TaylorMade Demo Day

I went to a Taylormade Demo day at Bird Hills Golf Course near Maidenhead on Thursday, lured by the opportunity to try their latest wares. As they are entering the forged iron market for the first time I was keen to try these new models as well as give their Burner 2.0 irons a thorough going over. Alas, despite all the hype when I got there all they had to offer were their new R11 and Burner Superfast driver range.

Now I've already given my views on the R11 here (White Knight or White Elephant) and came to the conclusion that as a tinkerer of my swing and kit anyway this muli-adjustable driver would be a step too far and the wrench for making changes would be glued to my hand. However as an open minded sort of guy I decided in the name of research for you all to give it a go. I hit some with my own club and the Taylormade boffin set it up 1 degree open but left the base plate neutral. It was good but felt dead off the face. Now the range balls at Bird Hills are ropey at best but there was just no ooomph. Off centre hits were definitely not as good as my own club.

There was a big demand for the R11 and so I willingly gave mine back but decided to go with the new Superfast. This isn't adjustable but has been designed with a longer, lighter shaft to promote quicker clubhead speed and therefore longer drives. Like the R11 it is a white headed design and it really does stand out behind the ball and make the alignment of the club so easy.

This is much more like my Tour Burner and I felt a lot more comfortable with it. However BE WARNED. It does make a real racket and there were several shots that left my ears ringing. Again it could be the calibre of the range balls (read pebbles) but it was deafening and very off putting. Golfers amongst you may remember Nike's early foray into the driver market and their Sumo model which left ears bleeding in driving ranges up and down the country. This is louder!

On performance this is a good honest driver. It hasn't got all the bells and whistles of its grander R11 sibling but it does fly well with a nice height. I used the 10.5 degree loft with the stock Matrix XCON 4.8 shaft. I did try the 9.5 in regular but it produced a poor ball flight and I tried the 10.5 in stiff but it wasn't suited to my swing speed or apology of a golf swing.

So what did I deduce? In truth not much. There is a lot on offer with the R11 but it could take a fair bit of tinkering to find the optimum set up and that the standard shaft may not suit everyone. It is an okay bit of kit but with a hefty price tag. My advice would be to certainly consider a custom fitting session if you want one of these adjustable type drivers and the R11 is your weapon of choice. The Superfast on the other hand is a decent enough club. I really like the white face although the extra markings on the crown of the club are a little off putting, at least initially. It does go well and if you do miss the middle it is more forgiving than the R11.

Personally, whilst I applaud the innovation of the white head, the realms of possibility with adjustable technology and the functionality of both clubs, neither really set my golfing world on fire. At least I still have the forthcoming release of the irons to look forward too and the credit card was able to breath a sigh of relief.