We've launched the new forums! Read more here

TaylorMade R9 TP Irons - Long Term Review

SuperStroke
Craig Mac

Craig Mac

_____________________
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
4,067
Reaction score
87
Location
Hampton Roads
This thread will serve as my evaluation of the new TaylorMade R9 TP Irons. It will be in a similar fashion as the review by Harry Longshanks except these are the TP version of the R9's. I was offered this opportunity and very excited to do so. I was fortunate enough to see the pictures of these clubs months ahead of time and was taken to the look of the irons.

I have been playing golf for close to 27 years with several years of breaks in between. In the past when buying new clubs, pretty much any set I bought was an improvement over what I was playing. As my game started to improve I started paying more attention to what equipment I was putting in my bag. The last set I purchased was a several week process of demoing several sets then narrowing it down and demoing some more until I found the set I liked.

Well enough of my backstory.... I'd like to thank TaylorMade for giving me the opportunity to evaluate the new R9 TP Irons. I was selected to test these due to the fact that I am around a 10 handicap and currently leaning towards a "players" iron more than a "game improvement" iron. Not that my game doesn't need improvement it is just I find that GI clubs tend to be more offset which encourages more of a right to left flight for my game and usually have a thicker top line which at address I don't care much for.

Now on to the pics... Ain't they sexy?
irons1.jpg


irons3.jpg


Club head is similar to the regular R9 irons but a little smaller...
irons2.jpg


With virtually no offset
irons5.jpg


KBS Steel Shaft in a Stiff Flex
irons4.jpg


I plan on giving them some range time this weekend and reporting back. In the meantime you can read THP's review of the R9's here as well as THP's Forum thread on the R9's here
 
Looks good CM. I am looking forward to your thoughts on these as I have thorougly enjoyed Harry's Long Term thread.
 
Very cool Craig, congratulations. No doubt you will do a great job and yes those look way sexy!
 
Can't wait for the ongoing reports Craig. They look great!
 
I'm looking forward to the review.
 
Those are absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
 
For some reason I didnt see you being a TM guy, not sure why but I look forward to hearing your thoughts! I love my R9's!
 
I heard from CM that he will be doing a thorough testing of them on the range this weekend. Looking forward to his thoughts on the R9TP
 
Sounds great. Look forward to hearing what you have to say. I am in the market for some players irons and am stuck between the R9 TP, Cleveland CG 15 BP's and the Callaway X-Forged irons.
 
h2ojon said:
Sounds great. Look forward to hearing what you have to say. I am in the market for some players irons and am stuck between the R9 TP, Cleveland CG 15 BP's and the Callaway X-Forged irons.
Click to expand...

Do you mean CG7 BP Tours?
 
JB said:
Do you mean CG7 BP Tours?
Click to expand...


Yes the tours. I am going to go to Golf Galaxy here in the next 2-3 weeks to swing some of these clubs on the simulator to how they compare. I just hate the process because its hard to tell how a club will perform either on the range or on the simulator compared to the course.
 
Today was the day I decided to try out the TaylorMade R9 TP Irons. I woke up early and got my laundry washed and put away, and then headed up to the range. Upon arriving at 9 o'clock I found out the range doesn't open until 10. So I got back in the car and started driving to the next range. The problem is the next nearest range has been closed since the storm and I didn't feel like driving another 20 minutes to the next range so I figured I'd stop and get something to eat and wait until the range opens at 10. Since I had a little time to kill I wanted to go somewhere and sit down and eat so I decided to go to Denny's!

dennys.jpg


After getting my belly full I headed off to the range. As I arrived, the man was still getting setup so I gathered my "range change" and carried my bag out. I stretched for about 15 minutes then went in a purchased a large bucket.

change.jpg


The first thing I noticed is how well the clubs set up to my eye at address:

address.jpg


I found when looking at clubs in the past that offset clubs have never looked right at address to me. I always felt when I set the club down it seemed a bit open or a bit closed. With the R9's I set it down and looked square before I took my grip. I usually hit 7 iron first and then alternate between the high and low lofted clubs as I work through the bag. The top line of the clubs at address was the look I like, not too thin and not too thick.

I usually hit about 6-10 balls with each club and spend a little more time on some clubs if I seem to be having any issues. My normal ball flight is a draw and when things are going south for me I usually end up pull-hooking with my misses. My concern in hitting new clubs is always how much are the clubs going to influence my misses. I know a lot can be attributed to my swing faults, but with offset clubs I miss just about everything left. This is the main reason I usually look at clubs with little or no offset when demoing.

After getting warmed up I felt pretty good about the way I was hitting the ball, for the most part shots were pretty straight! When I did draw the ball it wasn't very much and I only hit 2 or 3 hooks where normally it would be several more. Another thing I noticed is that I was able to fade the ball quite easily with the R9's. Of course my slice is about a 5-10 yard fade. When hitting the 3 and 4 irons I noticed that on the miss-hits I got a good amount of feedback or what I would say is a bit of a "clanky" feel, but that is to be expected with a "Players" club or "Tour" labelled equipment. The ball flight on the miss-hits was still pretty good, mostly just lacking the trajectory and distance of a normal shot.

I spent a good amount of time hitting the 9 iron, mostly because there was a green about 140 yards out and I wanted to see how many I could get close to the pin. I hit several straight, draw and fade shots at this green and a majority of them were within a few feet of each other. This had me very pleased to say the least. I know this a first impression post and taking the clubs to the course is the next step but I am very pleased with my first run with these clubs! Can't wait to get in a round with these beauties!

muddy.jpg


My new WITB pic:
witb.jpg
 
Great stuff CM. Looking forward to hearing about your first round with them. I know how much you went through in choosing the 4DX Pros and how much you liked the feel.
 
Good information! I am looking forward to hearing how you hit them on the course. :banana:
 
Got out and was able to hit a small bucket at the range and play 18 today with the R9 TP Irons.

My thoughts warming up on the range were similar to my experience last weekend. The clubs are very visually appealing at address and that I feel is an important part of a good set of irons. For the most part they are forgiving on the miss-hits. The more toward the toe the hit is the more you can feel it in the hands.

The tees were pushed up today due to the wind and the fact the course is still pretty muddy in some areas. On several holes I hit the long irons off the tee and felt I was able to control my shot shape as needed pretty well with these irons. I really like the higer irons of this set(7, 8, 9, & PW) due to the fact they seem to have almost no offset, where as with some of the sets I had demo'd previously the offset seemed to result in a lot of pulled shots.

As I payed through the round I didn't really have any noticable change in my yardages using a new set. As a matter of fact I was pretty comfortable pulling clubs today. Here's an example, the 16th hole is a par three of 150ish yards. When the pin is on the left side there isn't much of a landing area(as it was today). The wind was in our face at about 15-20 mph(as well as the setting sun). I checked the yardage and grabbed a 7 iron with no second thought and hit it pin high about 18 feet left. That was a very good feeling!

Par 3 16th hole at Cypress Creek(Marsh is front, left and behind the green):
cypress16.jpg


My impression of the R9 TP's is getting better with everytime I have hit them, for me they seem to be a great fit. I did not have any problems with the TP badge on the back of the irons that I have heard one or two people were having after using the clubs for two range session and 1 full round.

More coming soon!
 
Glad to see they are working for you so far Craig. Sounds like you may have a winner on your hands. Did you notice any difference in ball flight for you? Higher or lower vs the Nickents? Any difference in feel?
 
JB said:
Glad to see they are working for you so far Craig. Sounds like you may have a winner on your hands. Did you notice any difference in ball flight for you? Higher or lower vs the Nickents? Any difference in feel?
Click to expand...

I didn't know if I should do a comparison between the two, but here goes.

I would say that the Nickents feel a bit "softer", as I hit shots more towards the toe of the TaylorMade R9 TP's I felt more "clank". But to me I prefer to get a little feedback on the miss-hits, helps me to concentrate on better ball striking.

As far as ball flight goes, I think it is hard to say right now due to the fact I am playing different golf balls than I did before with my old set. It seems though it is a little higher ball flight than the Nickents.
 
How would these compare to the Mizuno MP-57. I understand that the Mizuno's are forged but, just wanted to get your opinion on terms of forgiveness and how the shafts in the R9 TP's worked as well
 
They are very different irons. MP57s are game enhancement irons that are extremely soft metals. The R9 TP irons will have significantly more forgiveness especially out by the toe. The TM's will have a slightly higher ball flight and will feel every bit as soft, but for very different reasons.
 
How is the shaft in these irons? I have heard that the shafts feel like a wet noodle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top