DIY club fitting: The vertical line test
There are a variety of reasons you can miss shots, but from a directional stand point, lie angles are one of the most critical factors. The vertical line test, is a simple way to quickly and easily figure out if your lie angles are right for you and help you figure out why you are missing your target.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Ben Robertson
Oct 7, 2018 at 5:25 am
Anyone use this exercise for determing the right lie angle for their putter?
geohogan
Oct 4, 2018 at 11:12 pm
If your shafts have zero kick, zero droop and zero torque at impact then dynamic lie angle will be consistent throughout the iron set.
If shafts are as Moe Norman labelled them, “Licorice sticks”, then every shaft throughout the iron set, may have unique dynamic lie angles. A very good reason to use a quality shaft.
jesse parkison
Oct 4, 2018 at 1:21 pm
I love this trick and use it often when I am having ball flight issues. HERE’S A TIP: when using dry-erase marker the post-impact club mark will not show up if you take a large divot or the ground is wet. Both water and dirt at velocity will remove the dry erase marker. I only perform this trick off a mat/pad, and a dry mat is best. Alternatively you can put tape on your club face to help the ink stick.
Johnny Penso
Oct 3, 2018 at 10:08 pm
My fitter did that test with me when he was checking the lie angles of my Dad’s old Wilson Staff blades after I took them in for re-gripping. Worked well for me.
williamhiiWyahoo.com
Oct 3, 2018 at 8:49 pm
hers what I know…I go places and they try to tell me that Im 1.5* upright…. I am not! I play my irons 2* FLAT. If i touch a iron iron thats upright it either shanks or hooks lol
I build and do all my own clubs
williamhiii@yahoo.com
Oct 3, 2018 at 8:50 pm
here’s
Stewart Franks
Oct 3, 2018 at 4:34 pm
This method only works if you are hitting shots with a square clubface. So make sure you have something measuring clubface
stevet
Oct 3, 2018 at 3:51 pm
There is a “static” lie angle at address and a “dynamic” lie angle at impact.
At static address the club heel should be touching the ground with the toe off the ground. At impact the shaft tip will “droop” down and the club sole will be parallel to the ground. How do you resolve these different shaft dynamics and clubhead lies in club fitting? Thanks.
Howard Jones
Oct 3, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Yes, use a whiteboard pen or dry erase marker on the ball.
That line will be “printed” on the face, and tell if lie angles are good or not, but its not correct that this lines dont tell us more than if we need to go up or flat, we can judge the need for how much we need to adjust with this labels top make it way easier.
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1355102-open-source-face-labels-for-lie-angle-diy-lie-angle-testing/
Ryan B
Oct 3, 2018 at 8:10 pm
Hi Howard,
That’s a great tool! You provide a lot of great input here on GolfWRX. I like to use a sharpie and take the marks off with acetone but 100& dry erase are a great solution too.
I prefer to use the line test as a starting point and finalize using ball flight and launch monitor.
Cheers
Paul Portney
Oct 3, 2018 at 12:25 pm
This was interesting to watch, so thanks for posting it. Is the idea to see the mark on your clubface left by the line you suggest putting on the ball? That was a little unclear to me.
Josh D
Oct 3, 2018 at 7:32 pm
yes its so that the line transfers to the club face from the ball like u thought.