TaylorMade is adding to its amazingly successful line of adjustable weight woods with the R7 Steel and R7 Ti fairway woods.

The R7 steel is a more compact, traditionally shaped fairway wood. Adjusting the weights allow the user to develop either a neutral shot, or a draw. TaylorMade says that shifting the weights can create a movement of up to 15 yards.

The R7 Ti offers a larger, more forgiving clubhead. As with the R7 Steel, players can shift the weights to create either a neutral, or right to left ball flight. 

The r7 Steel is available in Tour Strong 3-wood (13°), 3-wood (15°), 4-wood (16.5°), 5-wood (18°) and 7-wood (21°) at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $300 per club with graphite shaft, $270 per club with steel shaft. The r7 Ti is available in 3-wood (15°), 5-wood (18°) and 7-wood (21°). for $400. Both will go on sale in April 2006.

TaylorMade now says that it has something for everyone in its moveable weight technology line:

“The r7 TP is engineered with a smaller head and a higher CG, features that are typically favored by skilled players like tour pros,” said Todd Beach, TaylorMade’s director of metal wood development. “We wanted to make Movable Weight Technology available in fairway woods that are easier to hit, which is why we created the r7 Steel and r7 Ti. The r7 Steel is similar in size to the r7 TP but features a precision-positioned CG and shallower clubface that combine to make it easier to launch on a high, long-carrying ball flight. Likewise the r7 Ti also features a low and deep CG that makes it easy to launch high and long, plus its larger size adds forgiveness, making it even easier to hit than the r7 Ti. Now there’s a model of r7 fairway wood for every type of player that wants to take advantage of the distance and accuracy made possible by TaylorMade’s Movable Weight Technology.”

I had a terrific opportunity to play with the R7 TP fairway wood this last summer and will attest to the ease of play and sitance offered by that club. I can only imagine that the new clubs—especially the Ti, with its larger head—offer even more forgiveness.

At 425cc’s, TaylorMade’s new R7 425 is the largest in its line of R7 drivers. Like previous models, it has four weight ports, and four removable cartridges. The larger size, however, expands on the already incredibly forgiving R7 design. The larger head offers an even bigger sweet spot than before, resulting in longer, straighter shots on off-center hits.

The clubface is slightly closed, offering additional accuracy to the average golfer.

The club also has an upgraded shaft: the Fujikura RE*AX. The design of the shaft prevents ovaling, thus promoting stability.

TAYLOR MADE r7 Quad 425cc Driver w/Graphite Shaft

Keep your head warm on those winter golfing excursions with this TaylorMade Sport Beanie Cap. It’s made of acrylic wool with a fleece headband.

I just got an email from TaylorMade announcing the new TaylorMade r7 XD Irons.

For once, I was ahead of the curve, having noticed them at Golfsmith a couple of days ago. I thought that it was funny that I couldn’t find anything on the TaylorMade site on them. But the site now has been updated.

There are apparently two models, the R7 XD, and the R7 CGB Max.  Both are game improvement irons. Of the two, the CGB Max is likely to be the easier to play, and is described as “super sized”, with tungsten heel and toe cartridges, high launch and a wide sole. The R7 XD apparently has a more narrow sole, is smaller and has a mid to high launch.

Still no press releases, though. The PR department must be lagging behind the product delivery department.

The new TaylorMade r7 XD Irons have really got my attention. It looks like TaylorMade has just about packed every bit of technology that they can think of into these clubs. And that’s something a geek like me just HAS to pay attention to.

The r7 XD combines the Tuned Performance Cartridge (which has been a feature of TaylorMade’s irons for several years), with the Inverted Cone Technology which makes their woods and drivers so forgiving.

The club also seems to have a separate body and face—similar, I’d guess to the Ben Hogan CFT that was out a couple of years ago.

The CNC-milled titanium clubface is supposed to promote higher initial ball speed, and thus carry and distance. It also allows TaylorMade to save weight and reposition the center of gravity lower and deeper, which also makes the club more playable.

I liked the two-piece design of the CFT when it came out, although after playing with a demo set decided that they weren’t for me. But the truth is that I’ve been wondering why someone else hasn’t pursued the two-piece design. It makes so much sense. After all, drivers, fairway woods and hybrids have thin faces welded to hollow bodies. Why not irons?

I’d love to give a set of these a ride. I’m going to have to keep my eyes open to see if anyone at the club has a set in their bag.