Unofficial Review: Taylormade BRNR Mini Driver (and compared to 300 Mini Driver)

[Jeff in the Mitten]

I've been following MGS for a long time and am just now diving into contributing my own thoughts on products, so I hope you all find this useful.  If there is a thread where this belongs, I apologize in advance as I couldn't find one in the reviews section. To any mods reading, I would love feedback so I can begin to become a regular product tester

INTRO:

My Game:  I'm a 4.3 handicap and I lean on my irons to make up for some other weak parts of my game, in particular getting off the tee in a safe spot, but with an iron that can still attack pins (so this club was a great one for me to test).  My driver SS is 110-113 depending on the day.  My natural shot shape is a fade, but with irons I am comfortable shaping various shots based on the condition.  I play mostly in Michigan, so the season is limited, but there are lots of great tracks to test various parts of my game. 

WITB:  Taylormade Stealth + Driver 10.5 w/ Evenflow Riptide MX 60 TX, Taylormade M1 Hybrids 2 and 3 w/ Steelfiber 85 f5 shafts, Callaway Apex TCB Irons (4-AW) w/ Recoil 95 f5 shafts & midsize grips, Titleist Vokey SM7 Wedges 54 and 58, Scotty Cameron Laguna Putter w/ Stability shaft

 

Now, onto the review of the Taylormade BRNR Mini Driver...

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

Out of the box the BRNR Mini Driver looks stunning!  While looks aren't everything and we all want results, you have to like the way the club looks behind the ball, and this club passes with flying colors.  At address the contrast of the dark gloss crown and leading edge make alignment to a ball fast and inspires confidence.  We've all had those moments where our inner voice says, "Is that clubface closed right now?" and I can say those thoughts never creeped in for me in testing.  NOTE:  This review does not have photos, but in future reviews I'll be sure to add photos/videos for better context.  

Here's a quick view at what I saw on the course...

Ball Flight:  Stronger than my 3 wood and a wonderful tee option.  I decided to take the driver out of the bag for this test, but I can see how this COULD live with a driver in the bag as well as a "fairway finder".  Off the deck was a lower flight, but plenty of carry to go after par 5's in 2.  Overall a strong flight that has more spin than my driver, but never ballooned into the stratosphere.  (NOTE:  To be fair to this club, I swapped the shaft to an Alta CB 65 X to better fit my swing.  I think hitting stock shafts is a bit silly if you know they're a bad fit for you.)

Mishits:  Generally much more forgiving than a 3 wood!  I tend to miss on the toe, and some really bad swings found me in the left rough with a low draw instead of a dreaded snap hook.  With my natural fade, if I really cut across one I lost a LOT of distance, but that's me, not the club.  I have been impressed with TM's twistface on mishits, and this seems to continue that trend overall. 

Off the Deck:  I'll get into this below, but I was shocked at how easy I could hit this from the fairway.  Don't even bother hitting from the rough unless you have a true flyer lie. 

Overall:  I'm not 100% convinced this can REPLACE my driver, but I can 100% see how someone on the outs with their driver would choose to use this as a safer tee shot and a go-getter on par 5's from the fairway. 

 

AESTHETICS (5/5 stars):  This thing just screams confidence at address to me.  I absolutely love the nods TM made to the past Burner line by incorporating copper accents on the crown and throughout the sole of the club.  I knew the stock shaft was a bad fit for me, so I swapped it to an old Ping Alta CB 65x also in a copper tone and the combo is FIRE!  The black twist face sets nicely to the gloss black alignment of the front edge of the crown.  Those two combine for effortless setup for me.  As mentioned, the crown has some beautiful copper accents in a carbon fiber weave, but it's not distracting (which I was honestly worried about).  

I loved the look of the 300 mini because out of the box it just felt "familiar", but the BRNR Mini beats it for me.  TM went a new direction with the BRNR to compliment the Stealth 2 lineup (Gloss crown instead of matte, more subtle carbon fiber weave, and bold sole graphics).  

Head Cover:  The head cover remains one of my FAVORITE parts about the looks of this club.  Not only does it have a really cool retro shape and color scheme, the inside has a little rainbow surprise as another nod to the past Burner headcovers we grew up with.  Excellent work on the details Taylormade!

PERFORMANCE (4/5 stars):

During my range and course play, the Mini Driver did find more fairways for me.  Ball flight was definitely stronger than a 3 wood off the tee and I was only losing maybe 10-15 yards off my driver (on average).  Compared to my driver, the BRNR Mini just didn't have that "extra gear".  I really enjoyed playing it, but when I needed to crunch one I just couldn't get a lot more out of it compared to an average swing.  For two reasons I took away one star.  First, I felt like I just couldn't squeeze more distance out of it, but it's important to know that I was pleased with distance nonetheless.  Second, I could really only play a fade off the deck.  Wasn't too limiting, but I quickly learned the draw from the fairway wasn't going to happen for me. 

Flight was strong, but definitely could tell there was higher spin than my driver.  I'm guessing I was around 3000 RPM vs my Driver standard of about 2300.  Where I saw that impact was a bit in carry, but more so in roll out.  The BRNR Mini landed and hopped once before stopping, so if you're hitting this club it's 100% carry in my book.  My Driver gets me about 280-290 on average and I found the BRNR Mini getting me out there 270 consistently, but again, not much more.  NOTE:  I didn't have my launch monitor to validate data 

Mishits were more forgiving than my 3 wood.  With my 3 wood I would get that toe snap hook, but with this when I missed on the toe (my typical miss) it seemed to hold a stronger flight and I found myself in left rough instead of dropping.  I was consistently finding the middle of the club face on this, so generally I found it "easy" to swing (even though we all know this game is anything but easy).  Even though mishits had decent results, you definitely feel them.  Some swings just felt downright awful, but I was happy to walk to my next shot knowing the ball was in play. 

Off the deck I was IMPRESSED to say the least.  At address you feel good, but at the same time the face is deep enough to make you wonder if you're just going to blade a missile that goes 10 ft off the ground.  I found the speed pocket to produce a much better ball flight than expected.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't getting this more than 50' in the air even on good hits, so it definitely has a stinger flight off the deck, but dang it works!  I was able to get a more predictable off the deck result by playing a fade.  A few times I tried to draw the ball around a small dogleg and the flight was just harder to flight into the air.  If you play a natural draw, I would encourage you to hit this off the deck in your fitting just so you know how this fits in the bag for various shots.  If this is ONLY a tee ball club, I'd be worried about it wasting a spot in the bag if you have any confidence in your normal driver.  

vs. 300 Mini:  I really loved the 300 mini off the tee, but hated it off the deck.  It truly was a driver replacement for that reason, but with the BRNR Mini it actually has me wondering if this should have a spot in the 14 club lineup just because of how well it goes off turf!  Off the tee I found the BRNR to be a "little" easier to find the sweet spot compared to the 300, but again the main difference is when you're hitting if off the deck.  Also why I liked the versatility of the Original One over the 300 Mini as well, but the BRNR Mini is definitely an improvement for forgiveness compared to the Original One. 

PLAY IT OR TRADE IT:  Jury is still out on this, but if I had to choose today, I would not choose to put this in my bag.  A year ago, when I couldn't find the ocean from the beach off the tee, I would've given anything for this.  But, since then I've worked on my driver and have gotten it to a place where we have a healthy trusting relationship lol.  Here's how I'd break it down for my decision:

1. Par 4 over 400 yards with water on left and traps on right...are you comfortable hitting Driver?  If the answer is yes, then I think the BRNR Mini could collect dust in your bag.  However, I love the idea of having this in my stable so that if my Driver decides we're not on good terms for a bit, I have this within reach to give the Driver a time out.  

2. Can you hit most of the par 5's you play in 2 or get within 100 yards?  If the answer is yes, again I'm not sure you'll find yourself grabbing this club that much for off the deck approaches.  The performance is certainly there, but I just don't know if the scenario needing that performance occurs enough in an average round for me to justify taking one of the 14 spots in the bag.

Overall, I'm very glad I have this club at the ready, but for most Michigan courses I don't think it adds more value than my current setup. 

CONCLUSION:  Know WHY you need this club.  I have zero doubts on the performance, it does exactly what it's suppose to do.  I just don't know if I need that specific performance enough on the course.  If you play a particularly long track OR if you really struggle with Driver accuracy, but find yourself a mile away using your fairway wood, then this might be perfect for you.  As always...get fitted!  Don't expect this to be a silver bullet without dialing it in a bit.  Wonderful work by Taylormade in designing this club to do exactly what it's marketed as.  

 

 

 

[cksurfdude]

Good info, good write up One suggestion is sprinkle in a few pics of the new, the new vs the old, that shows what you're writing about.

Anyway, helpful to people looking at this club.

[Jeff in the Mitten]

18 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Good info, good write up One suggestion is sprinkle in a few pics of the new, the new vs the old, that shows what you're writing about.

Anyway, helpful to people looking at this club.

Couldn't agree more!  I really learn a lot from other testers so I want to be a good reviewer to pass along the same value to others.  I'll definitely have photos/videos in future write ups to highlight various parts of each review.  Thanks for the feedback!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Nice write up! 
 

As you noted in the review, pics and LM data would be excellent additions to help tell the tale. An approach I’ve found that works well for reviews, official or unofficial, is to start with an introduction post explaining a little about yourself and what you’re testing/reviewing. Set up a timeframe your going to test during. Provide regular updates as to how testing is going and facts/things you discover about the product along the way. Once, the period has elapsed, put everything together in a final review. Overall, I think this approach gives a more complete picture of your experience with the item. 
 

Your review is well written, but I can’t tell by reading it if you based your findings on a day or a series of days. 
 

Well done, overall. I look forward to reading/seeing what you come up with next.

[Jeff in the Mitten]

5 hours ago, Ben Joest said:

Nice write up! 
 

As you noted in the review, pics and LM data would be excellent additions to help tell the tale. An approach I’ve found that works well for reviews, official or unofficial, is to start with an introduction post explaining a little about yourself and what you’re testing/reviewing. Set up a timeframe your going to test during. Provide regular updates as to how testing is going and facts/things you discover about the product along the way. Once, the period has elapsed, put everything together in a final review. Overall, I think this approach gives a more complete picture of your experience with the item. 
 

Your review is well written, but I can’t tell by reading it if you based your findings on a day or a series of days. 
 

Well done, overall. I look forward to reading/seeing what you come up with next.

Good feedback, thanks Ben.  I do think I'll get better over time as I assume others would attest to be true.  It's a unique writing style, and to your point, you really need to prep the whole story before just going out and swinging.  Looking forward to more reviews soon!

To answer your question, this was a single long range session and then a weekend of golf consisting of 4 rounds with it in the bag. 

[Swood1994]

Nice write up! I’ve been following this club since it debuted on tour and want to try it so bad but as you said I just can’t seem to find a place where it’s needed, granted me and the driver are NOT on good terms right now. I have to agree with @cksurfdude pictures are worth 1000 words and especially with this club it would’ve been great to see it in action or compared to your Stealth. Great job, I look forward to seeing any follow up on this one!

[Jeff in the Mitten]

14 hours ago, Swood1994 said:

Nice write up! I’ve been following this club since it debuted on tour and want to try it so bad but as you said I just can’t seem to find a place where it’s needed, granted me and the driver are NOT on good terms right now. I have to agree with @cksurfdude pictures are worth 1000 words and especially with this club it would’ve been great to see it in action or compared to your Stealth. Great job, I look forward to seeing any follow up on this one!

I might be able to hit the range soon and do a side by side!  I'll see what I can get scheduled relatively soon

[Duke945]

Was it an 11 degree or 13 degree and was the heavier weight in the front or the back? 

[Parshooter36]

Nice write up! I am a big fan of the mini drivers and have owned 4 different ones over the years.  My only issue is they are strictly a tee only club for me so I have to remove a club from my bag for the mini that I might use once or twice a round.  The last mini driver I had was the Original One which I absolutely loved, I have no doubt I would like the BRNR as well.

[Jeff in the Mitten]

@Duke945 It was a 11.5 degree and heavy weight kept in the back for a little added launch/forgiveness. 

like @Parshooter36 mentions, I can easily fall in love with this club at the range, but then can't really justify it taking a spot in the bag.  I would have to go on a consistent dry-spell with the driver for it to go in there, and at that point I'd likely take the driver out and put it in timeout. 

 

Since doing the original writeup, I've adjusted the bag and now carry the Stealth Plus, Callaway Paradym triple diamond 3 wood, and Taylormade slightly-long 3 iron for all my various tee shot needs.  I found the Paradym to be crazy long off the tee and still gives me enough forgiveness to hit off the turf without issue.