Tour issue taylormade driver heads

blakesmittkamp · February 15, 2015

Hello. I am seeing a few sellers here and on ebay selling "tour issue" TMade heads that have non-T serial numbers and just the Cor + sign. Ie it has a retail serial with only a + sign.

I've read these are just retail heads that have been Cor tested and not tour issue.

Can anyone help confirm one way or another on this? Please let me know if my question needs any clarification.

Thanks!

DubaiGolfer · February 15, 2015

I have heard this is the case also -they are just retail heads. There are some that we retail heads but were used on tour but these are quite rare.

blakesmittkamp · February 16, 2015

Yeah, I guess it is just a crap shoot. It's just frustrating because there are so many SLDRs and Jetspeeds for sale that are marketed as tour issue with retail servials and the + sign...No idea what to think at this point!

pierso2 · February 16, 2015

There are also a lot of SLDRs with toe screws without the serial number or +. It can be a tour issue driver without the T serial number but it has to have the "+" in order to be a true one (from what I've been told)

Hot Rod 71 · February 16, 2015

[quote name='pierso2' timestamp='1424099091' post='10962993']
There are also a lot of SLDRs with toe screws without the serial number or +. It can be a tour issue driver without the T serial number but it has to have the "+" in order to be a true one (from what I've been told)
[/quote]

I have two SLDR driver heads with toe screws. I did them myself. This is not usually a definite sign that a driver is tour issue.

Many of the "tour issue" heads seen on ebay and here are retail heads that have been COR tested and were probably in a drawer on the tour van at some point.

The only real tour issue heads are the V2 and V3 of the R1, just for one example. They are a different size and shape from the retail version. However, some pros may like the retail version for its size and shape and may want to play one. This is why the retail head is COR tested.

Technically they are not tour issue, per se, but they were tested for tour use and sent to the tour van.

GolfProNo · February 16, 2015

A 'T' serial number definitely does NOT appear on all Tour Issue SLDR's. I have two, one 460 and one 430 directly from the Tour van. Both have the '+' sign but neither have T serial numbers. Again, both were built for me at an event directly by the TM van.

I know that TM went away from T serial numbers for a while, but then went back again.

Unfortunately, things have become more complicated for us in terms of knowing the provenance of Tour Issue items.

I'd say that the toe screw means nothing in and of itself, but certainly I'd give credence to the '+' sign.

Just to add to the confusion, it is my understanding that the retail and the tour issue SLDR's are the same anyway, save for the fact that the tour issue items have been tested for COR, Face Angle, Loft, etc. Construction is the same, sizes are the same, cosmetics are the same. The toe screw became an on the spot hot fix that became the defacto solution to the issue of ensuring that the head port remained covered during tournament play.

Jaylasvegas · February 16, 2015

One thing to remember is if you buy a new still in the wrap driver head off ebay that is "tour issue" and has the + stamp, it usually means it failed the COR test and cannot be used, usually its a dead head, some will be marked HOT and those are fun to play with until they crack.

Cameron Circle T · February 16, 2015

Actually, from what I'm recalling if it has the + it'll have passed the COR test. Those that are hot or dead will NOT have a + because they won't have been certified as being ok to send to the van.

A quick look at broken niblick's ebay seems to confirm my recollection. The one's they have noted as being either hot or dead (CT in the low 230s) do not have +'s while the others do. What you'll sometimes find is those that have a + and passed CT testing have ridiculous face angles that probably made them less desirable in the van. The ones with 4-ish degree open faces etc.

Here is one noted as having a CT of 234 (well under legal limit):

[attachment=2620605:$_57.JPG]

Thrillhouse · February 16, 2015

They stopped doing the T serials with the sldr line as far as I know. I had a tour issue sldr that I got from a staffer so i 100% know it's legit and it had a retail serial. It had the toe screw and had the plus thing on it (faintly, even that was hard to find), but no T serial.

Cameron Circle T · February 16, 2015

Yeah, as far as I understand Thrill is correct - most tour issue SLDR's start with a "4" serial number.

Golfrnut · February 16, 2015

[quote name='Royal Flush' timestamp='1424104861' post='10963697']
One thing to remember is if you buy a new still in the wrap driver head off ebay that is "tour issue" and has the + stamp, it usually means it failed the COR test and cannot be used, usually its a dead head, some will be marked HOT and those are fun to play with until they crack.
[/quote]

See Cameron's post on this. They do not get a + stamp unless they pass CT testing.

Hot Rod 71 · February 16, 2015

[quote name='GolfProNo' timestamp='1424102942' post='10963485']
A 'T' serial number definitely does NOT appear on all Tour Issue SLDR's. I have two, one 460 and one 430 directly from the Tour van. Both have the '+' sign but neither have T serial numbers. Again, both were built for me at an event directly by the TM van.

I know that TM went away from T serial numbers for a while, but then went back again.

Unfortunately, things have become more complicated for us in terms of knowing the provenance of Tour Issue items.

I'd say that the toe screw means nothing in and of itself, but certainly I'd give credence to the '+' sign.

Just to add to the confusion, it is my understanding that the retail and the tour issue SLDR's are the same anyway, save for the fact that the tour issue items have been tested for COR, Face Angle, Loft, etc. Construction is the same, sizes are the same, cosmetics are the same. [b]The toe screw became an on the spot hot fix that became the defacto solution to the issue of ensuring that the head port remained covered during tournament play.[/b]
[/quote]

Correct. The original cap is only held on with double-sided tape. If that cap comes off during play, the club is considered to be altered.

GolfProNo · February 16, 2015

[quote name='Cameron Circle T' timestamp='1424105497' post='10963765']
Yeah, as far as I understand Thrill is correct - most tour issue SLDR's start with a "4" serial number.
[/quote]

Just to follow up, I also have another 430 that came from the TM Tour Department, with the toe screw but without a T serial or indeed a '+' sign on the hosel. This is a 'failed' COR head and was given to me to play around with very early on in the life cycle of the SLDR. The point I want to raise is that the serial number on this head starts with a 4 as per the comment above. I've no idea whether this is coincidence or a TM policy and haven't heard of the 4 denoting anything like this before.

blakesmittkamp · February 23, 2015

Perfect. Makes sense. Thanks for all the follow up!

markheardjr · February 23, 2015

2008 Burner FWY's, none of them had T serial numbers. There are a few prototypes with no serial but for the majority of the ones that were on tour they were retail. The only difference is they are measured so the van knows the starting specs. Then they hotmelt to weight, possibly bend to desired specs and glue. There is no secret sauce for a tour issued club. it's just a retail production head that is pulled, measured, spec'd, sent in a different box to be tested, if passes, makes it to any number of channels that can get a tour head. PGA, LPGA, college guys, even sometimes the custom department churns out TXXXXX heads, "the Vault" etc.

Only prototype heads are actually really different from the start. You can take a retail head and make it a tour head by COR testing, using lasers to measure, hotmelting, etc. Its the same thing.

markheardjr · February 23, 2015

I will add, that most of the time, these heads that Niblick or Golfhabit or the like is wholesaling out, never made it to a tour van. The specs were too far out of whack with the open faces. Typically, when you see something being sold by these guys that is 2-6 years old. that is a specific head saved for a player who preferred something old. or the tour guys find a box of prototypes in a closet. Those older ones were probably closer to a tour van trailer than any of the more recent ones popping up all the time. TM has boxes upon boxes of tour serialed + stamped heads left over. Most of these guys get them in giant cardboard boxes with cardboard sections. Heads only. Shafts in a seperate box maybe. But they order $xx,xxx or $xxx,xxx at at time from TaylorMade as a solution to wholesale out old equipment. The tour stuff is just a cherry on top of an order to sweeten the deal on, say, 1,000 R1 retail heads or 1,500 SLDR retail heads. Or boxes of just 4 & 6 irons. Maybe you get 100 tour heads along with it.

kengolfnut · April 20, 2015

So what about the irons that do not have T serial numbers. If someone claims a 2014 CB set to have been built in the tour van by Wade and the heads are allegedly smaller with less offset and the serials all start with 3xxx but not matching... how can one be totally sure they are a legit tour issue set?