TaylorMade Burner 2.0 Irons - Forum Testing Review

[Josh_Ross]

Update: I either have a major sprain, or slight stress fracture. Either way, I'm out for 2-3 weeks. I'm gonna try to play anyway in the coming days, so we'll see how well that goes. Regardless, the Georgia get together is coming quickly, so I'll have tons of chances to play and update in the near future. I'm going to see if it's possible for me to hit this weekend.

Tappin' away from my DROIDX.

 

[yorkem]

Update: I either have a major sprain, or slight stress fracture. Either way, I'm out for 2-3 weeks. I'm gonna try to play anyway in the coming days, so we'll see how well that goes. Regardless, the Georgia get together is coming quickly, so I'll have tons of chances to play and update in the near future. I'm going to see if it's possible for me to hit this weekend.

Tappin' away from my DROIDX.

Dude, that sucks! What did you sprain/stress fracture? I definitely feel your pain.

 

[Jman]

Update: I either have a major sprain, or slight stress fracture. Either way, I'm out for 2-3 weeks. I'm gonna try to play anyway in the coming days, so we'll see how well that goes. Regardless, the Georgia get together is coming quickly, so I'll have tons of chances to play and update in the near future. I'm going to see if it's possible for me to hit this weekend.

Tappin' away from my DROIDX.

That sucks Josh, make sure to get healthy though first and foremost man.

 

[ddxu]

Dude, that sucks! What did you sprain/stress fracture? I definitely feel your pain.

Man this testing crew is a MASH unit. It's still pissing the rain and wind here, but hope to hit the range again tomorrow. To hold me over, here are a couple pics of my 9 iron after 3+ months of use

 

[Jman]

Man this testing crew is a MASH unit. It's still pissing the rain and wind here, but hope to hit the range again tomorrow. To hold me over, here are a couple pics of my 9 iron after 3+ months of use

Nice, looks very much like mine lol

I'm about 9 moths in with mine and think they have worn just fine. However, I'm not nearly as picky as alot of people are.

 

[yorkem]

It still looks great, as do all of mine. These are just really well made.

 

[jefrazie]

Luckily it seems like I am going to play 3x this weekend. Lots of updates, some video and I'm sure some pictures.

 

[tomahawk18]

Sorry to hear of the injuries guys. Get well. Can't wait for some vids and feedback jef. I am going to the range at least once this weekend.

 

[mdbuschsr]

Luckily it seems like I am going to play 3x this weekend. Lots of updates, some video and I'm sure some pictures.

I will definitely have my video camera with me. In fact I hope I can find time to go get a 2nd battery. I can't wait to see you hit that 3 iron and I'm looking forward to hitting your Yonex. I'm also gonna force you into hitting my SCOR wedges a handful of times to get some thoughts there. If Yorkem batted from the right side of the plate, we could be playing with each others' clu... Nope that doesn't sound right. To bad he's left handed huh?

 

[mdbuschsr]

I like to play the ball just a ball or two forward (from center) of my stance with the 4 iron, and basically middle with the 5 and 6 iron. Obviously I adjust some on the course due to conditions or lie, but with a good fairway lie, this gives me the best results. I am pretty consistant with the 5 iron, the 4 iron is a bit inconsistant, but mostly fair to good. Maybe I will give your suggestion a try and move the ball back a little and see how it works for me.

TH by no means am I trying to give you a tip. I'd be pretty silly at a 21+ HC trying to give tips to a 6 doncha' think? It just looked pretty far forward to me. I've watched the 4 iron clip another 4 times, and I still think the same thing, but the camera angle is not conducive to seeing ball position, so I could be WAY off. I will say that watching your clips has made me want to put the 4 iron back in the rotation to see if I can handle it. I'm in my own test, and I've really concentrated on my ball striking so I might be able to pull it off now.

I love these testings because they make me reflect on my game and my swing and my thoughts about the game. More importantly they force me to get out and practice, and learn some things.

 

[Josh_Ross]

Dude, that sucks! What did you sprain/stress fracture? I definitely feel your pain.

The ring finger on my right hand. It's in a good amount of pain, but I'll be good soon.

Tappin' away from my DROIDX.

 

[tomahawk18]

TH by no means am I trying to give you a tip. I'd be pretty silly at a 21+ HC trying to give tips to a 6 doncha' think? It just looked pretty far forward to me. I've watched the 4 iron clip another 4 times, and I still think the same thing, but the camera angle is not conducive to seeing ball position, so I could be WAY off. I will say that watching your clips has made me want to put the 4 iron back in the rotation to see if I can handle it. I'm in my own test, and I've really concentrated on my ball striking so I might be able to pull it off now.

I love these testings because they make me reflect on my game and my swing and my thoughts about the game. More importantly they force me to get out and practice, and learn some things.

You just got me thinking about it. Hey we are all here to help each other and I think we are all guilty of falling into bad habits sometimes. It can't hurt me to give it a try. If it helps... Awesome.

I agree with you on the testings. I have tried some new stuff too from following other threads. Part of what makes THP the coolest site on the web.

 

[tomahawk18]

Hit the range on Saturday hoping to get some video of my long irons and where I play the ball in my stance, but the weather did not cooperate. Just as I was finishing warming up the rains came and I really got nothing accomplished. I didn't even finish my bucket. I ended up hitting my 50* wedge, my PW and 9 iron for a few swings and that was all. Welcome to Seattle in October. Since I really have no new practice to update you guys on, I am going to give you a final grade review. (Obviously not saying this is my final post here) It has been exactly 3 months since I received the 2.0's. I have nearly 20 rounds in with the 2.0's and 12+ range sessions.

There has been a ton of talk on THP about overly positive reviews. I have my own feeling on this, but this isn't the thread for it, and I am staying out of that argument. What I do want to say is that I honestly love the 2.0's. They are the best set of irons I have ever owned. A little perspective on that statement though: I have only owned 5 sets of irons in my life, and two other very old hand me down sets. Those sets include late 70's and mid 80's off brand blades, mid 90's Powerbilt irons, 2005 TM RAC LT , 2010 TM R9, and now the Burner 2.0's. I was fitted for my shaft, length, lie, and grip size with the 2.0's. These irons/shafts are the closest thing to my optimal setup possible (according to the simulator numbers).

Obviously, I am no iron expert, and I have only been serious about golf for about 7-8 years. I have played much longer, but it was pretty off and on and I was playing other sports much more (Softball, Basketball). I would play maybe 10 rounds a year and rarely practiced in the early years and now I practice weekly and play 30-50+ rounds a year.

The point of all this history is to tell you where this review is coming from. I am an above average golfer as a whole with some weaknesses. My strengths are my length, touch around the greens, and putting. My weaknesses are accuracy off the tee, and consistancy in my iron play (GIR's). I am terribly hot and cold with my driver and irons. I almost always get good contact, and rarely miss anything OB, but my lack of accuracy is the reason why I am a 7 HC. I put too much pressure on my short game, I simply cannot get up and down that much. The 2.0's have improved my iron accuracy some, but there is still a ton of work to be done. Here are my final grades for the 2011 TM Burner 2.0's:

DISTANCE: This was the easiest grade for me. I consistantly gained 5-10 yards with the shorter irons, and 10-20 yards with the longer irons from the R9's (which are no slouch in the distance category). I really didn't need more distance, but it sure helps. There is nothing like pulling 6 iron from 205 yards and landing it on the green softly. GRADE: A+

WORKABILITY: I can work the ball both ways with the 2.0's, and have on the course. Are these workable like players irons? No. Can you hit a fade or draw around a tree? Absolutely. Personally, I don't need any more workability in a club. If I need to hit a 30 yard draw, I am not trying the shot and I will lay up. If need to hit a 10 yard draw or fade, the 2.0's have proven to me that they are more than capable. GRADE: B

CONSISTENCY: This is where the 2.0's are lacking slightly. Much has been made of the nukes that are possible with the 2.0's. They are very real. I am still not sure of the factors that cause them, but I have never had a set of irons that have done this to this extent. It seems it is a perfect storm of contact, lie, and swing. These nukes are always great ball flight, perfect contact, and look awesome in the air, they just fly 10% too far! Early on I was hitting more of them and they did hurt my score on more than one occasion, but lately they have been less frequent. Unfortunately, the nukes bring this grade down. GRADE: C-

SOUND: A great feature of the 2.0's is the sound made with great contact. It sounds just like a well struck iron shot should! On the opposite side, the audible difference when hit thin or on the toe lets you know immediately of your mistake. GRADE: A


FEEL: When you hit the 2.0's well, it is as if you hit nothing at all, and the ball just zips off the face. The term "buttery soft" comes to mind, but I know how that annoys some of my fellow THPers. So I will say they feel pretty much like I would want an iron to feel. Mis hits let you know immediately that you did not get crisp contact, but it is not jarring feedback. It is enough feedback to rattle your hands a bit, but not get uncomfortable. GRADE: B+

LOOKS: For a game improvement iron, I think the 2.0's are about as sexy as they come. The top line is thinner than my old R9's. The two tone face and sole makes the head look a little smaller than it is, and it just plain looks awesome. The back is a little busy, but TM does a great job of hiding it at address. I get tons of compliments from random playing partners on the looks of the 2.0's. Take a look. GRADE: A-

SHAFT: The KBS Tour 120g stiff shaft is a great offering for my game. I was fitted for this shaft, and the results have been good for me. They have helped me keep the ball down a little. I love the extra weight and the control I have with the heavier shaft. This is the heaviest shaft I have ever played and it is going to be tough for me to go back to the lighter offerings. I will never say never, but I really like the weight. GRADE: A

OVERALL: I went into this testing thinking that it was really going to be difficult for the Burner 2.0's to replace my R9's. As it turned out, the results really wern't close. The Burner 2.0's out performed the R9's in nearly every category by a fairly large margin and within the first month of testing, I knew the R9's were out of my bag permanently. The added distance, the better feel and sound, and the shaft upgrade for my game sealed it. I honestly believe that any player from scratch to a 30+ HC'er can benefit from this set of irons. They are a great combo iron. Taylor Made did a great job of packaging a game improvement iron in an attractive two tone head that looks closer to a player's iron. Are they perfect? Of course not, I am still not hitting as many greens as I would like! But they are the closest thing to perfect I have ever owned. The best advice I can give anyone is to get fitted and hit lots of clubs if you are in the market for new irons, but make sure the Burner 2.0's are on your list. You wont be dissapointed. OVERALL GRADE: B+

 

[Kmac]

man thats a really solid update tomaHAWK18, very thorough and well done. Sounds like the 2.0's have really won you over.

 

[Hawk]

That's an exceptional summary, TH. I like that you were surprised so much by these irons. The last section really says it all.

 

[mikedean441]

TH...great all around writeup, seems the 2.0's have really done you some good in the past 3 months.

Have you seen your handicap drop since you got these clubs? If so, how much? Just curious...

 

[tomahawk18]

TH...great all around writeup, seems the 2.0's have really done you some good in the past 3 months.

Have you seen your handicap drop since you got these clubs? If so, how much? Just curious...

I was about an 8 when I started this testing and am now at 6.7, so yeah it has dropped. I have slightly improved my GIR's (not enough for my liking) with the 2.0's. The GIR numbers arent much better, but my misses are. I am in much better shape because I am missing the green by less. HAHA I am not sure if that makes sense. I am saying that I have had much easier up and downs lately because I am barely missing greens.

 

[tomahawk18]

man thats a really solid update tomaHAWK18, very thorough and well done. Sounds like the 2.0's have really won you over.

That's an exceptional summary, TH. I like that you were surprised so much by these irons. The last section really says it all.

Thanks guys. The 2.0's very much surprised me. They are really solid in nearly every category!

 

[mikedean441]

I was about an 8 when I started this testing and am now at 6.7, so yeah it has dropped. I have slightly improved my GIR's (not enough for my liking) with the 2.0's. The GIR numbers arent much better, but my misses are. I am in much better shape because I am missing the green by less. HAHA I am not sure if that makes sense. I am saying that I have had much easier up and downs lately because I am barely missing greens.

makes perfect sense, I figured with the success you had hitting these in the past 3 months, there was a real good chance that even at a already low handicap, that you would improve even more...congrats!

 

[Kmac]

Thanks guys. The 2.0's very much surprised me. They are really solid in nearly every category!

I agree with you tomahawk18, super solid set of clubs that will benefit a wide variety of golfers. Its great to see someone with a single digit cap such as yourself put the stereotypes aside and test a GI club like this.

 

[tomahawk18]

I agree with you tomahawk18, super solid set of clubs that will benefit a wide variety of golfers. Its great to see someone with a single digit cap such as yourself put the stereotypes aside and test a GI club like this.

Honestly OEM, I have always been a huge supporter of GI clubs. I haven't gamed a players iron since I have been this good, and probabaly won't. I hit the TM forged offerings last year and didn't like the distance loss on misses. I am not a great ball striker and will have a miss or two a round. The way I look at it, why make an already difficult game harder?

 

[Kmac]

Honestly OEM, I have always been a huge supporter of GI clubs. I haven't gamed a players iron since I have been this good, and probabaly won't. I hit the TM forged offerings last year and didn't like the distance loss on misses. I am not a great ball striker and will have a miss or two a round. The way I look at it, why make an already difficult game harder?

Case closed my friend. I agree 100%

 

[War Eagle]

Honestly OEM, I have always been a huge supporter of GI clubs. I haven't gamed a players iron since I have been this good, and probabaly won't. I hit the TM forged offerings last year and didn't like the distance loss on misses. I am not a great ball striker and will have a miss or two a round. The way I look at it, why make an already difficult game harder?

That is very well put Tomahawk, nice work. Having forgiveness on misses is nice to have in the bag. I like how you put that, "Why make an already difficult game harder?"

 

[yorkem]

Great write up TH! I will do a full review of that style soon enough, but closer to the end of the season for me. I was able to get out and play 18 yesterday, and really struck the ball well. The lay off definitely seems to have helped me in my ball striking, and got me re-focused on it. My misses were slight pushes or pulls all day. Nothing major, just enough to keep me from hitting greens consistently and scoring well, but my confidence was fully restored after just a hole or 2.

Some highlights of my round and how each iron was used:

4 Iron: only hit once, and that was for a punch shot from under some tree branches. Quite honestly, it was struck perfectly, and wound up right in front of the green. Still don't trust myself with the 4 or 5, but for punches, it seems to work well regularly

5 Iron: Not used this round

6 Iron: Hit twice, and was money both times. It is amazing how much my confidence goes up as soon as I drop to the 6. First time I used it was on a par 3 that is 165 yards. Normally, this is a 7, and sometimes even an 8 for me, but, it was a little chilly yesterday, and there was a really stiff breeze right in my face, so I decided to go with a 3/4 6. Did I mention that this hole is tee box, lake, and green? I hit it, and it was pin seeking. Landed and stuck about 6 feet left of the cup, which left me a straight uphill putt...which I missed (arrgghh!!!), but tapped in for par. The second was also a par 3. 170 yards, slightly up hill with a small pond short, and really tight with tons of trees and branches overhanging. Took a full swing, and landed in the middle of the green and stuck. Left myself about 15 feet down hill left to right for birdie. Missed it, but thought it was going to drop. Rolled about 4 feet past the cup, but made the par coming back. I love this club. Quickly becoming my favorite non-wedge in the bag.

7 Iron: Only hit one time. Was slightly hit off of the toe, and pulled right. Lost about 10 yards of distance, but was only about 5 yards right of my target which was unfortunately, a postage stamp of a green.

8 Iron: Hit the 8 on 5 differen holes, and it gave me a little trouble all day. It was definitely user error, because contact was solid, but the first 3 times I hit it, I hit push fades that were a good 15 yards left of my target. Again, contact was awesome and felt good, but either my alignment was off, or I was leaving the face open, or both, because I was not losing distance at all, just not hitting my targets. I over compensated the 4th time I hit it, and hit a big pull, but again, the contact was solid. Finally, on the 5th shot taken with the 8, I drilled a green from 165 yards (it was down hill and long is dead), and feel like I just need to go back to work on alignment a little.

9 Iron: Hit twice. First was a dead pull from 143 yards. This was completely my fault. I was tried to nuke it instead of hitting a soft 8 because I generally go 130-135 with my 9. The second was a push out of some thick wet rough

PW: I hit a bunch of wedges yesterday (especially sinced I missed so many greens), but I can do a lot with this club, and really feel like i am always going to hit it well. Lots of 3/4 shots with it yesterday, and only 1 full shot that I could recall that drilled a green. This club does exactly what a scoring club should. It is versatile enough to bump and run with, or to spin for a hop and stop, and outside of the 18th hole, my wedge play was on all day.

Overall, I am excited that I am making clean and solid contact again, and seem to have gotten the fat shots out of my system. I know that with just a little alignment work, I will be drilling greens again in no time.

 

[Hawk]

It sounds like you had a solid return to the course, yorkem buddy. I hate the overcompensating opposite shot. I love to hear your success with the 6 iron. That was a always the club I struggled most with in the Redline set. I have a feeling you are going to translate that to the longer irons soon.