Review: Nike VR_S Covert Tour 3-wood
On paper it is the most adjustable 3-wood you can buy, but is it useful or just confusing? I found that after many rounds with it in play this spring that my biggest concern with a 3-wood is control. I don’t necessarily need to bomb it, although that is fun, I need to be accurate and precise with both distance, trajectory and direction. I tried just about every setting to see what this club could do and I am impressed. At 13* you won’t find a longer 3-wood. It flat out bombs it. While that is great off the tee; for me, I need more elevation off the fairway for softer landings and better control in soft conditions. I went the other way to try the higher loft and I got awesome trajectory and hit it really straight, but the loss of distance wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be either. I settled on 14* loft with just a slight face angle to the left. At times I fight a slice with the 3-wood, especially off the deck. This little tweak really helped with that, yet didn’t cause me to hit it too far left.
After the range session and getting it dialed in to my loft and direction, I took it to the course and found that instead of fearing a 3-wood shot I was in control of what happened. A poor swing still had poor results, but now I felt confident that my good swings would be rewarded. Everything I am looking for in a 3-wood happened with the Covert Tour 3-wood. Off the tee it is a straight bomber. At 14* it isn’t quite the longest I’ve ever hit, but it is really close. It was up near that 245 yardage. Of the deck I really liked how it set up and how it elevates the ball enough to land softly, but not too high to balloon or lose distance. The right/left control was the biggest factor for me. I didn’t fear the slice, nor did I hit it. It really just wanted to go straight. I felt like I was in control.
The Covert line is all about the cavity-back woods and in the 3-wood it felt really explosive. The hybrid was slightly muted feeling and the driver was really solid, but the 3-wood had some real pop. The feel and sound of the Covert tour 3-wood is excellent. It is a metallic, muted, ping, that is crisp and clear when you hit it in the sweet spot. Off the toe or heel it isn’t quite as crisp or as pure, but still felt pretty good. The results weren’t too bad either when missing the center of the face. Even though the Covert Tour 3-wood is the smaller headed model, it still offered pretty good forgiveness. There was only minimal distance loss off the heel or toe of the face.
The head also has good weight and balance. It seems that some companies are pushing the limits of lightweight heads and shafts trying to get more distance, but this one has a good solid weight and feel. The Mitsubishi Kuro Kage shaft is very solid. It offers a good kick through the ball and offers excellent control. The dispersion seemed pretty tight with this shaft. It also has a comfortable weight to it; at 70 grams this shaft it is a solid option for a 3-wood.
There is a reason Tiger put a Nike Covert 3-wood in play early in the 2013 season and has found great success; He wants it in his bag for control. He doesn’t need to bomb it, or add umpteen more yards; he wants it to land in certain spots and hit controlled shots on tight fairways. You can get that same kind of control with the Nike Covert Tour 3-wood. The ultimate adjustable 3-wood that is all about control.
For more information: www.nikegolf.com
Quick Hits
+Best adjustable hosel
+Excellent feel
+Ultimate control
+Forgiving yet compact
–Not everyone digs the looks
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