#TaylorMadeTuesday at The Kingdom, Feb 26-28, 2017 (pics added pg1,16,19 & 20)

[DNice26]

Be specific with your answer!

[DNice26]

[drewtaylor21]

With all due respect to the guys that went on this trip, I'm not sure what the purpose is of TaylorMade doing this. I tried to order a custom M1 driver today and TaylorMade said they would not do anything to adjust the swing weight if I ordered it shorter than standard length. Why have these guys go to so much trouble writing all of these great reviews of the trip, talking about their fitting sessions and the fabulous facilities if TaylorMade isn't even in the custom club business at retail? It says a lot of about the state of their company that I asked the same question of Titleist and they said yes we have heavier weights to place in the head, no problem. I guess it's better than what TaylorMade did with the RBZ Stage 2 Tour driver I ordered a few years ago. We called and asked if they would adjust the swing weight for a shorter club and they said absolutely! Then they shipped a driver at C5 swing weight. It felt like a whiffle ball bat. At least they didn't lie this time. I was part of the very first group who won a trip with TaylorMade back in 2011. We went to the PGA show. It was a fabulous trip too. But what's the point? Is TaylorMade a golf club company or a golf club marketing company?

Really? I'm sure that's what they told you, but I have a hard time believing that what the person said was correct. They don't have a variety of sliding weight options just for decorative value (which makes changing swing weight incredibly easy).

 

I would assume the person TM has taking the orders from their green grass retailers would know what they are talking about, but maybe that's part of their problem too... I totally agree, they have the other sized weights, why would they not make that tiny little effort to switch them out when someone doesn't want their stock length driver? That's my point, the guys on this trip are showing products and services that almost no one else can get, what is the point of that??? If you're going to go through the expense they did, why show all of this off if people who follow this thread want a custom club and they can't get it? It's nonsense. And yes as I say that I am still pulling Adidas jackets and clothing out of my closets that I forgot they gave me six years ago. But all of those clothes that I came home with could have been bought by buddies back home who might have seen them and liked them.

 

Yes, TaylorMade is a golf club company that is involved in marketing! So is Callaway, Titleist, Cobra, et al. If you made golf equipment, would you want radio silence about your product, or would you want thousands of people reading about them and discussing them? I'd guess the latter. That's the point of all this, and I'm sure you understand that, given that you said you went on one of these trips previously.

 

As for custom club building, that's a fair criticism, and I'm not entirely sure what the answer is on that one. Darrin needed his swingweight adjusted and the tour guys added quite a bit of hotmelt from what I heard. I know there are several ways you could add weight like that on your own or with a custom shop, but frankly I don't know if that is a service that is available for the general public at any of the OEMs. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that one.

[xzxkixl]

Be specific with your answer!

same red as redback spider streak on belly back home

[xzxkixl]

Be specific with your answer!

same red as redback spider streak on belly back home

and if you want more specific, same itsy bitsy prototype he'd been using but with the new color

[Zach Heusser]

@Dnice. He saw mine ?

[Sneakbox]

WOW, this is awesome...Nice write up

[cardoustie]

I love LOVE LOVE .... FLOW neck mallets

[DNice26]

Be specific with your answer!

same red as redback spider streak on belly back home

 

Winner, winner White and black "M" hat for you sir!

 

Please PM me your address and I'll ship it to you as soon as possible.

 

Cheers!!!

D

[GC70]

@Dnice. He saw mine ?

 

That's one sexy putter!

[xzxkixl]

Be specific with your answer!

same red as redback spider streak on belly back home

 

Winner, winner White and black "M" hat for you sir!

 

Please PM me your address and I'll ship it to you as soon as possible.

 

Cheers!!!

D

Awesome of you to do that, tried to send PM, looks like your inbox is full

[DNice26]

Be specific with your answer!

same red as redback spider streak on belly back home

 

Winner, winner White and black "M" hat for you sir!

 

Please PM me your address and I'll ship it to you as soon as possible.

 

Cheers!!!

D

Awesome of you to do that, tried to send PM, looks like your inbox is full

 

Odd.....let me try and clear it.

[drewsaber16]

Thanks for the details on the trip. Looks amazing!

[BCULAW]

Stay tuned, guys. We will have some other stuff to give away in the coming days while we await the arrival of our gear. In the next few days, we are going to give away a leather, tour only M2 driver headcover - 1 of only 100 made, I believe. We will post details of the giveaway soon. In the meantime, keep the questions coming.

[Zach Heusser]

@Dnice. He saw mine ?

 

That's one sexy putter!

Thanks I've loved it since I got it !

[eldog-in-the-hizouse]

With all due respect to the guys that went on this trip, I'm not sure what the purpose is of TaylorMade doing this. I tried to order a custom M1 driver today and TaylorMade said they would not do anything to adjust the swing weight if I ordered it shorter than standard length. Why have these guys go to so much trouble writing all of these great reviews of the trip, talking about their fitting sessions and the fabulous facilities if TaylorMade isn't even in the custom club business at retail? It says a lot of about the state of their company that I asked the same question of Titleist and they said yes we have heavier weights to place in the head, no problem. I guess it's better than what TaylorMade did with the RBZ Stage 2 Tour driver I ordered a few years ago. We called and asked if they would adjust the swing weight for a shorter club and they said absolutely! Then they shipped a driver at C5 swing weight. It felt like a whiffle ball bat. At least they didn't lie this time. I was part of the very first group who won a trip with TaylorMade back in 2011. We went to the PGA show. It was a fabulous trip too. But what's the point? Is TaylorMade a golf club company or a golf club marketing company?

Really? I'm sure that's what they told you, but I have a hard time believing that what the person said was correct. They don't have a variety of sliding weight options just for decorative value (which makes changing swing weight incredibly easy).

 

I would assume the person TM has taking the orders from their green grass retailers would know what they are talking about, but maybe that's part of their problem too... I totally agree, they have the other sized weights, why would they not make that tiny little effort to switch them out when someone doesn't want their stock length driver? That's my point, the guys on this trip are showing products and services that almost no one else can get, what is the point of that??? If you're going to go through the expense they did, why show all of this off if people who follow this thread want a custom club and they can't get it? It's nonsense. And yes as I say that I am still pulling Adidas jackets and clothing out of my closets that I forgot they gave me six years ago. But all of those clothes that I came home with could have been bought by buddies back home who might have seen them and liked them.

 

Yes, TaylorMade is a golf club company that is involved in marketing! So is Callaway, Titleist, Cobra, et al. If you made golf equipment, would you want radio silence about your product, or would you want thousands of people reading about them and discussing them? I'd guess the latter. That's the point of all this, and I'm sure you understand that, given that you said you went on one of these trips previously.

 

As for custom club building, that's a fair criticism, and I'm not entirely sure what the answer is on that one. Darrin needed his swingweight adjusted and the tour guys added quite a bit of hotmelt from what I heard. I know there are several ways you could add weight like that on your own or with a custom shop, but frankly I don't know if that is a service that is available for the general public at any of the OEMs. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that one.

 

You're missing my point. I like TM and I am trying to buy a club from them. Take a look at Titleist's advertising. It says something like 30-swings in 30-minutes to get fitted. Like my first post says we called Titleist after TM said they would not add weight to the head for a shorter driver and Titleist said right away that they can do it easily, no problem. The other guy also mentioned that TM has the different sized head weights already made, so why won't they do it too? So Titleist is advertising custom clubs and then actually selling them. TM is bogusly marketing custom clubs through you guys then absolutely not offering them to sell. It makes zero sense to go through this charade with you guys if TM is not going to be a custom club company. I do not want a Callaway driver, but Callaway sent all of those guys to Carlsbad, fitted them, then they actually sell custom fitted clubs. They will add weight to the heads of their clubs before they ship them. Yes I am aware that I can add lead tape or find someone to hotmelt it myself. But for $500 I can have that done by other companies that are and are not on this website acting like a custom club company and having forum members show off their facilities. I know Nike would also not add weight to the heads of drivers, we see where they are now. I'm not a nit-picking swing weight guy who gets the club then sends it back because when I weigh it it is D2 and I wanted D3. But TM thinks it's ok to butt trim a club and ship it out at C6.

[TinkerGolfMan]

 

Drew out of the bunker on 18

 

 

Jory Taking driver off the deck

 

 

Need a Trackman? The Kingdom's got plenty

 

 

I was a little disappointed, I hoped Ryan Lauder would have his Arc1 that's his gamer putter. I think he was using a TP Berwick here.

 

Great shots!

[pitchinwedge]

You're missing my point. I like TM and I am trying to buy a club from them. Take a look at Titleist's advertising. It says something like 30-swings in 30-minutes to get fitted. Like my first post says we called Titleist after TM said they would not add weight to the head for a shorter driver and Titleist said right away that they can do it easily, no problem. The other guy also mentioned that TM has the different sized head weights already made, so why won't they do it too? So Titleist is advertising custom clubs and then actually selling them. TM is bogusly marketing custom clubs through you guys then absolutely not offering them to sell. It makes zero sense to go through this charade with you guys if TM is not going to be a custom club company. I do not want a Callaway driver, but Callaway sent all of those guys to Carlsbad, fitted them, then they actually sell custom fitted clubs. They will add weight to the heads of their clubs before they ship them. Yes I am aware that I can add lead tape or find someone to hotmelt it myself. But for $500 I can have that done by other companies that are and are not on this website acting like a custom club company and having forum members show off their facilities. I know Nike would also not add weight to the heads of drivers, we see where they are now. I'm not a nit-picking swing weight guy who gets the club then sends it back because when I weigh it it is D2 and I wanted D3. But TM thinks it's ok to butt trim a club and ship it out at C6.

 

+1

 

Worse yet, many rec'd their 2017 M1 with the weights out of spec. Haven't heard of anyone being able to get any replacement weights. Something is amiss.

[Peanut191]

With all due respect to the guys that went on this trip, I'm not sure what the purpose is of TaylorMade doing this. I tried to order a custom M1 driver today and TaylorMade said they would not do anything to adjust the swing weight if I ordered it shorter than standard length. Why have these guys go to so much trouble writing all of these great reviews of the trip, talking about their fitting sessions and the fabulous facilities if TaylorMade isn't even in the custom club business at retail? It says a lot of about the state of their company that I asked the same question of Titleist and they said yes we have heavier weights to place in the head, no problem. I guess it's better than what TaylorMade did with the RBZ Stage 2 Tour driver I ordered a few years ago. We called and asked if they would adjust the swing weight for a shorter club and they said absolutely! Then they shipped a driver at C5 swing weight. It felt like a whiffle ball bat. At least they didn't lie this time. I was part of the very first group who won a trip with TaylorMade back in 2011. We went to the PGA show. It was a fabulous trip too. But what's the point? Is TaylorMade a golf club company or a golf club marketing company?

Really? I'm sure that's what they told you, but I have a hard time believing that what the person said was correct. They don't have a variety of sliding weight options just for decorative value (which makes changing swing weight incredibly easy).

 

I would assume the person TM has taking the orders from their green grass retailers would know what they are talking about, but maybe that's part of their problem too... I totally agree, they have the other sized weights, why would they not make that tiny little effort to switch them out when someone doesn't want their stock length driver? That's my point, the guys on this trip are showing products and services that almost no one else can get, what is the point of that??? If you're going to go through the expense they did, why show all of this off if people who follow this thread want a custom club and they can't get it? It's nonsense. And yes as I say that I am still pulling Adidas jackets and clothing out of my closets that I forgot they gave me six years ago. But all of those clothes that I came home with could have been bought by buddies back home who might have seen them and liked them.

 

Yes, TaylorMade is a golf club company that is involved in marketing! So is Callaway, Titleist, Cobra, et al. If you made golf equipment, would you want radio silence about your product, or would you want thousands of people reading about them and discussing them? I'd guess the latter. That's the point of all this, and I'm sure you understand that, given that you said you went on one of these trips previously.

 

As for custom club building, that's a fair criticism, and I'm not entirely sure what the answer is on that one. Darrin needed his swingweight adjusted and the tour guys added quite a bit of hotmelt from what I heard. I know there are several ways you could add weight like that on your own or with a custom shop, but frankly I don't know if that is a service that is available for the general public at any of the OEMs. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that one.

 

You're missing my point. I like TM and I am trying to buy a club from them. Take a look at Titleist's advertising. It says something like 30-swings in 30-minutes to get fitted. Like my first post says we called Titleist after TM said they would not add weight to the head for a shorter driver and Titleist said right away that they can do it easily, no problem. The other guy also mentioned that TM has the different sized head weights already made, so why won't they do it too? So Titleist is advertising custom clubs and then actually selling them. TM is bogusly marketing custom clubs through you guys then absolutely not offering them to sell. It makes zero sense to go through this charade with you guys if TM is not going to be a custom club company. I do not want a Callaway driver, but Callaway sent all of those guys to Carlsbad, fitted them, then they actually sell custom fitted clubs. They will add weight to the heads of their clubs before they ship them. Yes I am aware that I can add lead tape or find someone to hotmelt it myself. But for $500 I can have that done by other companies that are and are not on this website acting like a custom club company and having forum members show off their facilities. I know Nike would also not add weight to the heads of drivers, we see where they are now. I'm not a nit-picking swing weight guy who gets the club then sends it back because when I weigh it it is D2 and I wanted D3. But TM thinks it's ok to butt trim a club and ship it out at C6.

 

Most companies say they will try to get the SW to requested amount. Whether they actually do it or not seems to be up in the air. I know that Ping tries to get SW right when you order through their WRX department and Titleist appears to do similar, like you said above. Now there have been many posts that Callaway will not actually do custom SW, but they have for some/many(I think they also stated they would in a podcast or press release). From reading in the forums, it appears that it is almost completely up to the customer service agent you happen to get on the phone, as to whether or not they will actually do it. I know it would be a pain to try to custom SW every single driver they sell, but it seems that it wouldn't be that much of a problem for the custom orders. I don't know what the answer is, as it seems every company/sales rep/customer service agent varies.

 

But, it would be nice if you could request a couple of extra weights with your custom order. I mean the actual weights can't cost that much from the companies perspective, maybe anywhere from 5 cents up to a dollar. I would take an extra ten dollar charge for that and they would make a pretty good margin on that. Not sure if that is the answer, but it would be cool.

[drewtaylor21]

You're missing my point. I like TM and I am trying to buy a club from them. Take a look at Titleist's advertising. It says something like 30-swings in 30-minutes to get fitted. Like my first post says we called Titleist after TM said they would not add weight to the head for a shorter driver and Titleist said right away that they can do it easily, no problem. The other guy also mentioned that TM has the different sized head weights already made, so why won't they do it too? So Titleist is advertising custom clubs and then actually selling them. TM is bogusly marketing custom clubs through you guys then absolutely not offering them to sell. It makes zero sense to go through this charade with you guys if TM is not going to be a custom club company. I do not want a Callaway driver, but Callaway sent all of those guys to Carlsbad, fitted them, then they actually sell custom fitted clubs. They will add weight to the heads of their clubs before they ship them. Yes I am aware that I can add lead tape or find someone to hotmelt it myself. But for $500 I can have that done by other companies that are and are not on this website acting like a custom club company and having forum members show off their facilities. I know Nike would also not add weight to the heads of drivers, we see where they are now. I'm not a nit-picking swing weight guy who gets the club then sends it back because when I weigh it it is D2 and I wanted D3. But TM thinks it's ok to butt trim a club and ship it out at C6.

 

No, I get your point, I'm just saying I don't know that any of the OEM's actually consistently do what you say they are doing at a retail level. You called Titleist and they said they could adjust headweight, but did you actually order a driver and see if they did that correctly? I've seen some of the guys in the Callaway thread have the same issue, where custom orders are not correctly swingweighted. Some companies appear to make an effort, but don't always get it right. I tend to think if you want that sort of thing tightly controlled, you do it yourself or with the help of a custom shop in person.

 

Most companies say they will try to get the SW to requested amount. Whether they actually do it or not seems to be up in the air. I know that Ping tries to get SW right when you order through their WRX department and Titleist appears to do similar, like you said above. Now there have been many posts that Callaway will not actually do custom SW, but they have for some/many(I think they also stated they would in a podcast or press release). From reading in the forums, it appears that it is almost completely up to the customer service agent you happen to get on the phone, as to whether or not they will actually do it. I know it would be a pain to try to custom SW every single driver they sell, but it seems that it wouldn't be that much of a problem for the custom orders. I don't know what the answer is, as it seems every company/sales rep/customer service agent varies.

 

But, it would be nice if you could request a couple of extra weights with your custom order. I mean the actual weights can't cost that much from the companies perspective, maybe anywhere from 5 cents up to a dollar. I would take an extra ten dollar charge for that and they would make a pretty good margin on that. Not sure if that is the answer, but it would be cool.

 

This is what I was trying to say, but Peanut explained it much better! I would agree that there doesn't seem to be a consistent standard, and would agree that it would be nice if OEM's/TM addressed this. I will look into getting an official word from TM.

 

To call the OEM-sponsored trips a "charade" or "BS" simply because of that is way overboard though. They aren't using us to advertise custom options, and in fact, only one of us actually required a custom change to get to spec. We were there to learn more about their 2017 line of clubs and balls, then share that info with you guys. What you do with that info is up to you!

[NVCO9]

A good Friday morning at work = reading the write up from the WRX'ers who went on the trip! Amazing, thanks for the all the details and pictures!

 

Is my guy JB Holmes still on staff with TM?

 

And does anybody know where I can get some 2014 MB heads?

[nitram]

Great write-up Schnee. Hats off for taking advantage of a chance to go see Monte. :hi:

[Schnee]

Great write-up Schnee. Hats off for taking advantage of a chance to go see Monte. :hi:

 

I had to! I was so close it was the only prudent choice.

[erichake]

You had to hit off mats? Why is that, with all that grass right there?

[PowderedToastMan]

Taylormade is an excellent company. I'm sure when the CEO finds out certain custom orders aren't being taken because a customer service agent doesn't want to request the club builder to add an extra couple grams in the head via movable weights (literally take an extra minute in the building process), I'm certain that "policy" will change. It makes zero sense from a business perspective ("we don't want your $600 because we don't want to take the minimal time to grab heavier weights we bought for pennies").

 

This complaint about custom swingweight isn't a reflection on Taylormade and I'm glad Eldog brought it up. By publicly mentioning it in this thread, he'll probably actually help Taylormade make more money in the future.

[PowderedToastMan]

You had to hit off mats? Why is that, with all that grass right there?

As mentioned approximately 37,000 times, an ocean of rain fell from the sky.

[floycota]

Don't know if I read a post that makes me so happy for someone else while simultaneously wanting to stab them with a divot tool. :cheesy: Sounds like a fantastic trip.

[Schnee]

You had to hit off mats? Why is that, with all that grass right there?

 

More than 3 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period, which is more than 1/4 of Carlsbad's average yearly rainfall.

[BCULAW]

You had to hit off mats? Why is that, with all that grass right there?

 

They were "tour issued" mats from the Kingdom, though. Hand-sorted and specially weighted to ensure identical friction and rebound properties as the turf the best professionals play and practice on. They look like normal mats, but that is only for marketing purposes. Let me assure you. They were FAR different.

[Peanut191]

You had to hit off mats? Why is that, with all that grass right there?

 

They were "tour issued" mats from the Kingdom, though. Hand-sorted and specially weighted to ensure identical friction and rebound properties as the turf the best professionals play and practice on. They look like normal mats, but that is only for marketing purposes. Let me assure you. They were FAR different.

 

Were they made of "Quality" material as well? :)