I picked up a Gold Line Spark today in my quest to find a more comfortable Teebird replacement. The one I got was a pink 174g. It looked pretty typical when I compared it to the other gold sparks the shop had in store. The Gold line has a lot more dome than my first run Opto and a slightly lower PLH has well
GL - Opto
GL - Opto
I'm adding a profile comparison of the Teebird as well, just for completeness sake
Spark - Teebird
Spark - Teebird
These Gold line Sparks are domier than the first run optos, but they are by no means very domey discs. They are pretty flat in my opinion, similar tallness to the dome as a flat Star Thunderbird.
I was throwing this GL Spark against an Opto Spark, a champ Teebird and a g* Teebird. The opto has been in my bag since its release and has been used for violent utility type shots. It still has amazing stability, even tho it has hit a lot of stuff hard. Both of the Teebirds were slightly seasoned, or just had the new knocked out of them. Not beat, but not brand new either.
I was quite windy today with sustained winds of about 12-15mph, the gusts were a bit stronger. The opto Spark was unsurprisingly the most overstable of the bunch, it was *a lot* more overstable than the gold line spark. The gold line Spark was the second most overstable, it held the release angle without a hint of turn even in the strongest of the headwind gusts. The Teebirds both had a tiny bit of turn on flat releases and would flip flat on slight hyzer releases. When the winds were lulling the GL and the Teebirds flew very similar lines, I'd say the Spark wanted to start fading slightly earlier the the very late fade of the Teebirds. The fade was a bit stronger than Teebirds fade as well, but not hugely so. I didn't have any Brinster Teebirds at hand, but if my memory serves me right I'd say that the goldline Spark is not quite as hoggy as the Brinster Teebird. It's pretty much right between the Brinster Teebird and 12x stamped, normally domed Teebirds when it comes to stability. I think latitude's flight numbers of 7/4/0/3 is spot on for the GL Spark, I'd rate the first run opto as 7/3/0/4
It will be interesting to see how these gold line sparks fly once they start breaking in, but as they are now they are pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Flies very similar to Teebirds, but they just feel that much better in the hand. If you're looking for a "Trilogy Teebird" then look no further, the Gold Line spark will give you a workable overstable fairway driver that feels amazing in the hand.