If it’s Monday, it must be another driver release story here on MyGolfSpy. Today’s contestant is the driver that made Brandt Snedeker dump his trusty 2010 vintage TaylorMade Superfast: the new Bridgestone JGR.
Long And Forgiving
One thing you can say about Snedeker, he certainly goes his own way when it comes to equipment. He won at Pebble Beach last February with a 10 year old Odyssey White Hot and Bridgestone’s J40 irons, which came out in 2011, along with his Superfast. Sneds finished the 2015 season ranked 105th in driving distance and started the 2016 season by missing the cut in two of his first three events.
Clearly a change was needed for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
“Bridgestone sent me this new driver literally a week before the Hyundai,” Snedeker told his hometown Nashville Times last week. “I got it, hit it one time and said ‘I think I found a new driver.'”
Can’t argue with the results. Snedeker finished in a tie for 3rd at the Hyundai before finishing 2nd in a playoff yesterday at the Sony. His driving stats are up, too, currently ranking 58th for the 2016 season.
So, what is it about the JGR that made Snedeker break up with his steady girl and run off with a new hottie? Is it more than just a pretty face?
Well, It Is Pretty…
From the top down the JGR is a reasonably classic looking driver, with just a splash of attitude from the yellow and white crown graphics. I wouldn’t call it subtle, but compared to the RBZ’s and R1’s of days gone by, it’s downright inconspicuous.
Turn it over and the JGR gets a little sassy – the sole is classic Bridgestone but the JGR graphic on the toe is an attention getter. Distracting? I don’t see how since you’re not looking at the toe when you swing, but I’m sure it’ll bother somebody.
Take another look at the sole. Notice anything missing? Yep, the JGR has a bonded hosel – not adjustable. Not even a little. What turn-back-the-clock-to-2008-game are we playing here?
Another eye-catcher is the JGR’s milled face. It’s a Bridgestone thing – they introduced it in last year’s J715 and 815 drivers – and it does make you pay attention. The milling is similar in function to the rough face designs leveraged by others in the industry. The intent is to reduce spin, and Bridgestone claims its milling does that to the tune of ±300 RPM.
F.A.S.T Crown, SpeeDARC & Other Love Songs
Marketing departments love to name the technologies the R&D boys come up with, and Bridgestone’s no different. To wit, we have F.A.S.T Crown, SpeeDARC, the aforementioned Enhanced Power Milling and Spin Control Technology.
F.A.S.T (Flex Action Speed Technology) Crown debuted in last year’s J715 and J815 drivers. “It’s really just a fancy way of saying the crown is going to flex at impact,” says Bridgestone Golf Club Marketing Manager Josh Kinchen, “giving you increased ball speed and higher launch angle.”
If you look at a Titleist 915 driver, you’ll see the Active Recoil Channel. TaylorMade gave us Speed Pockets and Nike has its Compression Channels. All of these are supposed to help the face flex more at impact to improve ball speed. And they all have one thing in common – they’re on the sole of the club. Bridgestone wants you to know that’s the wrong place, because if your impact is above center, you’ll create lower launch angles.
F.A.S.T Crown thins out the crown near the face then gradually thickens it towards the back of the club head, essentially creating a Speed Pocket where the crown meets the face. The new development for the JGR is the addition of SpeeDARC. Bridgestone has added two internal arc shaped ridges in the front and rear of the club. They say this gives F.A.S.T Crown a more stable base to flex against.
So bottom line: F.A.S.T Crown lets the crown flex at impact to help the ball go higher, faster and farther. SpeeDARC supports the crown and face, serving as a sort of brace. Bridgestone says this combination allows the crown to flex near the face more than a quarter of a millimeter at impact. To put that into perspective, it’s about the thickness of 5 sheets of paper.
Feelin’ Groovy
Bridgestone has updated the JGR’s Power Milling as well. Last year’s J715 and 815 had milled faces (we wrote about it here), but the milling was horizontal with uniform spacing. The JGR’s milling is arched in the center, with the milling spaced farther apart near the top of the face – Bridgestone says that’s to maintain spin on high face hits. As you go further down the face you’ll find the milling is both tighter and rougher to decrease spin.
In addition, Bridgestone has added vertical milling on the heel and toe to cut down on spin on mishits.
“The more you compress the ball, the lower the spin,” says Kinchen. “Enhanced Power Milling is going to allow you to get the best quality compression time ever achieved in a golf club. The more you compress, the lower the spin”
Spin Control Technology
The last little techno-tidbit is a twist on Bridgestone’s adjustable weighting system. Last year’s J715 has two adjustable weight ports, one right behind the club face and the other in the back on the heel side of center, allowing you to swap around a 10 gram and 4 gram weight to achieve the desired ball flight. The JRG, however, keeps both weight ports toward the rear of the club, which should increase MOI. And the 4 gram weight has been replaced with a 2 gram weight.
Bridgestone says if you put the 10 gram weight in the heel port you should see a more piercing ball trajectory with lower spin and increased roll. Putting it in the center should give you a higher trajectory and increased carry.
New Driver, New Shaft, New Story?
Lastly, Bridgestone is including the new Aldila NV 2KXV Orange shaft as the stock offering with the JGR. It’s a brand new shaft from Aldila that uses Micro Laminate Technology – that translates to more carbon fiber and less resin in the graphite. The shaft has a higher balance point and a softer tip profile for higher launch.
The JGR will be available in 9.5, 10.5 and 12.5 degree lofts in right hand models only (at least for now – potentially forever). The stock grip is Bridgestone yellow, but custom grips and shafts are available. And since Bridgestone is giving us a 2009 level of non-adjustability with the JGR, it’s incredibly refreshing to find a 2009 level of pricing at $299.
The JGR will be available March 4th. Companion fairway woods and hybrids will also be introduced at the same time
In the bigger picture, what does the JGR’s release mean for Bridgestone, a self-described “challenger” brand? It was nearly 18 months ago we wrote that Bridgestone was ready to go big or go home. The company launched a ton of new equipment in 2015 (2 drivers, FW’s, hybrids, 5 iron sets, wedges and putters), Bridgestone’s first new stuff since 2011 and it was virtually all well-received.
In December, however, Bridgestone Golf shut down operations in the UK. The UK division has absolutely nothing to do with the US operation, so don’t read anything in it other than the UK is not an insubstantial golf market.
Expect to see Bridgestone releasing more equipment in the next few weeks – something in the GI to SGI range to round out the irons line – and next Monday we’ll see the debut of the #BestBallEver. It’s clear Bridgestone’s end-game is to be a relevant and substantial player in the North American equipment market. It’s also clear that even with solid stuff, including a badass-looking $299 driver that prompted Sneds to dump his Superfast, it’s not that easy of a code to crack.
LibraryTriGuy
8 years ago
I was able to hit a 10.5 with the Stiff standard shaft. I didn’t notice until the end of my practice that it was in Draw bias. That being said, it had a very muted sound and for whatever reason, I could barely get it off the ground. The Mizuno JPX EZ and the Titleist 915 D2, both in neutral, sounded like a driver should with a more piercing, though not overpowering, sound.
Could make a difference with a different shaft and neutral setting, but even at $299, this is not the driver for me.