Review: Nike Victory Red Tour Driver

The Nike Victory Red Tour Driver is loaded with power and performance. The Victory Red Tour Driver is 420 cc, but delivers power like a 460 cc head and provides great shot-shaping capabilities.

Compression Channel offers increased overall compression of the body, producing increased ball speeds across the entire face. For those traditional purists, this pear-shaped head allows for visual confidence and shot shaping execution. The Tour Velvet Full Cord Grip provides the all weather performance of Golf Pride s exclusive Velvet Cord material for a firm, comfortable grip that allows consistent performance and playability. The stock shaft is the Project X Graphite.

It has a traditional headshape that varies in size between 440cc to 460cc based on the loft. The stock shaft is an Aldila Voodoo, but the first thing that golfers will notice about the club is the orange Compression Channel running along the bottom of the club.

According to Nike, the channel allows the lower portion of the driver's head to bend slightly when shots are hit lower in the face. Tom Stites, Nike director of product innovation, says that's a good thing. The most pleasant surprise is that the technology feels as good if not better than a traditional glued driver.

The Ghost Spider has had considerable input from Dave Stockton, the double US PGA champion and former Ryder Cup captain who has established a huge reputation as a putting coach.

Says TaylorMade Sean Toulon: "Dave convinced us that the concept of a white headed putter was a good one and he was absolutely right. Dozens of Tour pros are using the Ghost putters including last year's Vardon Trophy winner on the PGA Tour.

The VR Tour is a great blend of technology and aesthetics. It is one of the cheap golf clubs, and is still has a high moment of inertia, but combined with the new compression channel, I can get away with off-center hits toward the bottom of the club face and not lose distance. The big advantage for consumers is that they can customize the loft and lie with 32 different positions. They can shape the ball a little easier.

The Str8-Fit shaft adaptor built into the hosel provides 32 different clubhead positions for 32 possible shot shapes. This feature also plays a major role in optimizing launch conditions to maximize distance for each loft. A Ghost Spider prototype has already proved successful in the hands of Jason Day in finishing tied-second in The Masters and generated thousands of enquiries.

In words, this is Nike's best driver to date. It possesses good looks plus above-average distance and forgiveness.