1.7A is just a bit high for single-chip drivers to handle, alas, but
if you stick to a device with a heatsink built-in and provide forced-air
cooling you are most likely to succeed.
For such a motor from such a voltage a chopper driver is undoubtedly best,
the BigEasyDriver is one such possibility, but you will need to attach a metal
heatsink to the chip and cool it to get anywhere close to 1.7A. There are
other similar motor controller boards using stepper chopper-driver chips.
For higher current operation you need a proper motor driver using
discrete power MOSFETs, and there's a bit of a lack of commercial options
at hobby prices here, the Gecko Drives seem to be reasonable and there
are some cheap chinese units on eBay.