DRIVERS: Drivers over $350 | Drivers under $350

: NIKE SQ DYMO/DYMO²; STREET PRICE: $300
WEBSITE: nikegolf.com
LOFTS: 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, HL

TECH TALK: Round or square, each loft is treated as a separate design. Many crucial elements are optimized, including the CG (deeper as loft increases), lie angle (the highest loft is 4 degrees more upright than the lowest) and face height (lower as the loft increases).

PLAYER COMMENTS: (H) "I don't love the square head, but it works well on center hits and corrects a slice nicely." ... (M) "I think the round version is incredibly long, a beast. Won't hurt you for forgiveness, either, but the square is better." ... (L) "Trajectory is somewhat high, but the ball carries a long way."

HOT: A free-thinker's design, this update is handsome, solid and Nike's best-sounding effort ever. The company's fitting commitment is finally worthy of its product line.

NOT: We would like to see more innovation in the face design.

: WILSON SMOOTH; STREET PRICE: $300
WEBSITE: wilson.com
LOFTS: 8, 9, 10.5, 12* (*also in offset)

TECH TALK: It progressively incorporates a changing weight pad in the sole to optimize the CG within each loft (middle-low in the low lofts, low and deep in the high lofts). Also, a "trap face" doubles the face area with the highest coefficient of restitution (COR).

PLAYER COMMENTS: (M) "That club's on steroids. Maybe not the most forgiving, but great distance." ... (M) "A terrific performer. I'd tell you how it does on mis-hits if only I could mis-hit it, but I can't!" ... (L) "Wow, that's a good club. I missed two or three, and all would have been in the fairway."

HOT: It has softer edges, and there's some interesting work here on the CG and the face design. Wilson even points to research that shows R-flex and S-flex players picking up extra clubhead speed with its club.

NOT: Its MOI is nothing groundbreaking.