TaylorMade Kalea Premier Driver Review

The TaylorMade Kalea Premier family delivers lightweight, easy launch forgiveness, in a package that can be custom fit for women golfers.

TaylorMade have got their teeth into a new “segmentation” concept that’s already swept through mega-brands like Nike, Volkswagen, and Coca-Cola.

After surveying 15,000 golfers TaylorMade say they’re in a better position to understand their behaviors, attitudes, and preferences, without the traditional constraints of grouping players by gender, age, or ability.

The research highlighted TaylorMade’s product line had a glaring gap for desirable, customizable performance women’s clubs. That led them to set up a Women’s Advisory Board and the Kalea Premier is the first product range to come out of it and has gone straight into the best ladies’ golf drivers.

The family sits between the current Kalea and Stealth families and thanks to their research TaylorMade say Kalea Premier will satisfy the demands of women golfers who want custom-fitted equipment, those wanting a technology story who don’t mind paying for it, and golfers who put a premium on looks.  

What you need to know about the Kalea Premier driver

Details:

RRP: £379 Loft: 12.5° Stock shaft: Kalea Premier 40 Stock grip: Lamkin Sonar 38g

Lightweight speed, easy launch and maximum forgiveness pretty much sums up the story behind most women’s clubs. But a huge benefit of the Kalea Premier is the ability to custom fit them, which has not often been an option for women golfers.

Much like the TaylorMade SIM2 Max driver, the Kalea Premier boasts tour-proven tech (carbon crown and sole with aluminum back ring and an Inertia Generator at the back of the sole) which have all been tuned to offer slower swing speeds and higher launch with additional MOI forgiveness.

Golfers also get the brands Twist Face tech which promotes increased consistency on common mishits from the low-heel and high-toe areas of the face. A flexible Thru-Slot Speed Pocket in the sole also helps retain ball speed for shots impacting low on the face.

There’s TaylorMade Kalea Premier fairway woods too

Details:

RRP: £219 Lofts: #3-17°/ #5-20.5°/ #7-23° Stock shaft: Kalea premier 40 Stock grip: Lamkin Sonar 38g

We love how the fairway woods all have the same size heads. The idea promotes additional forgiveness and appearance consistency, so golfers don’t feel less confident when pulling a smaller 7-wood from their bag.

Expect an ultra-low profile and shape, plus a V Steel sole (which adds versatility from different lies) and a 37% larger face than the standard Kalea woods.

The Kalea hybrids run from #4 (23°) to #7 (35°) so any iron you don’t hit with confidence can easily be replaced.

RELATED: How good are the TaylorMade Hi-Toe 3 wedges?

TaylorMade on the Kalea Premier family

“Kalea Premier is a combination of proven TaylorMade technologies, which are tuned specifically to give women the best performance, and the most visually stunning designs on the market. Our research has shown women will no longer accept a half-hearted approach to product design in any industry.”

“We’ve been continuously mindful of this and have created a design language that utilises a combination of rich colours and refined textures with premium materials to create a sophisticated and elegant product line for women.”

Tomo Bystedt, Senior Director, Carbonwoods & Metalwoods.

Verdict: TaylorMade Kalea Premier driver – tested by ex-TG staffer Sarah Pyett

As someone who usually plays men’s regular flex clubs, I was excited to try the Kalea Premier to see if they’d benefit my game. From the outset, I really liked how TaylorMade ensured the family appeal to many different golfing abilities by allowing customization across the range. I was fitted into a regular men’s flex graphite shaft and the women’s Kalea Premier driver head.

My current driver has a 10° loft, so I was intrigued to see how the standard 12.5° Kalea Premier loft impacted my ball flight. I have to say I was really impressed, my drives were long and straight, and the head was clearly very forgiving on off-center hits. Out on the course, my drives carried a little longer than usual (thanks to the extra launch and spin), which took hazards I’d usually be contending with right out of play.

Overall I’m really impressed with the whole Kalea Premier family. The look of the woods made me feel extremely confident addressing the ball, and I felt like I could tell where the club head was in the downswing, which made it really easy to rotate the club through impact.

The Kalea Premier range is definitely staying in my bag.

READ NEXT

– Best Ladies’ Golf Drivers
– Our in-depth review of TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 fairways
– Everything you need to know about the new TaylorMade Stealth HD iron

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TaylorMade Kalea Premier Driver

RRP: £379

Loft: 12.5°

Stock shaft: Kalea Premier 40

Stock grip: Lamkin Sonar 38g

TaylorMade Kalea Premier Fairway Wood

RRP: £219

Lofts: #3-17°/ #5-20.5°/ #7-23°

Stock shaft: Kalea premier 40

Stock grip: Lamkin Sonar 38g

Visit the TaylorMade website here