Bridgestone Golf's new 460cc J33R driver will begin shipping this fall with a suggested retail price of $499. Similar to its 420cc predecessor, Bridgestone said, the J33R 460cc driver features an oversized club head designed for a slightly higher launch, with less spin.
"What we've done is take the 420cc version, which has a rounded profile, and make it larger," Mike Moxie, Golf Club Marketing for Bridgestone Golf, told PGA.com. "It keeps the same essential look as the 420cc, but in terms of face depth, it's approximately five millimeters deeper than the 420cc."
The deep face design, Moxie said, retains an optimal center-of-gravity location for maximized high launch, low spin ball flight and a high moment of inertia for added stability on mis-hits.
All of the Bridgestone J33 series drivers, according to Moxie, feature an elastomer compound insert within the club head for reducing vibration throughout the crown, sole and face of the club. The reduction in vibration, Moxie said, accounts for a more efficient energy transfer resulting in more distance, particularly on mis-hits.
"The 460cc has the same permanent tungsten weight [as the 420cc], which keeps the weight low and deep," Moxie said.
To keep the center of gravity low and deep, Moxie said Bridgestone will continue to use a patented Low Modulus (Thin) Crown in the J33R 460cc. The crown flexes slightly at impact adding loft to the club head, Moxie said, which enhances the vertical gear effect of the driver. The enhanced vertical gear effect, according to Moxie, leads to an even higher launch and further decreased backspin off the tee.
The J33R 460cc, Moxie said, brings a more mass appeal to a Bridgestone driver and is aimed primarily at players with handicaps of 14 or less.
"One of the things that we've done is retain a very square face angle, so it's not going to be hooked," Moxie said. "It's still going to provide the better player, or somebody looking to not hit a big hook, with a club head that is very neutrally biased. But at 460cc, it's a very big club face to provide maximum forgiveness."
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