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TaylorMade 2017 M1 Fairway Woods and Hybrids: What you need to know

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With its 2017 M1 line, TaylorMade makes its fairway woods even more adjustable and forgiving, while giving its hybrids a new level adjustability. Here’s what you need to know about both offerings.

M1 Fairway Woods

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The M1 fairway woods have a smaller footprint and more compact appearance at address than TaylorMade’s new M2 fairway woods. Most better players will prefer the look of the M1 fairways at address, as well as their center of gravity (CG) location, which is closer to the face to create a lower, more workable trajectory.

Sticking to its M name — which stands for multi-material — TaylorMade’s M1 fairway woods are made from multiple materials, including 450 stainless steel bodies, Ni-Co C300 club faces and thinner, six-layer carbon composite crowns.

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The familiar sliding-track system on the M1 fairway woods allows center of gravity (CG) to be adjusted with a 25-gram tungsten weight that tweaks draw and fade bias. Compared to its predecessor, the track has been shifted more rearward, making room for what TaylorMade calls a “Speed Pocket” behind the face. The design change pushed the overall CG of the clubs rearward, helping raise launch angle and forgiveness. The Speed Pocket also plays a role in increasing ball speed on off-center strikes.

While TaylorMade admits that the M1 is not its longest-flying fairway wood (that title belongs to the new M2), the distance gap between the two fairway woods has closed. The M1 has increased ball speeds by an average of 1 mph when compared to the 2016 M1 fairway woods, TaylorMade says.

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Like past models, the 2017 M1 fairway woods are adjustable, and their new loft sleeves (made from aluminum) have 12 different loft settings, allowing golfers to adjust loft +/- 2 degrees from printed lofts and adjust lie angle.

To improve turf interaction, the soles of the M1 fairway woods have been recessed in the rear portion, helping reduce drag through impact. This will allow the club to exit quicker from the grass and prevent digging. Our early testing results show that the new sole design can really help on shots from tight lies.

The new M1 fairway woods, like the new M1 drivers, use a new FF2FF manufacturing process that reduces crown weight to lower the CG of the club head and create a slightly higher launch angle. Compared to the M2 fairway woods, the M1 fairway woods will continue to produce slightly more spin, according to the company.

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The M1 fairway woods will be available on Jan. 27, 2017 for $299.99 in 15 (3-wood), 17 (3HL), and 19 (5-wood) degrees, each coming stock with Mitsubishi Rayon’s Kuro Kage Silver TiNi fairway wood shafts. There are also 30 shafts available at no upcharge, and stock clubs will be outfitted with Lamkin UTx grips.

M1 Hybrids

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Like the M1 fairway woods, the M1 hybrids use a 4-degree aluminum Loft Sleeve to allow golfers to tweak loft, lie and face angle.

TaylorMade’s 2017 M1 hybrids introduce a new weight-track system on sole, which employs a 27-gram tungsten weight to enable golfers to give the clubs more draw and fade bias, if needed.

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Like the M1 fairway woods, there is also a Speed Pocket behind the face of the hybrids, helping increase ball speeds on off-center hits. The Speed Pocket is designed to help the face flex more on toe and heel strikes, helping mishits fly more like good shots.

Designed with input from TaylorMade staffers, the top rail and overall size of the hybrids is closer to that of a driving iron than what you’d expect from a typical hybrid. This allows players to better dial-in trajectories, making the clubs more versatile as well.

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The M1 rescues clubs come in 2 (17 degrees), 3 (19 degrees), 4 (21 degrees) and 5 (24 degrees) models, and will be available on January 27 for $249 each.

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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Mr Poopoo

    Dec 8, 2016 at 2:50 am

    I see TM still has some of the old Adams Golf engineers still on staff doing the hybrids.

    • Jack

      Dec 9, 2016 at 3:28 am

      Yeah that bottom edge looks like the tight lies clubs. Plus they bought them just to get the speed slot patent anyway. I’m sure they are good. Honestly fairway woods are now better than ever, with just minor tweaks every year.

      I’m not sure if this years’ clubs are better than the last though. Some of the testing and feedback has been kinda soso.

  2. DJ

    Dec 7, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    they look like game improvement clubs.

  3. Bob Chipeska

    Dec 7, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    The only thing I need to know is when they plan on releasing the M1 v3.0, so I can pick one of these up at $150.

  4. Leon

    Dec 7, 2016 at 10:33 am

    Cheapmade

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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