Equipment
TaylorMade 2017 M1 and M2 irons: What you need to know
Did you miss Face Slots? They’re back.
With TaylorMade’s RSi irons, released in 2015, the company introduced a never-before-seen, ultra-visible technology on its club faces. Two polymer-filled slots — one on the heel, one on the toe — were added to help raise ball speeds on off-center hits.
With the company’s 2016 game-improve release, the M2 and M2 Tour irons, Face Slots went away. But for TaylorMade’s 2017 release of the irons bearing the same name, the forgiveness-based, Face-Slot technology is back.
According to TaylorMade, Face Slots are most effective on shots hit high and on the toe of the club face, an area where the majority of golfers contact their irons shots. The Face Slots couple with several new design features to further increase distance and forgiveness compared to the 2016 M2 irons.
Also new for 2017 are TaylorMade’s M1 irons, the first edition of irons with that name. They replace the M2 Tour irons in the company line, a compact distance iron that we’ve spotted in the bags of PGA Tour players, who use them as long-iron and hybrid replacements.
The M1 name in TaylorMade’s M-Series is synonymous with more compact heads, clubs that serious golfers tend to prefer. Keeping with that theme, the M1 irons have smaller bodies, thinner soles and thinner top lines, but are made with many of the same technologies as the 2017 M2 irons.
Learn more about each of the new iron designs below.
2017 M2 irons
TaylorMade’s new M2 irons are made with 33 percent thinner top lines, meaning they will look sleeker at address than their predecessors. They also have a 7 percent shallower blade height, helping to lower center of gravity (CG) for a higher launch.
Speed Pockets in the 4, 5, 6 and 7 irons, which were used in previous iterations to increase ball speeds on off-center hits, were made 20 percent deeper to improve the flexibility of the club faces. They help improve ball speed on center strikes, but more importantly they promote more ball speed on off-center hits than their predecessors.
As seen in the 2016 M2 irons, the 2017 M2 irons also have fluted hosels to save weight, except the six-sided flutes are now wider and thinner, saving an additional 2 grams that was used to lower the CG of the iron heads. With what may be music to club fitters’ ears, TaylorMade added a slot at the hosel bend, allowing the clubs to be bent easier for less restriction on loft and lie angle adjustments.
As with the M1 and M2 drivers, the M2 irons have a “Geocoustic” design to improve sound and feel. For the irons, that means there’s a vibration-dampening badge behind the face, and a rib structure tucked below the topline that creates better sound and feel.
The M2 irons are also available with a sand wedge (54 degrees) that’s designed specifically for bunker play, rather than full shots from grass. It uses more bounce to help golfers more easily move the club through sand. A 59-degree lob wedge has a low-bounce design to perform better from tight lies.
The M2 irons (4-LW) will sell for $799 with steel REAX HL 88 shafts by FST (S and R flexes) and $899 with M2 REAX graphite shafts (S, R, A, L flexes). They will be available Jan. 27, 2017.
M1 Irons
Although TaylorMade’s M1 irons are made to be more compact and sleeker than the M2 irons, they use tungsten in the toes of the long irons (3-7) to ensure forgiveness is not sacrificed. The addition of tungsten in the M1 irons allowed TaylorMade to nearly center CG in the irons — about 1 millimeter from center, according to TaylorMade — from heel-to-toe, and drop CG lower in the head for a higher launch and a greater MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of forgiveness).
The M1 irons also have a fluted hosel to save weight, but it’s used only on the under portion of the hosel, effectively blocking the weight-saving design from a golfer’s view at address.
Compared to the 2017 M2 irons, the M1 irons have many of the same technologies, including a “Geocoustic” design for better sound and feel. They also have Face Slots and Speed Pockets in their soles (also used in the 3-7 irons) to improve forgiveness on off-center strikes.
The leading edges and sole widths are thinner on the M1 irons when compared to the M2 irons, helping improve turf interaction for better players who are likely to have slightly shallower angles of attack.
The M1 irons (3-PW) will be available on March 1, 2017, and will come stock with True Temper’s XP95 steel shafts ($999) or Mitsubishi Rayon’s Kuro Kage Silver graphite shafts ($1,199). Additional shafts options are also available for no upcharge.
Related
- 12 Important Changes to the 2017 TaylorMade M1 and M2 Drivers
- TaylorMade 2017 M1 Fairway Woods and Hybrids: What you need to know
- TaylorMade 2017 M2 Fairway Woods and Hybrids: What you need to know
- TaylorMade makes big claims about new TP5 and TP5x golf balls
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Whats in the Bag
Russell Henley WITB 2024 (March)
- Russell Henley WITB accurate as of the Cognizant Classic.
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5 TX
3-wood: Titleist TS3 (16.5 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (7-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 50-08F @51, 54-10S, @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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Whats in the Bag
Vince Carter WITB 2024 (March)
- The NBA legend was teeing it up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational Pro-Am.
Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K (9 degrees)
3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (21 degrees)
Irons: Ping i230 (4-PW)
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 54, 58)
Putter: Ping
Ball: Renegade Mbu
Check out more photos of Vince Carter’s WITB here.
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Equipment
From the Forums: I need more forgiveness in my irons – Looking for recommendations
In our forums, our members have been discussing the most forgiving irons currently on the market. WRXer ‘TheShark1’ is on the hunt for a new set of irons, saying:
“Currently gaming the Mizuno Pro 225’s but think I need more forgiveness in my irons. My well struck shots are real nice, but my mishits are not performing as good as I had hoped anymore. I really like hollow body irons so if I could find something more forgiving in a hollow body iron that would be great.
Open to any and all recommendations other than Ping. Can’t hit Ping irons at all.”
And our members have been sharing their best suggestions in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- AvidSwampThing66: “Another vote for the super forgiving and fast Paradym irons. They look really good for being a GI iron.”
- bobfoster: “I just went from MP20 MMCs to the new 245s in my scoring irons (just played my first round with them today). If you have a chance to try them, you might find them worth a serious look.”
- vman: “Shoot me down, but spend the money on lessons.”
- J_Tizzle: “i525s are great off the heel in my opinion.”
Entire Thread: “From the Forums: I need more forgiveness in my irons – Looking for recommendations”
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Bryce
Jun 28, 2019 at 7:08 am
After installed, players will have the ability to enroll to get a actual money
consideration or even a follow bill where they
could try the game risk free.
Mad-Mex
Dec 11, 2016 at 8:30 pm
Wait,,,,,, Wilson already did this !!! back in the 80’s they released the “reflex” irons, same thing, a slot cut and filled with plastic,,,, Come on TaylorMade !!!!!
M1
Feb 18, 2017 at 3:11 pm
TM just perfected it
LOL
Dec 9, 2016 at 12:30 pm
The comments in the linked RSi release story are sadly prophetic.
Specs
Dec 9, 2016 at 12:20 pm
Why aren’t you dead yet
M1
Feb 18, 2017 at 3:12 pm
We can ask the same about you, Specs
Steve S
Dec 9, 2016 at 11:50 am
Where are the specs on lofts? Are these “de-lofted like past years? I like the fact that Mizuno went back to more loft in their MP-H5 irons.
DrRob1963
Dec 12, 2016 at 1:07 am
Souped up lofts like you would not believe! Look at this:
Hogan Apex 1988 blades vs Taylor Made M2 2017
9-iron 45* 38*
7-iron 37* 28.5*
5-iron 30* 21.5*
3-iron 23* LOL!
My blades are “an elegant weapon for a more civilized age”
Dave
Dec 9, 2016 at 11:01 am
TM……your face slots were so revolutionary that you got rid of them for a year and now are bringing them back? Come on……
Knut
Dec 11, 2016 at 11:29 am
Got rid of them? Huh? They’ve been on the M2 and PSi this whole time. Wha?
Bob Chipeska
Dec 9, 2016 at 9:49 am
Can’t wait to see the thread about these face slots caving in.