While there is no denying that the P790 irons from TaylorMade practically revolutionized irons and brought the hollow body iron to the minds of a much broader audience than ever before, one could make the argument that besides that release, and the subsequent refresh of it under the same name, the options have left many wanting more. Once upon a time, not all that long ago, TaylorMade was at the forefront of creating entire iron lineups that not only performed but looked good too.
Well, perhaps we are about to see a return to form there from TMaG with this coming release announcement. The P790 will remain firmly in the lineup, but not only is there a “Sibling Rivalry” being introduced in the P770 which features the same design tech as its bigger beefier brother, but also two new fully forged players irons in the P7MC and P7MB. Not only does this hopefully open the door for TaylorMade to finally get on board with blending iron sets, but it is most definitely creating a flowing aesthetic throughout their irons, and boy do they look good.
While we don’t yet have all of the specifics yet, we do know enough to take a closer look at each of the models.
TaylorMade P770
With the marketing tagline of “Let the sibling rivalry begin”, you pretty much know what to expect with the P770’s. The P790 have been consistently one of the top selling irons on the market since their release, but the recent refresh left some of us wanting as even though a Ti version was released as well, they really didn’t offer anything breathtakingly new to set them apart from the original release. It would appear that TaylorMade has listened to the feedback.
The P770 is designed to essentially offer P790 performance through the same technologies but in a player’s profile. More compact heel to toe, less offset, and a thinner topline mark the aesthetic design features here, and you will also notice as we move to the other two releases there is a visual flow through all of the lines now.
At the forefront is a forged hollow body design featuring TaylorMade’s patented speed pocket as well as SpeedFoam application internally. This one is shaped for the player wanting something more compact, but still utilizes the forged wrap around face applied to a carbon steel frame that utilizes up to 46g of tungsten depending on the iron in hand. Internally, beyond the SpeedFoam there is a progressive “Inverted Cone Technology” that varies depending on the iron to improve the overall accuracy and ball speed retention.
What will be interesting to many is the P770 will play off of a 46° PW which might be tamer than most would anticipate. Hopefully, this has gone a long way to creating a more playable spin profile for a larger margin of golfers as the P790’s are notoriously low spin for many. With KBS Tour in 130g X or 120g S and Golf Pride Z-Grips as the stock offerings, it will be interesting to see how they are received.
TaylorMade P7MC and P7MB
In my humble opinion, these are the irons that are going to perk up the most ears and eyes, well maybe not the MB as much as the MC for us mere mortals, but still, a cohesive aesthetic release of players irons from TaylorMade has been a long time coming. Not only are these cohesive with each other in terms of design “geometry”, but also the previously discussed P770 which one could only hope means a chance at a true combo set makeup, time will tell how TaylorMade markets that, however.
These two are clearly the “Tour Inspired” profiles that they worked hand in hand with their PGA Tour staff to create. They both offer progressive offset blended with thin toplines and compact soles for the golfer who demands precision in all aspects. The P7MC is clearly going to offer more forgiveness than the P7MB since it has a cavity, but make no mistake these are both 100% player’s irons.
The new story here for TaylorMade is the fact that the 1025 carbon steel material, which these are made of, has been forged using a 2,000 ton press to make for what the company calls a “tighter, more compact grain structure” with the purpose of eliminating variances in the material and making more consistency in feel.
Both the P7MC and P7MB are based off of a 47° PW and as such should make the anti-loft-jackers rejoice, but realistically based on the designs it makes sense to have such traditional lofts. Like the P770’s, the stock offerings for both of these are also KBS Tour shafts in 130g X or 120g S paired with Golf Pride Z-Grips.
While we will most definitely have more on all three of these iron offerings to come, including pricing, the initial release information should garner some interest from those who have longed for TaylorMade to once again offer a more complete iron lineup for the more demanding golfers. What do you think about the trio of new irons? Love them? Leave them? Be sure to jump into the conversation with either a comment here or on the THP community and let yourself be heard!
It was a struggle but I had more birdies this weekend than I have in a long time. Ah well, my loss is another THPers gain
And now you can say you’ve experienced the joy of shipping to Canada. Win win.
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I’m glad they made it to the great white north in one shape. These are a REALLY good iron set.
The long irons have been weapons from minute one and invaluable playing a combined 14,600 yards the last 2 rounds. I wouldn’t call them hot, but across two different shafts they’ve had a pretty ideal launch and spin profile for great carry and controllable landing. I’m on the lower spin side of things in the long irons so I’ve been really impressed with this. I can’t say I’ve heard someone gripe about a ballooning flight with a 3 or 4 iron often, so I don’t imagine someone on the spinner side of things taking much issue with anything there. I’ve ditched my P790 UDI 2 for the P770 3 iron 1 strong without skipping a beat. I prefer the smaller head and the feel is much better.
Mid irons much of the same. Easy to get up and work both ways through the 7. Good distance for the lofts and pretty darn forgiving. Should be for the design, but it’s impressed me for their size. You can tell what they are when you hit them too, but they’re more soft that I expected.
I start to notice flight, feel off the face, and leading edge more as I get into the 8 iron, but this is where the minor in minor gripes comes in, and I have them about the majority of clubs in this number range because I’ve become really particular. Unless you have a pretty strong AofA or late release I don’t think the soles would be worth worrying about much. Same with the flight for most. I kind of live on keeping the scoring clubs out of the air long though, and that’s where I fight them just a little. CG maybe, but they still seem to want to get up and it seems to take a little more to keep them down. Low on the face doesn’t feel quite as good as some peers, and I’d love a little prewear. I have no idea how small a percentage of golfers would or should care about that stuff, but I imagine it pretty small. And in the end I can still hit the shots I want for the most part. Comes down more to how it feels doing it I guess. Like I said, extremely minor.
I’ll still go for a combo when the others show up, but I really like them overall. They’re just a whole lot of fun to play. Flight, distance, and spin have been crazy consistent so far, and I’ve had some of my top scoring rounds of the year. Who doesn’t love that?
This excites me. I’m always trying to get my irons to fly higher.
My 770s will be 2* weak as well.
It seems like a real good setup for you then, but I guess we’ll know soon enough! I’m looking forward to your thread input when you get them out there.
Well, I’m hoseling everything right now so early feedback is sure to be questionable lol.
I actually don’t think these will beat out the Apex Pro 19s, but I’m just looking for a fun winter experiment.
I don’t know if anything will every beat my Pro 19’s either, but I’m starting to tilt my head about that on the performance side of things. I have not tested the hosel though. Lol I hope your time there is brief, because they feel surprisingly good.
The couple bolded items here were the really standout items for me with this set – I was amazed at the feel difference between the 770 and 790. And the long irons were surprisingly forgiving for me as a ~9 handicap. I had no issues pulling the 6i off the tee on a par 3 that was 100% carry over water with them on vacation last month.
I also ordered 3 P7MBs at the top of the bag directly from TaylorMade and they astonishingly only shipped 1 of them. I can’t use 1 club from a set but I bet they liked my $200 they could charge for 1 of 3!
Anyway this isn’t a gripe session (well maybe a little) but just a warning to anyone contemplating. Looks like they completely blew it on gauging demand and/or aligning their manufacturing partners so if you must have new clubs in the next month or two, probably look elsewhere. I am trying to get my Dick’s order cancelled and will look at other manufacturers now.
Ball go high. Good spin numbers. Feel was interesting…felt a little bit squishy.
haha It’s a weird kind of not soft, but .. ?? right? The faces have a unique feel. You can kind of tell they’re hollow by that squish. Glad to hear they were getting up for you!!
How were ball speeds relative to the Apex Pros?
Yeah they sort of remind me of a PXG set I hit once. They’re soft in the truest sense of the word – different from the usual "forged soft" feel us internet golfers go on about.
Y’know I didn’t look, was just whacking balls and trying to get out of the way. Eye test said higher launch, higher spin, shorter carry – nice flight though.
Are you wondering from today if you needed to go 2* weak with them?
I think I’m mostly glad that I did.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the best setup with them, but I was looking for something different and I got it.
Awesome.. I will be sure to go in and hit them for you and break them in!!
Just wanted to share this.
I have about 10 rounds in on these irons. I maybe have one PW shot a round. A couple during some and I’m sure none during others. I’m not going to look up the actuals. I hit it maybe 10 times on the range. ? Can’t imagine it was more.
Anyway, when we were bending a few of them today I noticed that it looked pretty worked for it’s age. Nothing to freak out about. I don’t baby clubs, there are occasional mixed turf lies here, my AoA with a PW is pretty strong, and it’s definitely the worst looking of the set by a ways, but it’s interesting. My Honma’s are pretty soft but they mostly ding instead of scratch, my Titleists all scratch but more finely, my apex are tough, etc etc. Just seems a little unique, and I’m curious how it will wear over time.
Anyone care to share how theirs are doing with scratches/wear?
If I’m being honest, I missed my Apex Pros by the time the round was over.
Well that just sucks.
Yeah it was a bummer for sure. Of course there’s no real way of separating clubs & swing on the golf course, but the combination of the 2 just wasn’t working today. The feel is also pretty squishy and feedback is limited around the face – I could get used to this if the performance shows up.
Maybe a shaft issue? I’ve never been fit into the KBS Tour despite multiple fittings over the years. I also suspect that despite me paying for it to be done, they weren’t bent flat enough – which is a real pain in the arse. They just look a little toe-up at address which really messes with my head.
Looking for some silver lining – I hit a PW from 140 to 4 ft on #13 and made birdie. That was it. Almost every other swing with the 770s today not only missed the green, but they weren’t even close. I think these are sexy irons, but I don’t love them enough to force them to work. If next round isn’t better they’ll be sent to the backup bag.
And it occurred to me, that if TM hadn’t done this stupid release and not actually have/get them for 2 months bs, I already would have. It without question gave me the time to change my mind. I feel like I can’t be the only customer it’s costing them on this.
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So you think the AW seems large for the set, or just larger than you expected?
Ferrules look good!
My thought is it is very similar in size to the 790 AW. I don’t have any issues with the size of these irons but if you thought the 790s were too large then I think you would feel the same about these.
Okay. I have no reference on the 790 AW. I don’t think I’ve ever seen/held one. It can’t be too big though, because I’m very sure the 770 AW is smaller than my Apex Pro AW in overall size – toe height, heel height, and toe to heel. The sole and topline are just a little wider. So the 790 AW must be more players-ish than I’ve imagined. Good for Taylormade on that.
Mind sharing some rough slim numbers you’re getting? I’m really curious, because that isn’t a complaint I’ve heard or seen anywhere else really.
I can’t back up my claim with numbers, just on course performance. I set out looking for something to replace my beloved King Forged Tour Set. I picked up JPX921 Forged, P770, and 921 Tour with a myriad of different shafts.
I played the 921F first, and found 1 club worth of distance gains with similar spin action when compared against the cobras. I measured the specs and found that they actually play 1/2" long and 1 club strong out of the box, so that made perfect sense. What I didn’t like about them was the hollow sound the create at impact.
On to the P770s. Great sound at impact, and a really great looking club. Nice and compact, which I like. I played them first with the stock KBS Tour FLT 120s shaft. My distances with these were slightly shorter than I wanted, and the ball just wasn’t stopping, so I switched into the Modus 120. Distance came back, but the spin still wasn’t there. I’m basing this solely on pitch marks. When I hit a shot well, I expect the ball to land, hop forward and spin back, to the other side of the mark. The cobras do this marvelously, the Mizunos not quite as much but still give me what I want. The P770s had the ball stopping 2-3 yards past the pitch mark on every shot.
I live in southern California. Our greens are firm and dry 99% of the year, so stopping power is really important to me.
The 921 Tours, so far, have performed up to snuff. They offer everything I want in looks, sound and feel. They’re very small heads, with thin top lines and soles, but the feel off the face is that of a much larger club. Spin wise they perform like a players iron, as I would suspect.
Oh, that was today? I forgot.
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Everything seems in order. Now, TO THE BENDING!!
I needed something to do this afternoon for an hour. Happy things.
Impressed by your commitment to ruthless experimentation. Those look fun.
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Hopefully. I hate the look of them combo’d with the 770’s in the bag, but I’m going to try to get over it. How the various shafts combo works out tomorrow, might be something else entirely. Having to get shafts from halfway around the world is annoying right now. I expect ‘Merica to do better. lol
They still looks stupid though . Of all the new irons with the unfinished raw/satin-y sections, they look the most ‘unfinished’. They seriously look like they forgot to coat the part with the lines. I hated it from picture one of the release, and didn’t want to combo with them, but left open the idea of playing a whole set instead. Well, that’s out the window for the near future, but in the end if I don’t sell them I’ll likely play them as a standalone set.
Interesting that you have found more distance with the CBs, as I hit them in the store, and felt that they performed better than the 770s in every aspect I could see on the launch monitor. Isn’t the 770 supposed to be the more forgiving, distance type iron? Also, I’m 100% with you on the looks
I wouldn’t call the 770’s a distance iron at all. The 921 Forged might flirt with that moniker imo with its ball speeds, but not the 770’s. I think they’re just slightly longer than some similarly lofted peers, but it’s real minimal from my experience. They are supposed to be more forgiving than others in that size range, and I’d agree with that from my time with them.
I really like the 770 long irons. They do what they’re designed to do, and the stats bear out that they’re a good fit for me. My scoring iron swing can leak into the longs and the 770’s get up so easy for something their size. That translates to a little more carry length for me. The short irons are, well, they’re a forgiving short iron. Which, I don’t really have as much use for these days. That’s why I like the MC’s better. I feel more confident and comfortable with that profile doing what I want, so I usually swing them faster. I prefer a thinner sole and more compact shape, and they’re only about a degree different, so I think the SS overcomes that. I like being able to keep them down, and they just sound and feel better like you’d expect a players CB to. Crisper. The 770’s are a little unique I think. They sound soft-ish muted with a prolonged .. something (something duller) a dull crack?, and the MC’s sound quick and crisp while feeling soft. I wonder if I have a couple sound clips from today actually.
So what better numbers were you getting with them over the 770’s? Not many of us have had any of these in play yet, so I’m really curious. Army called the 770 faces squishy, and I can definitely tell they’re hollow in that way.
Best I can do quick in the middle of the night on a Friday for people who are curious. I poor-man spliced them and doubled them up to repeat. For as many as I post video editing isn’t my thing and I only share this stuff here. I think you guys will get it.
Red line is the 770, other the MC. MC swing will look a little (more) weird from that angle because the ball was above my feet and I was playing a more unique shot. Both are flushed though. Someone will have to tell me if that’s a bad sound example. It was just the first of each I had in scrolling and I’m on my work phone.
Keep in mind, this is indoors on a GC2, but I found the MCs to be approx 5 yards longer in the carry on average. I only hit 6,7,8. I also felt that the off the toe strikes didn’t bend as much as I would have expected them to, and still held a fair amount of length. The 770s, I think are forgiving, but not enough for me to consider them a more forgiving iron that anything else I’ve hit recently.
I think, overall, I was blinded by the style of the 770s, and after playing them, they have left a bitter taste in my mouth. I just don’t think they’re very good. I base all of my opinions on look, sound, and feel in a way that it affects me. I’m not really a numbers guy. I’m too passionate about what I like to go strictly off of data.
I could see being longer as you get towards the shorter clubs. The construction differences shine through.
I think for me I have to work hard to separate feel vs. result in terms of forgiveness. Like, to me, the 770’s feel less forgiving on bad strikes. Low and toe are pretty unpleasant to me, but the distance loss seems really quite low considering. With their faces though there seems to be a pretty dramatic departure in feel for mishits. Like it’s either flushed, or a bit jarring, regardless of where. And the MC’s feel better to me, but seem more punishing on actual result. They’re a construction I like more though, so how much of the feel is general preference, and feedback? It’s tough. I have to remind myself sometimes what they are, hollow/cavity/etc, and what I should reasonably expect.
They’re really different from each other, which goes back to my whole hate on the idea of combo’ing them. If a guy really likes one, I get the sense he won’t like the other as easily. Know what I mean? And I’m with you on the looks being the big seller on the 770’s. It makes a guy want to try to like them.
Exactly.
I think I’m sticking with the 921 tours, they have the feel of the MCs, and players cavity backs without the funky looks. I do, however, really like the performance of the 3 iron in the 770 and have kept it in the bag. It’s the first 3 iron I don’t hesitate to put into play.
And the sounds is so much better than the 790s. Will get my first round in tomorrow, fingers crossed that they are as good on the course as they were on the range today.
They just ain’t for me.
One thing I can definitely say is the sound/feel is so much better to me than the 790s. Overall I had solid results with them, need to sort out distances but if things continue like this I will be selling the 790s fairly soon.
I’m REALLY starting to like the way they play. I hung back off the tee today on the short apartment course so I wouldn’t have specialty wedges in, and on 13 P7MC approach shots ranging from 125-190 my average proximity was 11.5′. Eleven, point five. Biggest misses were 23′ (bunker), 18′ twice (fringe, and long green), and I had 5 at 7′ or less (clipped the pin twice, 9i,7i). Other than the one that went 18′ long (easy swinging 7i 183) that surprised me, without knowing I would have guessed they were my dialed in 747V’s …. with better feel? It’s a fair comparison because they’re nearly identical in size, but there’s something about the weight placement, sole shape as it leads into the toe, or something, that really lets the 7MC’s shine out on course and with the shots I like to play. I really felt like I could do anything I wanted with them, and that … is just pretty hard for me to ignore, because I’m nitpicky as ****, and even with still nonmatching shafts I had zero complaints. Turf interaction has been lovely, despite a leading edge and lack of pre-wear I’m not usually a fan of, I caught one a groove or two low that performed really well, and flighting and working them was downright dreamy.
A good striking day and playing a preferred profile can definitely color perception, but I am reluctantly impressed. And annoyed. It would make sense that I’d potentially fall in love with something I hate the look of on the back, because the badging on the Apex Pro 19 sucks and they’re the best thing ever. fml
The P770 long irons have been beyond good for me in that regard. Just that little bit of extra ball speed and ease of launch that I can swing real easy and still hit my number, and without sacrificing spin.
So there was a little breeze in from the right. The other guy playing from those tees came up a little short and left himself a long putt. Safe play.
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They can fly, but I wanted to keep it down a little because I didn’t want it in the breeze. I’m honestly sick of coming up short in the wind on that hole. It plays annoyingly long. Anyway, got the flight I wanted and landed it pin high. He couldn’t believe it held like that. That green is no marshmallow to land on and the roll is very fast. I just think it’s a perfect example of what those clubs can do. WITH a little forgiveness too. Honestly, that swing was a little and the strike turned out pretty good.
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So I’ve been playing the 3-5 irons long enough now to really start to get some data separation and seeing them on their own a little is eye opening. There are plenty of rounds where I don’t even use a long iron, but they’ve always been a fair strength of mine. I love a good 4 iron.
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I assure you though, these kinds of numbers are NOT normal for me. There is definitely something going on with these. I just can’t do some of the things I can with them, with most others. And seeing it like this backs up my internal reluctance to pull them from the bag despite other good options.
I just don’t want anyone to not give them a try because of a 790 comparison, or a bad description by one person, or some other notion. Results and preferences on feel and looks will obviously vary, and I’m one person. I could fall out of fit with them or have results come back to earth anytime, but they have stood out to me from minute one on this. I just think they’re worth some other people looking into. Especially if you could use a little more launch or spin in the mid to long irons, don’t like a lot of chunk at that end of the bag, etc. That’s all. I’ll shut up about them now.
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