Tasty Offering From Taylormade

Part of my huge disappointment about the way I swung the club yesterday was that I was due to test the new R11 irons from Taylormade in the afternoon. Given that I couldn't hit the proverbial barn door there seemed little point trying out the follow up to the hugely successful R11 woods, and in particular their adjustable driver. However with the afternoon spent at the range and the swing at least held together with band-aid I rescheduled for this morning.

The new TaylorMade R11 irons combine the distance and forgiveness found in the Burner 2.0 irons along with the feel and precision of the Tour Preferred line. Specifically, the R11 irons are engineered for the player who favours a traditional blade but appreciates the ease required to launch the ball high, straight and long. To me, this club would be perfect for any golfer from around the 9-10 handicap all the way through to someone in the high teens (17-18). 

Here is how Taylormade announced the new irons http://www.taylormadegolf.eu/R11-Irons-Launch.aspx

The stock shaft is the KBS 90 which I tried in a regular flex initially. I have to say this club is simply awesome for a mid-handicapper like me, even with my current swing issues. From the very first shot it flew long and on a very pleasing trajectory. Even those not quite out of the middle were still very acceptable and it has the forgiveness of a Buddhist monk. Visually it's as striking as the R11 driver with the white decal and red weighting point. Behind the ball it sits very well with a minimal offset but it doesn't have a chunky top line

I have to say it was a joy to hit, but I wanted something to compare it with and so went for the Taylormade TP Muscle Cavity (MC). This is aimed at better players, probably from the 8-14 handicap mark. The first thing you notice is that the head on this is very much more of a blade design and much smaller than the R11. I hit it well, and the good ones were arguably longer than the R11 but there was far less forgiveness. I tried this with the same KBS 90 shaft although it is supplied with the True Temper Dynamic Gold as standard. It's quite possible the shaft choice made a difference to the overall performance but I still think deep down for my capability the bad ones would be heavily punished and there wouldn't be enough truly good ones to outweigh these and justify their use.

So it was back to the R11 and a change of shaft to see if that improved the ball flight and dispersion. I should point out the testing was done without any launch monitor and with range balls, playing with the wind helping and from right to left. The next shaft was a Dynamic Gold, regular flex. This high-flex, tour weight shaft is designed for skilled players seeking a low, penetrating ball flight for optimum control and accuracy. The first thing I noticed was that it was considerably heavier than the KBS. I struggled with it and it always felt as though I was struggling to get the hands back square at impact. I hit a lot more shots heavy, and the overall distance wasn't as good.

I was then offered a Dynamic Gold XP. The new Dynamic Gold XP delivers “Xtra Performance” through a lightweight, mid-trajectory design. This promotes higher initial launch with a controlled ball flight. Having struggled with the standard Dynamic Gold offering I was sceptical especially as it didn't feel any lighter. However this gave the KBS a real run for its money and produced a much higher ball flight, without it seeming to balloon and was pretty tight on dispersal, certainly on a par with the KBS.

Anyone in the market for a new set of irons, especially a Taylormade gear whore like me must check the R11 irons out soon. They are very, very good. However, at a hefty £599 RRP for the set (4-SW) they are a lot of money and the KBS shaft may not be to everyone's taste. I do think though that these irons produce an exceptionally strong ball flight, offer a great amount of freedom in terms of playability and will give good distances with each club. If I was going to invest, I would however look at a custom fit. The Dynamic Gold shafts I tried were provided to test facility as alternatives to the KBS but I'd have preferred to see if other steel options or even a graphite shaft would have made any difference. They are easily the most playable club I've hit in a long time and definitely tick all the right boxes for me.