TaylorMade R1 Driver Review

2013 Golf Drivers Test

The crown will divide opinion and it did so among our testers. Four out of the five referenced the Marmite analogy – you’ll either love it or hate it. Despite the look of it, performance was impressive across the board. Graeme hit his two longest drives of the day with the R1 and ended with an average dispersion of just 12 yards.

Three out of the five commented the club felt heavy and that it made them swing it harder; but the face was so forgiving, dispersion was barely affected. Both Joel and James especially noticed how little difference off-centre hits made while Kit was stunned at how hot the ball seemed to come off the face. The R1 is currently Chris’ driver of choice, but he ended up closing the face by a degree to prevent it going right.

First Hit Review – January 2013

Pitting the R11S and the new R1 against each other on our GC2 launch monitor was a real eye-opener. Ball speed remained consistent between the two, but the big difference was the launch angle, distance gains and forgiveness on off-centre hits with the R1.

The average R1 carry was 272 yards compared with the R11S’s 265. The ball curved much less on off-centre hits with the R1. The lowest carry with the R1 was 264 yards and 251 with the R11S. On average the R1 launched 0.4º higher.

Pros: Longer and more forgiving than the R11S, simple to adjust, crown looks great.
Cons: The high-pitched sound at impact won’t please everyone.

TaylorMade have unveiled their new R1 driver, the follow-up product to the massively-successful R11S.

The R1 has been designed with 12 loft options and seven face angle settings, as well as the brand’s famous movable weight technology – but despite the high level of adjustability, it’s an intuitive bit of kit that is straight forward to use.

“Offering a wide range of loft settings is imperative, because our research indicates that 80% of golfers are playing the wrong loft, which costs them distance,” said Dr Benoit Vincent, chief technical officer.

“The R1 offers 12 positions to help golfers find the loft that delivers the launch conditions that deliver maximum distance.”

There are seven standard loft positions, and five upright ones, while golfers can also change the face angle to sit in one of the following positions – neutral square, open, medium-open, maximum-open, closed, medium-closed and maximum-closed.

In addition to the easier-to-use adjustability, the driver features an innovative crown design following consultation with Dr Steve Hitzeman, a professor of sports optometry. The combination of white, black, grey and orange on the crown helps the golfer with alignment, while the sizeable head inspires confidence at address.