TaylorMade Introduces Tour Preferred Irons, Rossa Core Putters, and More

The folks at TaylorMade continue to roll out the new products as a few weeks ago, we looked at the new Burner fairway woods and hybrids and now we get a total of (stay with me) two more iron sets, five putters, and two different drivers. They have been a bit busy to say the least!

The Burner name gets stamped on virtually everything now coming out of TaylorMade and for the most part, that holds true with the new items we will take a look at this week. There are a few exceptions to that rule and we get some new Moveable Weight Technology toys to tinker with as well.

Join me as we take a look at what TaylorMade has to offer.

Tour Preferred Irons
The better-player iron category has changed quite a bit over the last few years with more and more technology being utilized to give more forgiveness yet still giving a high level of feedback that the better player craves.

TaylorMade is no different with the introduction of their Tour Preferred irons. Utiizing their Inverted Cone clubface technology that was designed originally for their driver lines, the Inverted Cone technology makes the area of the clubface larger to give you more distance on those pesky off-center hits.

The cavity-back design has a shallow undercut which allows weight to be moved to the perimeter of the clubhead for a higher moment-of-inertia for more stability and forgiveness on those not quite perfect hits.

Incorporated into the cavity is what TaylorMade calls a “vibration-management sound badge” which is placed over the Inverted Cone to help “fine-tune the club’s pitch and resonance, ensuring that the sound of impact is solid and satisfying.” Otherwise known as giving you the feedback and sound you might desire in an iron. They look a little bizarre for my taste but in the end, if they perform as advertised and give you a good blend of forgiveness and feedback, then they might be worth a shot. With that nice looking topline, you won’t notice the back.

The sole was designed with input from the TaylorMade Tour Staff and has a what is described as a “softened leading and trailing edge that work together to minimize resistance and discourage digging”, meaning that hopefully, you won’t be laying sod over your iron shots.

The TaylorMade Tour Preferred irons come standard with True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips and are available in right and left hand in a 3-iron through pitching wedge set for $899. Also available are a 2-iron, approach/attack wedge and sand wedge and will run about $112 each. You’ll be able to add these to your bag on September 19, 2008.

Burner Plus Irons
If you feel you need a little assistance in your golf swing, TaylorMade has come out with an iron set for you as well. The new Burner Plus features a clubhead that has a thin face with “significant perimeter weighting” and a low and deep-back center-of-gravity to help you launch the ball high and far as well as to give you extra forgiveness on off-center hits. Toss in the Inverted Cone and SuperFast technology, with a slightly longer and lighter shaft and a lighter grip help give you more swing speed to give you more distance. Which last I checked, was a good thing.

TaylorMade throws this at you: “Burner Plus irons look strong and easy to launch at address, with the large clubface and thick topline creating “can’t miss” confidence. An increased degree of offset makes it easier to square the clubface to the ball, discouraging a fade and promoting a distance-enhancing draw.” Non-marketing translation: we made these irons to help curb your banana ball.

The sole was designed with a little more bulk and weight to help cruise through the turf and to give you a better outcome on those dreaded bladed shots. Every aspect of the Burner Plus was designed with making it easy to hit that is very forgiving and maximum distance. Of course, it’s still up to you to put at least a decent pass at the ball.

The Burner Plus irons come with 47-gram TaylorMade Arrow grips and TaylorMade SuperFast RE*AX 60-gram graphite shafts in four flexes (S, R, M, and L) or SuperFast 85-gram lightweight steel in three flexes (S, R and, M).

Options await you for picking the set that is the best for your golf game. The Standard set consists of 4-iron through attack wedge, the Combo set consists of Burner Rescues 3 and 4, plus 5-iron through pitching wedge. Ladies’ set consists of Burner Rescues 4 and 5, plus 6-iron through attack wedge. Available wedges include lob wedge (right-hand men’s only), sand wedge, attack wedge and pitching wedge. The Burner Plus irons and rescues come in men’s right-handed and left-handed as well as ladies’ right-handed (no love for the women lefties out there).

The Standard set has a MSRP of $799 with graphite shaft, $599 with steel shaft; Combo set is $899 graphite, $699 steel; Ladies’ Combo set is $899 graphite, and $699 steel. You can add the Burner Plus to your bag starting September 19, 2008.

Itsy Bitsy Monza Spider Putter
If the original Spider was too big or bulky for your tastes, fear not as TaylorMade staff players apparently felt the same way and wanted a smaller version of the original. I’m not going to go into all the details since construction and looks are about the same but there are some noticeable differences.

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, the first difference is size, or the lack-thereof compared to it’s bigger brother. Also, the “wings” “where the Moveable Weight Technology cartridges are located” are pulled closer in and don’t stick out quite as much as the original. The alignment aid is also a smaller version of the original as well. Finally, the original came with a single-bend shaft whereas the Mini-Spider comes with a plumber’s neck hosel with full shaft offset or you can get a double-bend shaft.

I wasn’t a big fan of the original and am more of a blade guy myself but I’ll definitely give this one a roll with the new neck configuration. Add in the ability to add and change weights and this might appeal to golfers who prefer a blade or smaller, mallet-style putter.

You’ll have to wait a bit though as the Itsy Bitsy Monza Spider doesn’t come out until October. It carries a MSRP of $240 (street price of $199 at a few places) and is available for righties and lefties in 33, 34, and, 35 inch lengths.

Rossa Core Classics
The Ross Core Classics putter line have the golfer on a budget in mind by providing for more bang for your buck. The line consists of four different, classic clubhead shapes with two mallets which are called the Fontana and the Suzuka and two blades which are called the Daytona and the Lambeau.

Each features a soft stainless steel head construction, finished in a cool-looking Tuscan nickel and come with a new, AGSI+ face insert that TaylorMade says gives you a “50% softer feel at impact than previous Rossa putters with AGSI+.”

The Rossa Core Classic putters come with a new “big bird” black tour grip that prominently displays the new Rossa logo. Not sure what “big bird” means but I doubt is has anything to do with a rather large, yellow bird. All models are available in right-handed while the Daytona is available for lefties. Each putter carries a MSRP of $142, (street price of about $120) and they become available starting on September 29, 2008. Considering how may strokes one takes with a putter, that’s a pretty good price for a putter.

Burner Driver
TaylorMade has also released a new Burner Driver. Not to be confused with the Tour Burner, the Burner driver combines the SuperFast technology (basically all the components of the club are lighter which means you can swing faster for more distance) with the Dual Crown technology that came out with the Tour Burner driver earlier this year (too many Burners to keep track of!). Toss in a little Inverted Cone technology that TaylorMade is known for and you get a driver that screams to be swung hard. Or as the folks at TaylorMade say; “That means you can miss the center of the clubface by a lot and still make the ball go far.”

The new Burner comes with a lightweight grip and SuperFast RE*AX 49-gram graphite shaft in five flexes: X, S, R, M, and L. Lofts include 9.5° 10.5° and, HT (high trajectory). Available in men’s right-handed and left-handed and for the ladies, right-handed only. The MSRP runs $400, (street price of about $300) and you can try out the Burner starting on October 1, 2008 (or about the first snow here in Minnesota).

The tour professionals and better players weren’t left out of the Burner fun as they have the Burner TP (Tour Preferred) to try out out. The TP version has a slightly open clubface and a choice of SuperFast 55 or 65-gram graphite shafts in X, S and R flexes. More lofts are available which include 8.5°, 9.5° and, 10.5°. The TP version is available for men righties and lefties and carries a heftier pricetag with a MSRP of $500. You also have to wait until next year as the Burner TP doesn’t come available until March 30, 2009.

r7 Limited Driver
Finally, we have the r7 Limited Driver (yet another driver from TaylorMade but at least doesn’t incorporate the word Burner into it). For fans of the Moveable Weight Technology, the r7 Limited is just what you are looking for. In my opinion, tt looks a lot like the CGB Max limited that came out earlier this year.

Boasting only three weights (16-gram and two 1-gram), the r7 limited can be adjusted with a side-to-side change in trajectory of 35 yards compared to the 28 yard side-to-side change in trajectory for the r7 SuperQuad. Not sure why one needs the extra seven yards but to each their own. Also, the r7 comes neutral rather having a draw bias like some of the past TaylorMade drivers.

Setting up the weights is pretty simple; if you want the shot fade (for righties), put the heavy (16-gram) weight in the toe, if you want the shot to draw, put the heavy weight in the heel, and if you want the shot to go straight, put the heavy weight in the middle. Probably don’t even need the chart that the older r7 drivers came with plus all the extra weights that just sit around. The r7 Limited comes with three weights and an MWT wrench.

Like most drivers on the market today, the r7 Limited employs some geometric shaping as it looks like a triangle with “soft corners for a pleasing appearance” (I can say I’ve never had a driver with a “pleasing appearance”).

The clubhead is longer from front to back than its predecessor, the r7 SuperQuad which places the center-of-gravity far back from the clubface which makes it easier to bomb the ball. Combined with a high moment-of-inertia and Inverted Cone clubface technology and you have a forgiving driver that gives you greater distance on those not quite so perfect hits.

The r7 Limited comes with a 60-gram Matrix XCon 5.5 MOI graphite shaft, which has a “stability-enhancing weave that extends from the butt to the middle of the shaft.” The XCon 5.5 MOI was designed for the bigger, high-MOI driver heads of today and helps to reduce twisting for better accuracy and distance which is something all of need.

Boasting a radium ion-plated finish, the r7 Limited has a “highly polished look for an exceptionally striking appearance” and is available in three shaft flexes including S, R, and M. Righties for both men and ladies have four lofts to chose from; 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, and 11.5° and lefty men have the choice of 9.5° and 10.5°. The MSPR is a hefty $500 (street price of $400) and becomes available on September 15, 2008.

Final Thoughts
TaylorMade has a plethora of clubs to choose from right now (and some pretty good deals on last year’s models if you do a little looking). They really seem to be slapping the Burner name on everything right now and as an r7 owner (r7 and r7 460 TP) I’m glad to see that line get some love and not get shelved. I know that I’ll be giving the r7 Limited a test drive when it comes out in a few weeks.