Extreme makeovers

TaylorMade’s r7 quad driver and Odyssey’s 2-ball putter line receive dramatic face-lifts

The r7 quad driver from TAYLORMADE and the 2-Ball putter from OODYSSEY changed just about everything in their equipment categories. Now, they’re getting ready to change themselves.

The new TaylorMade r7 quad 425 becomes the largest all-titanium driver with four movable weights, which are now spaced wider than on its predecessor in an effort to enhance slice or draw correction. The driver has the highest moment of inertia of any driver its size, according to its designers. TaylorMade officials say they were able to increase the head size of the original r7 by reducing the thickness of the titanium walls to 0.6 millimeters, about the thickness of six sheets of paper. That allowed the amount of movable weight to go from 24 grams on the original r7 to 28 grams on the new model.

Score: 100.0. Specs: 400 cubic centimeters; standard version r7 quad, plus r7 quad TP and r7 quad HT; lofts: 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5. Street price: $500 (graphite shafts), taylormadegolf.com.

• What the company says: The clubhead features four movable weights that change the center of gravity to produce six trajectories. The screws account for 24 grams of weight (for a total of 16 grams the user can realign). There are 48 grams of discretionary weight made available by thin-wall casting in the shell. The face has the “inverted cone” shape (first seen in the R500 drivers) milled into the back to improve ball speed over a wider area. The TP version includes more weights to produce 883 launch conditions.
• What our panelists say: “Honestly, I don’t think it’s as long as any driver I’ve hit. But I do think you hit it straighter. The guy who hits a hook or slice can move the screws around and all of a sudden start swinging with a lot more confidence.”
• What THE JUDGES say: “The theory was that this driver changes everything. What r7 really showed was a gee-whiz creativity that got people talking. The base technology is sound, which is why this club works regardless of whether you move the weights around. The strongest players might prefer the TP version with its more neutral face angle, but for the rest of us the extra $200 can be better used to open a 529 for our kids. In sum, this is the driver everyone wants to talk about, and not just because it was used by the winner of a pro event 26 times in 2004. Others have hopped on this weight movement idea, but nothing has captured our attention and satisfaction the way r7 has.”

TaylorMade r5 dual
Score: 98.8. Specs: 450cc; Type N (neutral), Type D (draw); lofts: 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 12. Street Price: $330, taylormadegolf.com.

• What the company says: It’s nearly 20 percent larger than the r7 quad and has a higher moment of inertia. Fixed weights are housed in the bottom to push the center of gravity rearward–closer to middle on the Type N, slightly toward the heel on the Type D.
• What our panelists say: “It sits square, and there’s good carry, even on mis-hits.”
• What THE JUDGES say: “It’s the r7 without the burden of a tool kit and directions. Its size gives you forgiveness and confidence.”