The Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D Driver Review – A Good Option for Beginning Golfers

I’ve been looking forward to testing and reviewing the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver for a few months now. If you’ve read some of our reviews of other Tour Edge clubs, you’ve probably figured out that in some ways, the company is one of the hidden gems of the golf club industry. Tour Edge has been around for more than 20 years, but not that many people have heard of it. And even fewer are actually familiar with Tour Edge clubs. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to review them.

One of the main goals Erik and I have for this website is to expand golfers’ knowledge about the game and the equipment we use to play it. Tour Edge clubs are a perfect subject for us to discuss on this site for several reasons: the company has been around a long time but it’s still relatively unknown; until fairly recently, Tour Edge has always focused on producing solid clubs that provide a ton of value for a low price (although now the company is also making high-end, high-performance Tour Edge Exotics clubs); and all Tour Edge clubs carry a lifetime warranty (a rare animal in the golf equipment industry). In short, Tour Edge Golf’s equipment gives players a lot of bang for their buck.

I first became aware of Tour Edge and its clubs eight or nine years ago. Something about my swing had changed and I stopped being able to hit a fairway wood. Up until then I’d always hit my woods well, and boy, was I frustrated. So, I decided to replace my woods with some hybrids. I’d never hit a hybrid before (this was before hybrids had become so popular) and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them. Fortunately, I stumbled across some Tour Edge clubs. Finding them was more accidental than anything, because the company doesn’t have much of a marketing budget. It doesn’t even pay any pros to play its clubs.

Well, I bought three Tour Edge hybrids (each one was only $50) and off I went to the races. I used those cheap little Bazooka hybrids for a couple of years, until I started hitting my woods better again. But I’ve never forgotten how well those hybrids worked and how much value I got out of them – especially in light of their ridiculously low price!

So, that brings me to the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver. It’s considered a maximum game-improvement club and with an MSRP of only $149 it’s pretty inexpensive. That makes it an affordable option for novice golfers and other high-handicappers.

This driver is designed to promote faster swing speeds and longer drives. In fact, the “Max-D” part of the name stands for “maximum distance” (I suspect the “HT” stands for “high trajectory,” but I didn’t get that type of ball flight when I tested the club). The company uses a two-pronged approach to make it possible for golfers to get more distance out of the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver: an aerodynamic head (including a sloped crown) to reduce air drag; and a lightweight design, including an extra-long 46-inch, 50-gram Aldila NV graphite shaft.

The sole of the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver features two internal weight plugs at the rear to lower the club’s center of gravity and increase its Moment of Inertia (MOI). The low, deep center of gravity is intended to help golfers hit higher, longer drives, while the higher MOI helps increase the club’s forgiveness on off-center hits.

The Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver is available in several lofts: 9-degree, 10.5-degree, 12-degree and a high-launching 15-degree. The 9-degree driver has a square face; the other lofts have a slightly closed face to promote a draw or compensate for a tendency to slice. I tested the 10.5-degree Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver with the stock Aldila NV graphite shaft in regular flex.

Over the course of two test rounds and some time on the driving range, I learned that the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver is a solid performer, but there’s nothing exceptional about it. I hit a lot of decent shots but not anything I’d call spectacular. The trajectory was fairly low but penetrating and straight. On an overall basis, the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver wasn’t as long as my own driver, but it did pretty good for costing half as much as mine did. And I have to admit, it was pretty forgiving – I didn’t lose much distance on my off-center hits.

The Bottom Line: Think of the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D driver as a “Steady Eddie” for beginners and golfers on a budget. It delivers solid performance for an unusually low price.

From the Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D Driver to other golf club reviews.