Adams Ovation 460cc Driver

The Ovation line was introduced by Adams with a series of fairway woods, which are very highly regarded. In fact, the Ovation fairway woods have taken a few "best-of" awards for their category.

The Ovation line is built on a simple (and popular) principle: high launch with low spin makes the ball go farther while offering more forgiveness.

Adams has taken that principle and applied it to the driver, producing the Adams Ovation 460cc Driver.

The driver incorporates a tungsten plug in the rear sole, which along with the club's other properties helps create a very low center of gravity and a very high MOI. These qualities drive up the forgiveness quotient on off-center strikes.

Which is a good thing, because one of the groups we had hitting the Ovation managed quite a few off-center strikes! The Ovation got a standing-O from this group of higher handicappers, precisely because it was felt that errant shots weren't quite so errant with the Ovation. The forgiveness that Adams touts in the Ovation driver was seen in the results by this group of golfers.

The Ovation driver comes in two models, standard or offset. Ours is standard, 460cc of course, with 10.5 degrees of loft. It was outfitted with a regular-flex Aldila shaft built exclusively for the Adams Ovation line; it's a high-launch, mid-kick, 60-gram graphite shaft.

Higher handicappers weren't the only golfers who said "bravo" to the Ovation driver. Mid- and low-handicappers also appreciated it high-launch and distance qualities. It wasn't the longest driver most of these golfers had played, but it performed well in that category - especially among the mid- and high-handicappers, who received an extra distance boost from the Ovation's forgiveness.

Everyone liked the Ovation driver at set-up, and most liked how light the club feels, although a few thought it was a bit too light.

The clubhead shape and clean graphics drew praise. However, the color scheme wasn't embraced by all. If you've tried the Ovation fairway woods, the Ovation driver's colors won't be a surprise. They have the same shade of green - what we would call neon or fluorescent green.

A few golfers used terms a bit more descriptive to describe the shade of green. So the coloring wasn't popular with all. But even if you turned out to be among those who aren't crazy about the color, you are very unlikely to turn down a club that works simply on that basis.

One thing everyone loves about the Ovation driver is its price tag: the MSRP is only $249.99.

The Adams Ovation 460cc Driver is definitely an option worth exploring for mid- and high-handicappers seeking forgiveness in a mid-priced driver.

The Ovation 460cc titanium driver is available in two models, standard and offset. Lofts are 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees for men in regular and stiff flexes with the standard model; the offet is available in 9.5 and 10.5 degrees, regular and stiff flex. A Senior flex is available in 9.5 and 10.5 degrees, and a women's flex is also available. The proprietary shaft from Aldila is featured in all.