These Vice Golf Drivers Might Just Redefine “Special Edition”

Making a limited edition of anything is a tricky task.

You can take the “special moment” route and create something for an event, like the Masters, or a holiday, like the 4^th of July. It’s safe and predictable but you run the risk of blending in with the crowd.

You can also get a little out there with a unique collaboration with a lifestyle brand. That, however, can often feel forced and test the limit of what would be considered “authentic.”

Or you can take the Vice Golf approach which, to the uninitiated, looks to be the result of three weeks on the road with the Grateful Dead.

I’d say the new Vice Special Edition VGD01+ drivers that are dropping today follow that recipe to the letter.

Five designs, in a rainbow of colors

Vice is very good at customization and special-edition stuff. Its special-edition golf balls are the stuff of legend and it has added interesting dashes of pizzazz to its irons. Vice’s putters go a step further and offer a veritable acid trip’s worth of color options.

The new Vice special edition VGD01+ drivers, however, are a tab in a different ocean.

As with COBRA’s limited-edition drivers, the new Vice limited editions are the same VGD01+ drivers Vice has been selling for the past year. They feature the same carbon crown and the same titanium face but Vice gives them five distinct and colorful designs.

First up is the Terra Strike. The head has an olive-burnt orange military-grade tactical look with a camo pattern on Vice’s proprietary shaft. The headcover features a topographic map print.

The Night Strike carries Vice’s signature paint-splatter look. The matte-black head is blasted with yellow and pink neon splotches while the black shaft has a neon splatter.

Next up is Deep Strike. Vice calls it “oceanic” with a navy blue, teal and lime color theme. The shaft features a navy to teal gradient while the headcover is also navy with the Vice script logo in teal.

Star spangled and a head trip

The Stars and Strikes model is just in time for Memorial Day and the 4^th of July. Vice calls it Americana done right and the white on the head will bring back shades of 2011 and the TaylorMade R11. It’s part of the obligatory red, white and blue theme on the head and shaft. Imagine pulling this one out of your bag to celebrate the nation’s 250^th.

Finally, for the truly cosmic, there’s the Spectrum Strike. Vice says this driver is “holographic” and shifts character depending on how the light strikes it. It’s a purple-teal-gold design with a spectrum gradient shaft. The headcover features what Vice calls a “tridescent” front with a “top-pattern” back. I don’t know what any of that means but the picture reminds me of a lost weekend during my sophomore year of college (but we don’t need to get into that now).

Vice special-edition drivers: Specs, price and availability

Vice is announcing its special-edition VGD01+ drivers today, but they won’t hit the Vice website until tomorrow. That’s actually considerate, as it gives you a 24-hour advanced warning. Vice’s built-in scarcity means these drivers should go fast. There will only be 100 of each colorway for a total of 500 drivers worldwide, so when you get up tomorrow, so you may want to sashay over to the Vice website ASAP as they’re likely to sell out PDQ and you’ll wind up being SOL.

FOMO is real, is it not?

Vice characterizes the 460cc VGD01+ as a low-spinning, high-launching driver. The special editions will be available in 9- and 10.5-degree models and feature four degrees of loft/lie adjustability. They’ll come with Vice’s proprietary shafts in R or S flex.

They retail for a very Vice-like price of $549.