Ladies Perfect Driver comes with a free, pink visor when ordered online. (Courtesy ThePerfectClub.com)

Ladies Perfect Driver golf club review: Not perfect, but effective

By Tim McDonald,
Contributor

How do you review the Ladies Perfect Driver if you're not perfect and certainly not a lady? You hand the golf club over to your wife, who may not be a perfect lady, but does meet the minimum requirement of being a lady golfer.

The Perfect Club Company was founded in 2002 by a man named Peter Kessler, when the company introduced the Perfect Club, designed to replace 3- and 4-irons as well as the 7-wood.

The idea is that shorter shafted golf clubs are "easier to hit even when your swing is less than perfect," according to the company.

The company's strategy is to make "the easiest clubs ever made by developing perfect combinations of shorter, high performance shafts with club heads uniquely designed to deliver maximum trajectory and incredible forgiveness."

The golf clubs are mainly marketed toward women, though it does make a "Men's Perfect Driver."

The Ladies Perfect Driver is 41 inches with a loft of 14 degrees, much higher than traditional men's drivers because one of the complaints many female golfers have involves the difficulty of getting the ball in the air.

"I could get it up in the air better, and that's something I've had problems with in the past," said Laveda, the lady and wife referred to earlier.

The club comes with a "Pink Ribbon Winn" grip, designed to eliminate slippage.

"I like the feel of the shaft," Laveda said. "It's very lightweight so it was very easy to handle. And I didn't have to swing as hard because of the big (370 cc) head."

Laveda said she hit her drives farther than with her old driver and with greater accuracy.

Her conclusion: it may not be perfect, but the Ladies Perfect Driver does pretty much what it advertises, other than the hyperbole of being the perfect driver. The low center of gravity, combined with the loft, enabled her to launch drives better.

"I had some trouble wanting to force the club to do the work, as it felt so light," she said. "It's awkward at first, but after you adjust to the feel and the grip, I really liked it. It swings light, but still has the club heaviness that pulls through and carries the ball about 20 yards further than the old standard lady's driver."

That's not all.

"And it's pretty," she said.

The club has a suggested retail manufacturer's price of $199.

The company has an updated version of its Perfect Club, slightly longer, and also offers other utility clubs, like the "Perfect Spoon 134," designed to replace a 3-wood, the "Perfect Plus," designed to replace the 5-wood and the "Perfect Accuracy," designed to replace 5- and 6-irons and 9- and 11-woods.

The Men's Perfect Driver is 42.5 inches long with an 11.5-degree loft.

Those who order the clubs online get a free, pink visor — women, that is. The company said a portion of its proceeds will go to breast cancer research.

May 1, 2007

Veteran golf writer Tim McDonald keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation.