TaylorMade’s marketing and publicity team is second to none. Just ask your everyday golfer, turn on the TV, visit a golf forum or walk into a golf superstore and you’ll see how strong the TaylorMade brand has become. TaylorMade sets the industry standard for getting the word out about their equipment.
Earlier this year, it was the “white out” when all the TaylorMade Tour pros wore white from head to toe to coincide with the unveiling of their all-white head R11 and Superfast 2.0 drivers. Much debate ensued on the golf forums. Ugly? Beautiful? Frames the ball better? A gimmick? It didn’t matter, the idea was planted and sales have been through the roof.
Now, with less fanfare, maybe simply because irons are a tad less sexy than a new driver, TaylorMade is getting golfers excited about their R11 irons.
From TaylorMade’s press release earlier this month:
Today TaylorMade is proud to announce the expansion of the R11 franchise with the introduction of the R11 irons, which are engineered for the player who appreciates the shape and refinement of a tour-grade iron but needs the help of advanced technology to launch the ball high, straight and long with less effort, regardless of handicap.
Historically, irons engineered with multiple game-improvement technologies tend to be oversized, inelegant and clunky, with thick toplines, broad soles and over-bearing cavities. They typically feel harsh and sound high-pitched and “clicky.” The R11 iron breaks that mold and rewrites the book about what a high-technology iron can look like, feel like and sound like.
R11 irons are engineered with multiple technologies that make them stunningly easy to launch high and long. Technologies that we developed while building the best metalwoods in the world, like ways to make thin, fast faces, and methods to expand the COR zone, and techniques for precisely locating the CG.
We’ve heard it before: Make irons that appeal to better players, but build in technology that make them more forgiving and easier to hit. But if TaylorMade’s proven one thing, it will have no problem getting people to give them a shot.
The clubs hit shelves on Sept. 1, with a retail price of $799 for steel KBS 90 shafts or $999 for graphite Motore shafts. Lots more information and specs are available onTaylorMade’s site and CEO Mark King offers his take during the unveiling.
Still curious for more? Equipment forum website GolfWRX.com ran a contest with TaylorMade to get some of their readers down to Dallas for a fitting and “The Ultimate R11 Irons Experience” which has gotten the conversation going.
