REVIEWS On the Range
This month SGB’s Richard Punyer reviews TaylorMade’snew Tour Preferred MC Irons
Overview: • Precision-engineered cavity design for the blend of feel, workability and stability.
• Every curve, line and angle shape-gauged throughout the production process for ac- curacy and consistency.
• Speed Pocket in 3- through 7-irons in- creases ball speed low on the face to de- liver more consistent ball speed and launch conditions across the entire face.
• Grooves milled to exacting specifications to promote more spin and control from the rough.
• Forged short-irons for feel, spin and control where players need it. Hand-polished satin nickel-chrome finish preferred by better players.
Verdict: TaylorMade kindly sent us the 4 iron and 7 iron from this set, so armed with both I set off to the practice ground at my home club of Chestfield. The 4 and 7 irons came with the KBS Tour
regular shaft and the TaylorMade branded Tour Velvet grip. I took my own 4 and 7 irons for a direct comparison – these are Callaway
Forged blades fitted with the Nippon Pro Modus 3 120 and leather Gripmaster grips. The first thing I noticed was how aestheti-
cally pleasing these clubs are. The satin ef- fect finish is very clean and the muscle back gives them a very powerful look. When placed behind the ball, they sat beautifully and looked exactly as I like an iron to look – easy to hit! For comparison purposes I hit 10 balls
with my Callaway 7 iron and then hit the TaylorMade. The first thing I noticed was how easily these clubs go through the ground and seemed to actively ‘help’ the ball into the air. I then looked more closely at the design of the bottom of the club and found that the leading edge was curved higher than the trailing edge. This undoubt- edly assisted in helping the blade exit the turf if the strike was on the heavy side and a forged blade made them very easy to hit. Height and flight were consistent and easily altered with changes in set up. Moving the ball left to right/right to left
was also easy, with a gentle draw or fade in- duced with ease. The tour velvet grip felt very comfortable in the hands, and I was particularly impressed with the regular KBS shaft which shifted the ball out past the 165 mark as an average. The strike was a very pleasant sound, with the feel transmitted up the shaft to the hands.
22 SGBGOLF
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