TaylorMade Tour Burner 2008 Men’s Driver

I’ve been somewhat dissatisfied lately with the driver that I’m playing. I hit it high, hard and straight, but the ball tends to hit the apex of its flight quickly, and then drop out of the sky. My playing partners always make comments like “I thought it was going to go a lot farther than that.” Not exactly what you want to hear.

So when TaylorMade held a demo day at a local pro shop over the weekend, I spent some time trying out the various drivers. Thinking that the issue was too much loft, I asked the rep for a 9.5 degree, stiff.

The R7 Quad he gave me drove the ball much lower, but still without much distance.

“It’s not high enough,” he said. When I told him that I thought I needed to keep it down for less carry and more roll, he shook his head.

“This is the midwest,” he said. “That might be true in Arizona, but here you need all the carry you can get.”

He watched me hit some more balls with different drivers. “Too much spin,” he concluded. Then he handed me a Tour Burner, 10.5 degrees, regular flex. “This will cut the spin,” he said.

I hit it, and immediately noticed a difference. With the Tour Burner, the ball still caught a lot of air, but it stayed up, and kept going. I hit ball after ball, watching them fly straight and far into the distance. He pointed out that even my mishits were pretty good.

It’s $399, though. And that, frankly, is more than this teacher can afford to spend on a golf club.

TaylorMade Tour Burner Men’s Iron Set

I have iron envy. These new TaylorMade Tour irons look like they were designed just for me. The race car styling just screams “Buy Me! I’m FAST.”

TaylorMade says that these are designed for a wide variety of player abilities—from the tour level to mid-handicappers. The club starts with a thin 2.2 milimeter face that’s designed to deliver a high coefficient of restitution (rebound effect). Thinner = more rebound. And that means more ball speed and distance. It’s also got the TaylorMade Inverted Cone Technology, which is designed to enlarge the sweet spot on the clubs.

I have that on my TaylorMade clubs, and can testify that it works. As inconsistent as I am in striking the ball, my distances stay consistent.

Other technologies include “distinct heel and toe weighting” for increased moment of inertia (resistance to twisting), and a large “multifunctional sole” that’s beveled to make it perform better from a variety of lies. The design also is supposed to promote a low and deep center of gravity for higher launch.

The best part for me though, is that it has the look of a better player’s club. I long to play with a sleek clubhead, but know that—realistically—I need to play with a game improvement iron. The look of the Tour Burners is designed for just such a player.

Envy is a terrible thing. It’s one of those seven deadly sins, you know.

TaylorMade r7 CGB Max 2008 Men’s Iron Set

Updated for 2008, the TaylorMade R7 CGB Max irons feature a wealth of technologies designed to make the game easier. This oversized head has a thin and flexible steel clubface which, when combined with the Inverted Cone Technology offers a very high coefficient of restitution (rebound effect) for faster ball speed and longer shots. The CGB stands for Center of Gravity Back, which is designed New for 2008 is TaylorMade’s Superfast Technology—a lightweight grip and shaft to promote more clubhead speed, more ball speed, and thus more distance.

This is a set that I’d really like to have. 

TaylorMade Rossa Spider Putter

So many clubs these days are breaking the mold when it comes to clubhead shape. Freed by CAD and materials science, designers now can let their imaginations run wild in pursuit of ever higher moment of intertia.

The TaylorMade Rossa Spider Putter combines a steel wire frame and aluminum core with TaylorMade’s trademark moveable weight system. It also has the ASGI+ face, which features small likes that are supposed to promote forward spin.

I think the ASGI system does indeed make a difference. My Rossa putter is one of the most accurate I’ve ever played. The weight system also works, although I use it less to change the left and right distribution than to increase the weight of the head; I add two heavy, but identical weights to the back of my Rossa’s clubhead.

TaylorMade TP Black 12 Pack Golf Balls

I really liked the initial release of the TaylorMade TP Red golf balls. And now that they’ve updated them, I’m going to have to give them another try.

The new ball sports a new LDP (Low Drag Performance) dimple pattern, and a new core material that TaylorMade says offers faster ball speed and increased distance. The four piece design has a NdV4 core, a distance mantle that’s supposed to boost Coefficient of Restitution and initial velocity, a Feel mantle that softens impact, and a cast cover for “supreme shear-resistance.”

I find it interesting that many of the new high-end balls are now four-piece designs. I remember when three piece was the mark of a better ball. Can five piece be far behind.