I apologize in advance for the long post. Just got back from throwing my blue 171 Gold Line. It has a big shoulder but does get very flat inside of the rim. n3tw0rkn3rd had his Opto with him and it was much domier.
The course we played at is 7200', so keep that in mind. I'm a lefty. It was also cold and windy. It's early, but here are the throws I made and my impressions:
Throw 1: Threw it flat and it went dead straight. It was very windy on this hole and I usually get some air bounce from my Eagles and Destroyers on windy days, but the Flow just knifed through it all. Unfortunately I hit a tree about 300' out so I don't know how far it would have gone. No sign of fade at 300'.
Throw 2: Threw it flat and into a headwind, this time it tracked a little left, but very slowly, and it never tilted anhyzer. Again, hit a tree, and it's a big downhill elevation, so I don't know how far it would have gone. It bounced ridiculously hard and fast off the tree though, I almost didn't see where it went.
Throw 3 (n3w0rkn3rd threw this one): Threw it flat on a very narrow fairway, got the longest throw either of us has ever had on that hole and didn't get that killer skip or fade that the Destroyer does that makes throwing it on tight fairways an impossibility. I threw his Opto and was surpised at how quickly it got out there, it had some sneaky D as it hit the top of a tree that I usually end up scooting up under.
Throw 4: My final throw on our 19th hole, it's a little uphill and 425', by my estimates it plays about 30' longer than it says because of the grade. I usually throw my Eagles and land them right at 400' or just shy of it, but it's been so long since I've landed my Destroyers on the fairway. I usually end up not quite getting them nose down because I'm aiming too high and they stall out, or I turn them way too hard and go OB in the creek on the left. This hole is the perfect example of the one thing I don't like about my Destroyers, I just can't finesse them or power down on them, they need to be thrown hard in wide open spaces. So I decided to pull out the Flow, I threw it flat with just a little tug down and left...that's my very slight anhyzer throw. The Destroyer never handles that kind of subtlety, it either inexplicably turns and burns or gets nose up. The flow took off on that slight anny line, held it probably 85% of it's flight, pulled out at the end and just barely got me back on the fairway. All told it was a 450' throw, I overflew the basket by a solid 25'. Probably my longest throw ever considering the uphill grade, and I didn't put much height on it either.
So, there's no doubt the Flow will give me effortless distance. But I felt an instant familiarity with this disc. I like how workable and controllable it is without be too understable. I like that the rim is definitely smaller than the Destroyer. I prefer the feel of the flat top so it's kind of a bummer to hear that the blue ones were the only ones that turned out this way. I was very pleased with its wind performance. I can actually see myself breaking this thing out on the course we played today, which is heavily wooded. I basically leave the Destroyers in the bag for that course.
It's gonna take a couple months of experimentation, but I think the Flow just be what I was looking for in a more controllable max D driver. Thanks, Latitude! I think I'm going to get a heavy domey one if this one isn't suitable for big hyzers, I'm afraid that this could end up getting too understable a little too quickly.
n3w0rkn3rd dyed his clear Opto, I thought it turned out sweet:
