TaylorMade R9 Driver - First Impressions
Kudos to the folks at Riverplace Country Club here in Austin, TX for putting on a great demo day event last Saturday.
I had the opportunity to test out number of clubs from the top manufacturers including Titliest, TaylorMade, Callaway and Nike. There were two drivers in particular that caught my interest during the session, starting with the Callaway Diablo.
Suffice it to say this was an excellent driver at a very good price (>$300.00). Hitting with a rather convenient wind behind me, I was routinely sending the ball 275-285 yards down the range. Currently a nine handicap, my current Cleveland HiBore XL averages 250-260 yards. Most notable was the accuracy on off-center hits. All things being equal - I would have bought this if I hadn’t bumped into the R9.
Ahh, the R9. Now this was impressive. To say that I was not a fan of the R7 would be a serious understatement. Clunky head and the weights seemed mosly pointless to me.
With the R9 TaylorMade has reduced the head size to a manageable 420cc and it comes without any of that hollow composite feel of Callaway’s top offering. None of this would matter of course if you can’t hit the things straight and long.
They sell you on the crazy amount of adjustments you can make which I’ll touch on a bit later - but for starters - this club feels great through impact. Very solid, good sound. It looks good and the overall design lends confidence to every swing.
The real winner of course is the ability to adjust. Most remarkable to me is the fact that with just a few moments of effort you can modify it from 9.5 degrees of loft to 8.5 or 10.5.
How does this work in practice? Well, first round with the club on Sunday and I set myself up for a low loft due to the extremely windy conditions. Worked like a charm and I managed my way through 18 holes without a lost ball. Unusual for Riverplace to say the last. I did cheat a little towards the end, setting it back to 9.5 degrees with a slight draw setup on the weighting and was amazed at the instant difference. A few ho-hum 280 yard drives later and I was a believer.
You need this club.