Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Melanie Collins, DRIVER VS. DRIVER is a one-hour reality series that follows the trials and tribulations of aspiring golf equipment designers as they compete for the chance to win a cash prize -- $500,000 in Season 1; $250,000 in Season 2 -- and the opportunity to have their driver concept brought to life and sold under the Wilson Staff name. Each design team works with Wilson Labs engineers to evaluate, critique, refine and test their ideas and concepts, all while trying to stave off elimination by the panel of golf expert judges: former NFL linebacker Brian Urlacher; former USGA director Frank Thomas; and Wilson Golf President Tim Clarke. Two-time PGA TOUR winner and Wilson Advisory Staff member Kevin Streelman joins the series as a judge beginning with the third episode. The Wilson Staff driver inspired by the winner's concept hits retail stores nationwide on Black Friday, November 25, 2016, three days after the season finale. The 11 finalists in Season 1 are: Jonathan Dineen (Wilmington, NC), an industrial engineer whose driver concept was his thesis at Appalachian State University; Richard Gischer (Crowley, TX) and Kimberly Leonard (Pinckneyville, IL), a brother-sister team with golf, sales and communications expertise; Kyle Hanquist and Kevin Neitzel (Ann Arbor, MI), colleagues and friends at the University of Michigan who are PhD students in aerospace engineering; Jimmy Huynh, Brian Mar, Patrick Soriano, Sheila Pancani and Matt Ulery (Long Beach, CA), seniors in the industrial design program at California State University; Branndon Jones and Ryan Nelson (Knoxville, TN), high school friends who are studying at the University of Tennessee; Steve Kirouac (Welland, Ontario, Canada), a retired art teacher; Weston Maughan (Draper, UT), a former golf professional now working in the business sector; Matt Purtell (Sonoma, CA), an avid golfer and building contractor; Eric Sillies (Cincinnati, OH), a product designer who interned at Dick's Sporting Goods in college, helping the aesthetic direction for the 2012 Nickent golf club line; Gavin Wallin (Eagle Mountain, UT), a product designer who has extensive experience in golf club design with multiple manufacturers; and Karl West (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), a long-time golf instructor and a self-professed tinkerer who enjoys conceptualizing and designing golf clubs in his basement lab. The seven-episode second season of DRIVER VS. DRIVER premiered on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on Golf Channel. Melanie Collins returns to host Season 2, with these celebrity judges: NHL legend and avid golfer Jeremy Roenick; PGA professional and expert golf equipment reviewer Rick Shiels; and Wilson Golf President Tim Clarke. DRIVER VS. DRIVER 2 follows the trials and tribulations of these aspiring golf equipment designers in an elimination-style television series where they compete for the opportunity have their concepts transformed into prototypes, field tested, critiqued and refined. Ultimately, one driver concept will be left standing, with the designer winning $250,000 and the final driver hitting retail stores worldwide. Out of the hundreds of concepts submitted through an open call application process, 14 finalists were selected. Each presents their concept to the panel of celebrity judges during the show's premiere. Following the presentations, the judges deliberate on which finalists' concepts advance in the competition. Throughout the seven-episode season, the finalists' concepts will be field tested and critiqued by some of the game's best players on the PGA TOUR, celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment, golf industry experts, members of the national golf and sports media, bloggers and social media influencers. Ultimately, one winner's final design will go on sale at golf retailers worldwide following the season finale. The finalists include: Chris Adams (32, Denver, CO); Juan Biancardi (41), Walter Lund (41; Miramar, FL); Hank Boomershine (48) & Victor Marion (34; Perry, UT); Jeremy Chell (42; Madison, WI); Peter Dreyfuss (48; Naples, FL); Scott Haack (48; Chardon, OH); J.D. Hefferin (27; Orlando, FL); Evan Hoffman (27; San Diego, CA); Jimmy Huynh (28; Long Beach, CA); Bob Lockhart (81; Big Spring, TX); Tim Slama (22; Salem, OR); Samantha Smith (22; Las Vegas, NV); Tim Swiss (38; Carlsbad, CA); Allen Zadeh (50; Brooklyn, NY).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, Golf Channel premiered the Season 2 finale of DRIVER VS. DRIVER. In the season ender, "Winner Takes All," Doug Thiel, Director of Marketing at Wilson Golf, welcomes the two finalists -- Evan Hoffman and Tim Slama -- to Wilson's worldwide headquarters in Chicago. After some last minute tweaks and another round of testing and feedback from the Wilson Staff Tour Pros, one competitor wins the $250,000 grand prize and has his final design hit shelves at golf retailers worldwide.