Sleek and powerful, the TaylorMade r7 Ti fairway metal
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The par-4 second hole on the Mahoney's Point course at Killarney in Southern Ireland demands at a bunker-splitting drive to the angle of a dogleg and for a mid-handicapper, a 'career' fairway metal to reach the green. Not the kind of shot to attempt with a spanking new and so far unused TaylorMade r7 ti 3-wood, burning a hole in my bag.
However, needs must, and having weighed the option of a 'girlie lay-up', a driver off the deck or ripping the red, yellow and black headcover off the r7, I opted for the latter with, admittedly, low expectations.
So how refreshing and exhilarating to line up the club, with its distinctive yellow, red and gunmetal shaft and hit the shot I'd ambitiously imaged - the ball soaring through a clear blue sky to roll on to the front of the two-tier green.
Unfortunately, I'd reckoned without the wicked slopes around the hole and three-putted for bogey but was still chuffed by my first impressions of the 3-wood
I had literally hit the ball 'out of the screws' using TaylorMade's moveable weight technology which allows you to switch the 14 and 2-gram screw-in cartridges around to find the combination to suit your preferred ball flight.
Initially I kept the heavier cartridge in the heel to help square the clubface for my natural fading ball flight but curiosity got the better of me and later I moved the weight into the toe only to find it merely exacerbated a 'power fade' into a slice!
The r7 Ti has titanium clubhead that slightly larger and more forgiving than the equally new r7 Steel and with its softer tip in the shaft, this also makes it easier to launch.
Incidentally, the r7 Steel is available in Tour Spoon 3-wood (13 degree), 3-wood (15 degree), 4-wood (16.5 degree), 5-wood (18 degree) and 7-wood (21 degree) at a cost of £149.
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Rating: |
8.5/10 |
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Summary: | There's no better feeling than visualising the shot you want to hit to reach the green on long par-4 or even a par-5 and then crushing a 3-wood beyond your expectations. This is a lovely-looking and versatile club that's also accurate off the tee but to demand a £229 price tag which doesn't include the TLC wrench for switching the cartridges is, perhaps, a little excessive. |
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