Hi there - I'm looking to buy my boyfriend a driver for his birthday, he plays off 18, is a right hander, wants 10.5 loft with a stiff shaft. Most of the clubs\irons he has are TaylorMade. I'm not a golfer, so I'm rather lost with the huge choice out there. I know if I go to the pro shop they're going to recommend the most expensive one! So any recommendations from fellow golfers out there would be really appreciated. (I'm based in London, UK, in case that makes any difference to what might be available)

Thank you very much...

JK, first, welcome to the site. Second, there are about as many options for him as there are makes of cars you could buy him. So I doubt your going to get a good answer here other than, get him a gift card to a golf shop and let him pick something out.

If I were doing this, I'd contact a local golf shop (Do you have something like a GolfSmith there?) and buy him a gift card that includes enough $$$ for a club fitting and a club. Sometimes the stores do these for free but most of the time they charge a token amount for a true fitting in which they use computers to watch monitor his swing and help determine the correct shaft and loft, etc.

But Drivers are not cheap. New in the normal retail outlets, you can pay $299 and up for the name brands. Less for used.

All the major brands like Cobra, Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway have great clubs. it's really what feels and works best for him and he frankly won't know that until he goes and tries them out.

So you can buy him something but quite frankly, you're guessing and may guess wrong. Or he could go and get fitted before then and give you that information and then you could go buy something. But to make it a real surprise, I'd get him a gift card and wrap it up and let him go have fun being fitted and trying different drivers.

But good luck.

Welcome to the site, jk1.

I'm with srushing. Give your bf a giftcard to a golf pro shop or golf store, and let HIM choose what he wants.

I'll add my WELCOME to the list. Good to have you here. As for the driver, I have to agree about having your boyfriend DEMO a few driver and then have HIM pick out the one HE hits the bess.
But I will mention that since he has TaylorMade clubs now, He might want to try the TM Burner driver. Excellent driver, and the 2007 models are selling for around $150 and the 2009 models are going for $200. So those are two good options worth checking out. For what it's worth, I've demoed all of the new fancy/more expensive TaylorMade drivers, and none of them are really any better than the Burner, at half the price or less. You also might want to see if there are any R7 CGB drivers in the stores near you. They are 2007 models that sold for $500 when they came out, and now are selling for less than half that. Also excellent driver and at half or less, also a good buy. I picked up a used one this spring, and I rather like it. The older CGB is pretty much the same driver as the 2009 Burner, but with 3 movable weights in the head. Gook luck with your shopping. And please tell your boy friend, HE'S PRETTY LUCKY TO HAVE A GIRL FRIEND THAT WANTS TO BUY HIM A NEW DRIVER. Most of us are lucky if our wifes or girl friends, LET US buy new clubs, much less buy them for us.

Hi there - thank you very much for the advice. After I posted I spent a while longer reading through some of the other posts on the board, as well as continuing to look at the various websites offering clubs... I've spoken to my BF and told him to get himself down to the shop to trial some clubs. I compare the purchase to a new pair of expensive shoes or a dress - would hate for someone to buy them for me if I hadn't already tried them on and knew that they'd fit. There's no such thing as a one-size fits all huh?!

Again, thank you very much for the responses.

Glad to be of assistance. please let us know what you end up getting for the lucky stiff, and how he likes it. And be sure to do a product review on the new driver for a chance to win a prize in next months contest.

JK, good for you, that's the way to buy a gift that he'll be sure to love! The best thing is when he shows off his new driver he'll proudly tell all his buddies how you bought it for him.