2024 TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver! In-Hand Pics!

[snagy2000]

6 hours ago, QuigleyDU said:

some things to love here. Some to not.. I love the color actually. I just wish they would make it smaller.. 

I actually like the color scheme as well over last year's. Overall, just don't like the bigger head as compared to strong 3w. Put a Darkspeed LS 3+ in the bag and it just works better for me. 

[QuigleyDU]

25 minutes ago, snagy2000 said:

I actually like the color scheme as well over last year's. Overall, just don't like the bigger head as compared to strong 3w. Put a Darkspeed LS 3+ in the bag and it just works better for me. 

The darkspeed with about a 15% bigger head would be phenomenal..

[craz-e]

I had the original mini driver but struggled to find a consistent flight with it, shame as I Ioved the look and feel, yes I do realise its more me than the club!

[jjtour]

7 hours ago, Hougz79 said:

I had the OG Burner Bubble in HS.  I replaced it with the OG Great Big Bertha.  That thing seemed absolutely huge.  It was 253cc.  This "mini" driver is 304cc.  LOL.  I'm so numb to 460cc heads at this point.  They did a nice job in general with the retro vibes.  The Victory grip is the chef's kiss.  

 

This is pretty money, Wish it was an actual bubble shaft and a little more copper on the head, but for a retro vibe this is pretty sweet.

 

Here's my whole thing on this. I 100% agree these should be smaller like the original spec drivers of the 90s. What I dont get is who are these for? If you're Tommy Fleetwood and have kind of a weird bag setup imo, sure. If you're regular joe amateur is this small enough and easy enough to hit off the fairway? I guess wait and see. 

 

I kind of want to get into the whole rollback thing here, kinda dont. If club companies are already making these type of clubs again, and if the appetite is there from consumer standpoint, what's to say USGA/R&A dont just come out and limit the driver head back to 300cc or whatever. Club companies cant complain much since there have already made the club. Club companies would probably love it to be honest since all the 460 size heads would now be illegal and they would have record sales the first year back to conforming. I personally love the whole retro idea, I have a 90s retro set I play regularly. Find it more fun than the new stuff. Am I gonna run out and buy this mini BRNR? Unlikely. Will I buy a nice condition original Burner Bubble off ebay for a 1/10th of the cost? Yes. Now if Titleist comes out with a retro 975D mini driver and or original looking PT fairway, take my effing money right now.

[Don Scott]

Growing up using persimmon drivers, how does the Stealth plus 3W compare in size ? Super easy for me to use 🤷🏻‍♂️

[JohnKHawk]

Haven't bought the last few releases of the TM mini driver. I absolutely want to buy but prefer the 13.5 option which they haven't made in LH since the Original One which I still have. A buddy always tells me "Why don't you play that mini driver it goes as far as your regular driver!"

[QuigleyDU]

4 hours ago, miami1023 said:

I like everything better about last years except for the grip

Isn’t this basically a cosmetic change?

[BHI 99]

Ok, so a big fat 3W or a baby driver. What’s the point and which club gets yanked from the bag? 
 

Both? Two for one kinda deal? 

[Invented]

9 hours ago, UnderPar18 said:

This may be like the Apex UW release. OG's might be desired a lot more than the newer offering. 

 

I think the '24 offering is ugly, but I get the nostalgia

 

I'm glad I bought last year's version.  The sublte copper color on the crown looked a lot better IMO

[Invented]

26 minutes ago, BHI 99 said:

Ok, so a big fat 3W or a baby driver. What’s the point and which club gets yanked from the bag? 
 

Both? Two for one kinda deal? 

 

3W replacement for me.  It's harder to hit off the deck but doable.... I usually lay up if I need a good 3W to reach the green and this is way easier to hit off the tee than a 3W

[Invented]

8 hours ago, Binson said:

it's still weird that there haven't really been any comparison videos with the 300 Mini. 

 

Not much difference honestly.  I prefer the BRNR sound/feel but thats about it

[CDLgolf]

I like the retro look of this but like a few others have posted I'm not sure how this fits in my bag.  My driver works pretty well and I like my 3 wood. Definitely don't need a club in-between those two.

[NewToGolf19]

10 hours ago, Don Scott said:

I wish they’d make these grips in a midsize! Adding more tape would just make the grip feel hard. Is there any actual difference in performance because I have last years model.

Same club. I called TM customer service, and they confirmed only difference is cosmetic. 

[Binson]

2 hours ago, Invented said:

 

Not much difference honestly.  I prefer the BRNR sound/feel but thats about it

I think there's likely a difference with the weight forward on the BRNR. 

 

But, I wonder why there is nobody with any videos at all. 

[snagy2000]

 

[jblough99]

13 hours ago, QuigleyDU said:

Isn’t this basically a cosmetic change?

100% 

Absolutely nothing different from last years BRNR other than cosmetics.  In my opinion, the new version looks awful vs last years BRNR.

[QuigleyDU]

2 hours ago, jblough99 said:

100% 

Absolutely nothing different from last years BRNR other than cosmetics.  In my opinion, the new version looks awful vs last years BRNR.

That’s fair. I think I like it more, looks wise. But I can understand not liking it as well.

[tilasan]

I guess it’s nostalgia but I like this version more.

[Invented]

On 4/5/2024 at 10:38 PM, Binson said:

I think there's likely a difference with the weight forward on the BRNR. 

 

But, I wonder why there is nobody with any videos at all. 

you have a point. Weight forward made the BRNR borderline unplayable for me. Too low traj/spin

[jah7838]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:13 PM, Ben B said:

I play a standard driver and a mini. My standard driver is set up to be fade bias and my mini is set up to be draw bias. So depending on what the hole calls for, that's what determines what I hit. My mini isn't all that much shorter in distance being that it is draw bias so I dont loose much distance wise. I use a 11.5*, playing 13.5* with a Kai'li Red which makes it draw bias and it actually sits quite square at address. I find the mini set up as draw bias to be much more controllable than a standard driver set up to be draw bias. 

 

My fairway wood is a cobra ltdx ls 5 wood turned down to 16.5*, then I go to a Callaway UW at 19*. This has proven to be the most versatile and solid setup I have had at the top end of my bag. 

The hardest part for me with replacing the 4 wood with the Mini driver is that I don't launch the ball very high off the deck, and the 4 wood is a club that gets hit into long par 4s.  I still have the ability to hold some greens with it compared to the mini driver.  The Mini would be really good for 2-3 courses that I play frequently because of how tight some of the shorter par 4s are off the tee, but the 4 wood is something that is good for all the other random courses that I play in the area that I live.  

 

One option that I could use is having the 13.5* mini, then turn my 4 wood up to 18* and use it as my 5 wood.  I could then swap out the 5 wood and my 21* UW based on the course.  Then I can go with my normal iron setup.  

[me05501]

Bagging a Mini does seem to change your top of bag strategy by necessity. 

 

I was playing driver, 16* 3w and 22* hybrid for a season or so in a 13 club bag. I added a 13.5* mini and found myself using it over the three wood in every situation including off the deck. 

 

For this season I have replaced the 3w with a 5w and I'm back to 14 clubs. The Mini is both a backup tee club as well as a second-shot club on par fives where there isn't any appreciable trouble to consider. If there is trouble to navigate I'll probably be swinging the 5W or hybrid instead. 

[bcflyguy1]

Reminds of me of a Samsung phone commercial several years back making fun of iPhone cultists who have to have every new phone immediately upon release:

"This time the headphone jack is going to be on the bottom..."

 

"We've made the leading edge of the crown copper, oooooooh..." 

 

[me05501]

1 minute ago, bcflyguy1 said:

Reminds of me of a Samsung phone commercial several years back making fun of iPhone cultists who have to have every new phone immediately upon release:

"This time the headphone jack is going to be on the bottom..."

 

"We've made the leading edge of the crown copper, oooooooh..." 

 

 

This is sort of true, but there's a supply and demand element to this as well. The last 3 generations of this product are in high demand in the secondary market. It would be nuts for TM not to offer brand new product. 

[bcflyguy1]

3 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

This is sort of true, but there's a supply and demand element to this as well. The last 3 generations of this product are in high demand in the secondary market. It would be nuts for TM not to offer brand new product. 

Certainly; the black BRNR Mini is arguably the best ever in its niche product segment.

Nostalgia sells in lots of markets, golf included. Same can be said for Callaway going to colors and shaping for Ai Smoke more reminiscent of the Big Bertha stuff of 25 years ago than previous lines did. If the '24 version of BRNR sells as it likely will despite no meaningful differences from its predecessor, fair play to TM. 

[jah7838]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

Bagging a Mini does seem to change your top of bag strategy by necessity. 

 

I was playing driver, 16* 3w and 22* hybrid for a season or so in a 13 club bag. I added a 13.5* mini and found myself using it over the three wood in every situation including off the deck. 

 

For this season I have replaced the 3w with a 5w and I'm back to 14 clubs. The Mini is both a backup tee club as well as a second-shot club on par fives where there isn't any appreciable trouble to consider. If there is trouble to navigate I'll probably be swinging the 5W or hybrid instead. 

It really does, and I'm not one to change my same set make up very often.  I've gone Driver, 4 wood, 3 hybrid, 4 hybrid/iron, 5-P, 50-54-58 wedges for over a decade.  Some clubs may be different in those 4 wood and 3 hybrid spot, but the lofts have been relatively consistent in those spots.  Because I don't launch lower lofted woods high already, that Mini does make getting into longer Par 4s difficult because I don't believe I'll find a setup that I feel that I can launch high enough to control.    

[GTR206]

4 minutes ago, jah7838 said:

It really does, and I'm not one to change my same set make up very often.  I've gone Driver, 4 wood, 3 hybrid, 4 hybrid/iron, 5-P, 50-54-58 wedges for over a decade.  Some clubs may be different in those 4 wood and 3 hybrid spot, but the lofts have been relatively consistent in those spots.  Because I don't launch lower lofted woods high already, that Mini does make getting into longer Par 4s difficult because I don't believe I'll find a setup that I feel that I can launch high enough to control.    

The final piece is why I've never gone with a mini driver myself. 

[phelps22]

On 4/5/2024 at 10:30 AM, alittleoverpar said:

Those will sell!

 

They always do. Don’t know why people still think Taylormade can’t sell these? 

[goje22]

On 4/5/2024 at 1:51 PM, Valtiel said:

Agreed. You might not like it, but the retro color scheme + updated Proforce shaft + Swing Rite grip that actually looks like a faithful reproduction with cork in the rubber is a pretty solid nod to all the pieces of the original in a way they didn't *need* to do. They could have just thrown a Tour Velvet on there and very few people would have complained, so it's cool they went all the way with it. 

I can almost guarantee this is the same old formula, at the very least the same mixture as the ones that came out in 2015. 
 

While I love the OG victory velvet, the victory cords are the best!  

Edited April 8 by goje22
Spellcheck

[hammergolf]

Hands down the best thing is the Victory grip! Hopefully GolfPride have finally came to their senses and are going to release it again.

[chip75]

On 4/5/2024 at 6:20 PM, Mookie91 said:

I think my first TaylorMade Burner Plus circa 1999 had the Victory grip

 

On 4/5/2024 at 5:43 PM, blblco02 said:

But the original Burners had tour wrap style grips. Wish they would have used that instead. 

From steel to titanium heads I remember the "bubble" wraps.

Edited April 8 by chip75