There’s a motive Jason Hiland has an additional spring in his step this vacation season.
Hiland, you see, is the owner-operator of Sub 70 Golf in Sycamore, In poor health., and his firm has simply launched a brand new household of drivers. That, in and of itself, isn’t what’s placing some slide into Hiland’s glide. It’s the actual fact the brand new Sub 70 859, 859 Professional and 859 JD drivers have one thing no Sub 70 driver has ever had earlier than.
A patent.
Effectively, a patent pending. However it’s nonetheless a patent.
“I don’t false-promise stuff to individuals,” Hiland tells MyGolfSpy. “However that is the largest leap ahead we’ve ever had from one technology of product to the subsequent.”
There’s quite a bit to know in regards to the new Sub 70 859 drivers so let’s dive proper into the deep finish of the pool and talk about the eight issues that can matter most to you.
#1: The Sub 70 859 drivers are a Renegar-Hiland manufacturing
Hiland introduced in a ringer to assist design the brand new Sub 70 859 drivers: a ringer named Renegar.
Bob Renegar will not be a family identify in golf however he has some severe avenue cred. Within the ’80s and ’90s, Renegar was director of R&D for the Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan corporations and later based the Solus and Renegar wedge corporations. He developed and patented one thing we take without any consideration immediately: a high-bouncy wedge with a low forefront.
Hiland had already began engaged on the brand new Sub 70 859 drivers however quickly discovered himself caught. He beforehand labored with Renegar on the 699 V2 irons and reached out for assist.
“Jason is form of the king of outside-the-box pondering,” says Renegar. “He stated he wanted one thing to interchange the 849 driver and requested if I had any concepts.”
They began work on the 859 sequence throughout the summer time of 2021. By the third iteration, each males realized they is likely to be on to one thing.
#2: That one thing is the patent-pending ART face
ART stands for Axis of Rotation Expertise and is the idea for Sub 70’s utility patent software. In keeping with Renegar, it’s a brand new manner of – and fixing – an outdated downside.
“Present design principle is the clubhead is a free physique at affect,” explains Renegar. “Drivers are designed across the perception that should you hit it in the direction of the toe, the clubhead rotates open. In case you hit it in the direction of the heel, it rotates closed.
“The very fact is the clubhead is rigidly hooked up to the shaft. It doesn’t rotate as a free physique; it solely activates one axis and that’s the shaft centerline.”
Renegar selected to maximise the second of inertia by distributing weight round this new thought of membership rotation – low heel and excessive toe – after which redesigned face curvature to match. That places a brand new spin, so to talk, on bulge and roll.
“Face curvature is low-heel to high-toe as a result of that’s perpendicular to the way in which the clubhead really turns. All it’s a must to do is make the gear impact correction in that one route.”
In case you look intently, the ART face on the brand new Sub 70 859 drivers does look totally different. It’s CNC milled from cast beta-titanium and options variable face thickness. It isn’t, nevertheless, AI-designed.
“It’s good old style human intelligence,” says Hiland. “It’s Bob Renegar’s mind.”
#3: It’s about accuracy and slightly ball velocity
As any golfer is aware of, the USGA and R&A restrict driver ball velocity and OEMs are at about that restrict.
“While you hit our new driver within the center with a 105 mph swing velocity, we’ll get yet another mile-per-hour ball velocity over the 849,” explains Hiland. “We’re pleased with that however that’s three yards.
All OEMs know they’re maxed out within the center so the brand new Holy Grail is minimizing ball velocity loss on off-center hits. That’s the entire level behind AI-designed variable-face thickness. Renegar and Hiland consider they’ve created a distinct manner of attaining that very same factor.
“It’s totally different sufficient to use for the patent,” says Hiland. “We do know, from good gamers enjoying it, mediocre gamers enjoying it, dangerous gamers enjoying it and robots testing it, that it really works.”
Particularly, should you have been to hit a driver towards the heel, you’ll be able to anticipate to lose quite a lot of ball velocity whereas imparting a ton of spin. In case you’re fortunate, it’ll solely fade. If not, it’s a hellacious slice. Hit that driver towards the toe and also you’re trending towards a low-spinning snap hook. The brand new Sub 70 859 drivers decrease the precise or left miss whereas additionally minimizing ball velocity loss.
“A heel shot gained’t spin as a lot,” says Hiland. “It reduces spin and the quantity of curvature and ball velocity may be very near a middle hit. It’s nonetheless going to go proper, simply not as a lot. Because it has extra ball velocity, it’ll go slightly farther.”
It’s the identical with a toe shot that snaps left (for the righty) with low spin and also you’re yelling at it to get down.
“The spin price goes up so it stays within the air longer and it doesn’t snap as arduous. It has slightly softer draw.”
#4: Does it work? Up to now …
My thought course of off the tee is that since I paid for your entire clubface, by golly, I’m going to make use of your entire clubface. (It evens out put on over time.) My expertise with the usual Sub 70 859 driver (there are Professional and Professional-JD fashions which we’ll talk about later) lends some credence to Hiland’s and Renegar’s claims.
Launch monitor numbers present decrease spin and extra playable flight, particularly on hits towards the heel. Normally, that’s a recipe for an “uncontrollable fade” for me. With the Sub 70 859 driver, I seen decrease spin general and decrease fade spin. On the course, I seen that on three separate holes the place, primarily based on how the affect felt, I simply knew I’d be within the bushes on the precise. In every occasion, nevertheless, the ball landed on the precise aspect of the green or in the precise tough. They weren’t bombs, thoughts you, however I did get a long way. Most significantly, I might discover them and hit them once more.
I had comparable outcomes on toe strikes. I can snap-hook something and I did a couple of occasions with the Sub 70 859. Nonetheless, slight toe hits that may have wound up in bother on the left did stay in play. All in all, I didn’t discover large distance features however less-than-ideal photographs have been in play and seemingly slightly longer.
MyGolfSpy’s 2025 driver take a look at will be capable to present a extra in-depth and #datacratic analysis. Primarily based on a launch monitor session and two late-season rounds, the outcomes, whereas not conclusive, are promising.
#5: Sub 70 659 drivers ain’t magic however the tech seems helpful
“You may nonetheless mishit this factor with a extremely dangerous swing, don’t get me fallacious,” says Hiland. “However should you’re lacking the candy spot by three-quarters of an inch, that’s the place the mishit gained’t be practically as punishing. That’s what this tech does for you.”
As talked about, that is Sub 70’s first patent pending and the corporate absolutely expects the appliance to be authorized sooner or later. It’s vital to grasp, nevertheless, that Sub 70 hasn’t reinvented the motive force. It has merely developed its personal expertise to attain a sure aim. It’s Sub 70’s manner of claiming, “We would like this to occur and that is our distinctive manner of doing it.”
“This was three-plus years of labor,” says Hiland. “We didn’t rush it as a result of we knew it needed to look proper, sound correct and carry out proper and we didn’t need individuals to set it down, have a look at it and go, ‘Oh, shit.’ We would like individuals to go, ‘Oh, shiiit.’
“You need the proper of ‘Oh, shit.’”
There are additionally carbon fiber sole panels to help efficiency. The usual 859 has a sole panel on the toe to make it simpler to shut the face. The 859 Professional and 859 JD have panels on the heel to maintain the face open for a fade bias. The usual 859 additionally has what Renegar calls “Aerodynamic Fences” on the crown, a Sub 70 tackle PING Turbulators.
“My diploma is in aerospace,” Reneger says. “It’s nibbling on the edges but when it supplies one or two extra miles per hour swing velocity, it’s well worth the bother.”
The 859 Professional and JD fashions do not need Aerodynamic Fences. Presumably, gamers who match into these drivers don’t want the additional assist.
#6: It places Sub 70 within the driver expertise dialog
If I’ve discovered something in my years of writing for MyGolfSpy, it’s that golfers are not looking for a $399 driver. What they really need is a $600 driver to value $399.
Direct-to-consumer corporations have historically been capable of compete with the massive OEMs in irons and wedges. From a expertise perspective, drivers have been a bridge too far. Sub 70 believes ART and the brand new 859 driver sequence change that equation.
If this driver had a Huge 5 OEM identify on it, they’d be charging 600 bucks for it.
“That will merely be the retail value of the motive force,” explains Hiland. “The retailer has to make a pair hundred bucks themselves. If we have been within the conventional recreation, this must retail for $600 for each us and the retailer to make an inexpensive revenue.”
Therein lies the attraction of direct-to-consumer. There’s no additional step concerned earlier than it will get to the top person.
“I’m unsure the place everybody else might be subsequent yr however we’ll be no less than $200 inexpensive,” Hiland says. “We make the identical margin however are you getting nearly as good of a shaft? Would you like it 44-¾ inches, swing-weighted to a D3 with a midsize grip and two-and-a-half wraps below it? That’s what we do.”
Sub 70, like the opposite DTC corporations, have made good little drivers that you possibly can play good golf with and weren’t that costly. What Sub 70 has now’s a driver expertise platform it might construct on for a number of generations. It’s costlier than previous Sub 70 drivers however Hiland says it’s what it’s.
“I needed to make an awesome driver, to hell with the associated fee. We’re a direct-to-consumer firm however we’re attempting to make the most effective gear on the earth.”
#8: Excited? You higher consider it
I’ve spoken with Jason Hiland sufficient occasions in my profession to note a distinction in his voice. He’s all the time enthusiastic about his new merchandise however this time it’s totally different. You may hear it.
“Are you able to think about how cool it’s to get a name from Tommy Armour III, John Daly or Tag Ridings and listen to them say, ‘Jesus, Jason, this factor is improbable. I’m not sending it again.’”
Hiland says that what’s much more gratifying is the suggestions he’s been getting from common golfers.
“It’s that decision from a mid-handicapper attempting to manage his fade/slice telling you he’s reduce his fade in half; it’s staying within the fairway and it’s longer as a result of it’s not spinning as a lot. One man stated, ‘What the hell did you do to this factor?’
“That’s fairly cool, too.”
Greater than something, nevertheless, Sub 70 believes its new 859 drivers put it within the driver dialog with the massive OEMs for the primary time. It’s not in a price-locked DTC field anymore.
“There’s a couple of manner to do that,” says Hiland. “Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, PING and the others, their drivers have by no means been higher. Golf gear typically has by no means been higher.
“We simply really feel at this level we are able to actually say that we’re within the dialog and might be from this level ahead.”
Sub 70 859 drivers: Specs, value, availability
The brand new Sub 70 859 drivers are all out there on the Sub 70 web site. As talked about, there are three fashions.
The usual Sub 70 859 is 460cc and is offered in 9-, 10.5 and 12.5-degree fashions for lefties and righties. The hosel is adjustable up or down two levels. It contains a 12-gram heel weight and a 6-gram toe weight, with additional weights out there for buy. An actual deal Undertaking X Danali Blue 50 shaft is commonplace, together with the Lamkin Crossline 360 grip.
The Sub 70 859 Professional is 450cc and is extra fade-biased. It’s out there in 9- and 10.5-degree lofts in right-handed solely. The Denali Blue 60 shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip are commonplace.
There’s additionally a particular version Sub 70 859 JD driver out there, made together with and particularly for John Daly.
“There’s going to be a cult following for this one,” says Hiland. “In case you’re on the lookout for a extremely low-spin driver and have some swing velocity, the JD setup could possibly be good for you.”
The 859 JD is available in one 8-degree loft (adjustable) and in right-handed solely. The Denali Blue 60 and Black 60 are inventory shafts with the Lamkin Crossline the inventory grip.
As all the time, Sub 70 affords quite a lot of no-upcharge and upcharge shaft and grip choices. The usual and Professional Sub 70 848 drivers promote for $399. The JD mannequin sells for $449.
For extra info, go to www.golfsub70.com.
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