Glad to see you back our there TC! Even happier to see how much you love these irons
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
was wondering is there a up charge to put Nippon 950 shafts in these cheers as looks like all the good reviews on here has got me wanting a set now,didn't like the red bolt but starting to win me over,p.s thanks for that photo of the x22tours and R11 as had a set of x22s and the head on the R11 looks about the same size as the mx200s which ive just put back in till i get a new set of irons
Although I am not a tester, I have been lurking in this thread for quite a while, since I was scheduled to visit TM Performance Lab in Palm Springs for a fitting and I just received my new set of irons last Friday (5 day turn around! Good Job TM!!). My specs are standard graphite length, Matrix Program 95 Stiff, 1 degree upright. Due to other priorities, I have only had one limited range session with a 7i, PW and AW and here are my initial impressions:
1. Stating the obvious, but these irons are long. I was getting a good club and a half longer with these, coming from Callaway X-22 Tours. Interesting thing is 7i are the same length but R11 has a 2 degree stronger loft (32 vs 34) and I was getting almost my 5i X22 Tour(175yds) distance from a 7i(170yds).
2. It could be the head or the combination of head and shaft, but the ball launches high. It's really a beautiful trajectory that I used to admire from players much better than myself. High, penetrating (I now understand what this means), and powerful. There was a bit of head wind but did not seem to affect the ball flight in any noticeable way. No ballooning for sure. Just to compare, I hit my old 7i, and even with the stronger loft, R11 flew the ball much higher. Another thing I noticed was that max height of the trajectory on full shots seemed very similar for the 7i, PW and AW. I will have to hit the rest of the clubs to confirm.
3. Ball loves to go straight. Even when I caught one towards the toe or heel, the ball flew towards the target, with about 5 yards dispersion either side of the target line. And not much distance loss either. I was peppering the flag 168 yards out with my 7i. Something I had NEVER done before.
4. Ball drops and stops. Since I was on the range, I really could not see if I could spin the ball in any way(I never have been able to), but I could still see the ball drop and stop in the small green areas around the flags. With the height of the trajectory, it's understandable and I would love to see it on the course into a real green. I can see how this will help with consistency, since I know I can find the ball close to where it lands.
5. Very forgiving. I hit some thin and some fat, but they all flew towards the target, I just had some distance loss (15 yards maybe) and trajectory difference. But I can live with that. With misses that I know would have resulted in a slice for me before were slight fades with minimal distance loss, and it would be playable on the course. My only bad misses were straight pulls from coming over the top - user error, the ball flew exactly the same direction as the club head path in the divot. No slice or hook.
6. Matrix Program 95 - This shaft is AMAZING. I wanted a graphite shaft due to some wrist pain that I developed recently. Stock Motore seemed to be a nice shaft, definitely a good match. But for me, Matrix Program is well worth the up-charge ($35 per club). It is stable, smooth, powerful and explosive all at the same time and I have tried but there is no way I will be able to over-power this shaft. I don't know how else to explain it but you can feel the energy exploding at impact into the ball. In fact, the feel almost mirrors my driver shaft, Matrix HD 6m3. And the wrist pain, I hit some awful thin shots at first just getting used to the club, and I am happy to report I proceeded to hit more than 150 range balls with no pain at all. With my previous PX I know I would have stopped after pounding 50 balls.
So far I am loving my new R11s. I hope to have another range time tomorrow so I will update when I get to try the whole set.
I don't know how many of you are coming from X22 Tour, but here is some comparison pics of their size difference. R11 is quite a bit larger and has more offset, but when I address the ball, I can't really tell the size difference.
Spoiler
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's like Christmas at my house right now! I just bought the R11's later this afternoon! And I can't wait too go too the range tomorrow & give them a go!
I think i might sleep with one tonight!:banana:
was wondering is there a up charge to put Nippon 950 shafts in these cheers as looks like all the good reviews on here has got me wanting a set now,didn't like the red bolt but starting to win me over,p.s thanks for that photo of the x22tours and R11 as had a set of x22s and the head on the R11 looks about the same size as the mx200s which ive just put back in till i get a new set of irons
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's like Christmas at my house right now! I just bought the R11's later this afternoon! And I can't wait too go too the range tomorrow & give them a go!
I think i might sleep with one tonight!:banana:
TaylorMade R11 Testing/Review
Date: October 16, 2011
Course: Augusta Pines GC, The Woodlands, Texas
Climate: Morning 70* & still / Afternoon 85* and light breeze
Testing Clubs: TaylorMade R11 Irons | 4i - AW | Motore Graphite R
Previous Clubs: Nike Ignite 3
Ball: Bridgestone e6
Quick review: Worst scroing effort I've had in months as I averaged 2.7 putts per green, but that's for a different thread. Iron play was like never before. Today I stuck more greens than I ever have. I had only a couple shots total which were either fat or thin, but I've worked so hard with these clubs to get into a groove with them.
A couple shots that really stood out in my game:
I hit 3 of 4 par 3s on the day. The only one I didn't stick, I watched my buddy hit 7i and come up about 10 yards short of the green. I know both our games and thought he hit his shot well. I go back to the cart and pull 6i. I flew the extremely shallow green, but ball was well stuck and stayed on line from tee to behind the green.
Par 5|5th: Hit good drive off the tee, but rolled just off the fairway into the rough. Ball had a great lie from there, sitting high in the rough. My buddy had me by 3 strokes and was sitting off in the woods and could only punch out. I knew I must make a play in order to gain ground. I hit 4i from the rough at 215 and the ball lands and sticks on the green. (Note: I'm hitting a Bridgestone e6; which is not known for it's stopping power). I leave the hole down 1.
Par 4|12th: Hit a 5i off the tee as this hole dog legs 90* right. Should have hit 4i to carry the huge fairway traps as a little wind picked up as I hit. I have 150 to the center of the green out of the sand. Smooth swing and boo-yah, ball lands softly pin high, releases to about 20' above the pin.
Par 5|13th: Hit a driver down the right side of the fairway and ends up rolling into the fairway bunker. Hole curves back to the left and has water covering the whole left side of the green. I hit 9i out of the sand. Long towering shot which landed about 20 yards short of the end of the fairway. I couldn't have gone down there and dropped my ball in a better position to get on the green from the trap.
Par 5|18th: Hit a good drive, middle of the fairway. 175 to the center of an island green. I hit 5i and try to play the ball a little left as the wind has picked up and moving hard left to right. I hang it out to the right just enough I end up in the drink. Take my drop and play 6i into the green, ball hits and stops almost immediately about 12'.
The thing I noticed the most about my round is that the greens were soaked with dew as we began our round. We've had really hard greens here lately and I was excited to see some, well any, moisture on the greens. Again, I play the Bridgestone e6 which I love, but is known mostly for being a straight ball and not so much for a stopping ball. I saw, on more than one occassion my ball stop within 12" from the landing. I had very, very little rollout today which is completely new for me.
The R11 seems to have what I personally consider a higher overall ball flight which I've began to fall in love with as it certainly becomes more predictible with regards to where a shot will end up. I personally (in my course environment) have been more than satisfied by play from the rough. The irons smooth through the longer grass almost effortlessly. And there's not much "effortlessly" to my game in general.
Although I lost my match by 1 today, my golfing buddy (who has just seen the clubs for the first time today) told me that he's never seen me hit irons that well. His observation of the round was "That's the best iron play I've ever seen by you. I can't believe those things play that well".
My end score was horrible..won't post that here as I'm sure there's a thread for that. I absolutely played better with these irons on this day than any day I've played in my life. it just sucked that I couldn't do anything with it once I got it there.
Thanks Hawk, appreciate it. I "stupidly" took a new putter to the course and thought it would be in some way magical. I had been putting lights out with the Ping Scottsdale I recently purchased and thought that would just roll over to the Scotty I was given....WRONG. I didn't even care about my score at all. I left the course thinking it was the best day of golf I'd had in years.That's a really solid performance out of the R11's. Don't worry about the score man. More GIR's and can equal more putts many times. If you keep hitting the irons that well you'll see those scores drop.