New Product Launch: TaylorMade M1 Driver
TaylorMade M1 Driver: Experience the Unmetalwood
In 1979, Gary Adams started a golf equipment company with a single club – a 12-degree driver cast of stainless steel. The introduction of the metal wood certainly belongs on the Mount Rushmore of innovations that changed the golf world. Adams’ bet of a $24,000 loan on his house paid off handsomely as his company, TaylorMade Golf, came to dominate tee boxes on golf courses everywhere.
Now, 36 years later, the company that boasts to be “#1 Driver in Golf” is unveiling a new batch of clubs including a war club, which they are calling “the first unmetal wood.” No, persimmon is not making a comeback. The new material is carbon fibers woven together to create a multi-material composite crown. Carbon may not be the revolutionary breakthrough that stainless steel was in TaylorMade’s formative days, but the company introduces its 2016 carbon composite driver, fairway wood, and hybrid with the promise they’ll deliver a satisfying click upon impact that their recent ancestors have lacked. Simply put, the TaylorMade M1 Driver is oozing with unparalleled technology.
The Revolutionary TaylorMade M1 Driver
Titanium remains the power source for launching tee shots out of sight, but technology has evolved to enable the titanium insert on the face to become thinner and lighter. When TaylorMade backs up its white titanium front with its lightweight 7-layer Carbon Composite Crown in the M1, the result is a saving of 10 grams in overall club weight. The crown was also meticulously shaped to shave off as much unnecessary weight as possible, which keeps the club fast during swing.
The saved mass in the TaylorMade M1 Driver moves the sole and overall club head weight for a lower center of gravity, which adds forgiveness and transfers power more efficiently to the ball. What this lower CG does is unlock outstanding ball speed and distance off the tee.
Customizable Launch
TaylorMade engineers installed dual sliding weights on the sole of the driver that can be used to alter trajectory height and ball flight. A Front and Back Track system form the shape of a “T” on the club sole and allows for adjustments in both fade and draw, as well as high and low trajectories. The Front Track features a 15-gram weight to deliver draw, neutral or fade ball flights, while the sliding 10-gram weight on the Back Track allows for high, medium, or low trajectory changes off the tee.
The hosel can also be adjusted 12 ways with the 4-degree modifiable loft sleeve, which can tweak the loft by two degrees in either direction. Keep that little adjustable screwdriver in your pocket right next to your divot repair tool so you can dial up a fade on demand on that next dogleg right.
TaylorMade is also promising that the black-and-white configuration of the M1 Driver will give golfers their best look ever at exactly how the clubface sets up to the ball at address. The meshing of the black and white colors is supposed to fool the eye into thinking that the clubhead is actually smaller than it is, instilling even more confidence. It’s absolutely beautiful and looks unlike anything else on the market.
Check out what the Tour pros thought when the first handled the M1 Driver:
Technology Applied to M1 Fairway Woods & Hybrids
All these subtle tricks incorporate into the company’s matching M1 Fairway Wood as well, including a pair of 15-gram sliding weights along the sole for adjustments in draw and fade bias, and forgiveness.
The M1 Rescue Hybrid follows suit in coloring, but has a complete stainless-steel head with two removable weights (25-gram tungsten and 3-gram aluminum) in the sole. Also located in the sole is a Speed Pocket for consistently impressive ball speed even on off-center hits, while an adjustable hosel modifies the loft by 1.5 degrees either way.
To sum it up, the M1 Series are simply the most technological drivers and supporting metalwoods that TaylorMade has ever made. And coming from the company that has been producing “#1 Driver in Golf”, that’s saying something.
