TaylorMade 2023 Product Testing and Fitting Experience Live At The Kingdom! Follow Along Here!

[QuigleyDU]

So did you get to play? Or is that tomorrow?

Edited January 10, 2023 by QuigleyDU

[boggyman]

Appreciate all the info! 

[Olde Maroon]

5 hours ago, radiman said:

course pics would be great for those of us in the great white north. 

Best I can do. We got rained out after 7 holes (you can see the rivers starting to form on the green over my shoulder.) 

 

Course was beautiful, but TIGHT on almost every shot. Bummed we couldn't finish as there were some beautiful holes yet to come. I love a rainy round, but I admit putting through rivers on the green gets tricky... 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Olde Maroon

[MFBach]

6 hours ago, radiman said:

course pics would be great for those of us in the great white north.

So, we didn’t get in a ton of playing time before the rain set in hard (what’s up with that, SoCal?), but the course was pretty amazing. If you get a chance to play The Farms in Rancho Santa Fe, bring your A Game and an extra sleeve of balls. Quality facility, to say the least. Wish the weather had cooperated a little better, but hard to complain about anything at this point. 
 

Edited January 11, 2023 by MFBach

[jbole267]

6 hours ago, QuigleyDU said:

 

Was thinking the same. Releases so far have not touched putters.. 

Spiders are interesting, just saw them. 
 

You pull your putts? Well now you have a fix, you push your putts, same thing. Super cool concept and keeping with good looking line unlike the truss idea looking silly. 
 

Also, if you were a fan on the true path alignment on the old spider x you will not be disappointed….

[Olde Maroon]

5 hours ago, jonflesh said:

Apologize if I missed it in an earlier post but did anyone test/get fit for the new hybrids?  Thoughts?

 

I got fit for hybrids. As you can see in my original post, my "current" set includes three hybrids - two Cobra F9 and one Titleist TS2. I struggle with long irons, and feel very comfortable with hybrids. Note that all three would be considered larger hybrid heads - not full on hybrid-fairway clubs, but aimed to be more forgiving and less iron-like "workable". You can see that I ended up with just one hybrid in the "players" Stealth+ 2 model, which is very iron-like with a sharp vertical toe and a face shaped like an iron. The head is smaller and more fade-biased. 

 

At the fitting, Chandler noted that I hit my Cobras pretty well and that I was confident with them. He naturally put me in the standard Stealth 2 model, which is the TM corollary to my F9/TS2 heads. The standard Stealth has a bit larger head that verges on mini-fairway, and a fairway shaped face. I felt at home with it and he had a Ventus Red (non-velo) 7s shaft in it. What I found was that I was having a hard time finding a lower trajectory. It would just go up right away, which led to greater front-back dispersion and I was battling the headwind at The Kingdom. If I didn't hit it dead straight, it would get dominated by the wind. The shaft was too light as well, but changing to the Ventus Blue Velocore 8s only helped with my control, and couldn't fix the inherent flight for that model. 

 

When he gave me the Stealth+ 2 head, I was immediately leery. I have never felt confident with this head shape, and I'm not a great iron player, so why play a hybrid that mimics an iron? Not for the first or last time, Chandler proved why he is the expert. I was immediately hitting lower, controlled shots straight through the wind. We stuck with the Ventus Blue Velocore 8s shaft, as I am clearly comfortable with that profile. FWIW, I am quick on the backswing, aggressive transition, and quick on the downswing (not always to good results). 

 

The Plus model gave me the flexibility to hit that low piercing shot that most hybrids don't allow, but I had no issues getting it up as well to drop onto a green as a scoring club. Forgiveness was solid, but I was also finding the middle much better with this combo. I'm sure I'll test out the whole face in no time... 

 

Let me if you have any questions about anything I didn't cover or anything I said that didn't make sense. I'm not a club reviewer, but I'll try my best to help. 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Olde Maroon

[getitdaily]

Pretty cool stuff. If this is done again next year I'm definitely entering. Had limitations this year but this would be a super cool trip. 

[QuigleyDU]

37 minutes ago, jbole267 said:

Spiders are interesting, just saw them. 
 

You pull your putts? Well now you have a fix, you push your putts, same thing. Super cool concept and keeping with good looking line unlike the truss idea looking silly. 
 

Also, if you were a fan on the true path alignment on the old spider x you will not be disappointed….

[QuigleyDU]

49 minutes ago, MFBach said:

So, we didn’t get in a ton of playing time before the rain set in hard (what’s up with that, SoCal?), but the course was pretty amazing. If you get a chance to play The Farms in Rancho Santa Fe, bring your A Game and an extra sleeve of balls. Quality facility, to say the least. Wish the weather had cooperated a little better, but hard to complain about anything at this point. 
 

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Wow! Sorry you did get to play!!

[MFBach]

5 minutes ago, QuigleyDU said:

Wow! Sorry you did get to play!!

We played, so we were just cut short. When’s the last time a Carlsbad closed for the day due to… excessive rain!? 
 

A bit of a bummer for sure, but given the whirlwind since Sunday, it’s very hard to be disappointed in anything at all we’ve experienced. Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

[gticlay]

The iron  fitting:

 

I went into the whole Kingdom experience with an open mind. I've been wanting to play the P7-MC irons since they came out but to be honest, I know my ball striking isn't good enough to play those irons.  I hit the ball OK but I'm a 10 handicap and I hit some really awful shots too.  EVERY ROUND.

 

While I was hitting woods pretty well, my iron swing was pretty terrible. That's not to say I didn't hit some good shots we could fit from, but the wind was into us and I was a bit all over the place, even hitting some shanks "shank you very much!" That's not fun.

 

However, my fitter has a good eye, was patient, understood this was the first time I had hit balls in a while, and worked with my good shots.  We tried both the 770 and 790 heads with 4 different shafts in each, along with multiple lie angles. This was no easy 3 shot fit like the 5 wood.

 

In the end, I hit the 790 irons at 1* flat the best with S400 shafts.  I've hit a million shots in my sand and lob wedges with S400 but never, ever in an iron. I think my fitter was most excited when I hit a shot, said "well, that felt good" and he said - ya know - it was good, just look at those numbers!  We had found a sweet setup for me right there.

 

Next, I wanted something for the windy treeless courses I play - something long and a little more penetrating off the tee (I hit a pretty high ball in general).  I tried the DHY first, with X100, and no, didn't like that club.  It's a bit too "hybrid" for me.  Next I hit the Stealth UDI 3 iron in X100.  I hit some great shots with that but, to me, and I've always felt like this about the X100, it's such a stiff, demanding shaft. They also had a 105g composite shaft and now I can't remember the model, but it felt good, really good. I don't see it on the website but it has a nice low flight that's gonna pierce the wind and roll out on a hard links type of fairway and it's something I feel like I can still hit on the back 9 of a 36 hole day of golf. This is one of the clubs I'm most excited to get out and play that I never thought I'd end up with in the bag.

 

I feel like while this was the most difficult part of the fitting process, it's also going to be one of the most rewarding. I definitely did not like the irons I've been playing and my fitter took what I didn't like about them and tuned the fit to help me get the most out of what is going to my season long gamers.  I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of progress I can make on my handicap with these in the bag - I'm certain it's going to make a positive difference.

 

 

[Kylekoz17]

Bummer to get cut short as that was a really cool course.  Very narrow off the tee and quite a bit of elevation change but at least 8 holes scratched the itch a little bit.  We weren’t sure if we would have our drivers for it but luckily they were all built so we got to enjoy them for a few holes anyways!  They look awesome!  Here are the few shots of the course I took as the intermittent rain made it a little difficult:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kylekoz17]

The views from the clubhouse were great too, and the wall of putters

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gticlay]

The other guys are in this picture, if you zoom in... lol.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by gticlay

[getitdaily]

OK. Wife said it's ok for me to sign up for this trip contest if it's done again next year. 

 

Well, I told.her I was going to and walked out of the room before she could reply...so that's a yes in my book.

[MFBach]

1 hour ago, jbole267 said:

Spiders are interesting, just saw them. 
 

You pull your putts? Well now you have a fix, you push your putts, same thing. Super cool concept and keeping with good looking line unlike the truss idea looking silly. 
 

Also, if you were a fan on the true path alignment on the old spider x you will not be disappointed….

Given the access and crazy amount of information they’ve provided is this weekend, I hate to get too deep into the details on this… but coming from a Spider Tour Black>Spider X user, the new model is without a doubt going into the bag immediately up delivery. Details to follow, as soon as allowable. I’m super excited about the changes they’ve implemented. 
 

Some of the older Spider Tour we all loved. Shades of the Spider X I currently play. Plus a lot of tech that is very exciting. I have some info that I’d love to share… and will! 

[QuigleyDU]

51 minutes ago, MFBach said:

We played, so we were just cut short. When’s the last time a Carlsbad closed for the day due to… excessive rain!? 
 

A bit of a bummer for sure, but given the whirlwind since Sunday, it’s very hard to be disappointed in anything at all we’ve experienced. Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

For sure! Awesome trip no matter how you spin it. You guys got treated like kings at the kingdom.

[QuigleyDU]

One thing I don’t think has been asked about.. golf balls.. you guys get any new ball info?

[gticlay]

1 hour ago, QuigleyDU said:

One thing I don’t think has been asked about.. golf balls.. you guys get any new ball info?

Not this year. We did get a dozen to play today. Very nice stuff. 

[pnwbeamer]

2 hours ago, Olde Maroon said:

 

I got fit for hybrids. As you can see in my original post, my "current" set includes three hybrids - two Cobra F9 and one Titleist TS2. I struggle with long irons, and feel very comfortable with hybrids. Note that all three would be considered larger hybrid heads - not full on hybrid-fairway clubs, but aimed to be more forgiving and less iron-like "workable". You can see that I ended up with just one hybrid in the "players" Stealth+ 2 model, which is very iron-like with a sharp vertical toe and a face shaped like an iron. The head is smaller and more fade-biased. 

 

At the fitting, Chandler noted that I hit my Cobras pretty well and that I was confident with them. He naturally put me in the standard Stealth 2 model, which is the TM corollary to my F9/TS2 heads. The standard Stealth has a bit larger head that verges on mini-fairway, and a fairway shaped face. I felt at home with it and he had a Ventus Red (non-velo) 7s shaft in it. What I found was that I was having a hard time finding a lower trajectory. It would just go up right away, which led to greater front-back dispersion and I was battling the headwind at The Kingdom. If I didn't hit it dead straight, it would get dominated by the wind. The shaft was too light as well, but changing to the Ventus Blue Velocore 8s only helped with my control, and couldn't fix the inherent flight for that model. 

 

When he gave me the Stealth+ 2 head, I was immediately leery. I have never felt confident with this head shape, and I'm not a great iron player, so why play a hybrid that mimics an iron? Not for the first or last time, Chandler proved why he is the expert. I was immediately hitting lower, controlled shots straight through the wind. We stuck with the Ventus Blue Velocore 8s shaft, as I am clearly comfortable with that profile. FWIW, I am quick on the backswing, aggressive transition, and quick on the downswing (not always to good results). 

 

The Plus model gave me the flexibility to hit that low piercing shot that most hybrids don't allow, but I had no issues getting it up as well to drop onto a green as a scoring club. Forgiveness was solid, but I was also finding the middle much better with this combo. I'm sure I'll test out the whole face in no time... 

 

Let me if you have any questions about anything I didn't cover or anything I said that didn't make sense. I'm not a club reviewer, but I'll try my best to help. 

 

 

interesting point about the stealth 2 plus hybrid. I have the regular stealth hybrid and I tend to hook it so might look into this. 

[this_is_golf]

Very cool experience. Thanks for the updates. Congrats fellas! 

[DE-ILLINI]

When you guys get your complete bags, you will need to do a WITB photo addition.  Sounds like a once in a lifetime trip.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

Did anyone get a chance to hit the Stealth HD Irons?  I know you are all better players and they will be mocked here on the land of blades.  But I'd be lying if I didn't rub my chin a bit and say.....hmh?    

[radiman]

You guys did great. Bummer that you got rained out.  I am not sure where you are all from.  But, hopefully you are going to be able to get the clubs and give them a good test in the coming weeks.  

 

The driver and fairways were on the radar.  Can't do both, but can do one of them.  After hearing from you guys, and all of the online reviews, of how much ability there is to tweak the 3w, I think that is going to be the direction I go.  Will hold out for the next iteration of the carbonwood driver next year.  

[Olde Maroon]

43 minutes ago, Carolina Golfer 2 said:

Did anyone get a chance to hit the Stealth HD Irons?  I know you are all better players and they will be mocked here on the land of blades.  But I'd be lying if I didn't rub my chin a bit and say.....hmh?    

So they did bring them out at the end of the fitting for everyone to hit. By that point (after three hours of hitting balls), I was barely able to lift a club, much less swing well, so I only swung once with the pitching wedge. I will say it put as big of a smile on my face as anything else that day. 

 

Even the fitters were hitting balls with them (I think some for the first time as they are brand new). They were smiling like crazy as well. I don't have a comprehensive review, but you know what you get with that type of club. I will say that they look handsome and there is more tech in them than my car, so I would absolutely recommend putting your ego aside and giving them a fair shake. 

 

The other boys might have more to say since I think some of them hit more shots with them than I. Sorry I can't give you more info, but they are definitely worth your attention if you even think they MIGHT suit your game. 

[Olde Maroon]

22 minutes ago, radiman said:

You guys did great. Bummer that you got rained out.  I am not sure where you are all from.  But, hopefully you are going to be able to get the clubs and give them a good test in the coming weeks.  

 

The driver and fairways were on the radar.  Can't do both, but can do one of them.  After hearing from you guys, and all of the online reviews, of how much ability there is to tweak the 3w, I think that is going to be the direction I go.  Will hold out for the next iteration of the carbonwood driver next year.  

I'm sitting on my plane to head back to Wisconsin, so I'm going to be stuck indoors for a few months. We will definitely post WITB photos when we get the clubs, and I will do follow up reviews as I get them in hand again. Definitely want to share more as we put them in play. 

 

Oh s***, as I type this they just told us our plane is grounded "until further notice". Guess I'm spending the day in travel hell. 

 

Totally worth it. 

[gticlay]

52 minutes ago, Carolina Golfer 2 said:

Did anyone get a chance to hit the Stealth HD Irons?  I know you are all better players and they will be mocked here on the land of blades.  But I'd be lying if I didn't rub my chin a bit and say.....hmh?    

Knudson was ripping some nice shots with the 5 iron and handed it to me.  I took one swing and predictably hit a nice high straight iron shot with it. They will be KILLER for someone that needs a little help getting the ball up and keeping it straight. They look good at address too.

[radiman]

6 minutes ago, Olde Maroon said:

I'm sitting on my plane to head back to Wisconsin, so I'm going to be stuck indoors for a few months. We will definitely post WITB photos when we get the clubs, and I will do follow up reviews as I get them in hand again. Definitely want to share more as we put them in play. 

 

Oh s***, as I type this they just told us our plane is grounded "until further notice". Guess I'm spending the day in travel hell. 

 

Totally worth it. 

100% worth it haha.  No rules in the airport.  Go get yourself a bloody mary and unwind for a bit lol. 

[gticlay]

35 minutes ago, radiman said:

You guys did great. Bummer that you got rained out.  I am not sure where you are all from.  But, hopefully you are going to be able to get the clubs and give them a good test in the coming weeks.  

 

The driver and fairways were on the radar.  Can't do both, but can do one of them.  After hearing from you guys, and all of the online reviews, of how much ability there is to tweak the 3w, I think that is going to be the direction I go.  Will hold out for the next iteration of the carbonwood driver next year.  

I might be able to dodge raindrops for a couple rounds when the clubs show up…

[kcsf]

6 minutes ago, radiman said:

100% worth it haha.  No rules in the airport.  Go get yourself a bloody mary and unwind for a bit lol. 

 

This mindset has gotten me in more trouble...