Equipment testing is not easy.

With the best will in the world, there are always going to be variables that produce anomalous results, so, as a result, lots of time and effort - and money - must be spent to ensure accuracy.

Golf Digest magazine in America have led the way for nearly a decade now after adopting a highly effective and expensive system in which they test clubs over half a year using 21 players of varying handicaps, six scientists (who have exclusive access to technical documents for each club) and leading retailers, who evaluate demand.

This is the way everyone would test clubs if they could but due to financial and time constraints, no-one else can. That's why whenever the magazine release their listings, equipment lovers across the world are quick to take note.

The magazine recently unveiled its list of top-performing drivers and we thought we'd share it with you.

The overall winner was Callaway's RAZR Fit, which was given editor's pick and a gold award.

In alphabetical order, the other seven drivers awarded gold medals were:

The four silver award winners, in alphabetical order:

To read more about the driver Hot List, visit www.golfdigest.com