Equipment

TaylorMade’s new M3 and M4 irons, with “RibCOR” technology

Published

6 years ago

Jan 2, 2018

With its new M3 and M4 irons, TaylorMade has introduced a “RibCOR” technology that’s designed to produce more speed on mishits. Before we get into what exactly that design is, let’s see why this concept is important.

COR, or coefficient of restitution, is the measure of energy transfer between two objects. For golf club manufacturers, especially when making game-improvement irons, the goal is to get COR as high as possible; this means ensuring as much energy gets transferred from the club face to the golf ball as possible during impact. Of course, the USGA sets a limit on COR of golf clubs so they can only go so far.

Many companies these days have figured out how to maximize COR on the center of the club face. Now, the game for engineers across the industry has become “how high can we make COR on shots hit off-center.” The goal obviously being to produce as much speed on off-center hits as possible, or, minimizing energy loss at impact.

TaylorMade, for its new M3 and M4 irons, has introduced RibCOR technology that uses two ribs, or beams, on the outer portions of the heel and toe as pictured below.

This provides internal support on the outer portions of the club so that the face can flex as much as possible at impact, thus retaining energy transfer from the club the golf ball. So while the center of the face may not produce more speed compared to its M1 and M2 predecessors, this design should impart more ball speed across the face. That means more forgiveness, or MOI (moment of inertia).

The RibCOR design couples with a number of familiar technologies from the company’s past including inverted cone technology, speed pockets and face slots. These are all designed for to produce higher ball speeds and more forgiveness, helping golfers who don’t hit the center of the face every time to launch the ball high and far.

As with the M1 and M2 irons they replace, the lower-numbered M3 iron has a more compact look and is designed for slightly better players, whereas the higher-numbered M4 iron is built for more distance and forgiveness, and has a larger head profile.

For more photos and discussion click here, or read below for more info on each of the offerings. Both the M3 and M4 irons will be available at retail on February 16.

Taylormade M4 irons

As the more forgiving of the two M-family offerings, TaylorMade’s M4 irons have fluted hosels, 1mm toplines, and what TaylorMade calls its “thinnest ever leading edge.” Also, along with the RibCOR technology that’s in both the M3 and M4 irons, additional mass has been placed on the toe and heel portions of the M4 irons to produce great forgiveness on off-center hits.

Overall, the M4 club heads have 24 percent higher MOI than the M2 2017 heads, according to TaylorMade, so golfers will find them to be more forgiving than their predecessors.

The M4 irons (4-LW) will come stock with either KBS Max 85 steel shafts (R and S flex), Fujikura Atmos shafts (5A, 6R, 7S), or additional custom shafts, with TM Dual Feel grips. Steel will sell for $899 per set, while graphite will sell for $999.

Taylormade M3 irons

The TaylorMade M3 irons, while housing some of the same technologies as the M4 irons, are made for those players who want a more compact shape and are looking for more trajectory control. To help achieve this look without sacrificing much by way of forgiveness, TaylorMade ha added a 15-gram tungsten weight to the soles of the M3 irons; this lowers CG in the head.

The irons have a 180-degree fluted hosel — that means it’s not as visible at address compared to the 360-degree fluted hosel in the M4 irons — to help move weight away from the heel. The irons have a thinner topline than the M1 irons they replace, according to TaylorMade, and have soles designed with more bounce for better turf interaction.

M3 sets (3-SW) come stock with either True Temper XP100 steel shafts (R300, S300), Mitsubishi’s Tensei graphite shafts (70R or 80S), or additional custom shafts, and with Lamkin UTx NC grips. M3 irons will sell for $999 with steel shafts or $1199 with graphite.

Click here for more photos and discussion on the M3 and M4 irons

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Related Topics:featured irons TaylorMade

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

5 Comments

S

Jan 9, 2018 at 12:26 pm

I can see why pros are leaving TM…

Reply Report comment
- ran
  
  Jan 30, 2018 at 10:11 am
  
  Wonder if the M3 and M4 have the same face caving issue that the M1/M2 irons have…..many people reporting face cave on irons….TM just replaces them with same iroins that eventually cave again.
  
  Reply Report comment
Tom Newsted

Jan 3, 2018 at 10:52 am

RIBCORE they stole that from their time with Addidas. That has been on a hockey stick for years. its a gimmick.

Reply Report comment
mel

Jan 2, 2018 at 8:32 pm

TM M3 and M4 state-of-the-art iron designs look like winners to me, and leaving behind all those offering gel-filled hollow irons …. opps that means the P790 are obsolete now …lol … that was fast … lolol

Reply Report comment
George

Jan 2, 2018 at 12:33 pm

i need me some ribcor

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Whats in the Bag

Drew Brees WITB 2024 (April)

Published

21 mins ago

Apr 25, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (10.5 degrees)

Mini driver: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper (13.5 degrees)

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (19 degrees)

Irons: TaylorMade P790 (4-8, PW), TaylorMade P760 (9)

Wedges: TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09, 56-10, 60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 Prototype

Check out more in-hand photos of Drew Brees’ clubs here.

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Equipment

Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Published

2 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)

MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype

MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.

Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype

We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.

Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS

Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.

Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2

This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.

Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype

This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic

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Equipment

Spotted: Project X Denali hybrid shaft

Published

3 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.

Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.

Check out in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s full WITB here.

The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.

Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.

Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!