on Worldwide Golf

CONTENTS

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TaylorMade Stealth Irons Tested

THE IRONS THAT HAVE HYBRIDS RUNNING TO THE GYM!

There is nothing Stealth about TaylorMade’s latest performance iron. From the moment you put the club behind the ball it just shouts distance and forgiveness. Though unlike the questionable build quality of the Stealth fairway metal we test last month, the Stealth iron is well engineered and put together. It is also a huge hit when it comes to looks, as the robust performance irons muscle back design shares similar lines to TaylorMade popular P770 irons.

 

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The Technology

  • CAP BACK DESIGN WITH TOE WRAP CONSTRUCTION
    Cap Back Design with toe wrap construction is an advanced engineering feat that shifts mass from the extreme high toe of the head and repositions it in the sole to create an extremely low CG. It expands the distance, forgiveness and feel benefits, delivering an iron that is easy to launch with a hot trajectory throughout the set.
  • FAST FORGIVING FACE WITH PROGRESSIVE INVERTED CONE TECHNOLOGY
    The 450 stainless steel face has a sweet spot that spans the most common impact points, generating faster ball speeds and consistency.
  • ECHO DAMPING SYSTEM
    Located behind the face, the ECHO Damping System uses a soft polymer blend and multiple contact points across the face to channel away harsh vibrations and create a forged-like feel at impact.
  • THRU-SLOT SPEED POCKET
    Patented TaylorMade technology engineered to maximize face flexibility for increased ball speed and forgiveness for mis-hits low on the face.
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The Test

The more you analyse the technology in this head the more you understand how it is going to perform. It’s a heavy weight in both physical size and distance but I was intreaged to see how a 28 degree seven iron can be marketed as having a high launch. When you consider their Tiger Woods Tour iron has a seven-iron loft of 35 degrees and the matching five-iron’s loft is 27 degrees, so you can start to appreciate that Stealth is going to go deep.

On warm up swings we were getting strong ball speeds but the height was similar to my current five iron of just over 80 feet. Though once warmed up, the average carry distance was just over 175 yards with a total shy of 190, but the height had climbed to an astonishing 100 feet  due to the ridiculous ball speed of 124mph and increased spin.

The dispersion was tight in regard to direction but distance and height control was the main issue as there was that hot one where we saw a spike in distance. A couple of shots were 9 yards longer in carry distance with a similar launch and ball speed to other shots. This wasn’t due to the club path changing or increased swing sp

The lofts

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The Shafts

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The Verdict

The Stealth iron certain massages your ego, as I’ve never hit a seven iron that far or high. To consistently carry 175 yards with little effort is impressive but the better player might struggle with gapping and dialling in consistent numbers. Over the ball this has to be one of the most confidence boosting irons but it has some serious bulk. TaylorMade has diguised the size well with a clever muscle back look but these are more like hybrid irons.

Pros: Effortless distance, forgiveness and price

Cons: It’s huge and plays more like a hybrid. Hot strikes!

 

The Price

 4-PW  RRP PRICE: AED 4,695 (Steel) AED 5,295 (Graphite)

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