TaylorMade R11 Driver & Fairway Wood Review Thread

[GrantD]

I made it out the range today and was able to hit the R11 some. I didn't mess with the settings at all, because I going to do a setup session with a local pro and launch monitor.

The R11 sound was a lot better today. Not that it changed any, but it didn't bother me at all. I think I am getting used to it. The ball flight was good with it to. I was a bit all over the place at first, but I remembered the Flick video from the Kingdom guys. I think loosened up my grip a bit and was a lot more consistent with it. I didn't really hit it on the toe like I did the other day. I guess I am getting used to the extra inch from my older driver. I was hitting the sweet spot or right above it today. After I changed my grip a bit, my ball flight was a lot better. I was going straight and not to high. I am excited to see what the launch monitor says next week. I don't see me having to change a ton, but you never know.

Here is a quick video of the sound of the R11.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

Alriight well the UPS man tortured me all day but my wait is finally over. First I would like to give a big thanks to THP, JB and GG for allowing me this oppurtunity. Second I would like to thank TaylorMade Golf for providing us with great equipment so we may have the oppurtunity to provide honest, unbiased opinions to consumers all over the world. Lastly I would like to say thank you to all my fellow THP members, because without all of you no tester present or past would have this oppurtunity.

Now on to the club. I will be testing the R11 17* 4W. This will be the first time that I have put a 4W into play and Im very excited about it. As Im sure most of you know by now this club has F.C.T. (Flight Control Technology) and A.S.P. (Adjustable Sole Plate) features that can be utilized. The F.C.T. will allow me to adjust my loft angle down to a minimum of 16* and a maximum of 18*. The A.S.P. will allow me to adjust the face angle three different ways, nuetral, open or closed. The shaft is a stiff flex Fujikura Blur 70 and the grip is a stock TaylorMade Tour Velvet.

My initial thoughts. If I had one word to describe this club it would be "sleek". Although the white head does not add any performance benefits to the club, I truly believe it will add some mental benefits. I personally feel that looking down at the white clubhead instills a sense of confidence in me and thats all I ask for in the appearance of a golf club. The grip is your typical tour velvet, slightly tacky when dry but not a great performer in the elements. I can not speak to the performance of the shaft just yet because I havent hit any balls with it, but I can say that swinging this club outside in the yard the shaft seemed to load well in my transition and felt sturdy through the swing. Another point I would like to make is that some people have expressed some concern about how the A.S.P. will interact with the turf. Well from my initial examination of the club the leading edge of the sole seemed to sit a fair amount closer to the ground than the A.S.P. After the swings I took I determined that it would be very difficult to swing the club in a manner that would cause the A.S.P. to interfere with your normal swing so this should not be a concern for anyone. I also noticed that this FW has a very compact head compared to what Im used to and I find it quite appealing. It also has a pretty shallow face. Personally the combination of a compact head and shallow face are things that I love in a FW wood for the fact that it gives me much more confidence hitting it off the deck. These are just my first thoughts and initial impressions of the club so in the next few days when I can get this club on the range I will update everyone on the playability aspect of the club.

Please feel free to ask questions or make suggestions. If I happen to miss a question in the shuffle please PM so I may put the answer in the thread for everyones benefit. Again Im honored to be testing this club for anyone who may find it helpfull and look forward to providing all the feedback good or bad that I can.

 

[Staples]

Great initial write up Hole~Out! Good luck with it on the course/range.

 

[9-Iron Man]

Great initial thoughts Hole~Out!! Sleek is a great word to describe that club!!

 

[Dent]

Great write up hole out. Interesting to see you got a 4 wood as well!

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

Great write up hole out. Interesting to see you got a 4 wood as well!

Yeah thats what I was thinking, but I think it should be a pretty good club.

 

[Hawk]

I think it's awesome that we have some 4 wood love in the house. That is probably the loft that I'm most interested in. Can't wait until you guys get these out on the course. Great job on your initial thoughts

 

[Adam0304]

The r11 got a little makeover...

GO fell of "golf"...
Tap before talk.

 

[coolbreeze]

4 woods make me and TC angry as they won't let us play with them. But great first write up Hole out. Looking forward to all your guys thoughts on these clubs''

 

[TC]

Superb initial write up hole~out, I thought you were very thorough with your post and I like how you explained the features, whether some may have known that or not.

I can't wait for you guys to get these sticks out on the course.

 

[Dent]

Great looking grip WM. Goes well with the R11 for sure.

 

[TC]

4 woods make me and TC angry as they won't let us play with them. But great first write up Hole out. Looking forward to all your guys thoughts on these clubs''

Yeah, I've never understood that. I would love to have a 4wood myself. Oh well.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

Nice write up Hole Out, and WM I'm loving that grip, I have the white Multi Compound on my R11.

Today was my first range session with the R11 since I got back home from the Kingdom. I did take it to the range while killing time before my flight home on Sunday but not since. I have been reading a lot on the FCT and I may be going up from where I'm at now (9 degree head set to lower) so essentially I'm playing an 8 degree driver. It was working for me at the Kingdom quite well but I didn't feel like I had my best swing that day so we'll see what happens now but today the ball was definitely going pretty darn low, pretty darn straight too mind you so maybe I am in a really good spot.

I missed a few out toward the toe and forgiveness and feel are still quite nice, distance and flight aren't the same obviously. I like the sound of the R11 a lot, just a solid sounding driver when struck well, I can really feel and hear when I hit it on the button and I really like that. I don't think the ball was traveling quite as far today, I noticed that with my iron shots first, but I still knocked a couple out there past the 250 sign which was my aiming point. It was nice to see the ball going that straight, I didn't have my straightest driving day ever when I was in San Diego.

I'm absolutely loving the shape and the look of this driver, it just sits perfectly at address and has a nice shape to it. It just looks ready to pound the ball as you address and get ready to swing. More to come this weekend!

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

4 woods make me and TC angry as they won't let us play with them. But great first write up Hole out. Looking forward to all your guys thoughts on these clubs''

Superb initial write up hole~out, I thought you were very thorough with your post and I like how you explained the features, whether some may have known that or not.

I can't wait for you guys to get these sticks out on the course.

Thanks gentlemen. That does kinda suck that there are no available 4W on the market for lefties. I guess with all the adjustability on the market though you may be able to adjust something into a 4W loft, but I understand the length of the club and head size would differ.

 

[Staples]

R11 T3 14*, Take 2:

I put in some range time today followed by a few holes on the course. I still had everything set on Neutral and hit some balls on the range. I teed a few up and hit some great shots once I warmed up. I was getting a nice, mid trajectory that was flying straight. A few shots faded a little, but I was happy with how they were flying. The T3 feels great and I seem to be finding the sweet spot each time. The Blur has ended up working well for me so far. It feels stable in my swing and is reminding me of the Motore in my R9 3 wood. Next, I hit a few off of the turf. The first two shots were a little thin and ended up slicing a little bit. I think I was getting a little quick and popping up out of my swing at impact. I got the tempo in check and started to hit some decent shots. I had some requests to try and work the ball from the turf to see how the R11 performed. I don't normally try and work shots with a FW from the turf, but figured I would give it a try. I hit a few fades that were a little lower than I would like. The shots would have worked well for running a ball up on a green, but that's about it. I couldn't get the flight high enough where it would drop and stop. I tried a few draws, but couldn't make it happen. The ball ended up going dead straight. I could draw shots off of a tee, but not from the turf.
I went out on the course for 5 or 6 holes this evening. I hit two balls off of each tee...1 with my driver and the other with the T3. The T3 from the tee box is a monster of a club. My driver was only about 10 yards past the T3 each time. While my driver isn't always finding the fairway, the T3 seems to go straight most of the time. I definitely will be hitting it from the tee box when the pressure is on. Even when I overswing and try to kill the ball, it's still going fairly straight. The shots don't always have the desired trajectory, but they are staying playable.
I threw a ball in the fairway on a par 5 to try and hit one off the deck. My gps said I had 240 yards to the back of the green which happened to be the pin location as well. I definitely felt the lag in my swing and sent one of the best looking FW wood shots of my life right at the pin. I couldn't tell where it landed, but it ended up 3' behind the hole. Anyone who has played golf with me, knows I struggle with FW woods off the deck, but the T3 has been performing very well. The confidence that I have on the tee box with my R11 driver is now starting to show in the fairway with my T3. I definitely want to keep the T3 in the bag and I find myself looking forward to the next shot I have with it. My normal playing group isn't going to be happy when they see me reaching for the T3 in the future. I am going to play again tomorrow and Sunday, so I will have more info this weekend.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

Nice write up Hole Out, and WM I'm loving that grip, I have the white Multi Compound on my R11.

Today was my first range session with the R11 since I got back home from the Kingdom. I did take it to the range while killing time before my flight home on Sunday but not since. I have been reading a lot on the FCT and I may be going up from where I'm at now (9 degree head set to lower) so essentially I'm playing an 8 degree driver. It was working for me at the Kingdom quite well but I didn't feel like I had my best swing that day so we'll see what happens now but today the ball was definitely going pretty darn low, pretty darn straight too mind you so maybe I am in a really good spot.

I missed a few out toward the toe and forgiveness and feel are still quite nice, distance and flight aren't the same obviously. I like the sound of the R11 a lot, just a solid sounding driver when struck well, I can really feel and hear when I hit it on the button and I really like that. I don't think the ball was traveling quite as far today, I noticed that with my iron shots first, but I still knocked a couple out there past the 250 sign which was my aiming point. It was nice to see the ball going that straight, I didn't have my straightest driving day ever when I was in San Diego.

I'm absolutely loving the shape and the look of this driver, it just sits perfectly at address and has a nice shape to it. It just looks ready to pound the ball as you address and get ready to swing. More to come this weekend!

Good info P4B. Im not sure where your located but I was just wondering if you might be in a cooler climate than you were in SD and if that could be some of the reason you saw a little loss in distance? Either way it cant hurt to tinker and you know where they set if for you so you can always go back to that if it proves to be the best setting for you.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

Good info P4B. Im not sure where your located but I was just wondering if you might be in a cooler climate than you were in SD and if that could be some of the reason you saw a little loss in distance? Either way it cant hurt to tinker and you know where they set if for you so you can always go back to that if it proves to be the best setting for you.

It was 25 degrees warmer in San Diego last weekend than it was here today (South Dakota) it hadn't even hit 50 yet when I was hitting. I'm sure that's why. But yeah on the tinkering, I know where to default back to so yeah I'll be adjusting some to see if there's a better setting for me, I mean, why not? That's the beauty of this club!

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

It was 25 degrees warmer in San Diego last weekend than it was here today (South Dakota) it hadn't even hit 50 yet when I was hitting. I'm sure that's why. But yeah on the tinkering, I know where to default back to so yeah I'll be adjusting some to see if there's a better setting for me, I mean, why not? That's the beauty of this club!

Exactly, if you have the technology to play with you may as well have a little fun with it.

 

[Adam0304]

My next will be setting it to open with a higher loft to see what happens.


Tap before talk.

 

[TC]

I had a great conversation yesterday with biggsy about the R11 driver. For most of you that don't know biggsy and I that well, while we are opposing Captain's and we give each other a bit of grief with our smack talk and our videos, he's one of my good buddies here on THP, and outside of THP, but the guy is very passionate about this game and he knows quite a bit when it comes to the equipment arena. Anyway, we were talking about this driver, and even after a limited time with it, we both have come to the conclusion that this driver is a few things:

-long! When hit on the button, this driver is incredibly rewarding
-Accurate! We both immediately commented on how much "straighter" this club seems to be. What I mean is, it tends to go in the vicinity of where you are aiming.
-Sounds fantastic! It's different at first, but then you crave hearing it.

The thing we both kind of thought was, maybe there's more to this white crown than meets the eye. I think it helps with aim and alignment more than I ever thought. I noticed it yesterday on the course. The alignment aid just stands out more, thus becomes a bit more of a focal point, at least for me.

Anyway, just food for thought here.

I loved this driver yesterday. We played one of the more demanding golf courses off the tee and the R11 performed beautifully for me. I am trusting it 100% right now, and this only my 2nd round with it. I'm in love.

 

[GrantD]

I had a great conversation yesterday with biggsy about the R11 driver. For most of you that don't know biggsy and I that well, while we are opposing Captain's and we give each other a bit of grief with our smack talk and our videos, he's one of my good buddies here on THP, and outside of THP, but the guy is very passionate about this game and he knows quite a bit when it comes to the equipment arena. Anyway, we were talking about this driver, and even after a limited time with it, we both have come to the conclusion that this driver is a few things:

-long! When hit on the button, this driver is incredibly rewarding
-Accurate! We both immediately commented on how much "straighter" this club seems to be. What I mean is, it tends to go in the vicinity of where you are aiming.
-Sounds fantastic! It's different at first, but then you crave hearing it.

The thing we both kind of thought was, maybe there's more to this white crown than meets the eye. I think it helps with aim and alignment more than I ever thought. I noticed it yesterday on the course. The alignment aid just stands out more, thus becomes a bit more of a focal point, at least for me.

Anyway, just food for thought here.

I loved this driver yesterday. We played one of the more demanding golf courses off the tee and the R11 performed beautifully for me. I am trusting it 100% right now, and this only my 2nd round with it. I'm in love.

Great thoughts TC.

I am feelling the same way y'all are. This club seem to grow on you more and more as you hit it. The sound is different at first, but now it rocks. The accuracy is a lot better than my older R9. I can't wait to get it professional dialed in and then I imagine I will be busting them out there Biggsy style. Ok maybe not that long, but longer than before. HEHE

 

[Ole Gray]

Update on the R11 7- wood. I changed my R11 7-wood yesterday which was in the open position and added the low loft setting to it. This delofted the club and my initial thought is it does not work well for me for now. In all fairness I only hit it a few times as we were on a tight course and my misses were out to the right where my normal ball flight is right to left. I will take it out to day and keep it on the same setting to verify this particular combo as I have not used it enough to make a valid decision. My swing plane/spine angle was off yesterday which I am sure affected the ball flight and direction. One thing that I am also noticing is the weight of this club is heavy. This is not bad as I have always liked a heavier club until recently while swinging a lighter weight shaft/head combo. I can tell you this is a solid club and once you get it dialed in to the correct personal setting, it will be an asset to your bag.

 

[One-T]

well, I had my first date with my R11 yesterday and I must say that I am VERY VERY impressed. First tee was the first swing I had taken with her, I was excited and nervous all in one. I love the swing weight of the club, its seems very easy to get around. I took my first swipe and Booomed it....hugged the left side of the fairway and faded just a bit to the center of the fairway. the hole was reading 361 yards and I was 70 yards from the pin, Plugged! hahaha, thats the best distance I have seen out of my driver in a few years. I was so happy.

First impression: the sound is something that you can not explain, I think this is the first TM driver that I have hit with such a distinct high ping sound when hit. I love the white, at first I wondered how I would like it, but after the first swing and shot on the screws you learn that you woudnt care if it was pink.

this driver is LONG when hit on the screws, it is not the most forgiving driver when heeled or toed but the results for me on those shots were still playable and I was quite happy. I normally try to play each hole very smart, but yesterday I had to hit my new R11 as much as possible. I will say that I have come awa VERY impressed with this driver and I have a feeling it is going to stay in my bag for a very long time!!

Do yourself a favor and get out there and hit one.

 

[Hanks]

Good stuff One-T. I agree on the sound factor....truly unique and provides good feedback for where you're hitting the ball on the face in addition to the feel factor

well, I had my first date with my R11 yesterday and I must say that I am VERY VERY impressed. First tee was the first swing I had taken with her, I was excited and nervous all in one. I love the swing weight of the club, its seems very easy to get around. I took my first swipe and Booomed it....hugged the left side of the fairway and faded just a bit to the center of the fairway. the hole was reading 361 yards and I was 70 yards from the pin, Plugged! hahaha, thats the best distance I have seen out of my driver in a few years. I was so happy.

First impression: the sound is something that you can not explain, I think this is the first TM driver that I have hit with such a distinct high ping sound when hit. I love the white, at first I wondered how I would like it, but after the first swing and shot on the screws you learn that you woudnt care if it was pink.

this driver is LONG when hit on the screws, it is not the most forgiving driver when heeled or toed but the results for me on those shots were still playable and I was quite happy. I normally try to play each hole very smart, but yesterday I had to hit my new R11 as much as possible. I will say that I have come awa VERY impressed with this driver and I have a feeling it is going to stay in my bag for a very long time!!

Do yourself a favor and get out there and hit one.

 

[9-Iron Man]

well, I had my first date with my R11 yesterday and I must say that I am VERY VERY impressed. First tee was the first swing I had taken with her, I was excited and nervous all in one. I love the swing weight of the club, its seems very easy to get around. I took my first swipe and Booomed it....hugged the left side of the fairway and faded just a bit to the center of the fairway. the hole was reading 361 yards and I was 70 yards from the pin, Plugged! hahaha, thats the best distance I have seen out of my driver in a few years. I was so happy.

First impression: the sound is something that you can not explain, I think this is the first TM driver that I have hit with such a distinct high ping sound when hit. I love the white, at first I wondered how I would like it, but after the first swing and shot on the screws you learn that you woudnt care if it was pink.

this driver is LONG when hit on the screws, it is not the most forgiving driver when heeled or toed but the results for me on those shots were still playable and I was quite happy. I normally try to play each hole very smart, but yesterday I had to hit my new R11 as much as possible. I will say that I have come awa VERY impressed with this driver and I have a feeling it is going to stay in my bag for a very long time!!

Do yourself a favor and get out there and hit one.

Great write up T. I can't remember, which Fubuki shaft did you get again?