Am I in love ? Ask my Taylor Made r9 Driver and 3 wood....

Earlier this year, I switched to Taylor Made's (revolutionary at the time) r9 driver. I wrote my initial evaluation of it in June (you can read it here), in which I was quite impressed. This post will focus on my "extended use" review of the r9 driver, as well as the r9 3 wood, which I put in my bag mid-summer. Since the initial post provided all of sorts of technical stuff, I'm not going to rehash all of that (you're welcome....). Rather, I will provide you my full impressions after playing the club for (most of)a full season - hopefully, for those of you who are looking for a new driver or 3 wood this Christmas (yep, I still call it Christmas...feel free to use your own terminology,tho) this info will prove helpful to you or to Santa.

The specs on the clubs are as follow:

• r9 driver, 9.5 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• r9 3 wood, 15 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• both are set with the weights "neutral", and the faces one degree open

Since my initial review, I've played over 40 rounds of golf with the clubs - much of it in a competitive situation (The Golf Channel Amateur Tour, primarily). I think this is relevant because one learns quite quickly in these situations that control of your driver and 3 wood is at least as important as distance. Having set the stage, following are my observations on the two clubs:

r9 Driver

• The r9 driver is the longest driver I've played to date, and as a long time TM driver user, this is a good sign for prospective buyers.
• The adjustable face technology really DOES work. As I have improved my skills on the course, and worked hard to learn a correct weight transfer, I had fixed any tendency to hit a tee ball to the right side (aka a slice). However, in the process I had overcompensated to the degree that my "misses" were now left - and those misses tended to lead to big numbers on the card. My efforts to use the movable weights (a hallmark of the r7 series) were fairly effective - however, the adjustable face angle REALLY nailed this issue. By setting the face 1 degree open (effectively de-lofting the club), I found that I was able to really go after the ball, swing as aggressively as I wanted, and rarely have to worry about snapping it left. On the days I was really in a groove, I could tell because my drives were long, with a boring trajectory, and a slight fade at the end. The point here is simply that between the movable weights and an adjustable face, anyone with a "consistent problem" can improve their ball flight.
• Since I settled on a "neutral weight,1 degree open setting", I have not made subsequent adjustments. While frequent adjustments are easy and straightforward, I was happy with my settings and never saw fit to change them. The tool that's included is easy to use.
• I'm a mid handicapper (fluctuating between 8 and 12 throughout the year) - and I found the r9 to be plenty forgiving. It's not what I would consider a "players club" in the sense that you must hit it exactly on the sweet spot to get good results. I did notice (after reading a great review on another blog) that shots hot in the center of the clubface flew the "expected" distance, but a shot hit above center ( a little high on the face) REALLY took off. Once I figured this out, I gained at least 15 yards on my tee shots. That being said, the club retains some workability if you need it - when I was hitting the ball well, I could draw or fade it on command....but on the days I wasn't striping it, I could just as easily play for the center of the fairway and generally hit it straight.
• The face and head still look good after much use - no unusual wear or premature fatigue. The sound is pleasant (no "aluminum baseball bat" like ping, or dull, muted "thud") - and this has been consistent since my first shot with the r9. If sound is important to you, this won't disappoint.
• As much as I liked the Matrix Ozik shaft in the r7 Classic, I've been very pleased with the Fujikura Motore that comes standard in the r9. It's lively, consistent, and looks good with the red and white paint. The only complaint I have with this shaft is that it tends to scratch easily. Hopefully,no long term damage here - but it's worth noting.
• Overall impression of the r9 driver after a full season is a resounding "thumbs up with a snap" (that's for all of you In Living Color fans out there)... I highly recommend this driver.

r9 3 Wood

The 3 wood has been the most frequently changed club in my bag (except for putters) over the past 10 years. Unlike my driver, I've played many different brands - Callaway,Ping,TaylorMade, Titleist, Sonartec ('memba them ?), and Orlimar. Prior to getting the r9, I was playing the TM Burner, and was pretty happy with it. However, my fondness for the r9 driver, and my propensity to experiment with 3 woods, led me to decide to give the r9 3 wood a shot. Oddly, when I got the club to the range for the first time, the face was already set at 1 degree open...a strange coincidence for certain. Here are my observations on the r9 3 wood:

• Initially the larger head was visually distracting - and I struggled to hit this club solidly off the deck. Accepting this as a temporary issue, I decided to hit some off the tee. After hitting 10 shots off the tee, WOW... a very similar experience as with the driver. Long, predictable, and right where I was aiming. I went back to hitting balls off the deck, and had some improvement - but still could see I needed to work on this.
• Taking the r9 3 wood to the course, I decided to use it on all par 4s that were less than 400 yards. My great results from the range carried over to the course - my tee shots were long, accurate, and I was able to go after the ball aggressively without worrying about hooking - thanks to the 1 degree open face. I was hooked...
• Throughout the remainder of the season, my shotmaking abilities with the r9 3 wood continued to improve. In tournaments, this became a real "go to" club when hitting the fairway was a must. I also found the distance with this club to be incredible. In some of the late season events, I was sometimes hitting this club 240 yards plus off the tee. No question, its long...
• I was also able to overcome the early problems hitting the r9 3 wood off the fairway - practice and a focus on tempo seemed to cure this - so it was obviously user error!
• The face and head had held up well, and remain in great shape.
• The issues with shaft scratching that I described above also presented themself with the 3 wood - not really sure of the cause here, as I'm pretty careful with my sticks. At any rate, its something that we hope TM pays attention to and addresses.
• My overall rating on the r9 3 wood is a big thumbs up. If you are in the market for a 3 wood, I highly recommend you give this one a try - I feel sure it will be among the finalists for the VP slot in your bag for 2010 !

As I've lamented before, there is no telling what the Golf gurus at Taylor Made are cooking up for 2010 - but for right now, the r9 driver and 3 wood had a secure spot in the bag at Bushwood. I've paid careful attention to the TM staff players, and practically all of them have switched to the r9 - so even the pros seem to agree with me here.

If any of our readers are r9 users, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them !

TaylorMade r9 Review - IT ROCKS !!!

The long awaited BCC review of TaylorMade's bangin' new driver, the r9, is finally complete. Since this was such a revolutionary product, I took a LOT of time testing and evaluation this club - thus the delay in completing my evaluation. If you have read this blog for very long, you know that I am a long time believer in TaylorMade's big sticks (see BCC's review of the r7 Limited here). I've tried Ping's G10, a few Callaways, Titleist, and Nike - but for me (and seemingly a bunch of guys who get paid to play), TM totally has the driver game wired. So wired in fact, that they continually churn out new gear at an astonishing pace - but, I digress.

About the r9:For those of you who don't know much about the club, it combines the "Movable Weight Technology" of the r7 series with a new feature - one which allows you to move the clubhead on the shaft. This allows you to rotate the clubface into 5 different settings - from 2 degrees open to 2 degrees closed. For a pro, this functionality is nothing new, as they can get their clubs "bent" to fit - but for the rest of the mere mortals,this a completely new feature. The r9 comes in a variety of lofts and is equipped with a rockin' Fujikura Motore shaft. For more on the technological intricacies of the r9, just go here.

Intro: I've played TM Drivers since the 90's , and since late 2008, I had been playing the r7 Limited, and really,really liked the club. So much so, that I went into the "evaluation" of the r9 fully expecting this to be a fairly short process. I figured I would hit some balls on the range, play with the adjustments, complete a few loops with it in my bag, and come back and write the review. Well, that's where it started to get interesting...

First Date: Out of the box, my first thought was that the r9 is a very good looking club. The head cover has some nice,updated graphics, it is plenty durable, and overall very well finished. The head of the r9 is relatively similar to the r7 Limited, with a bit of a "triangle" shape. The black metaflake pain looks nice - nothing too flashy there. One kind a weird thing I did notice - the little alignment aid seems to be off-center, closer to the heel of the club...not a big deal, but something I thought odd. The new r9 logo is prominently displayed on the bottom of the club. Adjusting both the weights and the face angle are simple, and are accomplished with a special tool that TM provides with the club. As previously mentioned, a Fujikura Motore shaft, all dolled up in TM Red,Black, and White comes standard in the r9 - a kick azz upgrade for certain. IT comes in a variety of lofts, and mine is a 9.5 degree version. Another nit - with the popularity of the Golf Pride Multi decade compound grips, it seems that TM could give some thought to stocking those on the club ( I put a white one one mine to match my set - it looks shweeet), as it currently comes with a TM branded grip.

Making My Move: So my first trip to the range with the new bat, and I was excited. A few practice swings and I was impressed with how solid the club felt when hitting nothing but air...hard to describe, it just felt good. I had been fighting a bit of a hook off the tee, so I decided to take advantage immediately of TM technological wizardry - I whipped out the wrench and cranked the face 2 degrees open (max setting), but left the weights set on "neutral". 10 swings later, and I had yet to hit a drive left... a good sign. However, I was not happy with the ball flight ( a bit to high), so I adjusted it back to 1 degree open. It only took 3 shots, and BANG, I knew I was onto something. Based on this, I decided to take my new toy to the battlefield. The first hole at my home track has always been a challenge to me - the fairway is super tight, and I had long struggled with pulling this shot left. BANG again - right down the middle, high and straight as an arrow. 18 holes later, I had hit 10 fairways, and only missed two of them to the left (one a bad miss, the other only slightly in the rough). Initial Thoughts - This evaluation will take longer than originally planned. I was very,very impressed.

3 weeks later, I have played 7 rounds of golf and continue to be impressed. The adjustability has really helped me (I've not changed the setting of 1 degree open) fully release on my driver swing and not worry (too much) about going left. Meanwhile, I have consistently hit the best drives of my life. Distance, trajectory,ball flight - it's all there. However, one of the really amazing things I have noticed about this club - and something that I have NEVER been able to do consistently or predictably, is "work" the ball. Whether it is the club, my confidence, my swing, or some combination thereof - I can now hit a draw reliably when needed AND hit a fade. Now, for those of you scratch golfers out there (HOLLA, Shane B.), this may not sound like a big deal,because you have been able to do this forever. ..but for a mid handicapper like myself this is a pretty big deal.

Not content to write this review with just my assessment, I let a buddy use it this weekend (he normally plays a Ping G10). He immediately started bombing it - first 4 holes he used it, 4 split fairways, way long. By the 6th hole that he used it on, he was ready to buy one at the turn !

Here are my ratings by "category":

• Sound: Consistently receive comments on how "solid" the club sounds, which I have never gotten before (including on other TM gear). Very pleasing overall. Grade:A+
• Distance: I'm killing it and so are my buddies. I know they say the r9 460 is longer, but I'm hitting it onto the downhill lie sections (which is further than you'd like to be) on a lot of par 4s so far. It's a bomber. Grade:A+
• Trajectory: With the multiple adjustments, you should be able to fix this to your liking. I certainly was, with only two adjustments. My only advice - go slowly o the adjustments, make one at a time, and make them in the smallest increments possible. Grade:A+
• Grip: As mentioned, I wish they would offer the Golf Pride Multi Decade Compound grip - the white one or the red one would look great on this club. The stock TM grip is sufficient tho. Grade: B
• Other: The movable weights and adjustable face angle are simple,well constructed, and easy to understand and use. No complaints there. Grade: A
• Overall Performance: I won't belabor this - this is the BEST DRIVER I have ever played. I like everything about the club (ok,ok, except the grip...but that is so minor).

Will He or Won't He ?: This is a great club, and a huge advance in golf technology. If you are in the market for a new driver, do yourself a HUGE favor - give the r9 a long,serious look. I've never had so many people borrow a driver, hit it, and absolutely LOVE it as with the r9. If you are already a TM fan, just go buy it....it completely rocks. Grade: A+

Postscript - Check back soon, I'm hoping to do a review of the TM r9 Fairway wood as well !!!

TaylorMade R9 Baptizes another True Believer

The Newest Convert to an R9......and a nice reward for switching...

Lots has been written about TaylorMade's newest big stick, the R9. Look for a product review of this mighty staff coming soon from Bushwood. However, in the world of the dudes who play for millions each week, TM has just had another top player join the ranks and be baptized in the holy water of the River TaylorMade.

It seems that none other than Ryder Cupper and Fluff employer (not to mention the proud owner of perhaps the largest collection of earth-tone golf clothing in the world), Jim Furyk has jumped ship and switched to the R9. Furyk is rocking the new bat with a Mitsubishi Kai'li k 60 gram X Flex shaft and a 10.5 degree head. No word yet on his loft, face angle, or favorite shade of beige yet....but stay tuned...

(ed note: The talented young lady above did indeed present said roses to the beige clad one...at the 2003 U.S. Open...)