Thin To Win

by Victor Williams

Nickent's new 4DX Driver.

NICKENT 4DX Clubs
$259 driver |  $199 fairway metals | $179 utilities & iron-woods
www.nickentgolf.com
Greens With Envy: The first thing you notice about master clubmaker John Hoeflich’s new lineup is the distinctive green color accents on the soleplates  and the elastomer inserts along the trailing edge of each stick. A slightly different hue of this very golf-centric color is echoed in the standard UST ProForce SR3 shaft. That alone will draw you into the 4DX’s high-tech universe, but further exploration — in the form of a sample club workout at a range or golf course near you — just might convince you that Nickent, a Southern California-based company that’s made a name for itself on the major tours through its stellar hybrid line, is onto something here. Something that will translate into smaller numbers on the ol’l scorecard. It’s certainly worked for Jeff Quinney, who’s notched several PGA Tour top tens this year. He leads a growing group of 20 players currently wielding Nickent sticks in competition.

Material Whirl: We’re by no means in the techno-geek category when it comes to modern club design materials, but we do know this much: When science allows super-thin titanium and stainless steel to team up in the same single-piece clubhead, good things are bound to happen. And in the 4DX line, from the 460cc driver down through the iron-woods (which range from a 14-degree No. 1 to 29-degree 6), Hoeflich’s team found a way to braze those two space-age substances into a close and powerful bond. The result is a 4-mm titanium crown that’s half as heavy as the still-popular 3DX, which allowed designers to reposition that weight lower in the club’s steel body and build in a slightly taller clubface that leads to a more penetrating ballflight — perfect for better players who “trap” the ball at impact.

Talkin’ Tungsten: Even more wizardry is found at the rear of each club, where Tungsten-polymer inserts reduce vibration and allow pinpoint weight adjustments throughout the set. No more messing with screws: Nickent’s crack fitting team will dial in just the right insert for you, and you’re on your way.

Field Firin’: FG’s practice-and-play tests revealed a very stable and responsive feel throughout each club it tested — a 9-degree “Tour Spec” driver, classically-styled 15-degree 3-metal, 15-degree No. 3 Unility and 20-degree Iron-Wood. At first we had trouble finding the center of the driver’s face, but after a simple tee-height adjutment (duh!), even the most bald-faced range rock was exploding off the face in a startingly straight line, with a piercing ballflight. The 3-metal performed admirably from both short and taller grass, while the Utility excelled off the tee with a slight draw for those shots that absolutely had to find the fairway. And the Iron-Wood? With its slight bulge-and-roll, satisfying, square set-up and easy-swinging weighting, pin-seeking shots both into and with the wind told us why Nickent’s a leader in the hybrid race: These suckers perform, and the’re pretty to boot.

Final Verdict: Nickent is low-profile no more. The 4DX take them to the next level of big-time Tour-worthy performance, and we can all get in on the fun.