Equipment
TaylorMade goes big with the AeroBurner irons
Wide soles, thick top lines and long blade lengths. That’s not the recipe for a set of classic-looking irons, but when it comes to performance, it’s hard to beat.
TaylorMade’s new AeroBurner irons are designed to be the longest, most forgiving irons in the company’s 2015 lineup, thanks to their low center of gravity and extreme heel-toe weighting. Like TaylorMade’s other irons, the AeroBurners also have the company’s Speed Pocket, a slot in the sole that raises launch angle and improves ball speed — particularly on off-center hits.
[quote_box_center]”Over the years, TaylorMade irons have gotten smaller,” said Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s director of product creation for irons. “We felt we were not meeting the needs of certain golfers, and wanted to make an iron that was as long and as easy to play as anything we’ve ever made.”[/quote_box_center]
Related: Click here to learn about TaylorMade’s AeroBurner Mini Driver.
According to Bystedt, the AeroBurner irons are for golfers who don’t hit their irons as far as they’d like. That’s why they have the stronger lofts that they do — the 6 iron measures 25.5 degrees, the pitching wedge measures 43 degrees.
[quote_box_center]”We don’t typically use handicap as a guide… but these are probably for golfers with handicaps of 15 or more,” he said. [/quote_box_center]
Noticeably absent from the design of the AeroBurner irons are TaylorMade’s “Face Slots,” which are two vertical slots positioned on the toe and heel areas of the club face. They are used in the company’s RSi 1, RSi 2 and RSi TP irons.
Face slots make a club face play “larger,” or more forgiving than it would otherwise without increasing the size of the head. Because of the already large head size of the AeroBurner irons, Face Slots were not needed for the AeroBurner’s design, Bystedt said.
Golfers interested in the AeroBurner irons should expect a ball flight with a slight left bias from the clubs.
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- AeroBurner v. SpeedBlade
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- At address: AeroBurner v. SpeedBlade (right)
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- AeroBurner v. Ping G30
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- At Address: AeroBurner v. Ping G30 (right)
[quote_box_center]”The RSi 1 irons are designed to fly dead straight,” Bystedt said. “But we gave the AeroBurner irons a CG that will create about 2.5 yards more left bias.”[/quote_box_center]
The AeroBurner irons (available in 4-PW, AW, SW) will be in stores March 27.
Stock Shafts: Available with FST REAX 88 High Launch steel shafts ($699 for an eight piece set) or AeroBurner REAX 60 graphite shafts ($799) in stiff, regular, senior or ladies flex.
Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about the AeroBurner irons in our forum.
Specs
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Driver: Callaway XR 16 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 60 X
Length: 45.5 inches
3-wood: Callaway XR 16 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 70X
5-wood: Callaway XR 16 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana W-Series 80X
Irons: Callaway Apex UT (2, 4), Callaway Apex Pro (5-9)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Superlite
Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 (47-11 S-Grind) Callaway Mack Daddy 2 Tour Grind (54-11, 58-9)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Superlite
Putter: Odyssey Versa #1 Wide (WBW)
Lie angle: 71 degrees
Ball: Callaway Speed Regime SR-3
Check out more photos of Willett’s equipment from 2016 here.
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Originally, Project X was known for low-spin steel iron shafts. However, the company might now be known for wood shafts. Denali is the newest line of graphite shafts from Project X. With the Denali line, the company focuses on feel as well as performance.
There are two profiles in the Denali line, Blue and Black, to fit different launch windows. Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin profile for players who are looking for a little added launch and Denali Black is designed for low-launch and low-spin. Both models are going to offer you a smooth feel and accuracy.
For a full in-depth review check out the Club Junkie podcast on all podcast streaming platforms and on YouTube.
Project X Denali Blue
I typically fit better into mid-launch shafts, as I don’t hit a very high ball so the Denali Blue was the model I was more excited to try. Out of the box, the shaft looks great and from a distance, it is almost hard to tell the dark blue from the Denali Black. With a logo down install of the shaft, you don’t have anything to distract your eyes, just a clean look with the transition from the white and silver handle section to the dark navy mid and tip.
Out on the course, the Blue offers a very smooth feel that gives you a good kick at impact. The shaft loads easily and you can feel the slightly softer handle section compared to the HZRDUS lineup. This gives the shaft a really good feel of it loading on the transition to the downswing, and as your hands get to impact, the Denali Blue keeps going for a nice, strong kick.
Denali Blue is easy to square up at impact and even turn over to hit it straight or just little draws and most of the flex of the shaft feels like it happens right around where the paint changes from silver to blue. The Blue launches easily and produces what I consider a true mid-flight with the driver. While it is listed as mid-spin, I never noticed any type of rise in my drives. Drives that I didn’t hit perfectly were met with good stability and a ball that stayed online well.
Project X Denali Black
When you hold the Denali Black in your hands you can tell it is a more stout shaft compared to its Blue sibling by just trying to bend it. While the handle feels close to the Blue in terms of stiffness, you can tell the tip is much stiffer when you swing it.
Denali Black definitely takes a little more power to load it but the shaft is still smooth and doesn’t give you any harsh vibrations. Where the Blue kicks hard at impact, the Black holds on a little and feels like keeps you in control even on swings that you try and put a little extra effort into. The stiff tip section also makes it a little harder to square up at impact and for some players could take away a little of the draw from their shot.
Launch is lower and more penetrating compared to the Blue and produces a boring, flat trajectory. Shots into the wind don’t rise or spin up, proving that the spin stays down. Like its mid-launch sibling, the Black is very stable and mishits and keeps the ball on a straighter line. Shots low off the face don’t get very high up in the air, but the low spin properties get the ball out there farther than you would expect. For being such a stout shaft, the feel is very good, and the Denali Black does keep harsh vibrations from your hands.
Overall the Project X Denali Blue and Black are great additions to the line of popular wood shafts. If you are looking for good feel and solid performance the Denali line is worth trying out with your swing. Choose Blue for mid-launch and mid-spin or Black for lower launch and low spin.
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Bryson DeChambeau fired an opening-round 7-under 65 at Augusta National, hitting an impressive 15 of 18 greens in regulation in the process. Golf’s mad scientist’s play grabbed headlines and so too did his equipment. In place of the Ping i230 irons he had in the bag last week for LIV Golf’s Miami event, DeChambeau is gaming a prototype 5-PW set of irons from little-known direct-to-consumer manufacturer Avoda.
What is Avoda Golf?
Founded by Tom Bailey, also a Mike Schy student like Bryson DeChambeau, Avoda Golf is a direct-to-consumer golf equipment company that currently manufactures both single and variable-length irons in one model that are available for pre-order.
What irons is Bryson DeChambeau playing?
Per multiple reports, DeChambeau is playing a custom-designed set of single-length irons that incorporate bulge and roll into the face design. The two-piece 3D-printed irons were reportedly only approved for play by the USGA this week, according to Golfweek’s Adam Schupak.
Regarding the irons, DeChambeau told Golf Channel the irons’ performance on mishits was the determining factor in putting them in play this week. “When I mishit on the toe or the heel,” DeChambeau said. “It seems to fly a lot straighter for me and that’s what has allowed me to be more comfortable over the ball.”
What can we tell about the design of the clubs?
These days, it is a little hard to speculate on what is under the hood with so many hollow body irons. DeChambeau’s irons look to be hollow on the lower section as they do flare back a decent amount. That “muscle” on the back also looks to be fairly low on the iron head, but we can assume that is progressive through the set, moving up higher in the short irons.
A screw out on the toe is probably used to seal up the hollow cavity and used as a weight to dial in the swing weight of the club. From pictures, it is hard to tell but the sole looks to have a little curve from heel to toe while also having some sharper angles on them. A more boxy and sharper toe section looks to be the design that suits Bryson’s eye based on the irons he has gravitated toward recently.
What are bulge and roll, again?
Two types of curvature in a club face, traditionally incorporated only in wood design. Bulge is heel-toe curvature. Roll is crown-sole curvature. Both design elements are designed to mitigate gear effect on off-center strikes and produce shots that finish closer to the intended target line. (GolfTec has an excellent overview of bulge and roll with some handy GIFs for the visual learner)
What else is in DeChambeau’s bag?
Accompanying his traditional Sik putter, Bryson builds his set with a Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, a Krank Formula Fire driver and 5-wood, and a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver, all with LA Golf graphite shafts.
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Shawn K
Apr 2, 2015 at 8:57 am
Rented Speed Blades a couple of times on vacation. I’m an 11 with decent club head speed and couldn’t hit the 4 iron. Scrap the 3,4 for Hybrids. That probably costs more though.
Not to mention hitting the lip of a fairway bunker with my 6 iron, forgot it was a 5 iron.
Jeff
Mar 20, 2015 at 11:08 pm
If the lofts are that big of a deal buy the 4 through AW set instead of 3-PW. I’m sure the slot thingy makes them an improvement on the 09 Burners and that’s a set I still see in play ALL THE TIME. I don’t see much difference between this year’s Callaway and Taylormade G I models, almost the same paint.
KK
Mar 14, 2015 at 8:53 am
If you look at Maltby’s tests, you’ll see the CG on TM’s distance irons is nothing special. The classic Ping G5 has a lower CG. Big picture: there’s not much you can do to increase iron distance of cast clubs other than jack the lofts and lengthen/lighten the shafts. By the logic some of you guys are using, we should have 68 or 70 degree lob wedges right now to compensate for TM’s amazing tech developments. Stop
Marcus Rogers
Mar 13, 2015 at 3:30 am
Wow. I saw this coming from a mile away. Soon enough your PW is going to be 38* and your 4 iron will be 15*
STOP RUINING THE GAME TSHWAG
tailormade
Mar 12, 2015 at 8:32 pm
6 degree gaps in the scoring clubs and three irons (4,5,6) under 26 degrees of loft?
Surely someone at TM is having a good ol’ fashioned LOL. These are truly awful.
Daniel
Mar 13, 2015 at 3:22 am
Word. These are unplayable for every category of golfers.
James
Mar 12, 2015 at 3:13 pm
Jesus Murphy………..My 5 iron has 29* of loft. 22* is just preposterous. I imagine they are forgiving but Ping builds the most forgiving clubs IMO, they still manage to get decent distance out of slightly stronger then players clubs. These look basically like the 2009 Burner irons with a “slot” on the bottom that does nothing unless you have Clubhead Speed. Players from this category usually dont have the speed to get the bennies of the slots.
Jer
Apr 4, 2015 at 8:18 am
I’ll couldn’t agree with you more. I’m almost embarrassed for TMAG anymore. To me it sends a negative message when u can’t stick to the cycle of revising your clubs like other OEMS, and must release and market more and more “gimmicks?”
My interest died after R7 425 , and there tour preferred from 2010-2011 (mc,mb,cb) I couldn’t even tell you what there offerings are anymore as it’s literally a couple months and a new way to gain 10yds. Anyone playing TMAG should be hitting the ball 40% further then us using “inferior outdated” products from6 months ago, our technology is dead. (Last line attempt at sarcasm)
Bobby Cunningham
Mar 12, 2015 at 2:53 pm
Wow TaylorMade, great innovation. These look drastically different from the 10 previous generations of garbage you have put out.
Daniel
Mar 12, 2015 at 12:15 pm
And in this case “hits their short irons just fine” means that they have reasonable length, decent ballstriking and, above all, the proper gapping with 10-15 yards between clubs.
Stretching these gaps to 20 yards does nothing but harm.
And if their distances in the long end are already cramped since they lack the clubhead speed to hit a 26° 5-iron, what good is a 22° 5-iron? It will have even shorter carry.
Daniel
Mar 12, 2015 at 11:21 am
Just a guess but it can’t be far off.
My friends with 10+ handicaps hits their short irons just fine but struggles with anything longer than a 6-iron.
They don’t need stronger lofted short irons, they need easier to hit long irons, but what TaylorMade is offering them is the opposite.
Shane
Mar 12, 2015 at 10:19 am
2.5 yards of draw bias in an iron? You’re kidding right? How’s this done by changing the CG? No thanks TM!! I’m sticking to my Eye2+!
Long Ball
Mar 12, 2015 at 8:40 am
Can you explain the formula you used to come up with those yardage gaps?
Daniel
Mar 12, 2015 at 4:28 am
Never mind the number on the soles, with those lofts no way the player will get reasonable gapping. 20-25 yards between GW and PW, 5 yards between 5-iron and 4-iron.
Good work Taylor Made.
Long Ball
Mar 12, 2015 at 12:15 am
Trust me, the vast majority of people using these clubs are not “the fickle puma newbies”. Its the people who cant play the game without some help.
The game needs these people to stay on the course and needs these clubs on the shelves.
Simz
Mar 12, 2015 at 8:33 am
Truth
gocanucksfan123
Mar 11, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Lol I love the people trashing Taylormade’s lofts when they haven’t got a clue about how physics works. Educate yourselves, then give opinions please.
Jeffrey Trigger
Mar 23, 2015 at 4:57 pm
When I was a senior in high school, I had a set of MP-14’s. Of course I played a lot, and I loved those irons. I will also say that the MP-14 is to this day the most forged club I’ve ever played. As long as the strike was good (not fat or bladed), the ball didn’t waver off line very much on mishits.
Dylan
Apr 8, 2015 at 10:43 am
Am I the only one who thinks that high handicappers with stronger lofts would be the exact same as better players with weaker lofts because better golfers hit down on the ball which de-lofts the club, whereas high handicappers tend to sweep which doesn’t change the loft at all?
Long Ball
Mar 11, 2015 at 9:04 pm
KK, I guess in short, I was suggesting the loft has to be adjusted to cater for the low CG. The end result being a 6 iron that launches like a 6 iron. If it launched like a four iron than they got the balance wrong. My experience with “shovels” as Mark puts it, (Im talking about “shovels” designed by club manufacturers with lots of coin), is they launch like the number suggests but go further and are forgiving.
Long Ball
Mar 11, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Sorry, I assumed everyone would have realised I was suggesting the loft had to be adjusted so the trajectory was now back to a 6 iron and not an 8
Mark
Mar 11, 2015 at 8:35 pm
Shovels.
KK
Mar 11, 2015 at 8:18 pm
TM didn’t just work the back, they worked the front to hit like a 4 iron, lol. What % of the guys demoing these clubs will be able to hit the 6/4iron? Or even the 7/5 iron? That’s a small %. No wonder TM revenue is down.
Long Ball
Mar 11, 2015 at 8:09 pm
Take a 6 iron, with a 6 iron shaft length & a 6 iron head weight, work the back of the head to make it much easier to hit for those who need that (isn’t this still the majority of golfers?). But now it has the trajectory of an 8 iron. Do you alter the number to 8?…. No! Its the length and weight of a 6 iron. Its a 6 iron that goes further and is easier to hit. Thank you TaylorMade!!!
jgpl001
Mar 11, 2015 at 7:53 pm
These are ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING
A 25.5 deg 6 iron……….so what next from the great TM machine? I can’t wait- YAWN
KK
Mar 11, 2015 at 7:45 pm
Haha. The typical guy demoing these clubs won’t even be able to hit the 6 iron. They will have to club down to an 8 or 9 iron to get any consistency.
Rich
Mar 11, 2015 at 6:46 pm
Exactly. It ain’t about the number on the bottom, it’s about how far you hit ’em.
marty
Mar 11, 2015 at 7:23 pm
It’s kinda about your score at the end.
rgb
Mar 11, 2015 at 5:36 pm
Lemme guess. A+. I read a review from a couple of years ago about Miura irons….
“Miura irons don’t include plastics, carbon fiber, adjustable weights, “super expanded sweet spots cones of power,” or, well, anything invented after roughly 1957.”
Yea. That.
kloyd0306
Mar 11, 2015 at 5:17 pm
TMAG could have saved themselves the effort of a new design and its manufacture by simply reproducing the Burner 2.0 irons and provide the buyer with a Sharpie to cross out the number on the sole and write over it with a smaller number.
gwillis7
Mar 11, 2015 at 3:57 pm
True. Everyone does it, even mizzie and titleist. My goodness though, a 4 iron at 19 degree loft! Cally and Tm are the ones pushing the envelope with this. I have no problem with them coming out with clubs all the time, I could care less. But lofts are getting ridiculous now
pk20152
Mar 11, 2015 at 3:54 pm
I wish TM would put out more club options – said no one ever.
Golfraven
Mar 11, 2015 at 2:36 pm
For hcpers 15 and higher. Please raise the bar tiohcp 25 and above. Don’t see those flying if the shelves. those folks need those lofts to fly the bar any yards.
ABOMB
Mar 11, 2015 at 2:25 pm
Damn, that iron is fat! And I don’t mean Phat!
tim
Mar 11, 2015 at 1:24 pm
TM’s version of the Big Berthas.
ArnoldD
Mar 11, 2015 at 12:55 pm
I guess TMAG proved you can redesign (AeroBurners), a redesign(SpeedBlades), of a redesign(RocketBlades), from a redesign (RocketBalls); while changing the name.
Ryan Stewart
Mar 11, 2015 at 12:01 pm
6 degrees of separation between the PW and the AW? that is a huge gap for scoring clubs. you could comfortably fit another club in between those lofts.
Todd
Mar 11, 2015 at 11:35 am
43 degree PW – WOW…that’s stronger than goat’s breath!
kess
Mar 11, 2015 at 11:35 am
I look forward to the day that my set is driver, fw, hy, 7,8,9,pw,aw,gw,sw,lw,superlw,flat wedge, putter. That way I can say “oh, you needed a 4iron to get it 200yds. Weak sauce.”
tim
Mar 11, 2015 at 1:23 pm
LOL!
kess
Mar 11, 2015 at 11:30 am
Woo-hoo! Almost made it to the 40* pw! Come on tmag, you can do it!
RobN
Mar 11, 2015 at 10:53 am
Oops, I thought I read that as 22.5°. But still, 25.5° for a 6 iron is nuts.
Greg V
Mar 11, 2015 at 9:32 am
A 6-iron with a 25.5* loft is almost as strong as my AP1 4-iron (which I don’t use – ever).
I am guessing that the target market for these would only need 6 to PW, and perhaps for many, only 7 to PW. Gap wedge(s) too.
Jengus
Mar 11, 2015 at 9:25 am
Time to dig a snow cave because here comes the Avalanche.