Is it me or are golf clubs getting kind of snazzier? It was putters that led the charge away from traditional designs but drivers are close behind. Take the new Acer XP Mantara from Hireko Golf. It’s not your grandfather’s driver, that’s for sure (see the photo at the end of the article.)
According to the makers, the Mantara was inspired by the sleek look of the Manta Ray fish (hence the name). The square design and orange color certainly stand out. The novel approach to clubhead shape follows a trend started by Nike and Callaway with their Sumo and FTi drivers.
It’s not just for show: there’s method to the square. It’s all about perimeter weighting and MOI. Or to put it in normal English, it’s about creating a clubhead that’s as stable as possible when you don’t happen to hit the ball dead center.
As you might appreciate, most golfers aren’t hitting the center of the sweetspot on 9 out of 10 shots (or even 1 out of 10 in my case). So spreading the clubhead’s weight out to the sides gives you a more stable frame that twists less when you hit to one side or the other of the head.
Unlike the traditional tear-shaped driver, the Mantara’s squarer design gives the Acer engineers more leeway for moving that weight out and away from the centre. Especially combined with teh full 460cc of head volume.
We’re yet to see if the concept becomes as established as other new innovations like movable weights. But square drivers did pick up two golf medals in this year’s Golf Digest Hot List.
Acer is a rock solid name in the clone world, but Hireko has competition here. Other square clone drivers include the Moto and BLOC. The XP Mantara retails direct from Hireko’s site for between $90 and $150, depending on your shaft and grip selections. Maybe it’s cool to be square after all.
