The best affordable driver

If you're looking to save a few bucks, it's best to go for a more traditional driver like TaylorMade's RBZ Black.

New-fangled clubs have a lot of components. Built cheaply, they're just more things to have fall apart, so we recommend you go with something simple by a brand that's been around for a while if you're on a budget.

Yes, shelling out upwards of $400 or $500 for a driver can be a painful endeavor. A lot of us forego the driver altogether, perhaps in part because of the cost. If you're working on transitioning from a three-wood or three-iron, but not quite ready to drop serious scratch on one, you could do far worse — and spend far more — than TaylorMade's RBZ Black driver. Read more on the finer points of clubs to use at the tee over at The Sandtrap's forum on the subject.

The RBZ might not have all the finishings of TaylorMade's pricier clubs, but it does have the stock shaft and the same craftsmanship behind it, and if you're slicing every other drive off into the woods with this club, you'll have no one (or thing) to blame but yourself. Sorry, but that's golf, and this club 460cc clubhead is more than sufficient for tackling even the most doggedly doglegged par five this earth has to offer.

Golf Influence praises TaylorMade's RBZ Black for being less than half the price of the brand's other drivers as well as the simplicity of its design and lightweight titanium head.

Nearly 100 Amazon reviews round out to an impressive 4.6/5-star rating, and many of which are lengthy odes to the accuracy and performance of this piece for the price.

Available with all the basic orientations, flex levels, and configurations, this is a simple but sleek stick worth having, either for backup or a first driver.

Pros: Calloway craftsmanship, price

Cons: Slightly heavier than pricier clubs (but still titanium), no fancy bells or whistles (but who needs those anyhow?)