Bridgestone Tour B JGR driver

Gear: Bridgestone Tour B JGR driver

Price: $399 with UST Mamiya Recoil 460 ES shaft and Golf Pride grip

Specs: 460cc titanium head available in 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees

Available: Oct. 8

The Goal

Like the entire JGR line, the Tour B JGR driver is for mid- and higher-handicap golfers who want more distance, less spin and a higher trajectory off the tee.

The Scoop

Bridgestone's new Tour B JGR driver was designed with the mainstream in mind, but it has been adopted and found its way into the bags of two of the company's top staff players, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker.

At address it has a classic shape and black crown, but golfers will notice a pair of subtle lines just behind the seam where the hitting area meets the crown. That is the Boost Wave Crown design, and it acts like an accordion and allows the crown to flex more easily at impact to create a higher launch angle.

Bridgestone refers to the two chrome-toned extensions that go from the leading edge to back in the heel and toe as Power Ribs. They were designed to make the bottom of the club more rigid, which in concert with the Boost Wave crown should give slower-swinging players more ball speed and a higher trajectory, which should maximize carry distance.

There are a series of microgrooves milled into the face of the Tour B JGR driver that are deeper than the grooves milled into previous Bridgestone driver faces. It is USGA legal, and Bridgestone said the grooves help keep the ball on the face longer, reducing side spin. As a result, the Tour B JGR should lessen the severity of hooks and slices.

Golfers who battle a slice also will benefit from the addition of a 25-gram mass positioned inside the head in the heel area. Combined with an adjustable 8-gram weight in the sole, the Tour B JGR driver has a strong draw bias, and golfers should find squaring the face on the downswing easier. To hone the degree of draw bias, fitters can swap the weight in the sole and screw in another weighing between 2 and 12 grams.