OLD vs. NEW: TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 irons vs. My modern irons (Full launch monitor numbers)
The golf club market can be a confusing place for consumers, no matter their skill level. The latest and greatest products that are designed by modern manufacturers are usually the best performing options when properly fit to your swing. The only problem is, new clubs are also typically the most expensive options.
In a sport that’s already quite expensive, is making the investment on new clubs always worth the high price tags?
Here at GolfWRX.com, we believe that whether you’re buying expensive new equipment or more affordable used options, you should get a proper club fitting from an expert fitter. Factors such as club length, loft, lie angle, overall design, weight settings, shaft flex, shaft weight and even grip size can all make a drastic impact on how the club feels and performs to the individual golfer. It’s not easy trying to figure out all of that by yourself, so working with an expert is imperative.
Now, when it comes to deciding on buying old versus new clubs, the conversation becomes a little more personalized to your specific budget and performance needs.
When you look at the clubs that are being used on the PGA Tour, most professional golfers opt to use the newest equipment possible, or they have clubs that are customized and prototyped to their exact liking.
That’s not always the case, however. Sometimes, PGA Tour players use golf clubs that were released several years ago, and they are still available on the current market for a more affordable price. Although the clubs are older designs, some Tour players still find benefits because the designs have managed to withstand the test of time.
I call these clubs the “Modern Classics.”
The benefit for consumers when it comes to these Modern Classics is that they’re currently available on the market for a fraction of the cost of new equipment, but they’re still viable options to use – even on the PGA Tour.
For our new 8-part club testing series in partnership with 2nd Swing Golf, I chose 8 classic golf clubs that are still used on the professional level, and each club can still be found online at 2nd Swing Golf’s website, or at 2nd Swing Golf retail outlets. Although these used clubs can be found at other third-party retail sites, as well, we chose to conduct this testing at 2nd Swing because, in my personal opinion, they have one of the largest selections of used equipment on the market, and they certify the quality of each club that they sell.
Also, the 2nd Swing store in Scottsdale has over 15 fitting bays that are equipped with launch monitors, and they have a team of expert club fitters to help analyze the numbers.
The first club that I chose to test in this 8-part video series was a TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 4-iron that was first released to the public in 2011. As we’ve discussed at length at GolfWRX.com, PGA Tour player Daniel Berger still uses a set of TaylorMade TP MC 2011 irons.
For this specific test, I pitted a used TaylorMade TP MC 2011 4-iron (22 degrees) against my current gamer 4-iron (24 degrees) from my set of golf clubs; each club was shafted with an extra stiff steel shaft. I hit 5 shots with each club, using a high-end tour golf ball. We deleted any outliers, and then we analyzed the numbers with the help of 2nd Swing expert fitter Cliff Walzak, who’s a well-respected and longtime club fitter in the industry.
In the video at the top of the page, we break down the entire test, the launch monitor numbers, and then I assign a value rating to the club. Just a heads up, not every club tested in the series will score such a high rating, but we happened to start off with an especially top-tier Modern Classic.
If you’re interested in testing/purchasing the TaylorMade TP MC 2011 irons for yourself, they’re currently available on 2nd Swing’s website for $84.99 for an individual iron, or $339.99 for an entire set.
What other 7 clubs do you think I chose for this Modern Classics video series?
*Credit to Saeyae for the video production.
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Whats in the Bag
Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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Equipment
Heavy Artillery: A look at drivers in play at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans
What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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Whats in the Bag
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Nadia Comaneci
Jan 18, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Good video, but what is nine-point-four?
Danon
Jan 17, 2023 at 2:16 pm
Original Callaway Apex Pro irons should be on this list in my opinion. They’ve certainly withstood the test of time with some pros still gaming the longer irons from that 2013/14 release.
Joey Horn
Jan 17, 2023 at 1:29 pm
Am I missing the comparison data? All I see is numbers for the 2011 TM TP MCs. What are we comparing this too?
Mark
Jan 17, 2023 at 12:54 am
Forgive me for being blunt, but unless you are testing clubs with matching specifications (SW, grip make and size, shaft make and flex, loft, etc.), nothing of value will be learnt here.
This type of test is best suited for mainstream golf publications catering to the uneducated. The GolfWRX readership is not well served by this.
wrx staff lol
Jan 21, 2023 at 5:49 pm
Haven’t you seen that is basically what wrx is from their staff… They can be torched quite easily by a good amount of people on here…
Tom K
Jan 16, 2023 at 6:25 pm
Didn’t want to sit through the video. How did the old irons tack up?
Benny
Jan 25, 2023 at 6:58 am
Hahahaha me neither…
Branson Reynolds
Jan 16, 2023 at 6:10 pm
From the looks the drivers are GBB, g400, ‘16M2, fairways are rocketballz, nike vr, taylormade burner, with an Adams idea pro hybrid
ac
Jan 16, 2023 at 1:02 pm
Testing the Taylormade R1 vs. Stealth 2 would be great as well.
The others I would love to see are player distance product, since there is the “tec” involved. Something like P790 vs. Mizuno H5?
Eastpointe
Jan 16, 2023 at 11:56 am
Gotta test the Stensons. Both the 3wd and shovels