TaylorMade has announced its latest lineup of clubs, a game-improvement suite that includes driver, fairway woods and irons and carries the designation r7 CGB Max.
The "Max" (TaylorMade spells it all upper-case), the company says in a press release, stands for:
... maximum distance, maximum forgiveness, maximum performance, and the kind of maximum ease of use that most players wouldn't have dreamed possible.
They could have included "maximum price." Clarification: these clubs are not the highest-priced out there. But they are definitely in the premium end of the market.
The "CGB" stands for "center of gravity back," as in the center of gravity is positioned deep and to the rear in the respective clubheads. This is the typical tactic at this time for game-improvement and super-game improvement clubs. Moving the CG deep and rearward helps the golfer achieve a higher launch - to get the ball up in the air, in other words - and more carry distance.
Here's a little bit about each club in the new lineup:
TaylorMade r7 CGB Max Driver
The r7 CGB Max driver has two distinctive features: its triangular clubhead shape (and red color), and its trio of portals for movable weights.
The triangle shape allows for the center of gravity to be pulled farther away from the clubface, which also helps increase the forgiveness of the club on off-center strikes.
The fact that there are three weight ports rather than four (as in TaylorMade's r7 Quad), and the specific weights of the screws (16 grams, 1 gram and 1 gram) make configuring the driver easier:
- If you desire the ball to move to the right (a fade), place the 16-gram weight on the right side (the toe) of the clubhead.
- If you desire the ball to move slightly to the left (a slight draw), place the heavier weight in the middle port.
- If you desire a larger draw, place the heavier weight on the left side (the heel) of the clubhead.
According to the TaylorMade press release, the movable weight technology in this driver has tested as promoting up to 35 yards in trajectory change.
The r7 CGB Max driver comes with an ultralight RE*AX shaft, ultralight grip and a shaft one inch longer than TaylorMade's standard. Retail availability begins on Oct. 30, 2007, with an MSRP of $600.
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TaylorMade r7 CGB Max Fairway Woods
The fairway woods will follow the driver to market by one month, hitting retail displays Nov. 30, 2007.
The r7 CGB Max fairway metals incorporate the same approaches as the driver: triangular head shape to pull the center of gravity away from the clubface; and movable weights.
As with the driver, there are three weight ports in the fairway wood heads. According to TaylorMade, up to 22 yards of trajectory change are possible through different weight configurations.
The fairway woods will be available in 3-, 5- and 7-woods, both right and lefthanded, with an MSRP of $360 per club.
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TaylorMade r7 CGB Max Irons
The clubheads of these oversized irons are, TaylorMade says, "extremely large."
The weighting properties follow the same principles as in the woods: drawing the center of gravity deeper and rearward, aiding launch, increasing MOI and forgiveness. Tungsten plugs, visible to the eye, add weight to rear of the clubhead; the topline is hollow, saving more weight to be repositioned low and back.
According to the company, it's the longest and most forgiving iron now in the TM lineup.
The irons come in 3-PW, plus attack wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge, both right-handed and left (with the exception of the lob wedge, which is available in RH only). A women's version comes with 4-PW plus sand wedge and is available in RH only. The r7 CGB Max irons are available at retail beginning Oct. 30, 2007, with an MSRP of $172 per club with steel shaft or $195 per club with graphite shaft.
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