I Bought An Illegal Driver. Here’s What I Found

Before we proceed, you need to know something.

I am, at my core, an outlaw. An honest-to-goodness Butch and Sundance type of outlaw. I like to think of myself as a modern-day Sundance Kid but my wife says I’m more of a George Costanza in The Bootlegger episode type of outlaw.

Deep down she means Sundance. I just know it.

Anyhoo, this outlaw plays by his own rules and won’t be tied down by arbitrary mandates handed down by the man. That’s why, right at this very moment, I have a driver called The Juggernaut in my office.

The Juggernaut, you see, is illegal. In its finite wisdom, the USGA says The Juggernaut is non-conforming, simply because of its 515cc head volume and its face that laughs at the 0.830 coefficient of restitution rule.

It literally mocks Characteristic Time limitations, too.

That’s all well and good but what you probably want to know is just how much of a benefit a golfer would gain from going illegal. I invite you to join my little Hole In The Wall Gang and let’s see what this Juggernaut can do.

Let’s ride, outlaws!

You may see me tonight with an illegal smile …

While an outlaw at heart, the last time I purchased something illegal was my junior year of college. Would the FBI find out about my outlaw driver? Was this some kind of sting operation run by the USGA? I can always claim entrapment. It’s worked for me before.

I’ll freely admit, friends, it was the ad that sucked me in.

The Facebook headline read, “Why Settle For Less?” Since that’s a question I ask myself nearly every day, it had me at Why.

“The Juggernaut Driver pushes the limits of power and performance …”  Hmm, good start. I like to think that I do, too, so I read on.

“… so much so that it does not conform to USGA regulations.”

BINGO!

I know if ol’ Sundance had an American Express card, he’d slap it down just like I did. Hey, I’ve done dumber things with $149.99.

I was immediately pulled into the world of golfclubsforless.com, located just down the highway from me in Braintree, Mass. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Braintree, dating back to a warm summer’s eve in 1985 and a young lady to whom I’ll be forever grateful.

Before possibly committing a felony, I did ask Copilot (in this case, Co-Conspirator is a better name) to tell me what it could about golfclubsforless.com.

The company was founded in 2005 in Illinois but was acquired last year by a Massachusetts group and moved to Braintree. It specializes in modestly priced custom-built clubs including single-length sets specifically for seniors, recreational golfers and beginners.

There was no mention of outlaws like me.

What is “The Juggernaut?”

At 515cc, the Juggernaut is 12 percent larger than the USGA limit of 460cc. The beta titanium, variable-thickness face is considerably larger than that of a conforming driver. It’s also not the latest and greatest, as it’s been out since at least 2014. That tells me it’s eluded the USGA cops for 11 years. Bonnie and Clyde only managed two before, well, you know.

That face is also illegal. Its COR/CT exceeds USGA limits for springiness. Combined with the size of the face, you have a humongous sweet spot to preserve ball speed. As someone who likes to spread impact over a wider portion of a driver’s face (hey, I paid for the whole face, I’m gonna use the whole face), this is a nice perk.

Even though I purchased it through golfclubsforless.com, the Juggernaut is made by Hireko. The company’s technical director, Jeff Summit, told Golf Digest that the Juggernaut is “strictly for those four out of five people who really don’t care about the rules.”

Although I purchased the only Juggernaut golfclubsforless.com had listed, I was surprised to learn that there’s a MAX version available. It’s draw-biased with a severely offset hosel.

And, no, the hosel is not adjustable. We lawbreakers will have to be content with a fixed 10.5-degree loft.

The Juggernaut came with an Acculite shaft from Apollo in R-flex. It’s a budget-friendly, high-launching shaft designed to help recreational golfers get the ball up in the air. It’s no Ventus but it does the job of connecting the club head to the grip.

Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone …

With two range sessions and a launch monitor session in the books, I can tell you a few things about the Juggernaut. First and foremost, this driver wants to go straight. I mean, stupid straight. High mini-draw straight, every freaking time. It was actually kind of freaky, because deep down in places I don’t talk about at parties, I know I can’t do that.

The second most noticeable thing is that this sunuvabitch is LOUD, as in ballpeen hammer hitting an anvil loud. Although I couldn’t get an accurate measure of how long the Juggernaut was on the range, it sure sounded long.

My launch monitor session, however, brought me back to reality. My winter swing speed that day averaged 94 mph but the Juggernaut distance didn’t scream “crime of the century.” In fact, it was more than a tad shorter than my gamer. Average carry was 221 yards with an average total distance of 235. The problem was spin which averaged just under 3,100 rpm.

However, just as it did on the range, the Juggernaut was ridiculously straight with side spin averaging just under 159 rpm with one registering a silly low of 22 rpm. The ‘Naut (it needs a nickname, doesn’t it?) and I just kept peppering the simulated center line.

That’s when the lights went on in the attic where the parts of my brain that are still functional sometimes reside.

I was just tryin’ to have me some fun …

When the dust finally settled, I learned that in the case of the Juggernaut, “illegal” doesn’t mean faster ball speeds and mightier distances. It means off-the-charts MOI and lots of fairways hit. The distance wasn’t great but the damn thing found the short grass every single time.

I don’t know much about the Acculite shaft but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that, while functional, it’s probably not optimized for me and The ‘Naut (OK, I’m starting to like that). It might be a fun experiment to throw a TPT or another premium shaft in and see what happens.

So, who is this illegal driver for? Well, unless you’re playing for your meal money on Sundays, you play golf for enjoyment. There are an awful lot of golfers out there who don’t keep handicaps, don’t play in tournaments, don’t care what the USGA says, and don’t read or comment on golf blogs. For them, golf is an activity that’s meant to be fun. It certainly isn’t a grinding test of their personal value as a human nor is it an integral part of their identity.

And this game is theirs as much as it is yours, mine or anyone’s. If the Juggernaut helps that golfer find a few more fairways, what’s the problem? They’re just trying to have them some fun.

Well done.
Hot dog bun.
My sister’s a nun.

Hey, if you know, you know.