Ouch!

I knew I wasn't crazy when I bought a new titanium driver last fall and felt that its sound at impact actually hurt my ears. In response to a reader's questions about a driver so loud that his playing partners cover their ears when he tees off, Frank Thomas writes about loud drivers in this week's Golf Digest Equipment Q&A:

"When the large metal drivers -- about 190 cc -- were first introduced, there was not a problem with noise level at impact, even though the sound was very different from that of wooden heads. In an effort to make driver heads more forgiving ? higher MOI ? manufacturers increased the size to the point where they collapsed on impact and a new material for drivers ? titanium ? was introduced. This not only increased the ball speed, due to the unexpected spring-like effect produced by the thin face, but increased the noise (decibel level) to a point where it was becoming a problem. When the size of the drivers were made to the limit of 460 cc and the shape changed to increase the forgiveness (MOI) the noise had became unacceptable. Some drivers today have not yet corrected this problem."

Also, Golfblogger points out this piece from the BBC, which talks about medical research showing that the sound of titanium drivers at impact can actually damage your hearing (Thomas mentions this as well, but there' s much more info in the BBC piece).

Thankfully, the obnoxious and painful impact sound of my titanium driver inspired me give my persimmons another go. I was never so happy on a golf course as when at least I heard that wonderful thwack! again. Nirvana! I'm never going back to metal. From now on my "woods" will be actually made of wood, thank you very much. Any my ears will thank me.