MEMBER TESTING: 2017 TaylorMade M1 Driver Reviews

[HipCheck]

 

 

Several GolfWRXers are testing the 2017 TaylorMade M1 driver with shaft of their choice.

 

Let's keep this thread open until members start posting to give their thoughts, feedback and experience with the new TaylorMade M1 Driver. They are...

 

davo32683

z1ggy16

homerun2birdie

pitchinwedge

tnord

jstang

halfsumo

kk44

chickenpotpie

 

Let's keep this thread open until they start posting.

 

Thanks!

[JStang]

First of all, huge thank you to TM and GolfWRX for selecting me for the review process. I thought it was really cool to have been chosen to test the new Kuro Kage Dual Core TiNi last month and was blown away when HipCheck contacted me to test the 2017 M1.

 

I have been gaming a 9.5 Titleist 917 D3 set at 10.25 since November. Since picking up this driver, my index has gone from a 9.6 to an 8.3. I was originally fit for the 917 D3 with the Aldila Rogue M-AX shaft at a quick 20 minute Titleist fitting day on Trackman. That 20 minute session improved my driver game immensely. My angle of attack was -4 with driver when I first got on Trackman and I have worked hard to get it to get it to level or slightly up. My launch angle, carry distance, overall distance and spin numbers have improved a ton! My swing speed is 110-113 with a quick transition and driving the ball is now one of my strengths where it used to be my weakness.

 

On to the 2017 M1. I requested the 460 head in 9.5 loft with the Fujikura Pro 73 X shaft playing at 44.75". After initial reviews showed this head to spin so low, the 440 head scared me a little bit which is why I opted for the 460. My reasoning for going with the Fujikura Pro 73 is simply because I've never tried a Fujikura shaft and after looking at the shaft chart that TM published, I liked where it fell on the chart. Mid Launch, and Low Spin. If I don't get along with it, I will just put a TM tip on my Kuro Kage DC TiNi TX and see how it performs in this head.

 

What a beautiful looking club! The crown is as good as it gets, in my opinion. I'm a big carbon fiber fan which goes hand in hand for my love of cars. Before owning the 917 D3, I had a 2016 M1 and I don't think I've ever found a club that looks better than the M series. The 2017 looks more sleek to me than the 2016 but it is very subtle. I prefer a more simplistic approach than what the bottom of this club offers but I would never buy or not buy a club based on the bottom. The yellow actually looks pretty good. The head cover is the boxing glove cover that just about everyone has gone to. It has a nice perforated leather with a carbon fiber pattern on the side. It looks really nice in the bag!

 

Moving forward with the pictures....don't mind the guy in the reflections taking pictures in his boxers :dntknw:. I will post my initial impressions after a range session on Wednesday and I am playing on Saturday so I will continue to update the post.

 

1/25 - Range Session Update

 

I was able to hit the range today during my lunch break. It was a sunny, 74 degree day with a right to left breeze. I warmed up by hitting some wedges and 6 irons then it was time for the big dog to eat. I started with the 9.5 460 set to 10.25 in the upright lie position. This is the closest I could get to my current 917 D3 setup. Both weights were neutral. My intentions were to alternate 10 shots with the M1, then 10 with the 917 but I decided to just hit the M1 to get familiar with it prior to my round on Saturday.

 

Once I got warmed up, I was turning the ball over a little bit too much. Not big hooks but shots that would likely creep into the left rough. I decided to go down to the standard 9.5 loft setting to get the club a little more square rather than a couple of degrees closed. This helped eliminate the over draw that I was seeing. I didn't see much if any impact on the .75 loft reduction. I noticed that my delivery at impact had a much greater effect on launch angle than where the head was set. No surprise there. The ball seemed to launch in the mid/high with some really nice, high ball flights that just carried forever! I won't give any definitive distance comparisons until I hit the course and measure with my Garmin watch.

 

Spin was definitely low but not too low. I'm glad I didn't go with the 440 head because I don't think I would want much lower spin than what I saw today. A few fell out of the sky quicker than I would like to see but that was more strike than anything. Forgiveness was better than expected. As I got toward the end of the bucket, my tired swing showed up and I started hitting every few shots toward the heal. I was surprised at how little the ball moved right on heal strikes compared to the 2016 M1. I spent many shots punching out of the trees after necking it with the 2016 M1. Toe shots weren't huge spin killers like I saw with the prior version. So far, I would say forgiveness is definitely improved.

 

Sound and feel were both fantastic. I couldn't ask for much more in the sound and feel department than what this club offers. Plenty of feedback was provided based on impact as I would expect. I could easily tell where I missed based on feel. Below is a quick video I took so you can hear for yourself. I am liking what I see thus far but I need to see some on course results for a few rounds before I make a decision one way or another.

 

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[pitchinwedge]

Just got dropped off at my doorstep. Have an appointment to get it dialed-in on Thursday. In the meantime, hoping get take it for a few swings tomorrow.

 

Can't wait to see what it's all about. Thanks GolfWRX and TaylorMade! So awesome!

 

Short update 1/24/17:

 

Put the M1 on the bench and measured around D4.5 and 45" on ruler. Not too shabby.

 

Update 1/25/17:

 

First range session and initial thoughts - http://www.golfwrx.c...4#entry14863204

 

PS - The 460 head weight seems a bit light at 192.7g. Interesting.

 

Update 1/26/17:

 

TaylorMade Performance Studio Fitting - http://www.golfwrx.c...0#entry14870144

 

Update 1/27/17:

 

I took it apart. http://www.golfwrx.c...0#entry14876944

 

Update 5/4/17:

 

New shaft, added some weight, tweaked just about every setting - http://www.golfwrx.c...0#entry15462778

[tnord]

1/25 update; organizing my thoughts.

 

background

I'm 36 and I've been playing golf since ~2009, with an 18mo hiatus thrown in there after our first kid. The only new driver I've ever bought was a model-cycle old 2007 TM Burner. Since then, it's been buying used stuff off of wrx without being fitted. 07 Burner -> Superfast TP 1.0 -> Nike VR Tour -> Nike Covert 1.0 Tour -> Nike Flex 420 with a brief stint in a covert 2.0 and Nike LE thrown in there.

 

I floated right around 1.5-2.5 all of last year with some major issues in my game. I'll blame it on having our 2nd kid and going through a home addition/remodel. Traditionally, driver has been my most volatile club. if I'm swinging well, it can be my biggest weapon against people. Or I can struggle to even keep it in play with a 20hdcp quality high right slice. So yes, when I was afforded the opportunity to get a modern driver I was supremely excited.

 

The Club

440 head. Fujikura Speeder Evolution 757x logo down. 45'' D4 Tour velvet +1 logo down. pretty cool to get a letter that it was built by the tour staff too.

 

Deliberately, I spec'd it out in a way that I thought would be the stoutest I could possibly handle. The speeder came highly recommended, I felt like the tour spec version might be too much, and I've never had a driver that flew too high or didn't spin enough so i went 757 vs 661.

 

I've been playing the Nike Flex 420 for about a year, and basically bought it on sound alone. I love the dull thud. Ever since the R1, I haven't been very fond of the sound coming from TM metals. And if you search through my posts, I've been very critical of the TM way of doing business. Point being that I'm no shill, and you can expect a fair assessment of the club with no brand bias.

 

compared to nike 420 flex

 

 

face pic of the same two. i like that the face is deeper on the M1, but front to back is also bigger which should help with spin. it looks like it should setup more upright from this shot, but at address it looks nice and square. i don't know what the actual lie angles are of the two. based on a handful of swings and a few holes, the deeper face on the toe side of the M1 seems to be helping me on misses.

 

 

After maybe 50-75 swings with this club, watching where the tee and ball marks cluster, i'm for sure a middle to toe side guy. this club seems to be more forgiving than my flex on those misses, which even if it's not any longer than my flex, it's more forgiving and straighter, something i certainly need and value.

 

The Look

I'm big on aesthetics. If you notice in what drivers I've played, they're all <460cc smaller crown models. Something about the big heads just takes away confidence, like it's so big and unwieldy I can't control it or generate any speed. It's no secret I haven't been a fan of the white, but once the crown graphics went by the wayside, and the carbon crowns took over, I'll admit that last years models caught my eye a bit. We got the demo 460 M1 last week, I hit a few just to get familiar with it. As soon as I took my 440 out of the box the overall shape was appealing to me, and I think it looks significantly better than the 460. I would still rather have the crown black....but i'm getting used to it.

 

On Course

1/24 - This was kinda stupid. 40deg and blowing 20+, but I just really wanted to get out and try it.

 

A couple holes had some interesting results;

#5 gives me problems a lot of times as my miss tends to be the high right spinning block/fade/slice. this hole is almost always dead into the fan, so any miss hit here gets destroyed.

 

I hit a couple balls each with the flex and the M1. interestingly, the M1 was center fairway and left rough, whereas the flex was center fairway and right rough. I highlighted the three you can see in the picture. As I was guessing on the range, the flex looked just as good to me on the ones i catch, but the short one in the photo is also the flex which spun up into the wind and got ate up. there's another M1 ball longerer and lefterer you can't see.

 

 

the other hole that was interesting was #6, which had wind off the right and bit helping. first ball with the M1 i actually expected to be in the right gunch, but it stayed pretty straight, just blocked off to the right. 2nd swing with the M1 i pulled a bit just at that left bunker and didn't hit it perfectly square....a little high and toe-ey. with some helping wind i was worried it wouldn't have enough spin to carry the bunker...but it did.

 

hit one more with the flex and it ended up basically right over by the first ball.

 

 

 

i try not to get too hung up on LM numbers, so I was happy to see that the concerns I had on the range - not enough spin, too much club for me - actually turned out to be pretty playable on the course. it's only a few holes in really tough conditions, but i was happy to see some good shots in windy conditions. my current weight setting is all the way back and one tick to the draw side which may be helping the right miss.

 

 

1/28 update;

played the back 9 this time, conditions were about the same, 45-50deg and blowing 15-20mph. I'm getting used to this shaft and gaining confidence with it. I can swing aggressively without feeling like i've lost control. I didn't hit every fairway, but the misses were good and I continue to be surprised how forgiving, accurate, and straight it is.

 

My numbers on the LM aren't that great, but I always feel like I swing better outside, so I gave that theory a test on #14. significantly downhill, and was straight down wind, but I decided to go right at the flag which i shot at 334yds. i'd guess a 315+ carry over the bunker, and probably a good 20-30yds of help between wind and elevation.

 

 

 

pretty good results, though I missed the "green."

 

 

 

2/5 update;

I intended to play a lot this weekend as the weather 50 - 60, but i got this horrible cold on Friday, so I only dragged myself out for 9 this afternoon. I did play 2-3 balls all the way around to make the most of my time. I've spent all damn offseason working on hitting a draw, so when i stepped up on 5 tee to try and hit high fade, it feels a bit odd to me right now. regardless, even with the weight one tick to the draw side the two balls i hit were both nice power fades that ended up in the fairway.

 

my nemesis tee box was into the wind today, and i was able to pound a couple that turned over and ended up in a spot i know is 300yds, and for sure farther than i'm used to being.

 

and yet another smashed tight little draw on the next hole which would've been considered a long drive from the next teebox up. and again on #9 i went back to the fade, and two more balls in the fairway.

 

i feel like i'm gaining confidence with this setup in that i don't have to swing out of my shoes to make it work. as a result i'm putting good swings on it more often, flighting and shaping shots.

 

maybe most importantly, i have NEVER seen this club balloon on me like the vapor flex fubuki alpha 60x combo would on occassion.

 

bottom line is it's going in the bag. i took the M1 headcover off, put the matching leather one on, and put the nike in the office.

 

The Data

All data is from a flightscope inside hitting to outside on Callaway range balls.

This is all I have right now from 1/24 - conditions were ~45deg with a steady 15mph wind straight into my grill.

 

unfortunately i feel claustrophobic in our hitting bay and just can't seem to make good swings with a driver inside. I step just outside the garage door, tee one up and make a much freer swing time after time. The few I made good passes at inside produced consistent numbers - ~108ss, ~162bs, ~12deg launch, and 2200-2700spin. I'm no expert on this, but these seem like pretty good numbers to me for that SS. setup was weight all the way back and one tic to the heel.

 

I know I have more SS in me, as my 6i ss relative to my driver doesn't make sense. I swing a 6i ~92-93, so I should be at 110+ without too much problem with a driver. I'm nothing if not thorough, and I will absolutely be getting data on multiple days.

 

 

 

 

i'm skeptical of the swing path numbers, as the flight of the ball doesn't match the path/ftp relationship unless i have a flaw in my understanding of things. i think that data might get skewed because i obviously set up right of the centerline (to give myself some more room in the bay itself).

 

1/27 update;

I spent some time fiddling with the adjustments yesterday, which was new for me as I've never really messed around with it on a LM before. Somewhat to my surprise, it worked. I'm not a bit LM junkie, but I was thinking I needed a higher launch compared to what I was getting and started cranking the loft up and moving the weight forward. It did get the LA up to around 13deg iirc, but spin also went up to ~3000. I don't know that I ever really found the optimal setup, nor was I necessarily looking for it, more just playing to see how it all worked. Bottom line is I was able to alter LA by a couple degrees and spin by ~300rpm which I thought was pretty neat. I was getting better carry numbers, but the wind wasn't as bad, I was really just watching LA and spin.

 

I did casually watch ballspeed, smash, carry, etc yesterday as well, and it should be noted that I was on our other flightscope from before. All numbers were basically the same, with slight improvement in ballspeed, smash, and carry (less wind). Basically, I validated previous data.

 

Much to my disappointment, I have to admit that I'm leaking oil somewhere in my driver swing. I've spent much of the offseason working on irons and wedges as my GIR number from last year is lacking. Hitting some 5i on the LM yesterday, it's swinging at 94-95, which is ~1-2mph above PGA tour average. As such, I would expect to have relatively similar numbers to PGA Tour average with a driver - but instead of at or slightly above, I'm 5mph slower with a driver. If I can close that gap, I really feel like this thing will be a monster.

 

Overall Impression / Intangibles

 

This is a big boy club, and for sure the most driver I've ever tried to play.

 

My first range session was under somewhat typical Prairie Dunes Conditions ~15mph dead into you. One of our asst pros on staff with TM came up with me, as he was still waiting for his M2 to be delivered and was very interested in this club since our first TM demo cart shipment didn't include a 440 head.

 

My first 3 swings the ball was clearly not spinning enough and falling out of the sky. There is no way you're going to just baby this thing out there, I think you've got to be 105+ss to even consider this combo. The first few swings our asst took he did the same thing, they just fell out of the sky.

 

Next few swings were off the center of the face but blocked ~15yds right - probably coming under it and trying to help it up. After that I got it going pretty good, and was very impressed with how it held it's line in the wind and absolutely did not balloon.

 

After about 15 swings I went back and pulled out my 420 flex with fubuki alpha 60x and took about 10 more swings to compare. The ones I pured I felt like they flew just about as well as the 440M1, but the ones I missed a little bit spun up and got destroyed by the wind.

 

The sound is SOOOOO much improved since I last really payed attention to TM drivers (R11/RBZ/etc). One thing I will say though is that it makes a big difference in sound and feel if you don't square it up. If you put a good swing on it and get everything compressing, it feels pretty good. I still prefer the flex, but the natural light can full of marbles sound of the old stuff is gone.

 

1/27 update;

Just as another tester found, moving the weight back and forward absolutely does impact how the club sounds. I'm much more a fan of the weight back.

[davo32683]

Huge thanks to GolfWRX and TaylorMade for the opportunity!

 

Build:

TaylorMade 2017 M1 440 8.5° with Graphite Design Tour AD TP6-x

 

This is a shaft I've been dying to try as I absolutely loved the DI6-x. It was an absolute fairway finder for me, but was spinny and not nearly as long as a lot of other shafts I've tried over the years. This 440 head is absolutely stunning to me. The shape is perfect and it sets up beautifully behind the ball. Coming from a 460 model, it definitely looks demanding, but it's somewhat confidence inspiring to me. Nothing distracting at address and can't hardly see the neon M1 logo at the back edge of the crown.

 

Current:

TaylorMade M1 460 8.5° with Project X Handcrafted HZRDUS Red 65g 6.5

 

About me:

I'm 33 years old and have been playing golf since I was around 8. I admittedly have an obsession with golf equipment, and in particular with golf clubs. I spent my free time in college working at a golf shop, so I've spent hours testing, repairing and building equipment. That led into my hobby today...certified club ho. I love tinkering around with clubs trying to find the next greatest thing for my game. I've tried about everything I can think of over the last 8-10 years. That may have only lasted 5 balls in a range session though. It doesn't take long for me to figure out if I like it or not.

 

My game:

I currently carry a 10.5 handicap, a far cry from the 2 I carried while in school. Amazing how work, kids, and just life in general gets in the way of golf for me and I suspect many others on the forums. The tee ball has generally been a strong suit of my golf game for as long as I can remember. I'm not the longest guy in the group, but hold my own. In captain's choice, I'm the guy that wants to tee of first and get a solid one down the middle. Grip and and rip it doesn't tend to go well for me.

 

Through several fittings over the years, I've been told I have moderate tempo and a late release. This results in me generally being a high launch, high spin guy. SS hovers around 106-108, so I tend to fall into the "tweener" category for flex. I've found though, that I get the best results from an untipped x-stiff mid-mid profile shaft or a boardy stiff flex shaft. It tames my miss (right) when things are out of sync.

 

1/24/17 AM update:

My driver showed up last night and I typed up all this twice, and lost it twice, got pissed off and went to bed. So, I'm regrouping here this morning to get some pics posted. I plan to try to get to the range today at lunch to give some initial thoughts. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get these pics oriented properly. If someone wants to offer a suggestion, I'm all ears! In true ho fashion, I have a Callaway Epic SZ on order as well, but have yet to receive it.

 

1/24/17 PM update:

New set ups always take a little time to get used to. Was grooving my current set up today and switched to the new 440. Didn't swing particularly well with that set up. Just a different feel that I couldn't quite get used to today. Nothing new for a quick range session at lunch. I will say though, that this 440 is an absolute spin killer. I hit a few well that launched well, off the center of the club face, but just didn't seem to fly anywhere. Tomorrow is going to be beautiful again here in NC, so I'll be taking it outside again tomorrow and hopefully will have some better swings. Love the sound/feel of the new head vs last year.

 

1/25/17 update:

Man it's beautiful here today! 70 degrees at lunch time! Spent some more time on the range today at lunch and intentionally left my gamer set up in the truck so I could focus solely on the new 440. Yesterday, I wasn't sure I had enough mustard for it, and today I feel less that way. I was swinging much better today and resulted in many more well struck shots. I still had a few that fell out of the sky early, but hit a few absolute monsters. I found today that this set up doesn't do well with the occasional weak, guided swing for me. I really have to load up well and swing the driver. I got in a groove with it and hit several high straight bombs in a row. That left me encouraged. I can still say though that this thing is crazy low spin. I've not had a set up that I can remember, that I couldn't have it get spinny on me. Even that guided swing is very low spin. High toe balls go better than I expected them to. I really want to get this thing on the course and see what it'll do as I have found it to be extremely straight for me.

 

Last thought, which still has be a little giddy, is that the feel/sound of the new 440 head is addicting. I played around with the back track a little today and found that I really like the feel with it right in the middle. It's an awesome combo of metal/carbon.

 

1/30/17 update:

Finally got into a LM today and my thoughts from the range were verified by the LM at Golf Galaxy. Some of the balls I'm hitting are launching around 15* with a spin rate of 1,500ish. I think if I add some weight to the head, I can get the spin rate up a bit and also get the swing weight where I want it.

 

2/7/17 update:

Finally got this driver onto the course this weekend. Played 27 Saturday and 18 on Sunday. It has absolutely exceeded expectations and is arguably the best driver I've ever gamed. I added some rubber tungsten tabs on a couple spots on the head to get the SW up a little to something more comfortable to me and this thing has come to life. I played with my usual group and I generally hover around 10 yards less than one of the longest hitters, I was consistently 10-15 yards ahead of him. One hole, which I'm sure I just hit a downhill and got a big kick, but I was around 30 yards ahead of him. I was able to move this driver left and right, or hit it dead straight. There were a few that I put bad swings on and of course got punished, but there were a few I didn't think would end up great that were shockingly good. The weather will be in the 70s again this weekend and I plan to get it out on my home course this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Homerun2Birdie]

The obligatory thanks to WRX and TaylorMade – Super pumped to finally have a chance to participate in one of these bad boys.

 

I will try to make this as detailed as possible without boring you all - In an attempt not to drive you all crazy I have made a rudimentary Table of Contents and also made each section bold, so if you’d like to skip the majority of babbling and get to something specific it should be easy enough to find. I know there is always a lot to read in these threads, and some people may not want to read all my yapping.

 

MINI TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Personal Introduction

2. Gamer (Mizuno JPX-900) Overview

3. TaylorMade M1 440 Review

· Looks

· Feel

· Sound

· Playability

4. Launch Monitor Results

· JPX-900 vs TM M1 440 vs Epic SZ

5. Final Thoughts

 

1. PERSONAL INTRODUCTION:

Former D1 baseball player and MLB draft pick before hanging up the spikes. Quickly became bored of not having anything competitive occupy my time with. Picked up golf about 3 years ago, and quickly became addicted to everything about the game.

 

Spent last year committing myself to becoming a decent player. Between picking the brains of the GolfWRX community, coupled with plenty of trial and error on the course and range I have managed to get down to a 2.8 handicap. The competitive fire in me thinks I should be much better, but golf like baseball has a funny way of humbling you.

 

2. GAMER – JPX-900 7.5° + FUJIKURA MOTORE SPEEDER VC 7.2 TS (TIPPED 1”):

For the majority of 2016 I gamed the M1, before falling head over heels for the JPX-900. I am a very high ball hitter thus the shaft/loft/tipping combo. I have found it to work quite well for me, but I must admit driving is by far the area in my game that has the most room for improvement.

 

I found this club to be quite straight on misses all over the face. By no means does the 900 save you on a bad swing, much like the rest of the golf equipment ever made, contrary to popular belief. However, misses on the face seem to have superior results to that of the 2016 M1.

 

I have struggled the last year or so keeping balls from going left. In the past I have fallen in love with the draw off the tee, and now I make more left turns than Jeff Gordon. Thus this year I’ve committed myself to playing a more neutral to cut shape with the driver, while also throttling back and smoothing out the entire swing a bit.

 

So far the 900 has been solid, I still turn it over quite hard a time or two a round, which often results in a round killing hole for me. Needless to say removing the hard left off the tee box from my game would be beneficial to my score card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. TAYLORMADE M1 440 8.5° + PROJECT X HZRDUS BLACK 75 6.5 (TIPPED 1”):

• LOOKS
  

I’ll just say this, if you liked last year’s M1/M2, or you like sub 460cc drivers you should have absolutely zero complaints about the style of this club head. I personally think my JPX-900 is the bee’s knees when it comes to style. However, down by the ball the M1 440 just looks absolutely phenomenal.

 

This club just looks so confidence inspiring for someone like myself (as I mentioned previously I have an affinity for left turns) because it just appears like it will do everything it can to help you not visit that hazard or OB they’ve located off the left side of the fairway.

 

I am not going to lie I could do without the neon paint underneath the club. Last year’s color scheme seemed a bit better to my pupils, but let’s be honest what’s underneath the club head shouldn’t be a deciding factor in a purchase. If the neon was super prevalent on the top of the club head that would be an issue, but I didn’t even notice the little branding on the back of the crown while hitting.

 

• FEEL
  

If you’ve hit last year’s M1 than this feels the same way on centered hits. Where I think this club has improved is on mishits. Part of the reason I ditched the ’16 M1 for the JPX-900 was because the M1 both felt very harsh, even on the slightest of mishits, and often had a quite punishing result.

 

High toe shots on the 440 were nearly as good as middled shots as far a results are concerned. At the same time it provided enough feedback to let me know, “hey guy, you’ve missed the center”, but not anywhere near the jarring feeling that the previous iteration of the M1 had. As a whole the well struck balls felt fantastic, and slight mishits were surprisingly pleasant as well.

 

Head to head I couldn’t distinguish a distinct advantage in forgiveness between my 900 and the M1. I’m not familiar with the MOI numbers on either of these heads (I am sure someone can chime in with an assist on this), but overall I was definitely surprised with the forgiveness and overall feel of the club.

• SOUND
  

Before diving into this section I feel I must first share that it seems this club has been hotmelted, thus I don’t believe it is a fair representation of the off the shelf version's sound. Believe me by no means am I disappointed that TM has taken the time to hotmelt this club, but I felt it pertinent to share as it has an obvious effect on the result of the sound.

 

As you would expect with any multimaterial hot melted club this bad boy sounded like a million bucks - Absolutely top shelf. If there was one complaint I had about the JPX-900 it would be the quite noticeable “ting” sound that it made. The 440 + hotmelt has a very muted “crack” sound. Time travel back to my baseball days I would say the 900 is the aluminum bat and the 440 the wooden bat.

 

• PLAYABILITY
  

I will preface this section with my initial thoughts I had going into this review – “No way I game this club, I’ve put my 900 up against the Epic SZ and the 900 came out on top. Everything I’ve read on the M1 thus far indicates it will be just a slight notch below these two”. Now that that's out of the way let me gush for a minute… My goodness guys/gals, couple all the factors I’ve listed above along with the playability, shot shapes, and results and you have one very very surprised golfer. I genuinely thought this club would be inferior in every way to the 900, I honestly did.

 

As I have mentioned a couple times above missing left is an issue for me, and the way this club sits down by the ball gave me the initial impression it would provide some assistance in avoiding that nasty little habit of mine. From the first strike I immediately noticed this club did NOT want to go left. I actually had the weight all the way to the toe to start off with and the first three swings were massive fades. Way too much for my liking, even after adjusting my swing a bit.

 

After the first three swings I actually wiped out the monitor's results for the M1, and slid the front weight halfway between the heel and center and started over. From there on out it was butter cut after butter cut. I tried to turn it over to play a draw, and it just went dead straight. For me this is heaven, for others I could see this being an issue. If your miss is right I imagine this club may only exaggerate that even more – At the very least I would certainly recommend testing the club before making the purchase.

 

One last note on the playability, this club head is a spin killer. I obviously have quite a low spinning shaft in there, but I initially had the back weight all the way forward and the spin was stupid low, like 1400 RPM low. After those first three shots I moved the back weight all the way back at the same time I slid the front weight toward the heel, and there were noticeable improvements both on the monitor as well as real world shot results, which is nice to see in an adjustable driver.

 

 

 

4. LAUNCH MONITOR RESULTS

 

I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves, but I will mention I just do not get along with the Epic clubs. I don’t what it is about them, but they just want to go left all day. My dispersion is atrocious, so I only included the very few well struck balls for the Epic as I wanted to give it a fighting chance against the others. I will say every time I’ve hit the JPX-900 vs the Epic SZ, and this was the third time, the Epic SZ has come up short (pun intended).

 

 

 

5. FINAL THOUGHTS

 

For those of you who actually read this entire thing, I am sorry if I wasted a significant portion of your day or evening. I hope I was able to provide at least one bit of useful information for everyone who took the time to read.

 

Overall I’m incredibly impressed, and quite frankly still in shock that this club beat out my beloved 900 and the Epic SZ. Even if the M1 440’s numbers ended being slightly inferior than the other two I would 100% still give this club a chance to win a spot in my bag simply because I am just enamored by the fact it has seemed to eliminate the left side for me.

 

I hope to get the 900 and 440 out on the course Friday or Thursday this week and accomplish something once unimaginable in my round…. Hit a fairway!

 

Thanks again to TaylorMade, GolfWRX, and all of you who took the time to read!

[TollBros]

Removing myself from the process.

[KK44]

I'm stoked to be a part of this review and hopefully will be able to provide some useful information for everyone. Hoping to get it on the course to compete with my GBB this week! Thank you Taylormade and GolfWRX for this opportunity!

 

My M1 Set-Up: 460 head, 10.5* loft, Graphite Design AD TP 60x. I chose this set-up for a few reasons. I used to game a SLDR 460 10.5* and was it long but too inconsistent so I stayed at 460 and 10.5 with hopes of launching it high with low spin. I chose the shaft based on the stiff tip, mid launch, low spin and smoothness.

 

Current Gamer: Cally GBB 9*, Aldila Rogue I/O 60x. I'm very happy with this as my gamer as it's long and finds fairways but is still workable. I love the look, sound, and feel. Great overall package.

 

About Me: I've been playing golf seriously for about 3 years, would play 1 or 2 casual rounds a year before that since I was about 18. Golf has now turned into an obsession for my brother and I (hence why I on WRX). My game is a work in progress but I'm currently hovering around a 7 handicap. Consistency is a big key for me. My miss is right as I tend to spin my right shoulder out. I am a former pro hockey player that toiled in the minors for 4 years. I have some natural athleticism but also some bad tendencies. Also have bad shoulders and knees...and wrists...and ankles. I try to swing smooth and average about 106-107 swing speed. My driving has been getting better lately and I've been very happy with the GBB. It will be fun to see who wins this battle.

 

 

Will be going for a full fitting soon as well.

 

 

1/24/17 UPDATE: I was too excited to wait so play this so I went to play a VERY quick 9 this morning before work. Was pretty breezy, 14-18 mph. No warm-up. Hit my GBB and the M1 on all par 4's and 5's. First with the M1 was pulled left, GBB was right down the middle. I felt like this is the draw bias coming into play. They were both well struck. Directly into the wind, M1 found the left rough, but still went 260 yards. Probably about 5-10 yards longer than the GBB. GBB was right down the middle. One hole was a direct right to left wind where I felt I hit two good shots with each and right where I was aiming. They were almost identical yardage, about 280y. One hole was directly downwind so I was happy to be able to give it a rip. I stepped on it a little bit and it went high, straight, and long. Rolled out to 325y (downwind). About 10 yards longer than an equal shot with the GBB. Mostly though, distances were very similar between the two.

 

Overall Initial Impression: I like the sound. Head is BIG. Nice shape though. Almost/kinda/sorta pear-like. Seems like it disguises the size a little bit. Super easy to hit. Very forgiving. I can't wait to get this out for a real round this weekend and dialed in at a fitting to optimize the spin and launch.

[chickenpotpie]

Placeholder for my review here.

 

Planning to evaluate this against my 2016 M2 as well as a GBB Epic Subzero all with the AD-BB 6S shaft. Should be a good battle! Really looking forward to seeing how the adjustability could help me compared to the M2.

 

And let me also say thanks to TaylorMade and WRX for the opportunity!

 

INITIAL REVIEW

 

So I received my club on Monday, but only got a chance to hit it yesterday afternoon on a Foresight GC2. This unit has HMT, but I didn't have the dots to make use of it. Below are my initial results, but let me give a little more background first. I am planning to do a more thorough review, probably Friday.

 

ABOUT ME:

I play to a 7 handicap currently, but have been as low as 5. Driving has been a strength of my game, though in recent years I have lost some club head speed (and thus ball speed). I used to have a severe OTT move, but I have worked on flattening my swing to fix this. When I'm driving the ball well, the ball will generally fly high and straight with a slight cut.

 

The one problem I have is that the loss of speed and that cut action both combine to hurt me on distance. And for me to realistically compete at my club, I will need to gain yardage off the tee (or be more perfect with my long irons). The M2 last year really helped in this regard as it turned that spiny cut into a slight draw that flew lower. I had no issues turning it over, with the AD-BB shaft (shout out to ATMG'er dozer996 here).

 

DATA

For this assessment I wanted to get an M1 460 cc with similar specs to compare. I also was curious to see if I could knock any more spin off. I currently play the M2 in the "highest" setting, or most closed face setting as it just looks better to my eye. I didn't have my wrench (darn it) so I did this initial test with the M1 in the stated loft/lie setting, with the same shaft and grip. About as apples to apples as you can get, ex the loft.

 

As you can see, the M1 was 12 yards longer due to lower spin and more draw action. Spin and launch were noticeably lower, especially if you throw out the last 2 shots which were swing adjustments.

 

M2: 141.2 ball speed, 14 launch, 2859 rpm backspin, 33 yd peak, 40 degree descent, 232 yd carry, 257 yd total, 8 yd left of center.

 

M1 (not including last 2 shots in picture to be posted): 141.5 ball speed, 12.5 launch, 1905 rpm backspin, 23 yd peak, 31 degree descent, 233 yd carry, 269 yd total, 21 yd left of center.

 

 

 

SECOND REVIEW

 

I finally got some time today to do a thorough review. I hit my M2 first to get a baseline, which gave me very similar numbers to what I had previously (I guess I'm consistent!). Then I started hitting the M1, migrating settings to get a feel for what they did. I hit it in this order:

 

Standard configuration with the weight forward

Highest loft setting to match my M2, weight forward

Upright setting, back weight

Upright setting, front weight

Upright setting, front weight, draw weight

 

I'll get to the numbers in a minute, but if you don't have time to sift through the data here are my observations/conclusions so far (at the risk of never getting to test again, LOL):

1) This feels a lot like my 2016 M2, and honestly, I don't see much difference between the two except that you can tweak things more

2) The settings didn't really do much for me, with the exception of the last one and the draw bias weighting (more below)

3) Moving the slider to the draw position made the feel of the driver a little harsher. Feel was much much smoother with that weight in the middle. I didn't see any such changes with the front/rear slider.

4) In the end, I did gain about 2 yards of carry, and 5 yards total with the M1 in the optimized configuration for me. Not sure it would be worth the money if I was hitting an optimized M2. I think there could be a few more yards in here to squeak out through shaft optimization maybe.

5) I like the look of the M1 better overall

6) For the OCD people out there (like me), I did find it odd that the center of the fade/draw weight track doesn't align with the center of the front/back weight track.

7) I could not turn this driver over in any setting I tried like I could my current M2. Admittedly, this could be setup/alignment related, as the alignment aids on top are a bit different. Could take some getting used to.

 

NUMBERS

 

 

[Ed Settle]

I'm stoked to be a part of this review and hopefully will be able to provide some useful information for everyone. Hoping to get it on the course to compete with my GBB this week!

 

My M1 Set-Up: 460 head, 10.5* loft, Graphite Design AD TP 60x

 

Will be going for a full fitting soon as well.

 

That will be what I am looking at also. Can't wait to hear what you think.

[Ed Settle]

Placeholder for my review here.

 

Planning to evaluate this against my 2016 M2 as well as a GBB Epic Subzero all with the AD-BB 6S shaft. Should be a good battle! Really looking forward to seeing how the adjustability could help me compared to the M2.

 

And let me also say thanks to TaylorMade and WRX for the opportunity!

 

Looking forward to the reviews. What set up did you request?

[chickenpotpie]

Placeholder for my review here.

 

Planning to evaluate this against my 2016 M2 as well as a GBB Epic Subzero all with the AD-BB 6S shaft. Should be a good battle! Really looking forward to seeing how the adjustability could help me compared to the M2.

 

And let me also say thanks to TaylorMade and WRX for the opportunity!

 

Looking forward to the reviews. What set up did you request?

 

I had them replicate my 2016 M2 build (AD-BB 6S, white iomic grip) because it was really solid for me last year. I know others have said they can't turn this driver over, but that's what I really liked about it (that I could turn it over). Compared to the King LTD or Ping G, this thing shined in that department for me as the other two I mentioned tended to block right a ton.

 

Really excited to put the new 2017 M1 through its paces against the champ for me. As an added bonus, I've also got the Epic SZ to compare against, same shaft.

[Ed Settle]

Placeholder for my review here.

 

Planning to evaluate this against my 2016 M2 as well as a GBB Epic Subzero all with the AD-BB 6S shaft. Should be a good battle! Really looking forward to seeing how the adjustability could help me compared to the M2.

 

And let me also say thanks to TaylorMade and WRX for the opportunity!

 

Looking forward to the reviews. What set up did you request?

 

I had them replicate my 2016 M2 build (AD-BB 6S, white iomic grip) because it was really solid for me last year. I know others have said they can't turn this driver over, but that's what I really liked about it (that I could turn it over). Compared to the King LTD or Ping G, this thing shined in that department for me as the other two I mentioned tended to block right a ton.

 

Really excited to put the new 2017 M1 through its paces against the champ for me. As an added bonus, I've also got the Epic SZ to compare against, same shaft.

 

I am still playing the R15 TP with the Speeder 661. I got an M1 10.5° last year and never felt comfortable with it. I always felt like I never found the right shaft for it. Tried the 3 or 4 I have but it was like I need something else. Just gave up and went back to my R15. Going to find the right combination this year for sure.

 

Also please note whether you're using a 460 or a 440 head and the reasons for that. Thinking about a 440 head myself.

[davo32683]

Updated my post with some background and photos.

[gioguy21]

 

On to the 2017 M1. I requested the 460 head in 9.5 loft with the Fujikura Pro 73 X shaft playing at 44.75". After initial reviews showed this head to spin so low, the 440 head scared me a little bit which is why I opted for the 460. My reasoning for going with the Fujikura Pro 73 is simply because I've never tried a Fujikura shaft and after looking at the shaft chart that TM published, I liked where it fell on the chart. Mid Launch, and Low Spin. If I don't get along with it, I will just put a TM tip on my Kuro Kage DC TiNi TX and see how it performs in this head.

 

 

very interested in how this head performs with the KK DC --- please let us know and if you could, compare with some data for this pairing. thanks!!!

[JStang]

On to the 2017 M1. I requested the 460 head in 9.5 loft with the Fujikura Pro 73 X shaft playing at 44.75". After initial reviews showed this head to spin so low, the 440 head scared me a little bit which is why I opted for the 460. My reasoning for going with the Fujikura Pro 73 is simply because I've never tried a Fujikura shaft and after looking at the shaft chart that TM published, I liked where it fell on the chart. Mid Launch, and Low Spin. If I don't get along with it, I will just put a TM tip on my Kuro Kage DC TiNi TX and see how it performs in this head.

 

 

very interested in how this head performs with the KK DC --- please let us know and if you could, compare with some data for this pairing. thanks!!!

 

I think TollBros had some limited experience with this combo so maybe he can provide some insight.

[TollBros]

On to the 2017 M1. I requested the 460 head in 9.5 loft with the Fujikura Pro 73 X shaft playing at 44.75". After initial reviews showed this head to spin so low, the 440 head scared me a little bit which is why I opted for the 460. My reasoning for going with the Fujikura Pro 73 is simply because I've never tried a Fujikura shaft and after looking at the shaft chart that TM published, I liked where it fell on the chart. Mid Launch, and Low Spin. If I don't get along with it, I will just put a TM tip on my Kuro Kage DC TiNi TX and see how it performs in this head.

 

 

very interested in how this head performs with the KK DC --- please let us know and if you could, compare with some data for this pairing. thanks!!!

 

I think TollBros had some limited experience with this combo so maybe he can provide some insight.

 

I do. I actually have a Dual Core 70tx ready for this head if I don't like the setup as it comes. I also play it in my M2 2016 current set up. It's a very low spin shaft, and since I fade the ball, it allows me to open up the face and hit knuckle fades that still run when they land. I'll update my post when mine arrives. I actually have Epic SZ, LTD PRO, M1 2016, M2 2016, and this new driver, all with identically spec'd shafts and heads to do a shootout on. And I've got 6 of our testers to commit to doing it with me. That will be another thread. This one will be my personal testing of m1 2016 against m1 2017 and m2 2016.

[Whiskey_fire]

Looking forward to this

[Tony_Ireland]

2017 M1 is an absolute beaut! Love my 917 but i gotta get a hit of these badboys haha

[FOOTJOY16]

Wow.. .. I would love to be a part of a test like this. I'm really anxious to hear the report from Davo32683.. That looks like an awesome combination.

[ignitewvu]

The the rumors of retail heads not having a Hot Melt Port look to be false?

[davo32683]

The the rumors of retail heads not having a Hot Melt Port look to be false?

 

I'd say so.

[davo32683]

Wow.. .. I would love to be a part of a test like this. I'm really anxious to hear the report from Davo32683.. That looks like an awesome combination.

 

I added some notes from my very brief time on the range today.

[tnord]

some data added.

 

i have to admit, this thing may be too much stick for me.

[Kylekoz17]

Best looking driver this year in my opinion. Hoping I get fit into new m1. Jealous of this test. Enjoy!

[KK44]

Added an update from playing 9 this morning.

[pitchinwedge]

Mine just arrived. Added some pics.

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1432048-member-testing-2017-taylormade-m1-driver-reviews/?do=findComment&comment=14847774

[JStang]

Mine just arrived. Added some pics.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c.../#entry14847774

 

Nice! Did you pay the upcharge for the shaft or did you already have it? That is on my short list of shafts to try.

[pitchinwedge]

No upcharge. As Jory said... BOOM! :taunt:

 

Was on my list to try as well from my last M1 fitting. A bit higher launch but still low spin, IIRC. Not sure if it can still hang with some of the newer generation products out there but I'm hoping the feel and profile will be a good match for me.

[JStang]

No upcharge. As Jory said... BOOM! :taunt:

 

Was on my list to try as well from my last M1 fitting. A bit higher launch but still low spin, IIRC. Not sure if it can still hang with some of the newer generation products out there but I'm hoping the feel and profile will be a good match for me.

 

You lucky SOB. I want my money back. Oh, wait....