Equipment
TaylorMade M1 Tour driver heads enter The Vault
The Vault at TaylorMade features one-off, limited-run and prototype equipment from the company that become available for purchase.
The latest entries are TaylorMade M1 430 and 460 Tour heads, which will be available in “very limited quantities” on Thursday, Nov. 19, and will cost $800 apiece.
According to TaylorMade, the driver heads will have a “+” symbol to ensure it’s been COR tested and the loft, lie and weight have been marked by technicians at the company’s Tour department. Each head will come with a metal shaft sleeve and a head cover.
See photos of an M1 460 Tour head below, and for more information from TaylorMade click here.
Related: We review TaylorMade’s M1 430 and 460 drivers
- LIKE40
- LEGIT7
- WOW8
- LOL20
- IDHT0
- FLOP9
- OB7
- SHANK234
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of a piece we originally filed this piece for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. You can read the full piece there.
Now, for the 2024 Masters specifically, Finau is planning to put another Ping G430 LST driver into play, in order to help him on the right-to-left holes at Augusta. The second driver, which is set to replace his 3-wood, will measure about the length of his 3-wood, and it has 10.5 degrees of loft, according to Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates.
“Tony Finau, most likely, will be playing two G430 LST drivers this week; his gamer, and a new shorter 10.5 headed option,” Oates told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday. “In the ramp-up towards The Masters, Tony and his team discussed options to optimize his performance off the tee. In discussing the tee shots around Augusta and second shots, Tony realized he would never hit 3-wood off the ground, minus maybe 8 if it was soft and into the wind.
“With that in mind, we felt it would be worth exploring a driver built to more 3-wood specs – shorter, more loft, etc. We build the driver in Houston and Tony carried it to Augusta to test. Right away it was giving him the performance he was looking for, allowing him to hit a straighter shot off the tee, or even draw it easier than his gamer driver, along with the added forgiveness benefits of using a driver instead of a 3-wood. Tony potentially could use the little driver on 2-7-10-14-17-18, pending course and wind conditions.”
Since Finau’s stock driver swing is grooved for a cut shot, maybe it’s unrealistic that Finau will hit big sweeping draws with the new, second driver option. But, according to Finau, it’s still a useful option, especially since he won’t need the 3-wood much this week.
“The [second] driver really goes straight, so there’s just no fade on it,” Finau told GolfWRX.com. “The draw holes out here, you don’t really have to turn it over, you just can’t hit a fade. But yeah, I’m going with two drivers.”
Read the full piece on PGATour.com.
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Toulon Golf has today officially announced its latest Small Batch putter — the Carbonetti Meadow Club.
The Backstory
A little more than 100 years ago, famed golf course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie stepped on the Bon Tempe Meadow just north of San Francisco to create his first golf course in America — a tucked away gem known as Meadow Club. Dr. MacKenzie would famously go on to design other masterpieces including Augusta National and Cypress Point.
Over 100 years ago a special type of tree — a madrone — had sprouted on the southwest slopes of a hill just adjacent to what would become Meadow Club’s fourth tee. The madrone is a unique tree. It grows only along the coastal areas of Northern California and Oregon. Its wood is extremely hard, with a beautiful reddish grain. It is almost impossible to transplant.
This special tree was deemed an environmental hazard in late 2022. Through a special friendship between Tony and his close friend, master luthier and musician Jimmy Carbonetti, work began with the Club to acquire the fallen madrone. If successful, the plan would be to ship the wood to New York and Jimmy would begin to work his craft — fashioning the madrone not only into handmade works of art that would become the putter’s sole plate, but also into a guitar from the same tree.
With that as the goal, Jimmy and Tony set off to Meadow Club to meet with the club. A few days later, with the help of the club and the membership, the tree was on its way to the mill.
The Putter
The putter head was designed by Sean and Tony Toulon — inspired by some of the mallet shaped putters that Dr. MacKenzie used; he famously believed that if a hole was designed properly it could be played with only a putter.
This ear shaped mallet design features a sweeping front to back shoulder design that creates a generous cavity — in design to make the Meadow Club putter exceedingly playable. The gentle and elegant flowing neck literally melts into the slightly rounded top line.
The topline features a unique alignment aid — the famous stylized logo from the club itself.
The head is slow milled and then individually hand polished using 904L Stainless Steel. Once complete, Toulon Golf applied a deep Black PVD to create the Piano Black finish.
The face pattern is a Super Fine Double Fly with Big Tuna mill pattern — designed to create a satisfying click at impact – and yielding a feel that is incredibly pure. To complete the face milling process Toulon added an artistic touch with a very fine overmill to create the special face pattern.
In addition, the sole plate on the putter is hand made by Jimmy Carbonetti.
Specs:
- Material – 904L Stainless Steel/Madrone Sole Plate/Tungsten Weights/Face
- Mill – Super Fine Double Fly with Big Tuna
- Finish – Piano Black PVD
- Grip – Toulon Collection Deep Green Pistol
- Shaft – Black Chrome
- Headcover – Small Batch Leather
- Head Weight – 348 g
- Loft – 3°
- Lie – 70°
Pricing and Availability
The Small Batch Carbonetti Meadow Club is available for purchase on a first come, first served basis on April 11th via the company’s website – ToulonGolf.com. A limited number of these exceedingly rare examples are being offered worldwide at $2,000.
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Collin Morikawa has had plenty of success with a blade in his hands over the course of his young career, but after a lean spell on the greens lately, it appears that the 27-year-old is ready to try something new.
The California-native began the year with his TaylorMade TP Soto before switching to a Logan Olson proto last month. Now at this week’s Masters, Morikawa has been spotted with a Spider Tour X, the same flatstick that Scottie Scheffler will be using at Augusta.
The move would represent a big change, but it has been a very frustrating year on the greens for Morikawa, who will hope the TaylorMade mallet can offer him a similar upturn in fortune to that of Scheffler. In 2024, Morikawa ranks 164th for Strokes Gained: Putting, and 157th for Total Putting.
We’ll keep an eye whether Morikawa puts the mallet into action on day one of the Masters.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
New here?
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Tour pro calls Anthony Kim a ‘f*****g idiot’ following Instagram comeback post
John Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions
Things got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
Anthony Kim WITB 2024 (February)
This Rory McIlroy post-round ‘The Match’ moment is going viral…but all is likely not what it seems
Scottie Scheffler WITB 2024 (March)
Photos from the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
Anthony Kim’s speculated LIV Golf sign-on fee may surprise you
The total sum that Sergio Garcia needs to pay in fines if he wants to return to DP World Tour revealed
WITB Time Machine: Hideki Matsuyama’s winning WITB, 2021 Masters
At the 2021 Masters, Hideki Matsuyama broke through to claim his first major championship, winning the first major for Japan...
WITB Time Machine: Patrick Reed’s winning WITB, 2018 Masters
At the 2018 Masters, Patrick Reed bested Rickie Fowler by a stroke at Augusta National to win his first major...
WITB Time Machine: Tiger Woods’ winning WITB, 2019 Masters
At the 2019 Masters, Tiger Woods famously ended an 11-year major championship drought. When Francesco Molinari faltered during the final...
Denny McCarthy WITB 2024 (April)
Denny McCarthy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, C1 SureFit...
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoJohn Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions
-
19th Hole1 week agoThings got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
-
19th Hole2 days agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
-
19th Hole1 week agoReport: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole22 hours agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoCharlie Woods finds it tough going on American Junior Golf Association debut
-
19th Hole1 week agoAddiction, spinal fusion, and scam artists – Everything Anthony Kim revealed in candid interview with David Feherty
-
19th Hole6 days agoAnthony Kim says doctors told him that he ‘may not have much time left’ ahead of LIV return
Marcel
Feb 21, 2017 at 6:34 pm
Can anybody explain to me the different shortcuts written on the head?
Lie, Loft, Weight and CT is pretty clear to me but what about FA, RA1 and RA2?
FA could be the Face angle but i am not shure. Are they really all open at adress?
Thanks!
rymail00
Dec 10, 2015 at 8:58 am
Has anyone ever bought anything from The Vault? I’m not interested in getting anything but was always wondering if they let you pick weird and in between lofts like say 9* instead of the stock 8.5* and 9.5*? Or is it you say what stock loft you want and then they just send you any head spec’d close to your stock loft pick?
The last Ping driver I bought, the Rapture V2, they’d let you pick any loft and ask for a head that was slightly open and I believe they charged only like $7-10 extra to find you loft you wanted that wasn’t stock.
SAm
Nov 23, 2015 at 10:31 am
I actually think I was given a tour head by TM when i complained about the delay on delivery for my M1.
It has the + symbol on the neck, and it also has the weight number stamped onto the moveable weights – none of the others in the shop did.
Danny G
Nov 20, 2015 at 11:29 am
Just get an M1 hat. That will for sure add an extra MPH in ball speed. Find your self with a tour issued M1 hat and the sky’s the limit. Who wants to be that person that has to explain to the whole group that their club it “tour issue” and that’s why they are a yard in front. Get a proper fit don’t fall for the marketing.
Bob
Nov 20, 2015 at 2:18 am
$800 for a head with accurate specs! Just buy JDM
Nothing
Nov 19, 2015 at 10:34 pm
I have a bunch of friends on staff with Taylormade, so I get my hands on tour issue stuff….the only difference between tour issue clubs and retail clubs is the specs are a little tighter (like loft) and the face angles are open. Otherwise, the only difference is when they crack, you can’t get them replaced.
Lee
Nov 18, 2015 at 3:44 pm
I just love the way the Pro’s hit the M1 as far into the sh*t as the R15, SLDR et all. What an absolute hopelessly, desperate piece of marketing which surely nobody believes. We all know TM is in trouble but this is shameful!!
Reeves
Nov 18, 2015 at 2:30 pm
I hope all you see that when you pay $400 for a Taylormade (or any OM club) what you are getting is a COPY of what tour players use….maybe Knockoffs and off brand clubs will look a little better to everyone when you consider that is what you are buying with the OM name on it??????
john
Nov 18, 2015 at 6:34 pm
lol they’re not knockoffs – you obviously don’t work in the industry or know anything about it, have you even played golf before? here is the difference for you (bar bubba and tiger who have their own custom driver designs), ones on the shelf have a much bigger tolerance for COR, loft & weight (inc. swing weight) – the Tour guys get 50 of these and pick the ones that max at 0.83 COR and have an exact loft (say 9.1 degrees or 8.7 degrees) that the player in question requires. This extra testing if put on a club for a muppet like yourself would be a COMPLETE AND UTTER WASTE OF MONEY – you can’t hit the center of the face in 100 tries, so why bother adding another $150 worth of labor to your club?
Anyway, bash away my zero knowledge friend.
scott
Nov 19, 2015 at 9:29 pm
yep he’s a little over the top with the comment but $500 bucks for a driver is the real joke in six months it’ll be half that price, six more months half thats price. So is this years model $500 dollar better then last years ? Only if you want it to be
golfbum
Nov 20, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Let me get this straight? A person comments on a golf site and ask, wait let me get the quote marks right….”have you even played golf before?” So you just discounted your ability to have any knowledge on this subject. Then you go on to insult this person with the following: “This extra testing if put on a club for a muppet like yourself would be a COMPLETE AND UTTER WASTE OF MONEY – you can’t hit the center of the face in 100 tries, so why bother adding another $150 worth of labor to your club?”….I think I quoted you correctly, no?
So, John, if would, please provide your USGA GHIN #….so that we can see how many times you hit the center of the club face?
Christestrogen
Nov 18, 2015 at 10:03 am
I bought a tour vault sldr last year on eBay for $129….saw no difference…
It was pretty cool to have all the little measurements hand written but other than that it was seemingly the same….at least IMHO
-Christosterone
Reeves
Nov 18, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Had one chance to hit a Pro Players driver (it was a Taylor Made and fit for him out of the tour van) If you ever can try it, the club was so well balanced it made my driver feel like a cave mans club. It showed me that it was not just the parts it was the guys that put them together.
blake
Nov 18, 2015 at 9:36 am
I have a tour issue r9 supertri v2 and it is miles different than the retail version. Mine is 440 cc, deeper face, and launches/spins the ball a lot lower that the retail counterpart. Don’t know about the M1 but there is definitely a difference in my personal experience with gaming retail vs. tour issue.
Carlos Danger
Nov 18, 2015 at 12:53 pm
So…you basically have a Superdeep?
blake
Nov 18, 2015 at 1:11 pm
not nearly as deep in the face. just a little deeper than the retail supertri but certainly more left/right forgiveness on the face than the SD. plus it has three adjustable weights as compared to only two on the superdeep. also the head shape/profile is different from the superdeep. so, basically, NO. Not the same at all
Carlos Danger
Nov 18, 2015 at 2:05 pm
but basically…
blake
Nov 18, 2015 at 2:33 pm
basically what? not even really sure what you are refuting here.
Carlos Danger
Nov 18, 2015 at 3:36 pm
exactly
christian
Nov 20, 2015 at 4:00 am
Basically, as in they are both driver heads?
blake
Nov 20, 2015 at 3:21 pm
they are both black. so he has me there…
blake
Nov 18, 2015 at 2:47 pm
and i am in now way endorsing spending $800 for a driver head. These will cost $150-200 on the Wrx BST by summer. If you have to play tour issue, for whatever reason, buy a release cycle behind for a fraction of the price.
Rick
Nov 19, 2015 at 12:05 am
I too have an R9 Supertri v2 also. I would say the face is not noticeably larger than a stock 460cc head, but certainly the body is much more a bulbous delta shape that gives the Supertri its name. Is the face tall like a Super Deep, no.
The v2 performance is perfect for my game. Actual TM provided a CT number and an aftermarket CT test. The measured TM CT is 248 and therefore is a tour legal usable head, what makes it unique is the CT measured slightly high and toe of the tour measuring point results in a 256. Its Lie is 61.1*, Loft 9.3*, Face Angle Open 3.75*. Hot Melt Weight 202.7, Slope of 3.2 and a CI of 1.76. I do not know what the slope and CI indicate.
The club performs as well or better than all drivers I have used and or demo’d except an explosive 975J that cracked early in the century.
The Supertri R9 v2 was and is the best $225 driver investment I have made over the past 20 years. The club recently aided another subpar round.
I would recommend the purchase of a tour head if it has a CT above 244, 257/258 is maximum allowable.
Charlie
Nov 18, 2015 at 9:28 am
If I take a retail head, get it measured and stamp a ‘+’ on it, can I command $800 for it?
Billy
Nov 18, 2015 at 1:48 am
Aren’t they still made in China or in Carlsbad, CA?
Ryan
Nov 18, 2015 at 1:30 am
Low CT rejects is what they are. Why aren’t they on the tour van ? Why is the CT rating covered up ? Exactly..
ltd
Nov 18, 2015 at 3:12 am
yepper
Charlie
Nov 18, 2015 at 9:21 am
Or high CT, doubtful though.
LorenRobertsFan
Nov 18, 2015 at 10:15 am
Exactly my thoughts
Scott
Nov 18, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Since I do not know what CT means, this head is not for me.
john
Nov 18, 2015 at 6:36 pm
that is a great point lol, $800 for a driver that’s got CT blacked out
SB
Nov 18, 2015 at 1:00 am
It’s expansive but still a good offering. Did you have the opportunity to play two exact same drivers and had the feeling that one performs much better?! The tour editions are always duly checked and are more consistent. Still 800$ for head I agree 😉
Brian
Nov 17, 2015 at 10:37 pm
They will make the average hacker exactly $800 lighter.
mike
Nov 17, 2015 at 9:33 pm
none
Mark
Nov 17, 2015 at 9:21 pm
$800 for a head. Seriously. What, if any difference will these heads make to the average player?
COGolfer
Nov 17, 2015 at 11:06 pm
The difference would be found in $800 worth of lessons.
This sort of thing comes up in cycling as well. Should you spend an extra grand on a bike that weighs a pound less or could you stand to lose a few on your person…
John Triscott
Nov 18, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Great comparison.
This is the same thing as Tour Issue DG Shafts. They are just thoroughly checked. More for the peace of mind for the golfer, in this case, a PGA Tour player.
Rick
Nov 19, 2015 at 12:12 am
No, a CT driver with less than 258 conforms to the rules of golf. Professionals cannot use non CT measured drivers.
Regarding shafts, I would imagine they are hand sorted and set batched so players have a stash to back up their playing set should one snap.