Testers were decidedly mixed on the camouflage carbon appearance of the crown.
- The fitting guide in the wrench packet is very clear and concise…nice touch.
The VGF01 5-Wood
A less dramatic review, for sure…same testing protocol.
- Really solid thud was mentioned time and again.
- Within ~2.4% either side with the test clubs (Qi10 core with Ventus blue regular and Ping G430 Max) for distance
- Stealthy, blacked out appearance was noticed, and liked
- If anything, the 5-wood seemed to be a touch draw biased. L/R dispersion saw a <3 yards left bias over Qi10 and negligible from G430 Max. That’ll be some help to many.
- The club performed same or 2-3% better than the test clubs (Ping G430, Callaway AiSmoke) for the slower swing speed (So minimally in fact I wasn’t going to include it.)
The VGH01 4-Hybrid
The 4hybrid is just fine. Neither earth-shattering nor terrible.
- Closest to the Callaway AiSmoke hybrid performance.
- Beat the Ping G425 in overall height and same in carry distance reached
- Goes as high as it should and expected, with ease. Easy to launch.
- Sets a bit closed for some. Comforting for others.
- Testers uniformly liked the thud sound.
- Testers “noticed” it being a smaller profile (and this could be attributed to design color-way.)
Wrapping Up
Finally, let’s deal with the giant price elephant prancing through the studio. The work Vice is doing is noteworthy. We see the DTC market gaining market share exponentially, and we’re fans of making the game less costly in any way we can. Vice has perfected their sales and distribution model over the years with golf balls, and yes, you should absolutely put them on your list to test. Can’t say that enough. So, these three clubs, collectively…all together… retail for LESS than the Titleist GT2 with Tour AD “pured” shaft (waste of money, to pay for bs puring with a gazillion dollar shaft) sitting in the office by this typist. No joke.
It’s always a delicate relationship between custom fitting and on-line fitting and you folks know us to advocate for custom fitting. I know the folks at Vice and HIO very well (and I made a visit to their headquarters in Munich in June). The database of actual swing data they have reposited is Herculean and the predictive (algorithmic) fit modeling they offer is better than any other on-line fitting we’ve seen. There are ample shaft options, good grip choices and all of them are names you’ll know. They are sourced from top-tier suppliers. If you’re honest in the filling of the forms, a good fit should occur. Pretty reasonable return/exchange policy is also in place. We’d encourage you to jump on their website Vice Golf | Tour quality golf for every player. and have a look.
However, we’ve noticed (and discussed with them) that Vice is redefining how -and where- golfers can get fit for the best Vice gear set-up by actively moving (expanding) into more traditional golf retail environments. Big-box golf retail, fitting studio operations, and even pro-shops. We see this as value additive for their industry leading DTC model, and it’s a heavy lift. We’re rooting for them.
Thanks to Vice for letting us have a go.