When was the taylormade r1 release

Traditional drivers were either done in a grey metallic color or in black. TaylorMade went all in with white. Now with the R1 TaylorMade has even gone a step farther by not only going with white but now putting graphics onto the clubhead. When photos first started surfacing of this new clubhead design the reviews where somewhat mixed. TaylorMade has always pushed the limit with colors and graphics and the top of this clubhead is no different. When you pick up the club and lay it at address you can clearly see the black, red, and grey graphics in the clubhead.

The graphics are done in a triangle shape on the back half of the clubhead with an R1 logo in the right hand corner. The first couple of times I used the driver I certainly noticed the graphics but after a while I felt they were not a distraction.

The face of the driver is done in black which is a nice contrast to the white crown of the club. The face has a five grooves which start from the center in the shape of a ball signifying the sweetspot and then five more done on the toe and heel.

The grooves look to be more for show that actual utility but still it is a nice design. Now we can turn the driver over and the bottom of the clubhead has a great deal going on. The first thing you will notice is the newly designed face angle sole plate. Many comments that I saw were that the design reminded them of a compass or a wristwatch.

I could easily agree with either of these descriptions. The outer edge of the sole place is done in orange and the inner ring which has the information about how the face angle will be utilized is done in black. One thing I can agree with TaylorMade on is that this sole plate design definitely has better wear.

The R11 sole plates I have seen, much of the red paint that is put on the plate has worn off from play. This design has the information under a layer of plastic which should help the dial to be read easier after the club has been played for a while.

The face angle sole plate screws into a design of four outstretched legs of a star with one of the legs being much shorter and with the letters face angle and an orange pointer letting you know this is the angle for the clubface.

The bottom of the club nearest to the face is raised up from this area and is about an inch thick, on either side of this is the weight ports and the whole bottom of the clubhead is black like the face of the club. On the heel of the club the indicator of which loft the clubhead is set at is there as well as the ferrel which has the actual loft of the club painted into the ferrel. The stock shaft which I used for this review is the Aldila RIP Phenom and the main part of the shaft is done in matte black, but about five to six inches from the grip the color switches to orange.

The color scheme of the club is bright, but still the colors are done subtly as not to be overdone. One unique aspect of the R1 is the how the clubhead is shipped to customers. Our very own Michael McLoughlin took some photos when the box arrived at his house in this thread here. The box used to ship the R1 is about double the width of a traditional box and the clubhead and wrench as in a separate box.

The strategy of boxing up clubs seems to be following in the footsteps of iPhone packaging. Still it is a nice touch of class that TaylorMade is adding. The driver used for the review did not have a cover and I have yet to see any pictures of the cover. I would imagine it is done in the color scheme of the clubhead as with most TaylorMade clubs.

Playability and Feel Of course the most important factor in determining if this club is a good driver is how it performs. The R1 one driver does quite well in this department. It looks a lot like a Callaway Versa! Bought an R1 about 3 weeks ago — just before the price cuts smart, savvy move on my part! Gotta say, after two or three swings, the graphics went away. Flat out — I love this driver! My pro did the fitting with help from the TM rep and man, it flat out performs.

I like to think I would have bought it even if it was pink with yellow polka dots, but seriously, for me the graphics are virtually invisible. And say what you want about marketing, but TM now is on the front page of every retail website, taking pre-orders for the R1 Black. Every golf chat room and blog is all over the internet and on Facebook talking about the R1 Black. Having solid equipment that flat-out performs is like jacks-or-better to open in poker.

No difference. Very good article, great insights. The photography is good, but the busy background seems to put some strange reflections on the crown, almost making it look like a crown insert.

Interesting decision on the part of TM, though. Mark: oh, hi Herbert….. Would have preferred the matte finish, but this is infinitely better than marshmallow. I was going to pull the trigger on a new weapon this year, but frankly the white driver held no appeal.

The harsh reality is this. TaylorMade builds a very competitive product, and backs it with a marketing prowess that is second to none in the golf market. The driver market is theirs to do with as they please for the moment, and this season, they have only solidified that stranglehold. The only protection that Titleist has on the Pro-V1 is the deeply rooted relationships with courses and the onsite pro shops.

Bottom line is they make a great product and pay absolutely whatever it takes in order to be able to get the Darrell Survey to say TM drivers were used more than any other driver. They pay whatever it takes to ensure that they are the 1 ball on tour. Bottom line. They have shown the ability to get the word into the right hands, and when needed to do what it takes to win over their most vocal critics. In this case it goes far deeper than just the message they are talking, but also whom they are getting to reinforce that message.

As for the ball situation, I get the impression that TM has decided to get serious about the balls, as it is an incredible recurring revenue stream. That may well translate into retaining a name for more than a season. The thing about TMag IMO is that they are first and foremost about revenue, and the ball revenue is too big a market for them to continue to play at half assed. It is also the area of the game with the most potential for improvement for a company with their ability to invest in research.

Now those are some good looking crown graphics. But for some reason I just really love the look of the black R1. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.

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May 30, 48 Comments. Written by: Tony Covey Today TaylorMade, in introducing the R1 Black Driver, made what some will see as as one of the least significant announcements in company history. But this is still just paint. Some would call it lipstick on a pig. Why Black?

The answer, as I see it anyway, is actually pretty interesting. Somebody get Al Gore on the phone. Global warming, my ass. So yeah…everybody, including TaylorMade got off to a slow start at retail. Unsustainable Momentum This time last year TaylorMade owned more than 52 percent of the metalwoods drivers, fairways, hybrids category.

Your Name. Email Address. Want MyGolfSpy's email newsletter? New Inesis Putters Oct 22, 19 Comments. Breeze 8 years ago. J Connors 8 years ago. Add to Cart This product is not available in your country. Select Styles for Availability. Attributes Attributes. Translation Attributes To exclude from translation: true. Shop Add to Cart. One Driver that tunes to any loft, any look and any flight. One driver model that can be tuned to fit Tour pros and amateurs alike. The red paint on the R11 and R11s face adjustment dial came off very quickly though, so it would be genuinely nice if TM had addressed this going forward.

There is not ONE redeeming feature of ugly bucket of nails and I guarantee not even a 0. Anyone who parts with hard earned cash to look like an idiot with this on the first tee needs tablets, and lots of them. More fool you if you gave up on TM drivers years ago, they are number 1 on Tour for a reason and what ever people say its not because they pay the most- I know that for a fact. Speak for yourself on the R1, I personally think it looks classy and modern.

My only critique would be that they bring out too many clubs too quickly. Actually you are wrong. My launch, peak height, and decent angle also improved.

Looks like your dumb and ignorant. I think its hilarious that everyone looks at adjustability as something people will tweak every round. Its a fitting tool, nothing more. EVery brand is doing this. I like it. Thanks, GolfWRX for this valuable information.

I recently upgraded my woods to an R11S driver and Rocketballz 3 wood. The extra money for extra driver yards and 10 extra 3 wood yards is ludicrous. The new crown graphics are pretty, but solid white is more pleasing to me.

So, I advise R11S and Rocketballz users to keep swinging what you have and enjoy it. Loving reading the hating. Whether it works for you or not is almost irrelevant because they will sell regardless but TM should be applauded for boldly risking all to push boundaries. They created the White clubhead and now they are pushing it even further.

We need it good and simple. I have an R11 and have only adjusted the lost a couple of times due to data on the trackman taken during lessons, I would never adjust any driver on the day before playing a round.

However I think the big plus of all this adjustability is when getting fitted. Good point, Andy. Just got fitted with the Callaway Xtreme and switched loft, club face to open and reversed the weights to a fade bias and was all set.

But for the fitter, he gets to tweek the club at the simulator level where you can see instant improvements. And 1 more thing, the absence of a heavier shaft is worthless to me. I tried my friends RBZ and it felt like a heavy head on a twig.

In order to achieve 2deg up and down it had to change. The SuperTri is a great driver, so nothing out there is going to outperform it hugely, as are the R11 and the R11s. Nike are going Red, Cobra are going bold in every colour, if you sit still then you slip behind….

This is a joke. I have a Supertri with 2 shaft options. And for what 1 more yard? No thanks. As for the looks its hideous.

I will stick with the Supertri and next upgrade will be a Titleist. Adjust this, turn that, its going too far.

Bad move TM. Love TaylorMade products, but i love my black D3. Rolling Stones say Paint It Black. Happy New Year. Without seeing in person, I like the deeper face of the R1 and the promise of a larger sweet spot centred lower on the face.

I initially thought the graphics were very bold, but will hold off any verdict until I see it in real life. Was the same when TM first brought out white drivers if you remember, and they turned out pretty popular!!

Especially if a previous generation model works perfectly fine. If every new club truly added distance, I would be hitting my 7-iron yards and my driver yards by now. This is just a joke. I used to say that Callaway and TM are very good Golf club manufacturing companies, but they are exceptional marketing companies. Remember how the Big Bertha changed golf forever. Oversize heads, titanium steel, longer shafts, and the price of a full set of clubs for one driver?

The products that they made were revolutionary and became must-have for the everyday golfer. More forgiveness, cool to look at and a feeling of confidence when you held them in your hands. Now TM, in my humble opinion, has taken one step over the edge and they expect us to jump with them. And many of us will. If what you have works than why? I love the white head on the R11, so I bought it. Yes they do. They know every time they release a new set, or a new club, or a new ball that there are thousands and thousands of us who will buy them.

They know that for sure. Anyone need an Iphone 6? A can of black spray paint might solve the problem that I can see. Too many gimmicks!!! Not worth changing over from the R9 or even the R11 for that matter.

Ill buy a 9. Not sure where your getting your info from!? With the loft set at 10deg it is in fact 10deg, not 8. Who the hell is keith Partridge?! You people need to relax! But if the white driver tells us anything is that acceptant just needs time. Then it will be the norm. Again TM knows what they are doing. Finally one driver with all the lofts build in. I am buying based on that alone…. Think someone said.. One driver with all the lofts built in… Think we saw pics and release dates for the Amp Cell way before the R1… So…..

Not finally… I would say… At least they got the technology right…. Go spend your money. I bet the sharks LOVE seeing you show up at the course. They should have stuck with the R11s for another year like Titleist did with the Sole plate is useless if you hover anyways!

Exactly, the sole plate is useless if you hover. History has proven all of you very wrong. I have done it for years. It keeps you from letting the grip get too high in the left hand. Drink some more Kool-aid suckers!!!

They also made the sweat spot hotter by tweaking with the CG. I started playing golf as TM was coming out with the original SF in white. I bought into it and got a fairway and a the corza ghost mallet with the big hole in it but within 3 months, I started to feel like a clown on the course pulling out these flashy-as clubz with a z ;. These are just like white pants, only pimps and pro golfers can pull them off.

The club looks real nice.. Say what you want about looks. Fred, if someone cant break then they have no business with adjusting their club each round… this will make their game even worse unless they they are club fitting experts. The graphics belong on skis not drivers. I have to side with the negatives on this.

I am not a TMag hater and believe me I understand where they are coming from. I think these graphics are over the top, but they are not marketing this to me. You are correct on every count, pinhigh. Not my taste. People buy the Toyota Prius, despite giving the Pontiac Aztek a run for the money the in ugliest car ever made department. TM has lost a great customer.

I know its not really junk, but can anyone justify the money? Wow, so much negativity…. I love the way this driver looks. This is how golf needs to look and head…golf is just plain boring otherwise…. Just Terrible… The Nike looks way better!

Simple red. Racing stripes on a driver! NO WAY! What a joke! This TM club looks awful; will be very expensive and will be obsolete in 6 months. AND another thing …. I know may friends at my own Club who have been conned with it — as of yet I do not know one of them that adjusts before he goes onto the course to assist his swing of the day. Love or hate em graphics. With ALOT of people chiming in on the hate em side…4.

So far all of the unknowns that this things brings with it and according to the review…2 extra yards…. Well they have over 10 stock shafts you can choose from, they even have the Oban Kiyoshi white shaft. Also hit in a launch monitor and compare it to whatever driver you currently have.