Orlimar hipTi Driver:
Hot Isostatic Processing
Means A Blast Off Tee

By David R. Holland, TravelGolf.com Senior Writer

This could be the strangest product review ever. It happened on the practice tee at Edgewood Tahoe prior to the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship’s Media Day.

I’m trying out the new Orlimar hipTi Driver, 9.5 degrees, regular graphite shaft, when out of the blue comes Hall of Famer George Brett with a television crew. This left-handed former Kansas City Royal batting champ sets up in the stall next to mine, pulls out a right-handed Big Bertha and tells the TV crew he’s going to flip the driver over upside down and hit balls left-handed.

Well, he did it. Probably out of five tries he nailed two of them. Then he looks over at me and my Orlimar hipTi Driver and says: “I want to hit that one.” Naturally, I hand it to him and he promptly nails a couple, hands it back to me and says: “Feels great.”

The Orlimar hipTi Driver is the best driver I’ve hit in my life. During this testing period I had a chance to play several rounds with Ping’s top-of-the-line TSI driver and I never could hit it as consistently as the hipTi.

In fact, it took two-and-a-half rounds before I missed the fairway with this black beauty. It was at Castle Pines Golf Club during The International’s Media Day. No. 9 is a dogleg right with a series of ponds and waterfalls lining the right side. I was so confident about cutting the corner, I got too greedy and leaked one into the water.

Throughout this testing period the Orlimar hipTi Driver has been a source of confidence when the swing was smooth and correctly timed. There is nothing better than standing on a tee knowing you can hit one down the middle with admirable distance. The ball just seems to explode off this super-thin club face.

Here’s what PGA tour player Roger Maltbie, an Orlimar spokesman said: “Let me ask you a question. Can a driver that’s legal actually be longer then any other driver in golf? Is it possible for that same driver to be the straightest as well? The Orlimar hipTi Driver is a collaboration of state-of-the-art science and a top design team that might have done the impossible by making a driver that could be the longest and straightest driver you’ve ever hit.

“Hundreds of thousands of golfers including some of the best players in the world know that Orlimar makes the longest, straightest fairway woods in golf. And like the tri-metal fairway woods before, Orlimar has now created a driver that outperforms all other. The new hipTi driver from Orlimar, we think it will be the longest and most forgiving driver you’ve ever played.

“I would be shocked if this wasn’t one of the hottest drivers on tour within the first three months of the year, shocked,” Maltbie concluded.

Here’s the Orlimar marketing line:

“In 1998, Orlimar Golf started the thin face revolution with the introduction of the TriMetal fairway woods. Once again, by combining the latest in high tech materials with innovative design, Orlimar™ now brings you the very best driver in golf! Exclusive to Orlimar™ hipTi is the combination of a revolutionary new patent pending, Space Age Titanium Alloy and the application of Hot Isostatic Processing (HIP), a metal strengthening treatment from the aerospace industry that eliminates internal voids and porosity in titanium castings. The resulting new super metal is called hipTi and gives our new Driver the strongest, thinnest, hottest titanium driver face in golf. So strong, in fact, we are able to make the entire face a mere 2.29 millimeters, which is significantly thinner than the nearest competitor. This uniform thinness across the entire face provides optimum performance and maximum forgiveness no matter where you make contact with the ball.

“Many leading golf club manufacturers utilize what is called the "trampoline effect" in their driver designs by varying the thickness of the face or using less rigid materials. But what happens on a trampoline when instead of landing or jumping in the center, you happen to land or jump off to the side? Anyone who has ever been on a trampoline knows that you don't fly as high and tend to bounce sideways. If you don't consistently hit the dead center of your club face, you've got a problem.

• Discuss this story at GolfBoards.com • Past articles by David R. Holland

“The new TriMetal hipTi Driver solves that problem. By making our face uniformly thinner and more rigid, we are able to deliver explosive distance and increased accuracy even on mis-hits. When it comes to better performance, Maximum Strength + Minimum Face Thickness = Maximum Distance.”

Orlimar hipTi Driver Specs

300cc, 315cc & 340cc Progressive Sized Clubheads: Progressive sizing expands the weight distribution around the perimeter for greater stability and optimal forgiveness for every level of golfer. The 8.5 starts the line at 300ccs followed by the 9.5 at 315 and the 10.5 at 340.

Morphing Sole for Optimal Weight Distribution: Each hipTi Driver loft also has its own unique sole design that optimizes the weight distribution for every level of golfer. The 8.5 features our Copper Tungsten Chili Pepper strategically positioned in the center of the sole for golfers who want to work the ball with maximum power. The 9.5 sole morphs and moves the Chili Pepper slightly toward the heel to encourage a straight to drawing ball flight. The 10.5 moves the Pepper even further towards the heel to correct slices and to provide maximum forgiveness. We¹ve designed each HipTi Driver with the golfer in mind for maximum distance, accuracy and confidence.

Dedicated Shaft Technology: Our proprietary ultralight graphite shafts that are standard in the hipTi Drivers are matched by total weight, torque and flex for each loft and size. By matching the best characteristics of each shaft to the unique design of each of the three HipTi Driver lofts and sizes, we can maximize the overall performance of each golf club.

What’s Next for Orilmar?

Orlimar Golf, building on the success of its hipTi Driver introduced in January, has announced that it will attend the 2001 PGA Fall Expo in Las Vegas, September 24-27, to launch additional new products.

The new products will include fairway metals and reversed-sizing Scoring Irons built with the HIP process. The Scoring Irons feature head sizes larger for the 3-iron as opposed to tradition irons that have the largest head on the PW and the smallest head on the 3-iron.

Watch for a review of the new fairway metals and Scoring Irons later in the fall in TravelGolf.com.

Due to the demand for the new hipTi Driver, Orlimar is experiencing significant growth in the premium driver category. Orlimar has already exceeded its projected driver sales for 2001 by 20 percent, selling more drivers in five months than was expected for the entire calendar year.

"The hipTi driver is one of the top-performing and most sought-after drivers on the market," said Bill Kirkendall, President & CEO of Orlimar. "We think the combination of the hipTi being a superior performing driver and such a beautiful golf club has helped lead to its sales success."