Titleist 906f4 15.5* fairway.

[Colossus]

So there I was, bored as a fart today, wandering about aimlessly watching the world go by. Course closed and haven't swung a club in anger since Saturday.

I found myself in my favourite course closed, bored stupor, place. The Pro shop at the club. Again the brand new 906f4 fairways winked at me from across the shop, and again I tried to resist its charms. Our pro has only stocked the club with the Aldila VS Proto shaft, and I'd rather have the UST V2 Proforce, to match the driver and utility. My current 906f2 has a Fujikura Speeder 952 installed, and I can hit it grand, so figured that I don't NEED the V2.

I rang round a few places, and visited a few pro shops to see if I could get the club with a V2, but nowhere had it, and they seem to be like hens teeth at the moment, with our pro shop the only place seeming to stock it. So off I trudged to the club with my 906f2 to see what sort of a deal the pro would do me for the f4. I'd hit a couple of shots off the first tee wit hit, one of the days the course was closed last week, so I was fairly sure it would be worth a punt. Five minutes later, the deal was done, goodbye old faithful 906f2, welcome new friend 906f4, and off to the range for our first test.

I just bought a small basket of balls, expecting to only hit around 20 shots. The balls at the range are truly crap, the mats so saturated they're like hitting off concrete, and so slippy, that when I took my first swing, I nearly ended up on my arse.

The one thing about my 906f2 that I didn't like, was hitting off the deck. It was so inconsistent. You never really knew where it was going to end up, and you needed a real Sunday best swing to hit it well. It was phenomenal off a tee, I could hit draws all day, but off the deck was a different matter.

I always preferred a shallow faced fairway, and this is one reason I knew I'd love the f4 over the f2. The face is shallower, the loft slightly higher 15.5* compared to 15* on the f2, and the centre of gravity is also lower. All this will help get the ball in the air, and off the tight lies on the mat, I wasn't let down. Nice high soaring ball flight, with a nice small draw shot shape, my normal stock shot. Ball after ball went past the 200 yard mark, which into a head wind and with sh*tty range balls wasn't half bad, swinging with no warmup, no glove, and not having hit a ball since Sunday. I was impressed.

After 10 shots I decided to experiment, and discovered just how easy it is to shape the ball both ways with this fairway. Everything from BIG hooks, small draws, dead straight, and slight fades are easily achieved with this club. A definite keeper.

As for the shaft. At 80gms, it is certainly lighter than the Speeder (95gms) I had in the 906f2, and this meant I didn't need to be absolutely perfect with my ball striking. It also wasn't a boardy shaft, but at the same time never overpowered, even with my heaviest of lashes. If I had to put it into words, I'd say this shaft was very smooth, and the ball certainly left the club with a lot of zip. I had previously tried this shaft in a Nike Sumo2 driver, and wasn't impressed, but in this fairway, it seems to pair up the head nicely.

The clubhead is a lovely shape, and sits just nicely behind the ball at address. I'd always read how Titleist equipment was only for the better player, and wouldn't suit the high handicappers eye. I can see how this has been said. The club sits absolutely square behind the ball. I'd always had fairways that were toed in slightly, and then wondered why I'd always hook the sh*t out of it. If anything the 906f2 I had sat slightly open at address, and our pro thought the same, so the 906f4 gave me more confidence even just at address.

All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase. I only wish the bloody course was open now, so I could see how it will cope in a pressure situation on the fairway. For now though, the signs are positive.

I'm now truly happy with my bag.