TaylorMade R11 Irons - Review Thread - Forum Testing Reviews

[Kmac]

Thanks i can't wait to get to the course. Hope your backs feeling better.

Thanks man. It's actually a muscle so that's not as bad as the back itself. I'll get the r11's back out very soon after some rest.

 

[Z.Furiak]

These are some great write-ups. Congratulations on the irons everybody

 

[Dr. Teeth]

Really good write up Buck! Did anyone else notice that their was at least one of the US players playing the R11s? They looked really nice. I am not looking to change my irons, but I do want to hit these. They seem like they are great irons! A little bit of something for everyone.

 

[Jman]

Buck, that was truly an excellent write up brother! I love just how detailed it was down to the distances. Very very nice.

The more I see these the more they get better looking to me.

Awesome guys!!

 

[sharkwrestler]

Nice write up Buck. Good luck Monday in your scramble.

 

[coolbreeze]

Very nice write up BuckJob, I'm seeing very similar yardages to you, other than the PW, AW, which seem off compared to the rest of your yardages. Do you have a plan to deal with the 20 yard gap between your 9 iron and your PW or do you think that as you get used to the PW, and AW the yardages might get closer?

 

[Buckjob]

Nice write up Buck. Good luck Monday in your scramble.

Buck, that was truly an excellent write up brother! I love just how detailed it was down to the distances. Very very nice.

The more I see these the more they get better looking to me.

Awesome guys!!

Thanks guys yeah im so excited to get these out. it should be a fun round with some guys i used to work with.

 

[Drumdog]

Nice write-up Buck and good luck with the scramble!
I'm really interested in your opinion on the AW.

 

[Buckjob]

Nice write-up Buck and good luck with the scramble!
I'm really interested in your opinion on the AW.

I think its gonna be my favorite club. at the end of my large bucket yesterday i was hitting a lot of half shots with it and i think its gonna replace my 3/4 56* wedge shot. i hope to get out a couple times this week so i should have more feedback after i get a couple rounds under my belt. My short game has really become the best part of my game as of late so my AW will be getting a lot of testing cause ive been practicing my short game more than ever before.

 

[jt2929]

nice write up buck!

 

[rafdo]

Very nice write up BuckJob, I'm seeing very similar yardages to you, other than the PW, AW, which seem off compared to the rest of your yardages. Do you have a plan to deal with the 20 yard gap between your 9 iron and your PW or do you think that as you get used to the PW, and AW the yardages might get closer?

I noticed the same 20 yd gap between your 9 and PW. Is that normal for you?

 

[Buckjob]

I noticed the same 20 yd gap between your 9 and PW. Is that normal for you?[/QUOTE

Very nice write up BuckJob, I'm seeing very similar yardages to you, other than the PW, AW, which seem off compared to the rest of your yardages. Do you have a plan to deal with the 20 yard gap between your 9 iron and your PW or do you think that as you get used to the PW, and AW the yardages might get closer?

to answer your questions the 9 and PW 20 yard gap is not a huge worry for me im hoping they do get a little closer. But i could hit my PW with my old set between 120- 135 pretty comfortably depending on how hard i swung my club and my 9 iron would be between 140-150 so i think i can close the gap if i need to. I guess its kinda normal for me not that i ever really noticed it much before now. i think once i get a better feel for these ill be able to close those gaps or ill take a 3/4 swing with the club if i need to. but honestly i dunno whats gonna happen yet but ill def keep you guys updated on this. it would be nice to close those gaps and have a more consistent gap between clubs. i also carry a 52* 56* 60* 64* wedges so i hit those about 52*-100, 56*-90, 60*-75,64*-60 so ill prob be taking my 64 out of my bag to make room for the 4 iron that i usually don't need im pretty long with my driver so i don't usually have a long 2nd shot in. But ill prob hit this off the Tee instead of my hybrid when my driver goes astray or its a dogleg i can't cut to get a better feel for it. its a really nice 4 iron and although ive always hit my 4 and 3 irons well this is prob one of the best ive ever hit very straight ball flight for my normal fade today. sometimes i have to play my fade more with my longer irons but today this shot kept surprising me how much less id have to play the fade.

 

[Tadashi70]

September 25, 2011
7pm overcast skies and a 10 mph wind out of the west
Baddog driving range
R11 Range test #2

The driving range is the only night driving range near my house so it had to do for my second round of testing of the R11s. Baddog driving range is a public range and batting cage facility in an older part of Orlando. Lots of kids with their dads and weekend warriors. Finding a well groomed spot is usually a crap shot, but I managed to find one for my testing on this evening. I always wear my iPod at this range as to not hear the range rats handing out advice withour provocation. Tonight I picked Pandora JayZ Radio and found a good beat to swing with.
So I warmed up with a few half PW shots to get nice and loose. The wind was rollling in from the left at a steady 10mph or so. I don't know this for sure but you play in the wind enough you get pretty good at gauging. As with all my half shots the ball is a low to mid trajectory. This was a surprise to me, I thought that it would be a bit higher. Glad to see that I can play the R11s low if need be. The other surprising thing I found was that the wind had not affect on the ball what so ever. My swing was pretty easy but my contact was solid thus a low/mid flight that bore through the wind.
I slowly moved to 10 full shots with the PW and 8 out of the 10 were solid, high and long. My target was 142 yds away, 5 of the 8 solid strikes carries the marker by a few yards. the other 3 landed a few yards to the left of my intended target. The two misses where right and 7 to 10 yards short of my target.
Ball flight: Mid to high
Distance: 137 to 145 with misses falling in the 127-130 range
Feel: The ball leaves the face of the club so fast on solid strikes that you know it immediately. All you have to do is complete your swing. My misses were out near the toe and I knew immediately
Turf interaction: All of my divots were shallow which is not a surprise but even on Fat shots they were shallow. I try as much as I can to cover the ball on my down swing so I always take a divot. It's nice not to throw huge pelts all over the range.
I moved to 10 balls with the 7 iron and looking down at the head of the club, it seemed a little large. But after a couple of swings that went away. 6 of 10 balls were on the screws, 2 were thin and 2 were push sliced. My intended target was 169 yards away. The 6 solid strikes comfortable carried the marker by a few yards. The 2 thin strikes were just a hair off the mark on the club face and ended up a little longer than the solid hits. The 2 fat boys were way short by 12 yards or so.
Ball Flight: high
Distance: 172 to 175 with misses falling in the 160 range
Feel: Effortless...swing the R11 7 iron is so smooth. You dont have to force the issue and you are penalized for over swinging. All of miss came as a result of my try to do too much with the club.
Turf Interacation: The same shallow divots that I saw with the PW were there with the 7 iron.
My final club for the night was my 5 iron. I hit 10 balls as I did with the other two clubs and i was pleasant surprised. I have always been plagued with a mid to low ball flight with my 5. This is no longer the case. I know can tell you I have a mid/high ball flight with my normal swing. 5 of 10 pure, 1 pull, 4 pushes but all solid. No fat shots with the 5 iron. The first ball I hit actually startled me. I was not expecting the ball to jump off the face, I used to laboring with the 5 iron during my practise sessions. Not the case this evening, my first 4 shots were within a few yards of one another left or right. The pull actually shocked me as well, this was my first pull with R11s and it was a mid ball flight that pierced the left right wind. The pushes, were just that, an open club face that I was late upon delivery. Even though these shots were pushed the my distances were within a few yards of my solid strikes.
Distance: 205 - 210
Flight: mid to high
Feel: Its hard to describe a solid hit, we have all had them and crave that feel on every shot. I actually learn so much more off my mis-hits than I do my solid hits. As with all the other clubs the ball jumps off the face. Range balls feel like they compress and hold their lines very well.
Turf Interaction: same as the other two, shallow divots 3-4" in length and 2" wide.
I took a great care in watching my ball flights as the wind never affected any of the solid strikes with any of the clubs. Now this was by no means a strong wind but with my other irons I always had a little movement in my shots with the same breeze. It's comforting to know that my second time swinging these produced such a solid selection of balls. These will be in play on Tuesday in Atlanta and I will report my findings.

 

[Damaikis]

Great writeups Buck and Tadashi! Looking forward to the scramble writeup Buck! Way to go guys!

 

[Staples]

Just caught up with the thread. You guys are doing a great job and I'm looking forward to your thoughts on these over the coming months.

 

[Tadashi70]

Thank you sir...I agree Buck did a great job with his write up. I want to hear all the numbers from the scramble.

Great writeups Buck and Tadashi! Looking forward to the scramble writeup Buck! Way to go guys!

 

[TRyan]

Nice writeups Bucks and Tadashi! Really enjoying this thread thus far.

 

[White Rhino]

JUst got caught up with this thread and I wanted to say great job to all the testers!! I look forward to hearing more thoughts and comments from you all.

 

[Kmac]

JUst got caught up with this thread and I wanted to say great job to all the testers!! I look forward to hearing more thoughts and comments from you all.

Thanks Rhino. Just found out I'll be playing in an outing for work this Thursday, you better believe the R11's will be in the bag. Look forward to all the graphite shaft envy that will go on once these jokers see the R11's.

 

[SirSliceALot116]

Hats off to the testers as all the writeups so far have been stellar! Looking forward to continuously following this thread!

 

[IndianaAmateur]

This thread is addicting! Great write ups so far. Excellent Job!

 

[Hanks]

I noticed the same 20 yd gap between your 9 and PW. Is that normal for you?[/QUOTE

to answer your questions the 9 and PW 20 yard gap is not a huge worry for me im hoping they do get a little closer. But i could hit my PW with my old set between 120- 135 pretty comfortably depending on how hard i swung my club and my 9 iron would be between 140-150 so i think i can close the gap if i need to. I guess its kinda normal for me not that i ever really noticed it much before now. i think once i get a better feel for these ill be able to close those gaps or ill take a 3/4 swing with the club if i need to. but honestly i dunno whats gonna happen yet but ill def keep you guys updated on this. it would be nice to close those gaps and have a more consistent gap between clubs. i also carry a 52* 56* 60* 64* wedges so i hit those about 52*-100, 56*-90, 60*-75,64*-60 so ill prob be taking my 64 out of my bag to make room for the 4 iron that i usually don't need im pretty long with my driver so i don't usually have a long 2nd shot in. But ill prob hit this off the Tee instead of my hybrid when my driver goes astray or its a dogleg i can't cut to get a better feel for it. its a really nice 4 iron and although ive always hit my 4 and 3 irons well this is prob one of the best ive ever hit very straight ball flight for my normal fade today. sometimes i have to play my fade more with my longer irons but today this shot kept surprising me how much less id have to play the fade.

Nice update man. Glad to hear you can work your fade with these irons as well.


^^^^^^ I Tapped That ^^^^^^

 

[CharlieMoy]

Good writeups guys.


Buck.--- That is a large gap between your 4i and PW. 90 yds or so. From my experience with teaching, learning, and playing, that is a 25-40 yd distance loss at least. Do you know why that could be? Are those distances CARRY distances?

 

[TRyan]

Thanks Rhino. Just found out I'll be playing in an outing for work this Thursday, you better believe the R11's will be in the bag. Look forward to all the graphite shaft envy that will go on once these jokers see the R11's.

Awesome OEM, let us know how it goes dude

 

[jgiguere17]

Some good reading from all the testers so far and some great videos as well.