TaylorMade R11 Fairway Review

[RoverRick]

Before the contest was announced today, I had gotten a new fairway metal head in on Saturday and was planning on going to the course today and doing a review of this club. I went a head and did the full blown thing anyway.

 

TaylorMade R11 Fairway Metal Review:

I have not used the fairway metal off the tee box on a regular basis. I use an iron if I am going to lay up or a hybrid, but I never had a fairway wood that worked equally well off the tee and off the deck. However, a couple of weeks ago I broke my driver on the 6th hole and just happened to have a 3 wood but normally I would have had nothing longer than a 2 iron but got lucky that day. Of course, how often does this happen, but it did cause me to rethink my normal club line up. I will also admit that I have not been a huge TaylorMade fan and I have not particularly like any fairway metal since the Titleist 980F. I have two of these that have been in and out of the bag since sometime around 2004. One is still there with its 20 th shaft in it. I have attempted to replace these several times but while these are not particularly great off of the teebox they are awesome off the deck. I have tried the 906F, 909F, Diablo, Diablo Edge, Hogan C455, and some Pings and many others, and I reached the same conclusion about all of them. They were either good off the tee or the fairway, but none of them were great off of both. Most were difficult to hit off the deck.

 

Honestly, I hit my driver off of the deck as well as any of these FM. The 980F was the exception but it is a tiny head by today's standards and not forgiving at all. Many times I do not even carry a fairway metal and use a hybrid instead. Theproblem with that is to use a hybrid off the tee box I would be giving up 30 to 60 yards. This is fine in many instances but that is a significant amount.

 

Recently, I acquired a TMag R11 10.5 Driver. While I thought that TMag going white was a brilliant marketing move, I was not terribly interested in doing it myself. Three orfour months ago I put some white ferrules and white grips on my Mizuno irons and have really become accustom to the white accents. Seeing all the white drivers on TV sort of put me in the mood to try one. I have had the R11 driver for about two weeks and decided that a 3 wood would go nicely so I decided to try one. I will say that my strategy is changing also. I am awaiting a new driver shaft. When it gets here it will be a distance club and I will only use this a few times during the round. My new 3 wood will be my normal par 4 tight fairway club. So I need a fairway wood that I can hit off the deck occasionally but off the box and not give up much distance from my old driver.

 

I came across this R11 T3-14* that was a head only still in the plastic with an accessory kit for less than $60 delivered so I thought I would give it a try. I had a Graphite Design Tour ADDI 7 stiff that I had tipped for a driver that I had and it did not work out to well as a driver shaft anymore but decided to make this my three wood shaft by tipping it some more to make it the same length as a stock 3 wood from TMag.

 

 

According to TMag:

TayorMade's R11 Fairway Wood uses two adjustability technologies to give you the power to tailor this club toyour swing to a precise degree so that you can promote more distance andgreater accuracy.

 

More Adjustability. More Distance.

 

 

· Adjust the loft with Flight ControlTechnology (FCT).

 

· Adjust the face angle with the newAdjustable Sole Plate (ASP).

 

· 35 percent less contact area than R9Fairway wood for less turf resistance at impact.

 

· Promotes up to 60 yards ofside-to-side trajectory change and ±1,000 RPM backspin change.

 

· New aerodynamic shape promotesfaster speed for more distance.

 

· Deeper face and deeper CG for morepenetrating flight.

 

· White non-glare crown and blackclubface for easy alignment.

 

 

How I tested:

My test method was pretty straight forward. I putt his 3 Wood in the bag and went out on the course. I had decided that I would use this off the tee when possible and I off the deck when possible while playing a regular round of golf. I would compare where Iended up to where I normally was with my short shafted keep it in the fairway driver.

 

I originally thought about keeping track of the distances, and actually did, but we had 1 ½”of rain over the weekend and today there was a slight breeze of 19 mph. I had drives of 180 yards with no roll and drives with 260 yards with no roll. I had similar results off the deck. I will say this, even riding in a golf cart at full speed with the wind, you could still feel the wind on the back of your neck. On one hole that I normally use 6 iron/6iron, I used 2 iron/4 iron and was short. I hit one tee shot that normally would have been at the 100 yard marker but was shocked when I got to the top of the hill and saw that I was 180 from the hole.

 

Performance:

I would say that all things considered I was not significantly different that where I would normally be distance wise with any tee shot. I will also say that I hit 14 of 14 fairways today. This club was 7 of 7. I know for a fact that last week I played in a similar wind and on the 10 hole, straight into the wind, I was 15 yards behind where I was last week, but I also had some roll last week. I also used this club 5 times off the deck and ended up with 2 birdies and three pars, so it certainly helped gain more strokes than it cost me. I was particularly impressed with the turf interaction of the sole. This has been my biggest complaint about fairway metals. Many have a flat sole and the slightest miss hit causes it to skip off the ground and top the ball resulting in an 80 yard putt when I want a 200 + yard bomb. Overall, I shot a 74 on a soggy windy course which makes me very happy.

 

Also, many of the more modern FM I have tried have game improvement features that really get the ball up in the air and keep you from slicing the ball. The features do not work well with my swing, so I often have the high pop up to deep left field with them. The R11 is adjustable so by varying the set up you can add those or in my case take them away. In my case I have taken them out of the club and am really happy with the ball flight from this club. You really adjust the club like they say, I am not sure you can effect the ball flight to the degree they claim and have no way to really know that but can certainly make minor adjustments that affect the ball flight so that when you make a good swing the ball flight is the way you want it.

 

Distance:

This is by far the longest 3 wood I have ever had. I do not mean that it has the most distance, I mean, it is the longest. In the past I have always used a 42 inch 3 Wood or even shorter. This measures 43.5 inches. That alone translates to 11 yards if all other things are equal. I had no complaints about the distance. For the conditions today I was most pleased.

 

Subjective Notes

Looks:

As I stated earlier, the white head is a brilliant marketing move. You can see someone is using a TMag club from 600 yards away and there are a lot of them out there. It seems like it will get dirty very easily,as there was mud spattered on it after every off the deck shot. But this is not huge because I wipe down all my clubs after I swing them. It may also scratch very easily, but that is why they make headcovers. Many people do not like the looks, I happento now love it. I will say that it and the driver have a bit more closed face than I like but am getting used to. The ASP technology, like the rest of the technologies they claim, is not as effective as they claim. It still looks a bit closed to me even on the open setting, but not like some clubs. It is not a deal breaker.

 

Feel and Sound:

The best word to describe this is solid. The sound was a nice solid thwack! All the hits felt solid, and actually inspired confidence for the next time you hit it. I really like the feel. I recently gave an old FT5 to a friend of mine and it sounds like batting practice at the little league park when it is hit. The R11 sounds wonderfully solid. Yeah, I realize that I am being redundant by using the same word but the bottom line is it sounded and felt like I made a solid hit every time and that is important.

 

Forgiveness:

Forgiveness is hard to quantify. I either hit all of these dead center, not likely, or the forgiveness of this club is really good. Once again, I was particularly impressed with the turf interaction with the sole. There were no misses that were not playable. There were no hits at all that felt like true mishits at all. It is not a miracle club and you have to make a good swing. The first one on the range was not good and of course the ball did not go far.

 

Workability:

I hit draws and fades and low and high shots with this today so I would say it does what you tell it. It is a fairly workable club for a fairway metal.

 

 

Conclusion:

Well, I have not been a TMag fan in the past, and my association with this sight has opened my eyes to give them a try. Now having tired first their R11 driver and then the R11 fairway wood, I see that they are not the number 1 driver on tour for nothing. I have also tried the RBZ driver and fairway woods and did not particulary like them. But the TMag R11 series is a really good product. I will not say that it is the longest, or straightest, _ _ _ _ est club ever but it is really good. I am certainly happy with this purchase. To the point that I may end up with an R11 hybrid in the bag before too long.

 

[hckymeyer]

Great write up and I agree. I currently have the 4w in the bag and it's been working out great for me. I can always tell when I really like a club because I'll stop looking for replacements. I haven't looked at a fairway wood ad all summer since putting it in the bag.

 

I'll also give the R11 hybrid a solid recommendation for you to try. I was playing a 585h previously and I've gotten much better results with the R11. I found it to be a little more forgiving off the deck, but still a great performer off the tee. Very workable as well.

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Great review, Rick. One thing in your write up, not related at all to the club, that puzzled me. You said:

 

"On one hole that I normally use 6 iron/6iron, I used 2 iron/4 iron and was short."

 

You obviously hit your irons well, given your handicap and the fact that you are able to hit a 2 iron at all. Why would you hit a six iron to leave yourself with yardage that you have to hit a six iron in? On a short hole, wouldn't you pick a club on the tee that would get you a wedge or 9 iron? I would assume you are able to hit a four about as well as a 6.

 

I'm thinking maybe its a hard dogleg that's not cuttable, so your distance off the tee is restricted, but if the dogleg was that sharp I wouldn't think that the wind you had would affect both shots to that extent.

 

There's a good reason, I'm sure, but I'm not able to solve the riddle!!

 

Love to hear why.

[revkev]

Great right up RR - Make sure to bring it over to the other place - I'd love to see you land that gig.

 

I'm going to guess that the best place to be on the hole is 175 and so he plays to 175 so that he has 6. I hit 6 165 but I'm thinking he's more a 175 guy with that club. I see this kind of thing all the time Jax - I'll lay back outside of 150 because its the level spot or the best angle to the pin or there's some major issue inside the 150 marker -

 

Give me the angle and the flat lie and I'm good to go over the risk and the shorter club - I feel very confident that I can get the ball on the green inside of 180 yards. I think RR is the same way.

 

I can't wait to be able to bag one of these bad boys too.

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Great right up RR - Make sure to bring it over to the other place - I'd love to see you land that gig.

 

I'm going to guess that the best place to be on the hole is 175 and so he plays to 175 so that he has 6. I hit 6 165 but I'm thinking he's more a 175 guy with that club. I see this kind of thing all the time Jax - I'll lay back outside of 150 because its the level spot or the best angle to the pin or there's some major issue inside the 150 marker -

 

Give me the angle and the flat lie and I'm good to go over the risk and the shorter club - I feel very confident that I can get the ball on the green inside of 180 yards. I think RR is the same way.

 

I can't wait to be able to bag one of these bad boys too.

 

Must be the difference in outlook from someone with a handicap double digits higher than yours. I'd take a wedge or 9 iron from a bad lie or slope rather than a flat 6 iron probably 80% of the time. But I've seen Tiger go short off the tee and leave himself 190 and put it closer to the hole than his competitor from 130. I can aspire....

[RoverRick]

Great review, Rick. One thing in your write up, not related at all to the club, that puzzled me. You said:

 

"On one hole that I normally use 6 iron/6iron, I used 2 iron/4 iron and was short."

 

There's a good reason, I'm sure, but I'm not able to solve the riddle!!

 

Love to hear why.

 

 

I am glad you asked Jax. This may belong in Course Management, but you can never talk too much about course management.

 

Yes, actually I am a much better iron player than other clubs. This has not always been the case but I have worked everyday for the past year on my iron play. I do not hit them terribly far but when I am on, I can hit a 4 iron with the same accuracy as most people hit their 9 iron. One of the higher handicaper regulars I play with mentioned that I was usually the fartherest from the green after the tee shot, usually because I did not use the driver, yet closest after the second shot.

 

It is not that I hit the driver wildly, but with our fast greens and our crews propensity of putting the flags near the front, I have taken to laying up to full iron shots. And if you are going to lay up make darn sure you are not laying up into trouble.

 

This is actually the straight away 343 yard par 4 12th hole. And it is the number 2 handicap hole on the course. There are a couple of things to point out. There is out of bounds all the way down the left side. The edge of the tee box is 3 feet from the ob fence. The green is 15 feet from ob. It is a blind tee shot and about 180 yards to the top of the hill. Once over the top it genlty slopes to a pond that stretches across the fairway. You can clear the lake if you tee shot carries 250 yards. But even a perfect tee shot will leave you 30 - 70 yards from the green or so. The rough on either side of the fairway past the lake is thick and long. In the dry months the fairway really runs so any tee shot that goes more than 180 can run all the way into the water. There is no rough to stop it on that side of the water. There are a few trees on the right half of the fairway on the opposite side of the pond that will knock a ball back into the water. On the tee box side of the lake there are mogals along the edge of the fairway that if you hit on the proper side you go back to the fairway, on the wrong side, it kicks you either ob or into the trees where you have to go over those trees by the lake.

 

I have driven over this pond once. But why? Most people use a hybrid or 5 or 3 wood and get as close as they can to the water but it can easily roll into the water. But at best you are still 130 out. So, I have found that a 6 iron, 175 off the tee, will get to the top of the hill and roll leaving me 160 or so out, which depending on the flag is a 5, 6 or 7 iron. It makes it a boring hole. But I like middle of the fairway, middle of the green and try to make the putt.

 

When the ground is soft, I use more club, 4 iron, because I do not have to worry about rolling into the water and usually end up about 135 out. But maybe once a year I will pull out the driver but the least bit off line and you are hitting out of the rough after you have found your ball. You can not see the landing area.

 

During scrambles, you always have someone lay up first to make sure you have one in play. During tournaments, the tees are often moved forward so that it is a 305 yard par 4. All the bad stuff is still in play but it is only 210 to carry the water.

 

There are four risk reward holes on our course. 8, 10, 12 and 16. All of them, I have found are much easier for me to birdie using something other than a driver off the tee box.

 

The 8th hole, is another one that I see people try driver all the time. It is 336 slight dogleg with a creek at 210 but 215 carries it. But there is a lake at 180 on the right. Trees on the left force you to go to the right otherwise you are dead behind the trees. I see guys every week take enough club to hit it all the way to the edge of the creek, but leave it right and go into the lake. I have started using a 5 iron which leaves me 150 or more to the green but if I hit it to the right, it will not go in the water. If I hit it left, I am far enough from the trees to not be dead. It makes birdies much harder but double bogey out of play.

[RoverRick]

Must be the difference in outlook from someone with a handicap double digits higher than yours. I'd take a wedge or 9 iron from a bad lie or slope rather than a flat 6 iron probably 80% of the time. But I've seen Tiger go short off the tee and leave himself 190 and put it closer to the hole than his competitor from 130. I can aspire....

 

 

Jax The key to breaking 90 is never make a double bogey. The key to not double bogeying is to not take penalties, and short game. By using a 6 iron in this case I can avoid the danger. Also, I am far enough from the water that I do not even have to think about it, Since it is30 yards from me, and 70 or more yards from my target it is like is not even there. Earlier this year I was playing a scramble with my wife. I was just where I wanted to be when she said go first. So I am standing over the shot and she said "I am not going to hit because of the water." I had made that shot 100's of times and never thought of the water. I, of course, dumped that shot in the water. That is the madest I have ever been at her.

[RookieBlue7]

Rick, I'll tell you something else that helped me a lot when I had the R11 fairway as well. I took a razor blade and shaved a little of the paint off of the top of the face to make the black face a little more visible and it REALLY helped with alignment. It wasn't much, but that 1-1.5 mm or paint removal with that razor blade immensely helped align the club even more and made the head appear to be a hair smaller (I like smaller fairway metals). Loved that club with the Talamonti PD80 (WORKED VERY WELL IN IT). Shouldn't have sold it and went to the R11S (which I've since dumped). Now, I'll probably end up with another R11 soon after reading this and posting here.

[RoverRick]

Rick, I'll tell you something else that helped me a lot when I had the R11 fairway as well. I took a razor blade and shaved a little of the paint off of the top of the face to make the black face a little more visible and it REALLY helped with alignment. It wasn't much, but that 1-1.5 mm or paint removal with that razor blade immensely helped align the club even more and made the head appear to be a hair smaller (I like smaller fairway metals). Loved that club with the Talamonti PD80 (WORKED VERY WELL IN IT). Shouldn't have sold it and went to the R11S (which I've since dumped). Now, I'll probably end up with another R11 soon after reading this and posting here.

 

Yeah, the head is a touch larger than I like in a fairway wood but I am getting used to it pretty quickly. Thanks for the tip but I have not noticed any problem with alignment. Of course coming from the Callaway driver, with no markings at all on the top even the R11 is busy.

 

I thought the R11s driver and fairways looked huge, and sort of deformed, especially looking at it from the sole. I am sure it is just the paint but they look so long,

[RoverRick]

Loved that club with the Talamonti PD80 (WORKED VERY WELL IN IT).

 

 

I am either going to get the Talamonti PD80 for the R11 Driver or the Grafalloy Bimatrix Prototype. Which of these are the longer shaft, When I went to the Talamonti in the Razr Fit it was a beast. I needed a higher launch which is why I went to the R11. 10,5* and adjustable loft.

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Didn't think about the water crossing the fairway. Makes perfect sense! Thx!

[Super Tuna]

Rick, I'll tell you something else that helped me a lot when I had the R11 fairway as well. I took a razor blade and shaved a little of the paint off of the top of the face to make the black face a little more visible and it REALLY helped with alignment. It wasn't much, but that 1-1.5 mm or paint removal with that razor blade immensely helped align the club even more and made the head appear to be a hair smaller

 

This is a great tip! It's something I found entirely by accident as well. I started using a buddies every once in awhile and wondered why I was hitting it better then previously. Finally managed to compare his to another and his had the paint worn off around the top line break for skying it so often off the tee. Bad for him but good for me as I found it much easier to align with that extra bit of a black. It also tricked me into thinking it was a little deeper as well, which for me means a big confidence boost as I don't really get along with shallow faced anything.

[RookieBlue7]

I am either going to get the Talamonti PD80 for the R11 Driver or the Grafalloy Bimatrix Prototype. Which of these are the longer shaft, When I went to the Talamonti in the Razr Fit it was a beast. I needed a higher launch which is why I went to the R11. 10,5* and adjustable loft.

 

 

I replied in my BiMatrix thread, but I loved the Talamonti in the R11. Should have kept that driver as at least a permanent back-up. I could paint the center mowing stripe all day long with it.

[RoverRick]

Rick, have ya hit the Nike VR Pro? How'd it compare against the R11?

 

 

Fairwasy & Greens 4ever

 

No. However, I hit the Nike VR Pro Driver, actually owned one for a brief time. I bought it and a VR Pro Hybrid both dirt cheap, like $40 for both brand new. I played a four holes and my back went out. Before I recovered, I ended up selling these for like a total of $250, after only hitting each of them twice. Then the guy who I sold the driver to broke a window in my Range Rover with it, I believe but did not see it happen.

 

I really liked both of these. The driver I would give only an 8 but they hybrid I would give a 9.5. It was awesome and the only hybrids that have IMO equalled and perhaps even eclipsed the Ben Hogan CFTs. Beautiful at address, very hot face, However, the shaft was not for me and a guy offered me more than twice what I paid for it so it went away.

 

The fairway wood is something else entirely. I would expect this to be pretty good off the tee but I would not buy this to hit off the fairway based on sole desigin.

 

This was one of the things I truely admire about the TMag R11. Notice how the leading edge of the sole is so much lower and the trailing edge is higher. To me this ensures that it will not bounce off the hard baked fairways in the summer. I have not had this happen with this club at all. This is a characteristic that I look for in a fairway wood.

 

The RBZ does not have this feature.