When you bring up Legacy Discs to a disc golfer, more times than not, you’ll hear about the Cannon or Rampage. Both are high speed distance drivers that fly FAR. When you mix in a the Clutch (putter) and the Ghost (midrange), the foundation of a full line of discs is starting to take shape. This winter, Legacy is starting to fill in the gaps with the release of their first fairway driver: the Legacy Rival.

The Rival falls into a slot that most disc golfers can handle. It is a controllable speed 7 disc. Here’s what Legacy says:

The Rival is a speed 7 fairway driver designed for distance and accuracy. This disc is a great weapon for headwinds and control shots. The Rival will hold a straight flight with a slow fade at the end.

We were able to give the Rival a toss recently to see exactly what it would do on the course. The two we were able to throw had very flat tops in Legacy’s Pinnacle plastic. They both came out very pearly, held nice grip and felt quite firm.

When we first gave it a toss, we were surprised to see it fly slightly understable. If released with some hyzer, the Rival would flip up flat and even turn a little bit right before coming back left at the end. On a flat release, we could make this a solid turnover disc every time. Even with expectations of a more stable flight, the understable characteristics of the Rival weren’t disappointing. As we adjusted to the flight and got comfortable with the disc, we were starting to see nice distance out of it.

The fade for us wasn’t that strong – in a good way. It wasn’t going to skip away on us, yet we knew it would finish left just a little bit.

The Rival is listed as a speed 7 driver, but it is a very fast speed 7. It will really get going early. The two Rivals we had our hands flew with nice glide and were able to extend out the flight just a little bit.

While Legacy says the Rival would rate as a 7, 5, 0, 2 on the flight scale. We would place ours at 7, 5, -1, 2. It is a pretty noticeable -1. You could almost make a case that it is a -2, 2. We were curious about this and after talking with a few people, the proto Rivals had more dome than the first runs. The extra dome brought in added stability, thus the 0, 2 rating.

The flat top Rivals fly like a well-seasoned Innova Teebird. You’ll see a little added high speed turn but with the same low speed fade. If you can keep the nose down, release with a little hyzer and give it some room to fly, the Rival will be a nice addition to your fairway drivers. If you pick up a new Rival and it is a little domey, don’t be turned off by that. It will give you a nice stable, straight flight, with a predictable fade at the end.

For a third reference, lets look at what inbounds Disc Golf says. You’ll note the very straight flight according to their initial data:

We’re excited to see Legacy continue to expand their lineup. The Cannon and Rampage gained a lot of buzz with the distance they could bring. Legacy has slowed things down with the previous release of the Ghost midrange and now the Rival with the fairway driver label. The Rival will be appealing to golfers of any level. Experienced players will see a very controllable, long flight. Newer players will find a disc they can certainly grow into.

Rivals are now in stores. Check your local retailer or favorite online retailer.